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As crazy as it sounds, the Los Angeles Clippers will be a contender sooner rather than later and will make the playoffs next season.

Although last season was a complete nightmare with absolutely nothing working out in their favor including resigning the face of the franchise in Elton Brand, I believe things will finally start to come together for the other team in LA.

Getting Blake Griffin with the first pick in the NBA Draft was huge! Not only was that a huge move as Griffin was arguably the best player in the draft, but just recently the Clippers also got rid of some baggage by shipping Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzles and getting Griffin a spot in the starting lineup immediately.

The Clipps will struggle to get some chemistry together, but with a lineup like this: Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby with Al Thronton in the mix this team could be scary good next season!

If you watched USA basketball in the Olympics last summer then you know the name Ricky Rubio.

Rubio was the point guard of the Spanish national team which pretty much tore up the US team which had all the best players in the NBA as you may already know.

Some people are already saying he is the next best thing in the NBA and if he were eligible in the last NBA Draft he would have a top five or ten pick without a doubt. His game resembles Steve Nash with his passing and penetrating ability, but struggles shooting the basketball.

Now that Rubio is available to be drafted he is projected go as high as the second pick in the Draft maybe even a slight chance of the Los Angeles Clippers taking him at number one.

Is Ricky Rubio the next best point guard in the making? Remains to be seen, but it will be exciting to see another great point guard in the league.

Some people will say Tyler Hanbrough should win his second in a row, some will say others deserve the Player of the Year award in college basketball, but I say that it would be ridiculous to give the award to anyone other than Oklahoma Sooners forward Blake Griffin.

I haven't seen a player like Blake Griffin in college basketball since Kevin Durant. Not like that was that long ago, but he is that caliber a player where an NBA franchise build around him.

These kind of players only come around may ever five to ten years. Kevin Durant does remind me of Griffin even though their games are completely different, but I think Griffin will be a big time superstar in the NBA.

Blake Griffin should win this award hands down!

I know that Pittsburgh is a number one seed and they have some great players in DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, but they have struggled every step of the way so far in this tournament and I don't think they can go all the way.

It was hard enough for Blair and company to get to the Sweet 16 and it is going to have to stop somewhere. Xavier isn't the best team, in fact the Panther are lucky they aren't facing Villanova or Duke, but I think Xavier will knock out the first number one seed of the tournament.

The Panthers do have a week to correct their mistakes of the first two games, but I think the long season has started to wear them down.

There won't be many upsets in the first round of the NCAA tournament this season, at least in my opinion, but one of the upsets that will really shock people will be 13 seed Mississippi St. beating 4th seed Washington.

The Huskies have played awesome this season, the Pac-10 may have not been what it has been in the last five years or so, but Washington still played impressive basketball.

Mississippi St on the other hand are coming into this game hot and ready to prove they are the real deal. This will be a nail bitter, but I think Mississppi State will pull off the unlikely upset.

Although Siena and Ohio State are only seperate by a single seed with Siena being the nine seed and Ohio St. being the eight seed, I think Siena will prove they are the better team by being one of the first teams to upset a higher in the NCAA tournament Thursday.

I don't think there will be many upsets in the first round this year, but I do see Siena knocking off Ohio St.

Never easy to pick winners in this tournament, even the pros get 25% or more of their picks wrong, but there are some picks that seem like a forgone conclusion.

Despite how many players there are in college basketball there are only a few that actually make an impression on the country and get consideration for the College Basketball Player of the Year Award.

This season the race might come down to two players. Last season's winner Tyler Hansbrough and the Oklahoma Sooners superstar forward Blake Griffin.

Tyler Hansbrough may be a great player and the North Carolina Tar Heels all-time leading scorer, but the Sooners' forward should win this award by a large margin.

This kid is so good that the minute he went down with a concussion the Sooners dropped from the second best team in the country to the sixth spot. The Sooners lost two straight and struggled to finish out the season as one of the best teams in the country.

It might be a close call for the NCAA to decide, but I think the scale tips in Griffin's favor.

Prediction.  St Josephs  -6.5  over Massachusetts.  I don't have alot to say about these teams, but St Josephs has been playing very well . They should win by more.    I also like Ohio St. -2.5  This is probably the best game to bet on today.   Ohio St should win by alot more.   This is actually Lock if there is such a thing.   So go with St Joes -6.5   and   Ohio ST -2.5

  In this pick I am going with the over.  Marquette vs Georgetown ..Both teams seem to score quite a bit.  Marquette averages 80 Pts a game and Georgetown can score as well .  With this being a home game for Marquette, they should score willingly.  Defense however always plays better at home.   Take the over 141

 Throughout the this season and last year's championship run the have been plenty of questions whether or not point guard Rajon Rondo was the real deal. Some times he is without a doubt one of the best point guards in the league, but then you see he try and shoot the basketball and you start to think otherwise.

One of the biggest tests for any point guard in the NBA is going head to head with one of the best defensive point guards in the league in triple double machine Jason Kidd. The future hall of famer is not only a great floor general on offense, but he is always in the top three or five players in the league for steals.

Coming into the Boston Celtics match up with the Dallas Mavericks would be a a big test for Rondo going up against a bigger, stronger veteran like Kidd. Well, in what was an amazing performance Rondo proved he can play with the best of them as he recorded a triple double.

With 19 points, 14 assists and perhaps the most impressive stat in his 15 rebounds Rondo has finally made it to elite point guard status. He isn't quite at Chris Paul caliber just yet, but with so much talent around him we can expect big things from the little guy in Boston in the years to come.