Mens Basketball- The U's new sport

If I would have told you five years ago that the University of Miami's Basketball team would be better than its football team you would have laughed in my face. This week's ESPN/USA Today poll has UM earning 7 votes for the top 25. Normally this wouldn't be something to write home about but when you consider that we are known (or at least used to be known) as a football school it is pretty impressive (or depressing). Our Men's Basketball team has already started to creep up the rankings while our football team continues to fall lower and hasn't had a top 25 vote since week 6.

Sunday, Miami won the finals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off with a win over Providence College. En route to this championship the Canes recorded W's over Marist and VCU as well.

This year's team has only two freshman on its roster. As an older basketball team the hurricanes have been put in more situations and are better prepared for the upcoming season. Sophomore James Dews led the team in scoring in the final with 17 points. Close behind him was Brian Asbury (Junior) with 16 points and 12 points from Anthony King (Senior).

The Canes this year have potential to make the NCAA Tournament if they continue their current trend. Miami showed promise last year with a win against Georgia Tech at home and a strong showing against Duke until the team was plagued by injuries. Anthony King missed most of the season and Jack McClinton was hurt later in the year.

If the Canes stay healthy a team that was projected to finish at the bottom of the ACC has the potential to make history and play for the ACC championship and the March Madness Tournament.

Parody: Not Reserved for the NFL anymore.

The NFL has always been praised for its high level of parody from year to year. This parody is demonstrated by examining the Super bowl Champions of recent years: 2000 - St. Louis Rams, 2001 - Baltimore Ravens, 2002 - New England Patriots, 2003-Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004 and 2005 - New England Patriots, 2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers, and 2007 - Indianapolis Colts. Although the New England Patriots remain the exception to the rule, this shows that any team has the opportunity to win a championship in any given year .

The NFC South, more than any other division, experiences the ups and downs that this parody creates in the NFL. Since its conception in 2002, a different team has won the NFC South every year, and since 2003, the team that finished in last place won the division the following season. This season appears to be following the same trend, as the New Orleans Saints, who won the division last year with a record of 10-6, have stumbled their way through the first part of the season, falling to 1-5. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who finished 4-12 and last in the division last year, lead the division with a record of 4-2 and have responded to much adversity thus far in the season, losing their first and second string running backs to injury.

Unfortunately, the Patriots look poised to win yet another Super bowl. The Tom Brady to Randy Moss combination seems unbeatable, and Wes Welker is more than happy to do the dirty work. Surprisingly, the NCAA, not the NFL has been a great example of parody . No one team has been able to maintain the number one spot recently, and incredible upsets has left college football analysts in disbelief. After seven weeks, the number one team has changed three times. There is only one team from the Big Ten ranked in the top 10, and it is Ohio State with the number one ranking. After LSU was stunned by Kentucky, California appeared poised to take over the number one spot until they were upset by Oregon State. This surprising season has left many people asking, "What does a number one team even look like in today's NCAA?" If this current trend continues, the answer to this question will become increasingly muddled.