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SUPER BOWL XLV NEWS & NOTES: OUR MID-WEEK ANALYSIS FEATURES "WHEN THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS HAVE THE BALL" PLUS THE ALL-TIME SUPER BOWL STANDINGS ...

COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT: WE DO OWN BRACKETLOGY BIT WITH A CRYSTAL BALL LOOK AT WHO WILL BE THE TOP FOUR SEEDS IN EACH REGION PLUS THERE'S QUICK-HITTER MID-WEEK GAME PREVIEWS TOO

By Jim Hurley:

Thank goodness that the NFL Media Day is over and done with - now we can get down to nuts-and-bolts talk regarding Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers and later on in this mid-week edition of Jim Sez we'll delve into our next category:

"When the Pittsburgh Steelers Have the Ball" - and keep in mind we'll have our complete and comprehensive Super Bowl XLV Preview later this week right here in Jim Sez.

Now, let's drop some knowledge on you regarding these two Super Bowl teams:

The NFC champion Packers are the first #6 seed in this conference to make to this ultimate game since the NFL re-jiggered its playoff format back in 1990 but did you know that Green Bay is 5-4 SU (straightup) against NFL teams that made it to the post-season this year while GB's a tasty 6-3 ATS (against the spread) in the nine games played against fellow playoff squads and that includes a clean post-season sweep SU and ATS versus Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago.

On the flip side, the Steelers are 4-4 SU this season against teams that made it to the playoffs this season while Pittsburgh's also a collective 4-4 ATS in these affairs and that includes the back-to-back AFC playoff wins/covers against Baltimore and the New York Jets.

The Steelers, in fact, enter Super Bowl XLV on a four-game spread winning streak and they've  notched spread "W's" in six of their last seven games while the Packers have covered three in a row overall and five of their last six games.

Once upon a time there was an old wives tale that claimed the team that entered the Super Bowl on the longer pointspread winning streak usually won/covered the Super Bowl but note that was not the case a year ago when the New Orleans Saints entered Super Bowl XLIV off a pointspread loss in the NFC Championship Game against Minnesota while the Indianapolis Colts came into the big game off back-to-back pointspread victories.

Final score: New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17

Now, this important reminder:

Jim Hurley and his Handicappers and Bloggers will release the Side & Totals Winners for Super Bowl XLV on game-day morning and plus remember to get all the 2010-11 College Basketball and NBA Winners too each and every day as the hoop season's really in full swing these days with lots of great action on tap. Go ahead and join Jim as he crushes Las Vegas and the off-shore books too in these coming days/weeks and you can go ahead and cash in when you give us game-day calls at our exclusive toll-free telephone # of 1-800-323-4453 or else when you just log online right here. Check in via the toll-free telephone # or else online on Mondays-through-Fridays anytime after 1 p.m. ET for all the NCAA Basketball and NBA games and then check with us any time after 10 a.m. ET this Saturday and Sunday for all the weekend b-ball action and - of course - SB XLV.

SUPER BOWL XLV NEWS & NOTES - WHEN THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS HAVE THE BALL

Maybe most in-the-know folks don't really consider the Steelers to sport a juggernaut offense but the fact of the matter is Pittsburgh's averaged nearly 31 points a game in its last four outings --  a pair of late-year regular-season victories against Carolina and Cleveland and then the aforementioned playoff victories against Baltimore and the New York Jets - and there's no denying that QB Ben Roethlisberger has grown increasingly comfortable with his kiddie corps of wide receivers that includes rookies Emmanuel Sanders (SMU) and Antonio Brown (Central Michigan) as both of these first-year players have shined at various times lately in post-season play

Still, as anyone that eyeballed Pittsburgh's 24-19 hang-on-for-dear-life win against the 4-point underdog Jets in the AFC Championship Game two weeks ago, it's RB Rashard Mendenhall and that physical ground game that's really the key to this AFC North offense. If the ground-and-pound mentality is clicking here on Super Bowl Sunday, than the Steelers figure to be ultra-tough to beat.

