#1 Tennessee Loses to Vanderbilt

A day after the Tennessee Volunteers were ranked #1 in several polls, they played another in-state rival and this time they lost. The top ranked Volunteers, ranked #1 for the first time in school history, lost 72-69 to the Vanderbilt Commodores, who are ranked #14 in the college basketball polls. This loss will most likely mean the Volunteers will lose their #1 spot when the next rankings come out next Monday. They do play Sunday against the Kentucky Wildcats and if they win and a lot of top teams lose sometime this week, they can probabaly still retain their top spot. This is the second straight year Vanderbilts has beaten a top ranked team on their home floor. Last season, Vanderbilt beat the top ranked Florida Gators, who went on to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the national championship. The Volunteers have a tough schedule ahead of them, which includes the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. The Volunteers, just like a lot of top teams, are looking to get a #1 seed in the tournament. Last year, the Volunteers lost to the Buckeyes in the Sweet 16 by one point after owning a double digit lead most of the way. Does this loss even matter to the Volunteers? Will the Volunteers win the national championship? How good is Vanderbilt?

#2 Tennessee Defeats #1 Memphis

The Tennessee Volunteers, who were ranked #2 in the country, defeated the Memphis Tigers, who were ranked #1, 66-62 in the FedEx Forum in Memphis on Saturday night. This matchup between two teams in the same state was highly anticipated as the best game of the season after the polls came out last Monday. That was when Tennessee jumped ahead to #2, setting up a premier 1 vs. 2 matchup. Memphis was previously unbeaten and had beaten teams such as Georgetown, Arizona and Gonzaga all at home and had beaten UConn in Connecticut earlier this year. Their undefeated season now comes to an end and it was because they were unable to score in the crucial times of the game. Their free throw shooting hurt them as usual. Memphis is last in Division I in free throw shooting and they couldn't knock them down in the late parts of the game. Derrick Rose, Memphis' outstanding freshman, had 23 points for the Tigers, who couldn't score consistently in the late parts of the game. Tennessee was committing a lot of turnovers as well, that could've been costly. But the Volunteers was able to come away with the victory and now they'll be surely headed to a #1 seed when the polls come out on Monday. Does this win prove Tennessee is the best in the country? What does this loss say about Memphis? Will either one of these teams go far in the NCAA Tournament?

Trade Deadline Deals

There have been several teams involved in making trades leading up to Thursday's 3pm trade deadline. The San Antonio Spurs, who are the defending champions, traded Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, and a 2009 first round draft pick to the Seattle Supersonics for Kurt Thomas. Thomas, who was with the Phoenix Suns last year, was asked to guard Tim Duncan in the playoffs and did a solid job. The Spurs now add a defensive big man to their already intimidating defensive team. The Houston Rockets, who were on a 9 game winning streak heading into Thursday night's game against the Miami Heat, traded Mike James and Bonzi Wells to the New Orleans Hornets in a three team trade on Thursday. The Rockets received Bobby Jackson and Adam Haluska in the deal and the third team in the trade, the Memphis Grizzlies, acquired Marcus Vinicius in the deal and the draft rights to two other players. The most notable deal before the deadline were between the Supersonics, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls. In an 11 player trade, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Delonte West were sent to the Cavaliers. Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown went to the Bulls. Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall and Adrian Griffin were sent to the Supersonics in the complicated three team deal. Lebron James, the Cavaliers star player has been public about his displeasure of the Cavaliers not making any moves after the flurry of recent blockbuster deals including major contenders. The Cavaliers finally pulled off a major deal. Which team(s) will benefit from the trades? Has any trade in recent weeks made any team weaker than what they were before? Who are the frontrunners now for the NBA title?

Mavs, Nets Complete Blockbuster Deal

The Dallas Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets, who have been talking for about a week about a deal that would send Jason Kidd to the Mavericks, has now gone final and Kidd, who played for the Mavericks his first three seasons, will be reunited with his old team. In this deal, forward Malik Allen and guard Antoine Wright is headed to the Mavericks along with Kidd. Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, and Keith Van Horn is headed to the Nets in the deal. Van Horn, who was unofficially retired, agreed to sign with the Mavericks so he can be included in the deal. The same happened in the Pau Gasol deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Unofficially retired player Aaron McKie agreed to be included in that deal. The Nets also get two Mavericks first round picks in successive years and they receive $3 million. The Western Conference has seen blockbuster deals lately, with Gasol going to the Lakers and Shaquille O'Neal going to the Phoenix Suns. The Mavericks have now made a deal to acquire an All-Star, but they lose depth at the center position by giving up Diop. Is this a good deal for the Mavericks? Will this improve their standing in the Western Conference? Does this deal make them the frontrunners for the championship?

Atlanta Acquires Bibby

The Atlanta Hawks have acquired point guard Mike Bibby from the Sacramento Kings on Saturday for four players. Bibby, who is the last member of the Kings team that lost Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002, was acquired by the Hawks in an effort to bolster their offensive production. The Cleveland Cavaliers were heavily in the running to complete a trade acquiring Mike Bibby, but it didn't happen. The Hawks, who has All-Star scoring guard Joe Johnson, have given up Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Tyronn Lue and Lorenzen Wright. The Kings were looking to give up Bibby in the right deal for quite some time now. They finally unloaded him. They got back a substantial amount of players, including Johnson, who once scored 40 points in a playoff game for the Indiana Pacers in 2006. There have been several blockbuster deals lately and this figures to be another one. The previous marquee deals have involved Western Conference teams acquiring prominent players to elevate themselves to championship status. The Hawks, who hasn't made the playoffs since 1999, now have a chance to make the playoffs. With this deal, will the Hawks make the playoffs? What team does this deal benefit the most? After unloading Bibby, will the Kings look to trade Ron Artest?

