First meeting between these two schools and the main headlines here deal with off the field issues for both teams. UK was hoping for a better (warmer) bowl trip but is making a 5th str bowl trip and is 3-1. Pitt is making their 3rd str bowl trip winning LY’s Car Care over NC, 19-17. UK HC Phillips becomes UK’s first HC to take his tm to a bowl in his 1st yr of coaching. Wannstedt was forced to step down at Pitt but orig said he would coach here only to change his mind and DC Phil Bennett will be the head man here. Pitt did hire Mike Haywood as their new HC only to fire him 3 weeks later after a domestic violence arrest and currently Bennett is the interim. Both teams defeated Louisville with UK having a 466-317 yd edge in a 23-16 win and Pitt having a 255-185 yd edge in a 20-3 win. UK fans travel well especially when the bowl is within driving distance (5.5 hrs) while Pitt fans are not known as good travellers, so this should be a predominantly blue crowd.

On the positive side, UK is making their 5th consec bowl trip, a school record. On the negative side, UK limps into the bowl 6-6 after losing their 26th in a row to Tenn (longest series losing streak in the NCAA) as Joker Phillips’ 1st year as HC had ups and downs. One major up was the improvement of QB Hartline who finished #2 in the SEC in pass ypg which was a tremendous improvement over LY’s inj riddled ssn in which he hit only 59% with a 6-7 ratio. Unfortunately, he will miss here after an off-field incident. UK does have one of the most exciting players in the nation in WR Cobb who is #2 in the NCAA in all-purp ypg. Overall the #28 offense is more exciting and productive this year, but the #64 defense struggled. The DL suffered after ‘09’s top sackman DE Evans (6 sk ‘09) struggled all yr with inj’s and only started 6 gms. LB Trevathan is a one-man tackling machine finishing 1st in the SEC in tkl per gm. UK is #56 in my pass D rankings allowing 184 ypg (54%) with a 13-8 ratio vs a pretty soft slate of opposing QB’s plus teams were able to run vs UK and were not forced to pass. UK ranks #88 in my ST rankings with solid P Tydlacka but need some work on returns as they all’d 24.1 and 2 TD on KR and 11.2 on PR.

It was a tough season for the Panthers as fans expected the BE Title and a BCS Bowl but the team finished 7-5 with a share of the BE Title and a trip to Birmingham. Pitt started out 3-0 in the BE with a 2 game lead over all of the others but was tripped up by Conn in a 30-28 loss (-2 TO) and then WV smashed them 35-10 to settle for a 3-way tie in the BE. QB Sunseri was decent in his 1st yr as a starter finishing #2 in the BE in pass eff, but had poor outings vs Miami (FL) and UConn which contributed to those losses. RB Lewis began the ssn as a pressn AA but had a disappointing yr and split carries with Graham early before coming on late in the yr and finishing with a career-high 261 yds in the finale vs Cincy. Top WR Baldwin is 6’5” 230 and UK’s top CB is 6’0”. Overall Pitt is #43 on off and #25 on def. Pitt lost AA DE Romeus after 1 gm but DE Sheard was named BE DPY and teamed with Romeus’ replacement Lindsey for 19 sks. Pitt is #30 in my pass D rankings allowing 183 ypg (57%) with a 15-13 ratio and held the BE’s top passing QB (Cincy’s Collaros) to 109 yds and a 1-3 ratio in the finale. Pitt is #28 in my ST rankings with solid P/PK Hutchins who finished #6 in the NCAA in net (40.3).

Obviously, Kentucky's offense will be affected without QB Hartline. While many considered the Pittsburgh season a disappointment, HC Wannstedt has said throughout the season this is one of the youngest teams he’s had. Down the stretch the Panthers won 6 of 8 games but with a disappointing loss at Connecticut their chance at a Big East Title was diminished. I feel the Pitt players will rally and win for Wannstedt even though he'll be watching from his TV in Naples, Fla.

SEA is the 15th team to have a sub-500 record after 11 games to make the playoffs and the 1st with a losing record. SEA dropped 5 straight games to a foe with a winning record after winning vs San Diego and Chicago. In those L/5 SEA has been outgained by a staggering 181 ypg (-6 TO's) with a 28-15 avg score. This includes a 34-19 loss to New Orleans earlier TY. Brees blasted the #27 pass defense with 382 yds (67%) with a 4-2 ratio. NO scored TD's on 5 of their 1st 6 drives (362 yds) while holding SEA to 3 FG's, 1 TD (230 yds).