Remember that Mendenhall cranked out 121 rushing yards against the Jets (including 94 yards in the opening half when Pittsburgh charged out to a 24-0 lead) and his ability to deflate an opposing team's defense was evident in that game-opening 15-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that consumed nearly six full minutes of clock. Just as we stated in our case for Green Bay in the prior edition of Jim Sez - the Packers need close to a 50-50 run/pass balance to really thrive come Sunday night in Arlington - the Steelers need your basic 60-40 rush/pass ratio here.

Note that in the win against the Jets two weekends ago, the Steelers rushed the ball 43 times and passed it just 19 times (a 69-to-31 percent split) but odds are Roethlisberger will have to throw it more here and so the big question is how will this oft-criticized offensive line hold up?

As you know, rookie center Maurkice Pouncey (high ankle sprain) needed crutches when de-boarding the team plane the other day and so it sure appears that backup C Doug Legursky will be thrust into the starter's role here and keep an eye peeled how he handles shotgun snaps - it could become an issue if Green Bay D-lineman B.J. Raji is breathing down his neck. Plus, the Steelers may want to keep TE Heath Miller in more for blocking purposes and that would eliminate one key target for Roethlisberger.

Finally, the Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is never afraid to mix in a flea-flicker play in big games and so don't discount the possibility that WRs Hines Ward of Antwaan Randle-El throws a pass here and that usually happens on the "plus side" of the 50-yard line (enemy territory).

 THE ALL-TIME SUPER BOWLSTRAIGHTUP STANDINGS

THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT: BRACKETOLOGY TALK PLUS MID-WEEK PREVIEWS TOO

As if you haven't noticed, everyone's weighing in these days when it comes to forecasting the top 4 or top 8 or top 16 seeds in next month's NCAA Tournament but now that the calendar page has been flipped forward to read "February" we'll get into the mix too.

In today's Jim Sez we'll go 'round the land and project the top four seeds in each region while doing our best to "balance out" the regions. Note that the sites listed below correspond with where the top four seeds in each region would wind up considering they won first- and second-round games. Here goes:

SOUTHEAST - at New Orleans (Louisiana Superdome)
      #1 - OHIO STATE
      #2 - CONNECTICUT
     # 3 - VILLANOVA
      #4 - BYU

WEST - at Anaheim (Honda Center)
     #1 - DUKE
     #2 - PURDUE
     #3 - SAN DIEGO STATE
     #4 - ARIZONA

EAST - at Newark (Prudential Center)
     #1 - TEXAS
     #2 - KENTUCKY
     #3 - NOTRE DAME
     #4 - MISSOURI

SOUTHWEST - at San Antonio (Alamodome)
     #1 -- KANSAS
     #2 - PITTSBURGH
     #3 - TEXAS A&M
     #4 - WASHINGTON

We'll have plenty more NCAA Tournament Bracketology talk in the days and weeks ahead.

 COLLEGE B-BALL MID-WEEK PREVIEWS

On Wednesday, it's ...

#17 SYRACUSE (18-4, 5-4 Big East) at #6 CONNECTICUT (17-3, 5-3 Big East) - 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
It must appear that the roof is caving in on the Syracuse Orange who've dropped their last four consecutive games (setbacks versus Pittsburgh, Villanova, Seton Hall and Marquette) and things sure don't get any easier here with a trip to the Nutmeg State and note the UConn Huskies are in a foul mood following last Saturday's 79-78 double-overtime loss to Louisville. In this Big East bash, expect Syracuse to be encouraged by its 15-of-22 FG shooting after intermission against Marquette and so G "Scoop" Jardine and mates will remain ultra-aggressive but the key here is how does the famed 2-3 Orange zone defense handle Connecticut's long-range bombers - note the Huskies canned just 8-of-30 trifectas in the twin-OT loss to the 'Ville ... ugh!

