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All of today's big Ohio State news, in one helpful place.

"All we needed was a chance and we were able to show the world what we could do."

- Darryl Baldwin, via Jon Solomon, CBS Sports

Whatever you thought of the BCS system, whether it brings a positive connotation to you or a negative one, there's no question that the College Football Playoff committee got it right in their first try when they bumped Ohio State up two spots to the fourth seed. Sewing up the final spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff, there were plenty of complaints about the Buckeyes jumping over TCU and Baylor, but Ohio State put those arguments to rest after upsetting the number one team in the country and then defeating the Heisman trophy winner in the national championship game.

Now that the Buckeyes sit atop the college football world, Ohio State validated the committee's decision, which turned out to be a brilliant. The simple fact is that if the playoff system wasn't in place this season, Ohio State wouldn't have been playing for a title at all. Oregon might not have been either, considering Florida State was unbeaten heading into the postseason. The College Football Playoff started out the way it should have and you have to credit the committee for making the tough decisions, but getting it right in the end.

"That's Urban Meyer. He never stops trying to figure out another way to motivate players, improve the program, get coaches to coach better. That's the secret recipe to him. It's not scheme. The scheme is fine, but there's too much emphasis on that. Get your guys to play fast and get them motivated, that's your value as a coach."

- Steve Addazio, via Pete Thamel, Sports Illustrated

If you were trying to find a better replacement for Jim Tressel, following his resignation in light of the Tatgate findings, look no further than Urban Meyer. Ohio State fans knew nabbing coach Meyer from his retirement from college football was a huge deal at the time of his hiring. Now, the third-year head coach has a Big Ten championship and national championship (including record-setting win streaks and record-high offensive numbers) under his belt and seems like he's just getting started. When coach Meyer was on the stage following the national championship game, something just felt right. He was supposed to be there. Coach Meyer has held a certain body language and has had a specific mindset while at Ohio State and it's something that has translated to his players on the field.

As freshman quarterback Stephen Collier shared in the article, coach Meyer and his staff have a knack for getting players motivated to do the right things, the smart things, and leaving it all on the field:

"It's unreal," said scout-team quarterback Stephen Collier. "If you have a problem being motivated here at Ohio State, there's actually something wrong with you."

"This team wasn't supposed to do this ... To say we had this vision back in September or even August, no, not a chance."

- Urban Meyer, via Matt Hinton, Grantland

When Braxton Miller went down, Ohio State fans lowered their lofty expectations almost instantly. The play of J.T. Barrett was enough to bring that expectation back up to new highs and more, but a fractured ankle in the final game against Michigan sent those dreams down a notch. With the Buckeyes on their third quarterback, Cardale Jones, it would have been acceptable to put up a good fight in the Big Ten championship and maybe even etch out a win. If they didn't make the playoff, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. Then Ohio State blew out Wisconsin 59-0 with their third-string quarterback wowing all spectators, including the College Football Playoff committee.

With such a young offensive line, and inexperienced players all over the starting offense and defense (sprinkled with some veteran leadership) the general consensus was that Ohio State was one year away from being able to win it all. Instead, that group capped off an unbelievable run to the national title game after taking down the king of the SEC and Heisman trophy winner in Marcus Mariota. With this young (championship) team mostly intact for next season, expectations will be high, but the Buckeyes have proven time and again that they can handle any sort of adversity thrown at them.

"Cardale has always had talent. But something happened in the last couple months. Everybody has a chance to push restart ... and he pushed restart and he hit the right button."

- Urban Meyer, via Ari Wasserman, Northeast Ohio Media Group

Just less than 24 hours ago, Cardale Jones was viewed as a third-string quarterback that had miraculously played out of his mind for two straight games on some of the biggest stages in college football. Now? Jones is a three-time starter that is also a national champion quarterback with an unblemished starting record (against three really good teams, mind you). Jones stepped up in the biggest way possible, firing his cannon of an arm left and right, while taking off up the middle and trucking defenders for first downs.

