After watching the way Adrian Peterson lit up the NFL last season for the Vikings, its hard not to get excited about this year's top running back entering the NFL draft, two-time Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden.

He enjoyed three amazing seasons in Fayetville as he rushed for 4,590 yards and 41 touchdowns while becoming the centerpiece of the school's "Wild Hog" offense. The innovation paid off as McFadden completed 14 of 22 attempts with seven touchdowns. While he only caught 46 passes in his college career, McFadden sees his ability to contribute in multiple facets of the game as a benefit at the next level.

Is the comparison to Adrian Peterson fair?

"I think there's a lot of comparisons between McFadden and Peterson because they have similar size, similar speed, similar running styles," Vikings VP of player personnel Rick Spielman told FoxSports.com.

While there's no debating the two backs have similar frames - Peterson is 6-foot-1 and 217 pounds; McFadden is 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds - not all agree with the assessment.

"I don't like his 23 fumbles in three years," said the NFL Network's Mike Maylock. "I think his legs are very spindly and I think his legs go dead on contact. To me, a top-10 running back is Adrian Peterson, and I don't put them in the same category. To me, (the comparisons) are not valid. To others they might be, to me they're not."

It's hard not to get excited about McFadden, but the former Arkansas running back does not come without some baggage. Then there was an incident in January where McFadden was handcuffed after a bar fight in Little Rock and later released without being charged. He severely injured his toe during a fight outside another Little Rock club in the summer of 2006, but recovered in time to play in the Razorbacks' season opener.

There are many teams that are salivating over the idea of drafting.  Even Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday, Feb. 22, that he'd consider the Arkansas tailback if he's available with the No. 9 overall pick, according to Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News.

The buzz has been going around the Queen City of late about the surprising play of the Cincinnati Bearcats, and lately the talk of the NCAA tournament has been growing. Even Cincinnati's head coach Mick Cronin was starting to sing the praise, but on Saturday the twelth-ranked Georgetown Hoyas weren't hearing any of it.

Georgetown could make a serious run again this year at National Championship and easily are one of the most physcial defensive team's in the country. The Hoyas dominated UC in all aspects and won their 19th straight game at home as they won 73-53. Since joining the Big East, UC is now 0-4 against Georgetown and have lost by an average of 16 points per game.

Cronin boldy exclaimed earlier in the week, "We've got more work to do," Cronin told the Cincinnati Enquirer Thursday. "We've got to win games. But if we end up in sixth place in the Big East and the top five teams are going to the NCAA Tournament for sure, why should people below us get in over us when our overall record is tainted because of Jamual Warren's injury?"

Cronin's team has a lot more work to do and not much time to do it in. The Bearcats have had a great season considering where they started from and it's hard to argue against that. Still, the coach and the fans age getting a little ahead of theirselves. This team has a long way to go before you start flapping your gums. Do they have a shot at the Dance in '08, sure.  There are about 100+ teams that do right now, but don't hold your breath.

SIDE NOTE
It doesn't help ease the pain of a 20-point loss in D.C. on Saturday, but thoughts of what could have been once again haunt Bearcat Nation.  Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, who both would have likely been Bearcats had Bob Huggins stayed in town, went off for Kansas State, who is vying for their first Big 12 championship. The sensational high-scoring freshmen can't beat teams on their own though. Beasley set a Big 12 record with 44 points and Walker scored 31 on Saturday night, and yet the Wildcats lost their fourth straight road game, 92-86 to Baylor.

Bruce Pearl told his team before the game that he didn't know if they were the best team in the country, but he said "they were 40 minutes from being the #1 team".  Tennessee played inspired. They played as a team. With that they handed Memphis their first loss of the season and snapped the Tigers' 47-game home winning streak as they beat them 66-62 in the Battle of I-40 on Saturday night.

The game has been talked about for weeks and there's no questioning whether or not it lived up to its hype. Despite having their star player, Chris Lofton, only going 2 for 11 from the field and finishing with 7 points the Vols found a way to win. Now for the first time in school history the men's basketball team is the #1 ranked team in the land.

The atmosphere was electric at the FedEx Forum (still think it sounds cooler as The Pyramid) with both Priscilla Presley and Peyton Manning in the house. Priscilla lit up Graceland Memphis Blue on Friday night. To say that the state of Tennessee was turned upside down over this game is a understatement. Seats were going for $5000 pop on the web before the game and trust me there was little sitting during this one!

Critics are going to claim "the loss was good for Tigers", now they don't have to go into the tournament with the pressures of being an undefeated team. The pressure would have been unbearable and even the best teams usually fall to it, just ask Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. 

Win or lose, Memphis suffered some losses to the "team character" on Saturday.  Now not only are they the best team in the country, there not even the best team in their state.  They were physically dominated on the boards and beaten up throughout this game.  With the game still up for grabs in the waning moments the Tigers' biggest weakness was exposed - they can't hit a free throw to save their lives.  That isn't much of a problem when you average margin of victory of 20 plus per game playing in Conference USA, but it will knock you of the tournament very quickly come March.

The Vols proved to be versatitle and Bruce Pearl outcoached John Calipari and once again showed us in the spotlight he doesn't blink. Both of these teams are Final Four threats in next month's tournament, but now we all know that Memphis can be beaten.