Tonight’s Top 25 Action: Valentyne Edition

So, there are two Action Alert hotties whose last names are Valentine-esque, which is pretty sweet. There are also some great basketball match-ups tonight. I’m particularly excited about the Wisky/MSU game, since I’m a total Big Ten homer. I also noticed that in my inaugural edition of Top 25 Action, I predicted the correct winner in each game. Granted, all the ranked teams won, but let’s see if I can keep the streak alive.

Update: I never should’ve said anything about predicting the games, because  I bit it hard tonight.  I am 4-4, looking to rebound on the biggest college basketball night of the week tomorrow night.

Newly-minted #1 Wisconsin takes on the pesky Spartans of Michigan State. MSU hasn’t looked that great this year, but you really never know with this team at the Breslin Center. You can think it’s gonna be a good game and then they go and drop a 30-point loss on your head like a big pile of bird poop *ahemIowaahem*. Anyway, I think it’ll be a good game but that the Badgers will ultimately prevail. They just look too good this year. Action Alert: Wisconsin has a number of cuties: Trevon Hughes, Brett Valentyn, Morris Cain, Michael Flowers, and I really feel the need to mention Kammron Taylor (above), who is undoubtedly Chris Rock’s evil twin and will someday blast-off in a Big Boy and have sharks with laser beams on their heads. Seriously, though, doesn’t he look exactly like him? I know this is mentioned a lot, but maybe non-college basketball fans were not aware. Michigan State is woefully lacking in the hottie department, but they do have a fine-lookin’ assistant coach, Mark Montgomery (below). He can mark my montgomery. I’m….not even sure what that means.

In Big East Action tonight, #22 West Virginia takes on the Fightin’ Friars of Providence. The Friars did open conference play with a win over Marquette, but since then it hasn’t looked so good for the Men of the Cloth. Much like the Hufflepuff, the house the Friar represents, Providence will not win their Quidditch match-up tonight. Action Alert: The Mountaineers have four noteworthy fellas in Joe Alexander, Joe Mazzulla, Josh Sowards, and Ted Talkington. One lone Friar gets a shout-out, Dwain “The Bathtub” Williams.

Texas Tech is definitely the Jekyll and Hyde of the Big 12 this year, which seems apropos considering who coaches them. They started out strong, winning 4 of their first 5 conference games, including big wins over Kansas and Texas A&M. The Red Raiders then flew through somebody’s jet wash and went on a flat-spin out to sea, losing 5 in a row, including a 12-point loss to their opponents tonight Texas and Big 12 perennial bottom-feeder Nebraska. However, they righted the ship and have won their last two over Texas A&M and Colorado. So, Texas Tech has swept the Aggies, one of the best Big 12 teams this year. Texas is looking pretty good this year, spearheaded by their stand-out freshman Kevin Durant. However, I’m gonna pick the upset. I think Texas Tech got their mojo back and will win tonight. Action Alert: Texas Tech has our second Valentine, this time named Benny and a guy named LucQuente White (below), who is not all that hot but his picture is just adorable. Bobby Knight has not slapped the smile off this kid’s face just yet. Texas is representing pretty well with AJ Abrams, Connor Atchley, and Kevin Durant. They also have Dexter Pittman, who looks like a Fat Albert character.

I’ll confess I don’t know too much about Air Force or UNLV basketball, except for the fact that Air Force is highly ranked and 10-3, UNLV is 9-4 and the last time these teams met it was a 6-point game. Oh, I also am still bitter about UNLV’s dashing of Iowa’s bid for the Final Four in 1987 because I was 5 ½ years old, just starting to get into Iowa sports, and was actually starting to understand what was going on. I was also aware of how excited my family was (especially my Grandpa Pete, who died when I was 12). Oh and UNLV did it by erasing a 20-point halftime deficit. UNLV is probably the reason my grandpa died of cancer. So…..GO AIR FORCE! For real, even though the game is at UNLV, I like the Falcons in this one. Action Alert: Did you know that all the Air Force players’ pictures on the site are in uniform? Woo woo. Be sure and watch for Falcons Andrew Henke and Eric Kenzik, but pay special attention to UNLV’s Troy Cage (which reminded me of Phoebe thinking Jack Bing sounded like a 1940s newspaper guy), Marcus Lawrence and the Hottie of the Night Gaston Essengue (below). I could slice paper on those cheek bones. Yowza.