It's difficult to look at next season only one day after LSU thumped Ohio State in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game, but looking ahead is what pundits and analyst do best. So without further adieu, a look ahead to the top teams of the 2008 season.

(rankings in no particular order)

1. Florida - After finishing 9-4 and losing in the Capital One Bowl, the Gators will almost certainly be a title contender in 2008. Led by Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and running back/wide receiver Percy Harvin, the offense will once again be formidable. Added to the mix will be USC transfer Emanuel Moody, who should give the offense the consistent back they needed this season. The defense will return a majority of their starters, led by linebacker Brandon Spikes and a youthful core of cornerbacks.

2. Oklahoma - Bob Stoops team finished the season on a sour note with a 20 point loss in the Fiesta Bowl, but OU should once again in the thick of the BCS race in 2008. Sam Bradford will need to avoid a Colt McCoy like Sophomore slump, and running back DeMarco Murray will need to stay healthy after missing the last several games of 2007 due to injury. Bob Stoops could have his most talented offensive team in his 10 seasons as coach if wide receiver Malcolm Kelly stays for his Senior season. Big XII Defensive Player of the Year Curtis Lofton will likely test the NFL waters, but his return would solidify the defense.

3. USC - The Trojans were arguably the hottest team in the country during the last month of the regular season, winning the PAC 10 for the sixth straight season and the Rose Bowl for the third time in five seasons. The offense loses quarterback John David Booty, tight end Fred Davis, and left tackle Sam Baker, but talented running back Joe McKnight will be able to play a more significant role in the offense. The defensive line loses Lawrence Jackson and Sedrick Ellis, but Everson Griffen and Averell Spicer should be more than capable to replace them.

4. Ohio State - The Buckeyes have made two straight national championship appearances, and have a serious chance to make it three in a row next season. Only two starters will graduate (Kirk Barton and Larry Grant) and the offense should be better next season with Chris Wells a serious contender for the Heisman Trophy. The top ranked defense should not miss a beat, with Vernon Gholston and James Laurinaitis joining Malcolm Jenkins as three of the best defenders in the country. A key early season battle with USC will go a long way in determining how good the Buckeyes will be.

5. Georgia - After humiliating Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, the Bulldogs go into 2008 riding a large wave of momentum. Quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno both will be mentioned as preseason All-Americans, and the defense will once again be one of the fastest in the country.

It's actually not too surprising that Tim Raines was not elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  After all, first-ballot election is reserved for the best of the best, and Raines clearly is not one of the "inner-circle" HOFers.

However, giving him only 24.3% of the votes is a sorry performance by the BBWAA.  Raines hit for a good enough average and took enough walks to reach base more times in his career than Tony Gwynn.  He stole 808 bases and did so with the highest success rate in the game's history.  He was one of the most dominant players of the 1980s and contributed solid-to-strong performances throughout the 90s.  It might take a few seasons, but hopefully Raines will eventually get his due and receive a plaque in Cooperstown.

Also, Bert Blyleven unfortunately fell short again.  Pitching on some poor teams kept his win total to "only" 287 - below the magic number of 300 -  and pushed up his loss total to 250.  But he was a terrific pitcher, finishing his career with 3701 strikeouts - third all-time when he retired and still fifth overall - and a 3.31 ERA.  His years on the ballot are winding down, but this year's vote percentage of 61.9% bodes well for his candidacy in the coming elections.  Let's hope he has enough time remaining to gain that extra 13.1% support he needs to make it in.

Those of you that have been purchasing ticket packages at Kentucky Speedway, in the hopes that this would gain you first dibs on Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup tickets when they were able to secure a race, sorry about your luck.  U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman issued an opinion yesterday, dismissing the Speedway's lawsuit alleging unfair business practices against NASCAR and ISC (International Speed Corporation). 

The decision basically kills any hope of Kentucky Speedway gaining a Sprint Cup race, short of track owner Jerry Carroll purchasing another track and then moving its race to Sparta.  Judge Bertelsman's decision was a summary judgment, which basically means that he did not even believe that the Speedway had even a legal leg to stand on to bring suit against NASCAR.