Stackhouse In Hot Water

Jerry Stackhouse of the Dallas Mavericks has caused a stir with the NBA for his comments concerning the proposed trade with Jason Kidd of the New Jersey Nets going to the Mavericks for Stackhouse, Devin Harris and Devean George. Stackhouse, who likes playing in Dallas, said that he would go to the Nets and get a contract buyout. After his contract buyout, he said that he will sit out the mandatory 30 days and then sign with the Mavericks. That didn't sit well with the NBA and now they are looking into different scenarios if the trade happens. In all likelihood, if the trade goes through, the NBA will most definitely prevent Stackhouse from going to the Mavericks. They will try to give all NBA teams a shot and getting his services. The trade doesn't seem to happen anyway, as Devean George has said that he will not waive his Bird rights and allow the trade to happen. The Mavericks will have to look into different scenarios to get this deal done. Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks, has said before that the option of Keith Van Horn, who is retired, getting thrown into the deal instead of George will not happen. There has been marquee trades that has happened in the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers traded for former All-Star Pau Gasol and the Phoenix Suns has traded for former All-Star Shaquille O'Neal. Will this deal with Jason Kidd eventually go through before the trade deadline? If this trade goes through, will it make the Mavericks better?

Shaq Traded To Suns

Shaquille O'neal, center for the Miami Heat, was traded on Wednesday to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. The deal was in the works for the last couple of days, but to everyone's amazement, the deal was finalized. The Heat, who have the worst record in the Eastern Conference, will be getting four time All Star Marion and a backup point guard in Banks. Many people have said that O'neal may be close to retiring, as he has not been healthy these past two seasons, and hasn't been the dominant force that he once was. This trade is getting some criticism because people don't see how O'neal will fit into the Suns fast break offense. O'neal is a big center, at 7 feet 1 inches, but has not really shown the ability to play great defense in his career. The Suns currently have the best record in the Western Conference, and GM Steve Kerr, a five time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs, apparently has decided that the Suns won't win a championship with their explosive offense. They are trying to get bigger and O'neal's experience can help the team or his lack of good play recently can hurt the team. O'neal has won four championships himself, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Heat. Will the Suns be better off with O'neal? How will their offense perform for the rest of the season? How many more years does O'neal have left in him?

Knight Resigns

Bobby Knight, head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, has resigned effective immediately, most likely ending his hall of fame college coaching career. Knight is the all time leader in wins as a head coach in college basketball, with over 900 wins. His last victory was several days ago, which was a victory against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday. Knight started his coaching career at Army, but is most noted for his coaching career at the University of Indiana, where he won three national titles. The last came 21 years ago, in 1987. His stay with the Indiana Hoosiers included successes like his three national titles but also included some turbulent times, which led to his firing in 2000. He started at Texas Tech in 2001 and enjoyed some moderate success with the Red Raiders with a couple NCAA Tournament appearances. Pat Knight, Bobby's son, will take over as the head coach as he said that he will stay beyond the rest of the season. Fortunately, the resignation of Knight did not affect their upcoming recruits decisions. Their top recruit has said that he will definitely still commit to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are now 12-8 and have been struggling this season and may not make the NCAA Tournament. Was this the right decision to quit in the middle of a season? Will Knight coach another team or is he done?

Giants Stun Patriots, Win Super Bowl

The New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII in what is most likely the biggest upset in NFL history. The Giants, who were double digit underdogs coming into this game, applied heavy pressure to Patriots All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady. He was sacked five times and was hit countless other times during the game. Wes Welker, wide receiver for the Patriots, was very effective, having 11 catches for 103 yards. Randy Moss, another wide receiver for the Patriots, scored a touchdown to put the Patriots ahead 14-10. But the Giants didn't quit, as they have done the entire postseason. Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback, lead the Giants on a drive that ended with Plaxico Burress making a touchdown reception with 35 seconds left. The Patriots, who had the first undefeated regular season since the 1972 Dolphins, finally could not win a game which presented struggles. The Patriots all season have been able to find a way to win when they haven't been playing at their best. The Giants, however, were ready to combat anything the Patriots threw their way and they turned out to be Super Bowl champions. Manning won the Super Bowl MVP award, a year after his older brother, Peyton of the Indianapolis Colts, won it last year. It's the first time in NFL history that brothers have started in consecutive Super Bowls and won it. Does everything the Patriots accomplished this season get thrown out the window? What can we expect from the Giants next year? Is this the biggest upset in NFL history?

Gasol Traded To Lakers

Pau Gasol, forward for the Memphis Grizzlies, was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday for two players and two draft picks. The two players who were traded from the Lakers were rookie Jarvaris Crittenton and Kwame Brown, who has been getting booed at home games for his poor play since replacing the injured Andrew Bynum. Gasol, a former all star with the Grizzlies, now provides the Lakers with a reliable big man while Bynum recovers from his injury. It also gives the Lakers a good lineup for when Bynum returns to action, as Gasol and Bynum would form to be a good tandem if they can work well together. The Grizzlies certainly didn't get the best of this trade. They received Brown, who was a former overall #1 pick who now turns out to be a bust in the NBA. They also got Crittenton, who was not a major part of the Lakers success this year. The Lakers have now produced on Kobe Bryant's request of doing things to make this team a better team. Bryant, before this season started, demanded a trade several times, because he felt the Lakers were not doing anything to make the team a contender. Kobe now gets to play with another all star and possibly improve their chances of winning a title. Will this trade make the Lakers the front runner to win the title? If the Lakers don't get out the first round, will Bryant definitely demand a trade?