Jones has already been lighting up talking points on sports shows across the country about his potential as a quarterback in the NFL and if he should be considered going above Marcus Mariota. While that is probably crazy, his performance has put the nation on notice and gives Ohio State a heck of a problem to have headed into next year with three potential Heisman-contending quarterbacks on their roster. I'm sure glad Urban Meyer is making the decisions and not me, but with the hype surrounding Jones and his emergence as a national champion, plus a sensational playmaker in Braxton Miller and do-it-all quarterback J.T. Barrett, it's not going to be easy.

STICK TO CHAMPIONSHIPS:

• Ohio State's win cost a furniture store $1.5 million in customer purchases. Worth it.
• Our Fearless Leader played his part in Ohio State winning the national championship.
• Nobody could stop Ohio State fans from taking down the goal posts at Ohio Stadium.
• Urban Meyer getting a tattoo? A promise is a promise, after all.

Who's up and who's down, now that OHIO STATE HAS WON THE 'SHIP

It's games like last night that make years and years of fanhood worthwhile. Ohio State is the first ever College Football Playoff national champion.

The Buckeyes took down three consecutive Heisman Trophy finalists en route to the title, saving the best -- Marcus Mariota, a real-life video game boss -- for last. Mariota threw for 33 yards and two scores, which was by far the best attempt of the three, but even those numbers weren't enough to take down the fearsome Buckeyes. To quote heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," and that's exactly what Ohio State's ground game and defense did to the Ducks on Monday night.

The Buckeyes did everything they needed to do, short of avoiding turnovers, and it's insane that this game could have been even more lopsided had Ohio State protected the football more effectively. To only allow 20 points despite giving the ball away four times to a top-tier offense is a testament to both the tenacity of the defense (Adolphus Washington) and the chess-match big-game playcalling of Urban Meyer and Tom Herman. There was a moment -- okay, there were lots of moments -- when it looked like this one was going to get away from Ohio State, despite their impressive early lead. When Cardale Jones did his best Jameis Winston impression and fumbled the ball away without being touched, it seemed like a loss was almost predestined. But it wasn't to be. The Buckeyes, like they have all year, rose to the challenge and shook off the mistake, along with all the others.

There will be a full-season Stock Market Report coming down the line, but today is all about the 'ship. Let's break it down:

Blue Chip Stocks:

Ezekiel Elliott, RB: How does he keep doing it? In case anyone wasn't paying attention, that's 696 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in the last three games. Four of those TDs came last night. Those three games, the biggest of the year, were Elliott's true coming-out party. Cardale Jones was as good as he needed to be, but it's hard to imagine this Cinderella ending without Elliott (and his "slobs" up front) absolutely eviscerating the opposition on the ground. Zeke is a joy to watch on the football field, his family travels well and travels loud, and he's got abs to match his smile. HEISMAN 2015!

Cardale Jones, QB: This has to be the craziest story of college football's last... decade? Half-century? Century? Jones was regarded as little more than an immature, unpolished quarterback, known more for his infamous tweet than his ability to win games. Needless to say, that analysis was a little premature. A third-string quarterback being thrust into the midst of all this, having to follow in the footsteps of a brace of award-winning teammates, and somehow making his team better -- making them champions -- is something you don't see every day. Or every millennium, really. Jones is a great story, a great guy, and one of the best things that's happened to this program in a long time. He could never play another snap of football and he'd still go down in history. Here's to you, 12 Gauge.

Darron Lee, LB: The Sugar Bowl's defensive MVP didn't let up off the gas for the biggest stage imaginable. A two play sequence defined Lee's contributions to this team: after eating the lunch of an Oregon tight end to blow up a running play in the backfield (which could have otherwise gone for fifteen or twenty yards), Lee made a ridiculously athletic play in pass coverage to force Oregon into an unmanageable situation. Lee camped out in coverage, then leapt high and almost reeled in Mariota's pass with one hand. Even without the INT, it was a crucial pass breakup. Whether he's doing it for the pears or his teammates, Lee is a bad, bad man on the football field.

Tom Herman, offensive coordinator: Cue up Anna Kendrick's "Cups": We're gonna miss Herman when he's gone. The offensive coordinator/resident wizard is gone for the pastures of Houston to take his first shot at a head coaching job. Is it too early to handicap the Cougars as a playoff team for next season?

