Monday Morning Quick Hitters

The Boston Red Sox lost to the Chicago White Sox at Fenway 4 – 2.

CC Sebathia was robbed of a no-hitter by a Pittsburgh score keeper on Sunday. The Brewers beat the Pirates 7 – 0. The Brew Crew are back to 4 1/2 games back of the Cubbies.

The Philadelphia Phillies kept pace with the New York Mets, who beat the Marlins 6 – 2, by beating the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs 5 -3.

The Minnesota Twins beat up on the Oakland A’s 12 – 4. The Twins stay 1/2 game back of the White Sox.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost Jeff Kent for the rest of the season, but beat up on NL West division leading Arizona Diamondbacks 8 – 1. The Dodgers are 2 1/2 games back.

The NBA Player’s Association has suspended OJ Mayo’s former agent for a year.

Georgia loses important piece for the season.

College Football Preview

Another season of college football is upon us, and while we here at the Central Maine Sports Blog have an affiliation with Army this season as our “adopt-a-team”, there are more than a few other teams that are out there, so I am going to take a chance here and predict the top 10.

10. Florida Gators

Tim Tebow is back, and so is Percy Harvin, but Harvin’s heel has not healed yet. The SEC is as tough as ever, so 2 loss season for an SEC team may not get a spot in the national title game this year.

9. Texas Tech

I am buying into the hype about this defense improving, and Crabtree and Harrell will both get supports in the Heisman race.

8. Ohio St

After two years of bridesmaid status, I expect the Bucks to slip a bit this year. The big game against USC will probably tell you what type of team Ohio St is.

7. Kansas

I will always support the big guy, and Mark Mangino has done a great job with Kansas. This team only lost one game last year, and returns almost all of their key players. Plus Aqib Talib won;t be getting arrested, which can only help Mangino’s blood pressure.

6. Georgia

I don’t buy into the Georgia hype. I don’t believe they will beat Florida, and I don’t see them finishing the season with just one loss.

5. Missouri

Chase Daniel is back and could very well win the Heisman. The rest of this team has reloaded nicely.

4. Oklahoma

Although they can’t win in a bowl game, they will do enough damage to get to one of the big pay days, provided Sam Bradford stays healthy.

3. Virginia Tech

Defense and special teams lead the way, and the ACC is a very winnable conference this year. If Sean Glennon can keep mistakes to a minimum, (and this team can actually beat Free Shoes University, errr, Florida State) they win the ACC.

2. West Virginia

As much as I want to put them at the top, the durability of Noel Devine worries me, as does the durability of Pat White. Again, another case of an easy schedule that could lead a team to the promised land.

1. USC

The Trojans look to be the class of the league this year, as long as Mark Sanchez can stay healthy (I notice a pattern here). This team is loaded, and don’t think that Pete Carroll won’t remind them of the awful (by Trojan standards) year they had last year.

I think LSU’s qb issues will haunt them, and I also believe that Fresno St will make some noise this year (and will also win the WAC).