Despite not winning the NFC South TY NO is actually more efficient in terms of yds than LY's unit. LY NO was +46.1 ypg (+10.6 ppg) but TY they are +66.3 ypg (+4.8 ppg) with the big diff for 2010 being TO's. LY NO was 3rd (+11 TO's, #2 NFL 39 takeaways) but foes adjusted their coverages vs the #6 off making life harder on Brees whose 22 int are a career high. NO spreads the ball around (8 players have 30 rec's TY) with Colston being the only plyr to have 1,000 yds since Brees took over in '06 doing it 4x's. Only IND has been more pass heavy (63%) TY as NO's RB by committee was hampered by inj to Thomas (ankle, out 9) and Bush (brkn leg, out 8). Payton has gone on the record saying that TY's stop unit is the best he's had here (25th yds, 20th pts allowed LY) as they are 4th in yds and 7th in pts allowed. NO has 14 plyrs with 1 sk TY (1 every 15 att) led by vastly underrated DT Ellis (6.0) as tm's have focused on DE Smith (5.5) more TY. MLB Vilma is the D's leader (#1 tkl) who has a knack of making big plays when needed the most. While the int are way down (26 LY vs 9 TY), NO has all'd a league best 13 passing TD with an excellent 6.6 ypa (#4 overall in pass D). NO has my #16 ST's unit as not having Bush on PR's (7.8) has hurt them and they also lost KR Roby (23.8) late in the yr. Hartley has made 15-16 FG since being benched with the GW 52 yd kick in ATL.

SEA cleared the slate of the Holmgren era in the offseason and gave Pete Carroll full control of the roster. Despite the win vs STL, SEA is 31st in rushing (89 ypg rush 3.7) with 6 100 yd rushing games TY. The real culprit has been injuries on the OL for 10 different combos with 3 games being the longest a set has been together. This has set up 1 sack every 15.5 att's allowed and placed a lot of pressure on an aging Hasselbeck who has been forced to press. Mike Williams is a great story as a comeback POY after getting a walk on tryout here. He is SEA's most consistent skill player when healthy with Obamanu being better served as a #4 WR. SEA was 2nd in rush def after 6 games (78 ypg 3.3) but losing DE Bryant (IR) and DT Cole (5 Wks) has them allowing almost twice as much (155 ypg 4.7) not incl LW. SEA's #27 pass defense is basically even with LY's with a 31-12 ratio despite a decent pass rush (1 every 15.8 att's). FS Thomas has been solid as a rookie but Trufant (3 TD's vs TB) and Milloy are not what they used to be. SEA does have an elite special teams unit headed up by Leon Washington who has 3 KR TD's TY.

SEA has been outgained by 70.8 ypg TY the worst of TY's playoff teams (NO 2nd to PIT w/ +66.3 ypg). Hasselbeck is starting for SEA who will have the travel/crowd edge. NO has the talent, continuity, experience and coaching edges here and they should get the comfortable win.

The Colts let the Jets into LY's playoffs by resting starters in Wk 16. IND then beat the Jets soundly 30-17 as an 8 pt a month later in the AFC Championship game. Manning dismantled the Jets defense with 377 yds (67%) and 3 TD's. The Jets had a 17-13 lead at the half but IND scored 17 unanswered points holding Sanchez to 133 yds (40%) with an int in the 2H.

After having the most rush att's in '09 (607), the Jets trimmed them to 534 TY as they opened the playbook to take advantage of Sanchez being in the system for the 2nd year and their FA pickups. The result was a mixed bag as Sanchez hit 54% comp (6.7 ypa) with a 12-20 ratio LY compared to 55% (6.5) with a 17-13 ratio TY. He has started to read D's better, but he has been inconsistent compounded by an inj to his throwing shoulder vs PIT. LY the Jets had the #31 pass attack (149 ypg) but had a decent improvement TY finishing 22nd (209 ypg) but they haven't had a 1,000 yd receiver S/'07. Ryan cut his teeth on D and after finishing 1st LY (+1 TO's) they were 3rd (+9 TO's) TY. The Jets are allowing an impressive 91 ypg (3.6) rush TY despite losing NT Jenkins in the opener. The muscle of the NY D is its LB unit with Scott setting the tone and Harris being a drastically underrated ILB. LY the Jets were fearsome in pass D all'g 52% comp (5.4 ypa) with an outstanding 8-17 ratio. TY Revis hasn't been himself and they have given up more deep balls. They have all'd 51% comp (6.5) with a 24-12 ratio as offenses have had more tape to study. The Jets have my #4 ST's unit with P Weatherford having a strong year (50% punts In20) and Brad Smith (28.6) having a great year on KR's.

Manning had to deal with another season of inj's to his WR's but unlike LY he doesn't have the luxury of TE Clark while he groomed young WR's. As a result Manning threw for 17 int, his most S/'02 while logging his 5th straight 4,000 yd season. He did have the benefit of another steady season from WR Wayne who has had three 100 rec's seasons in the L4Y to keep the offense moving. Garcon finished 2nd in rec yds TY but he doesn't have same trust level as Collie did with Manning. IND's run game has come on strong the L3W though with a healthy Addai they have avg'd 149 ypg (5.1). IND's #20 D is designed to slow down teams not necessarily to stop them as long as Manning is at the helm. They are once again near the bottom in rush D rankings (25th 4.6) but Freeney/Mathis are still terrors with the pass rush (21 sks). The back 7 has been hit hard by inj's as only FS Bethea has started all 16 TY. IND's #13 pass defense isn't as good as its ranking as they are all'g 67% comp with a 22-10 ratio with an opp QBR tied with Manning's. IND doesn't invest in their ST's and are annually at the bottom of my rankings with TY being no different (#31).

The Jets defensive strength is against the run but the Colts use theirs for play action and to chip blitzers. The Jets D is at its best pressuring QB's but Manning's quick release negates that. NY finished the season beating poor teams coming from behind but IND is tried and tested with one of the elite QB's at the helm.