Solid Investments:

Joey Bosa, DE: Bosa was a problem on Monday night. He's been that way all season. He didn't rack up his typical world-wrecking stats, but the Ducks' offensive line still struggled mightily to contain the future first-round pick. His last hit on Marcus Mariota banged up the quarterback badly enough to impact the remainder of the game, and the amount of double teams and bad blocking attempts he forced materially changed the gameplan for the ordinarily high-flying Oregon offense. We are so, so lucky to have him back for another season.

Michael Thomas, WR: Four catches. 53 yards. One ridiculous juke move that would have you crying foul if it happened in a video game, much less real life. Keyshawn Johnson's nephew has had a phenomenal year, leading the Buckeyes in catches, and his downfield production has been excellent. He showed up in all the right places on Monday night, and made the plays that mattered.

Junk Bonds:

Protecting the football: Hard to be overly critical after a title win. I'll bail out on this section after one more sentence. You cannot turn the ball over four times (on three unforced errors!) and expect to win a game, but that's just how this team rolls, I guess.

Buy/Sell:

BUY: Ohio State vs. Heisman Trophy finalists. Three up, three down, see ya. Anything can happen, but at this point it seems crazy to imagine next year's Heisman field not including at least one Buckeye, right?

BUY: The Next Man Up. Injuries. Tragedy. Adversity. This team overcame all that and more, and it would be impossible to be more proud than we already are.

SELL: The conversation about who starts at quarterback next season. LA LA LA LA YOU CAN'T MAKE ME TALK ABOUT IT

Ohio State's run of success hasn't just been good for the standings.

When you have an enormous alumni base, a wildly successful football program, and lucrative TV deals, not only if your program going to be well positioned for success on the football field, it is going to be worth a lot of money. The Wall Street Journal has an annual report on exactly how much money, and this year, there is a new most valuable program, the Ohio State Buckeyes. From the WSJ:

Ohio State, which will take on Oregon in the national-title game Monday night in Arlington, Texas (8:30 p.m., ESPN), is now worth more than $1.1 billion, the largest figure in the nation. The Buckeyes have dethroned the reigning champion, Texas, which had held the top spot for three straight years in the annual valuation of programs by Ryan Brewer, an assistant professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus.

Of course, as Gene Smith or anybody else in the NCAA would happily remind you, Ohio State football can't be "sold" on the open market like say, the Cleveland Browns could, but if they hypothetically could, this might be a solid estimate of what they'd go for. Ohio State is the only program worth over a billion dollars. Michigan is second, followed by Texas, Notre Dame, and Florida.

Oregon, Ohio State's opponent tonight, is "worth" $358.7 million, good for 18th.

Nice to see that Ohio State's financials are on the right foot, and hey, one more thing to brag about when compared to Oregon is never a bad thing.

The best combination of value and distinctiveness is found in St.-Joseph, a region that follows the sinuous north-south twists of the Rhône River.

The wine panel explores the red grape of Sicily.

The families of parents will be getting the help they deserve.

Here's the press release from the College Football Playoff:

IRVING, Texas - The College Football Playoff (CFP) announced today that, subject to NCAA rules, it will defray the cost of expenses for student-athletes' parents or guardians to travel to the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship on January 12. The reimbursement will cover expenses for hotel accommodations in North Texas and travel reimbursement and meal expenses for a maximum of two parents or legal guardians per athlete. The reimbursement will be capped at $1,250 per parent or guardian. "We know how expensive travel can be, so we're pleased to provide assistance to parents or guardians who want to see their sons play in the first College Football Playoff National Championship," said Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff. "It will make the game even more special for the student-athletes to know that their family members are receiving this benefit." The CFP moved quickly to provide this benefit as a pilot program just six days before the National Championship Game.  The program will be evaluated going forward to make certain it provides the appropriate amount of permissible assistance.

Urban Meyer reacted at a press conference he was in when the release was issued with a fist pump saying that the news made his day.

This week’s video is a split screen comparison of New York and Paris that’s kind of fun. If the embed doesn’t display for you, click over to Vimeo. h/t Likecool

Two decades ago Rogers Stevens was playing lead guitar for Blind Melon, the alternative rock band best known for its hit single "No Rain". Now he's a labor and employment lawyer at Ballard Spahr LLP.