No one should really be surprised by this.  NASCAR has been very effective at taking control of its own operations, using ISC to purchase many of the tracks that it runs races at and building new tracks under that umbrella.  The relationship between the two is borderline incestuous - I'd love to see org charts of the two organizations to see how many lines cross corporations - but as the legal opinion reads, "...a producer of a product is free...to select its distributors and and to refuse to deal with would-be distributors..."  So the relationship is pretty much legalized, and there's not much getting around this now.

Here's where it's going to get very interesting.  NASCAR doesn't deal very well with dissenters.  They won't strip any races from Kentucky Speedway - that'd be extremely bad P.R.  But there's other ways they could exact their pound of flesh.  For instance, this year's Nationwide Cup Series (formerly Busch Series) race at the speedway is scheduled the day before the Sprint Cup race in Brooklyn, Michigan.  This way, some of the Sprint Cup drivers can race here and then get easily up to Michigan, thus helping Kentucky Speedway's attendance.  Don't be surprised if, in 2009, Kentucky's race might be the day before the Sprint Cup race in Infineon, California.  If you don't think NASCAR's spiteful enough to pull something like that, you just haven't been watching the series long enough then.

Goose Gossage was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame this year. After numerous times  of not getting enough votes, Gossage finally got enough votes to be enshrined in Cooperstown. Now, I have nothing against Goose. He's a fine closer. Really, really good. Not sure he's HOF material. The thing I'm just flabergasted at is how holier than thou baseball writers are. What exactly did Goose Gossage do from last year to this to warrant election? Did he throw some more saves? No. I hate the idea when they say he's not a first ballot hall of famer. Either you're worthy or you're not. Speaking of worthy . . . please someone explain how Davey Concepcion is not a Hall of Famer? His numbers are comparable if not better than Ozzie Smith. Davey C. had more homeruns, more RBIs and the same BA as Ozzie. He didn't do back flips. Please, spare me the attitude of it being the Hall of Fame when someone like Gossage is elected after numerous attempts, but Concepcion isn't. Gossage was good, really good, but not Hall of Fame good, in my opinion. Davey C. was the second the best shortstop at his position with World Series rings and should be in the Hall of Fame. Once again the righeous writers blew it. They also continue to disparage an innocent man by casting only 23% of votes for Mark McGwire. Whisper what you want, but how many drug tests for steroids did McGwire fail? How much hard proof is there against him? If they don't put McGwire in, then hopefully no one with any steroid connection will get in. Since they like to act holier than thou. Munch on this, no player has ever gotten a unanimous vote into the Hall of Fame by these people. No Jackie Robinson, no Babe Ruth, no Cal Ripken, no Cy Young.

It's playoff time in the NFL and once again that leads us to take a look at what seperates the teams that are still playing right now to the teams that are not. As a life-long Bengals' fans I am left to ask myself this every off-season it seems.

In watching NFL Network last week I heard Adam Schefter throw out a couple stats and their direct correlation to teams making the playoffs. Let's take a look:

TOP QUARTERBACKS (QB Rating)
1. Tom Brady - NE - 117.2
2. Ben Roethlisberger - PIT - 104.1
3. David Garrard - JCK - 102.2
4. Peyton Manning - IND - 98.0
5. Tony Romo - DAL - 97.4
6. Brett Favre - GB - 95.7
7. Jeff Garcia - TB - 94.6
8. Matt Hasselbeck - SEA - 91.4
*14. Carson Palmer - CIN - 86.7

TOP DEFENSES (Points Allowed)
1. Colts - 16.4 ppg
2. Steelers - 16.8 ppg
3. Bucs - 16.9 ppg
4. Patriots - 17.1 ppg
5. Chargers - 17.8 ppg
6. Packers - 18.2 ppg
6. Seahawks - 18.2 ppg
8. Titans - 18.6 ppg
*24. Bengals - 24.1 ppg

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your team is not going very far giving up over 24 points per game, but if Carson can right his ship the Bengals are half way there. This organization needs to make a committment to investing in and focusing on offense. If that means trading Chad Johnson to free up money so be it. After this season coming up something will have to give as TJ's contract will be up. It's hard to justify spending too much on wideouts when you have so much invested in a QB.