MLB Wild Card Collapse and Postseason Predictions

The time has come; it’s time for the MLB playoffs to start. The last day of the season was basically a playoff game for 4 teams yesterday. It was an exciting day in sports as the Red Sox and Braves had historic collapses.

 The Red Sox had a nine game Wild Card lead going into September, and nobody in MLB history has ever blown a lead of nine games until now that is. The Tampa Bay Rays were trailing the Yankees 5-0 going into the 3^rd inning with their ace, David Price, on the mound.  The Red Sox were back and forth in Baltimore all game before leading in the 7^th until the rain delay. Now people who know me personally, know that I am a huge Red Sox fan. I attended a game in person at Camden Yards where the Red Sox had a huge 10-0 lead. Then something magical happened. An hour rain delay came and the Red Sox turned to the bullpen. The Orioles came back firing with some explosive offense and scored 11 runs in two innings to win 11-10 in dramatic fashion. The Red Sox had similar fate last night, just not nearly as crushing score wise. 

So now the four teams in the American League that will be competing are the New York Yankees vs the Detroit Tigers, and the Texas Rangers vs the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are a surprising team in the American League, based on strong pitching I look for them to defeat the Texas Rangers in 4 games. I also believe that the Yankees will beat the Tigers in 3 games due to the strong pitching staff that they have and that Justin Verlander can’t pitch every night for the Tigers which would advance the Yankees to the ALCS. Then we have a tough series the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are a definite Cinderella story in the making but I think their luck runs out as they lose to the Yankees in 6 games since the second round on of the playoffs in MLB is best of 7. The Rays are the American League’s only chance of beating the New York Yankees in the playoffs, since there offense can score when they need to and their pitching can match that of the New York Yankees, but I still believe that the Yankees with home field advantage will come out on top.

 Now to the National League, the Braves led the Wild Card in the National League by 8 ½ games and will join the Red Sox in watching the playoffs through Direct TV. The Braves lost to the Phillies in the 13th inning of a dramatic game at Turner Field. So the Cardinals capitalized by crushing Houston 8-0 to win the National League Wild Card. So the first round matchups will be the Cardinals and the Phillies and the Arizona Diamond Backs or D-Backs, against the Milwaukee Brewers. I believe that the Brewers will defeat the D-Backs in 5 games and the Phillies will beat the Cardinals in 3 games. The Brewers have a high powered offense relying on Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, which will get them past the D-Backs. The Brewers will defeat the highly favored Phillies in 7 games and advance to the World Series to face the New York Yankees. The Phillies have a very good rotation and a very good offense,  but they are bound to choke yet again in the playoffs.

 The Yankees definitely have a better pitching staff and a high powered offense and will end up winning the World Series for the 28th in franchise history, way above any other team in MLB history.

Week 5 College Football Rankings

Every week I will rank the top 10 teams for the college football season, up until bowl season, and this is how it will work. I will look at the top 10 teams in the AP poll, and decide based on strength of schedule, opponents they have beaten, who the top 10 teams in the nation should be.

1. LSU-has to be number one right now, after beating Oregon the opening week and not having a fault since, and came out with a quality win against West Virginia last week.

2.Oklahoma-has to be the second best team in the nation, considering how well they have played and all the preseason hype in Quarterback Landry Jones and this program. They have quality wins over #5 Florida State and Missouri which will be key in the BCS polls later on in the year.

3. Alabama- Alabama had a quality win over Penn State in Happy Valley, but a struggling Penn State offense may make that win less impressive for the BCS Polls. Still playing in the SEC, and having a convincing 38-14 win over Arkansas makes them a legit title contender.

4. Oklahoma State-  Oklahoma State fresh off a great 30-29 victory over Texas A&M, is also a very good team in the Big 12 this season, and is being led by Brandon Weeden, there star senior Quarterback who has thrown for nearly 1600 yards through four games and is a main reason they have the 2nd best passing offense in all of college football.

5. Wisconsin- I believe that Wisconsin is a very good team this season which will face a tough test against new big ten member Nebraska, but should be able to come away with the victory. I believe that Wisconsin is the best team in the Big Ten and may surprise some people this year.

6.  Boise State- I'm not a person who is on the bandwagon for this team, or any of the non BCS automatic qualifiers. This team's best victory is against a very overrated Georgia team at the Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons. They will have to go undefeated and have a impressive win over TCU later on for them to make a big BCS Bowl game.

7. Stanford- They do not have an extremely tough schedule this season, but they do have Andrew Luck, The wonderful Quarterback. Who doesn't want a little bit of luck on their side? They have relied on that very strong defense they have this season.

8. Oregon- This is where I started to run into issues. Even with the loss they have so far this year, it was against easily the best team in the Nation, LSU in week one. Oregon must win out if they would hope for a shot at the BCS Title Game.

9. Nebraska- This week I have them as the number 9 team in the nation, but they will fall this week after they lose to Wisconsin. This team has a absolutely terrible offense, and most likely will have to hold Wisconsin to 21 points if they would like to come away with a victory.

10. Florida- This may surprise some people, but the Florida Gators are a very good team in college sports this season. They have a tough match up against Alabama this week; it will be a very good game though I believe Bama will come out on top.

Games to Watch:

Alabama @ Florida

Nebraska @ Wisconsin