#5 DUKE (19-2, 6-1 ACC) at MARYLAND (14-7, 4-3 ACC) - 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
It's not every day the Duke Blue Devils come off a 15-point non-conference loss - head coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't have the words to describe that painful loss last Sunday at Madison Square Garden versus St. John's - but now the Dookies look to get things righted here against a Maryland team they bested 71-64 back on January 9th. Note that Duke was a bloated 15-point betting favorite in that earlier-season Atlantic Coast Conference clash when thee Terrapins drained just 3-of-14 three-point shots while the Blue Devils didn't do a great job on the glass as Maryland collected 15 offensive boards and out-rebounded Duke 40-to-37. If Maryland F Jordan Williams (23 points and 13 rebs in that earlier duel) proves to be a stat-sheet stuffer here in this prime-time game, than Duke could be staring at a mini losing streak.

On Thursday, it's ...
MICHIGAN (13-9, 3-6 Big 10) at #1 OHIO STATE (22-0, 9-0 Big 10) - 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
No doubt about it - through November, December and January the 'Eyes - as in Ohio State Buckeyes - had it: Thad Matta's club played its fair share of close games but didn't lose once and so now that February is here the challenge of a perfect season intensifies and one major in-game challenge here for Ohio State is keeping Michigan F Zack Novak from heating up beyond the three-point arc. Novak helped key last Thursday's shocking win at Michigan State and no doubt the Matt strategy here will be to "shadow" Novak at every turn. Note that Ohio State freshman C/F Jared Suillinger has scored in double figures in 20 of the team's first 22 games - he finished last Saturday's scary 58-57 non-cover win at 10 ½-point home dog Northwestern with 21 points and it was late-game free throw that provided the winning margin in that showdown.

HANDICAPPING 101

Wednesday is the biggest day on the weeknight college basketball schedule and abounds with betting opportunities. To help bettors take advantage of this, the Jim Hurley Network explores the lessons learned from six key games last weekend...

St. John's-Duke
The game was much more important to St. John's. They're fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid and want to make a statement to a national audience, playing Duke at Madison Square Garden. It would be a sign that Steve Lavin has brought the program back. For Duke, this is an ACC game, doesn't mean as much. Furthermore, from a matchup standpoint the Red Storm defend the perimeter pretty well with Dwight Hardy, and when Duke is unfocused they can get away from pounding the ball inside. All it took was for the Blue Devils to be off from outside, and an outright upset was possible, and a pointspread cover highly probable as St. John's won handily.

Rutgers (+8.5) over Pitt
This is a game that looks like a mismatch on paper, but in reality that's a long price in the Big East, where every game is ruthlessly competitive. Pitt's big people, Nasir Robinson and Gary McGhee can be on-again, off-again and guard Brad Wanamaker can have the same problem with consistency. You have to be sure everything's clicking before you lay 8.5 points in the Big East. It wasn't for Pitt. They got the outright win, but those of us who bet Rutgers got paid.

New Mexico (+3.5) over BYU
This one came straight out of Handicapping 101. BYU was coming off a big win over San Diego State, was on the road and was facing a team that had to win. Sometimes winning is as basic as applying fundamental principles and not overcomplicating it. 86-77 Lobos in an outright upset.

Penn State (+4.5) over Wisconsin
Over the years you've heard us say that college basketball has so many teams that a linesmaker really isn't up to speed until after the Super Bowl and this line illustrates that. Penn State had beaten Michigan State and Illinois at home, and taken Ohio State and Purdue to the wire on the road. In fact, their road defeats to the conference powers would have covered this spread--a game the Lions were playing at home against an opponent with one senior in the lineup and having problems finding more than two people to contribute on a nightly basis. This was a case of the person who does their homework just seeing a line that was flat-out wrong.

Marquette (-2) over Syracuse
You can't just know numbers and power ratings, you need to know personnel. Marquette's forwards, Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder, matched up with Syracuse's duo of Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph. Then add in a backcourt edge for the Golden Eagles, particularly when Darius Johnson-Odom gets clicking. The Orange backcourt is highly suspect and the reason we were convinced their recent slide was no fluke. Marquette was right to be favored, but playing at home, the price should've been a little higher. They won by six, 76-70.

NOTE: Much  more Super Bowl XLV coverage all week long right here at Jim Sez and don't forget to get the Side & Totals Winners on "Super Sunday" after 10 a.m. ET at 1-800-323-4453 or right here online.