Let’s look at some overlooked football news before we get to the hoops.

Was Norm Chow’s decision to leave USC and take the Tennessee Titan job entirely his decision? Remarkably, the Orange County Register reports that Chow was forced out at Southern Cal and had would have been moved from offensive coordinator to quarterbacks coach due to Pete Carroll’s fondness for Lane Kiffin, son of Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte. Kiffin turned down the offensive coordinator job at Ole’ Miss several weeks ago to stay in LA. Needless to say, Kiffin will be the most scrutinized assistant coach in the country next year, a heavy burden for a 29-year old replacing college football’s best play caller.

It is ironic that Tedy Bruschi’s health problems occur the week before the NFL combine. Bruschi was the NCAA’s all time leading sacker out of Arizona but slipped to the third round due to not having prototype size and physical ability. Next week we’ll see personnel people downgrade players who have shown productivity on the field due to things like bench press reps, 40 time, and shuttle run acumen, or size. Meanwhile no-name chronic underachievers who can run fast, lift a lot of weight, or look good in their skivvies will skyrocket on draft boards despite not getting it done for four years on the field of play.

I can see this happening in a lower level college game, but how can one team possibly be better hydrated than the other in the Super Bowl? Though whether or not Donovan McNabb had anything left at the end of the game is in question, but there is no question that a number of Eagles were cramping up. McNabb had a couple of incidents in college where he threw up on the field during Syracuse games, including late in a tight game against Miami. He’s a big guy with a lot a pressure on him who moves around a lot, and late in a game in warmer weather than he’s used to he’s predisposed to problems.

Imagine you’re a sharp bettor who caught Wednesday night’s Pacers/Blazers under at the overnight offshore opener of 179. The line closed as low as 174 in some places. With 47 seconds left Wednesday night, the Pacers had the ball with a 83-74 lead. Do you register it as a win? After the Pacers scored with 46 seconds left to go up by 11, the Blazers answered with a bucket with 41 seconds left to make it 85-76 and then played hack and shoot. And they kept hacking Reggie Miller, one of the best free throw shooters in history. The Pacers hit all 10 of their free throws, with Miller going 8-8 while the Blazers kept scoring on every (brief) possession as well. The Pacers won by a mind-boggling final of 95-87. 182 total points resulting in a universal over thanks to 25 points in the final 46 seconds. Imagine sitting there thinking to yourself “the only thing that can prevent me from losing this game is for 22 or more points to be scored in the final 46 seconds” and then having it actually happen. It has to be some kind of record and a horrible beat for the overnight players who were clearly on the right side and got great value.

Plenty of games fall around the number in both college and NBA basketball right now. Why is that? There is very little mystery left with any of these college or NBA teams. The power ratings are pretty solid right now as they are not based on projections, but on actual performance on the court. That’s one reason the lines are tight.

Adding to this massive database that has been built up is the extremely fair nature of scoring in basketball. There are no plays in a basketball game that are anywhere close to the importance of an 80-yard interception return for a TD or a 3-run homer, both of which can just blow up projected margins and totals. With the hoops scoring in 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s, it is very easy to make up for even the most spectacular and lucky play by an opponent. No surprise that so many games land right around the number.

But that changes this weekend as the “bracket buster” games roll around, and the tight numbers from conference play go out the window. Your opinion about the strength of various conferences is suddenly meaningful again. If you like the Horizon, don’t like the MAC, and think the WAC is top-heavy it is suddenly December all over again. We’ll preview a bracket buster game on our free hotline at 770-618-8700 with some valuable general bracket buster information this weekend. Our hotline is an old-fashioned “comp phone” that you can call every game day for a free 24-hour recorded message. Win or lose, you’ll get some good information on the teams and learn something in the process. Both the team and the big picture knowledge is something you can take into the future, win or lose, so make the call to 1-770-618-8700 part of your regular routine.

No NBA action this weekend unless you’re an All Star Game player, so let’s take a look at a college game for Saturday. Look for Utah State to win impressively at Cal State Fullerton late Saturday afternoon. Aggies suffered a horrific one-point loss last Saturday at home. Utah State was outscored 11-2 in the final 27 seconds by Pacific to have their 28-game winning streak broken. USU went 2-14 for the game after entering the contest averaging better than 45% in Logan from behind the arc. Aggies have suffered two losses to the Tigers and will not win the regular season conference crown as a result.

Fullerton is a decent team and enter this one with a 8-5 record in the Big West after covering in a 84-74 home win over Idaho on Thursday night. But Utah State’s dominance over the mid and bottom level teams in the conference is difficult to ignore. 84-60 was the final score in USU’s smashing of the 49ers in their first meet and Utah State’s 57.1% to 35.8% shooting edge in first meeting isn’t all that unreflective of USU’s abilities. Between that win and the Pacific game Utah State notched six straight conference wins by 20 or more, including road wins by 25, 29, 24, and 30. After the Pacific loss the Aggies went back to the road and stampeded UC-Riverside 73-48 on Thursday night. They are simply crushing anyone not named Pacific right now.

The Pacific loss was tough, but we have a lot of respect for Stew Morrill and the way he keeps his club’s eyes on the prize, as we saw in Thursday night’s bounce back. Look for Utah State to roll Fullerton.

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Remember to call our free hotline at 770-618-8700, a free 24-hour service with analysis and selections every game day. Good luck this weekend, and be careful.