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that it is illegal to be drunk and annoying -- or what a reasonable person would find to be annoying, anyway.

When you play NCAA football, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.

Action. Drama. Intrigue. Betrayal. BS targeting calls. Am I talking about college football, or an episode of HBO's Game of Thrones? (It's football. That last one probably gave it away.) While at first glance it may not seem like these two programs have a lot in common, the offseason forces us to think about football in ways it was never meant to be thought about. Who will win the 2015 Heisman Award? How is this sport like a fantasy television show? These are questions that don't need to be asked, and yet they are questions that the internet is trying to answer. With that in mind, let's take a look at how this land of power struggles, bitter feuds, and violence compares to the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

The Big Ten = The North

A frozen, snowy land. A kingdom of honor and tradition, where the people enjoy the warm summer but always remember that winter is coming. There is nothing more Big Ten than the North. Hell, if you showed me a shot of Winterfell and another of Minneapolis, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two. We played in a game known as the Snow Bowl, for crying out loud. The people of the Big Ten stand on principles and traditions that the rest of the world doesn't understand, like our love of knit sweaters and corn hole.

Also, Michigan is House Bolton. No spoilers, but they're the worst.

The SEC = The Westerlands

The most hated, yet most talked-about of all the conferences, the SEC definitely seems like the sort of place to be ruled over by Tywin Lannister. Nobody outside of their land really likes them, but if you want money and/or power, you need to pretend to be a strong supporter. Do you really think that ESPN would have formed the SEC Network if there hadn't been secret threats and promises of gold? Not likely. Plus, look at which team the Selection Committee named as their number one: the University of Alabama, aka the Cersei of the South.

The Pac-12 = Dorne

This revelation came from my brother, and while at first it didn't make sense to me (I was going to just say that the whole state is Texas was Dorne), I can finally see it. In the Seven Kingdoms, Dorne is a bit of an outsider. They do their own thing, and nobody really understands them. As a Midwestern man, that sounds like a perfect description of the Pac-12 to me. I know they're good, but they don't make sense to me. Plus, their lands are so far away and strange to the rest of us. (The IFC documentary Portlandia proves how very strange of a people they are.) #KeepSunspearWeird

The Big 12 = The Iron Islands

If you're going to make it in the Big 12, you'll have to pay the iron price. There is no sissy tournament to decide who rules. You don't win a division; you win the conference. You battle everyone, and only the worthy will be crowned the One True Champion.* Plus, the iron born are conquerers. They plunder wherever they go, be it the Riverlands or West Virginia.

*Note: Not true in any season when the Big 12 reeeeeeeally wants someone in the playoffs.

The ACC = The Stormlands

The mighty folk of the ACC are no strangers to power. After all, Florida State won it all last season and is looking to do it again. They are struggling, though. Losing power and influence. After all, undefeated FSU is ranked lower than two one-loss teams. If anyone should be heir to the throne, it's them, and yet power struggles and scandals have rocked them from their position on top, and now they must fight to reclaim what was theirs.

Other thoughts? Opinions? Theories about who will rise from the chaos to rule over the 2015 Selection Committee? Tweet me.

For now, let's just take the chance to repost this exceptional, updated version of this season's B1G commercial:

Indiana sophomore forward Devin Davis, who continues to rehab following an accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury, is expected to return to school next semester according to Hoosiers coach Tom Crean. In an interview on Thursday afternoon on the Dan Dakich Show on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis, Crean said that Davis, who […]

The post Devin Davis expected to return to school next semester appeared first on Inside the Hall | Indiana Hoosiers Basketball News, Recruiting and Analysis.

James Bond will be drinking a new brand of vodka in “Spectre,” the coming installment of the Bond thrillers.

This morning I was cleaning up some files on my work computer, and I came across a map that I found of the old streetcar network from 1923. I linked this image back in 2008, but it’s worth revisiting again:

At my workplace, I was able to work on this file a little bit, and I created a shapefile of the network as faithfully as I could:

 

Basically, if I was unsure about the actual routes, I’d follow the roads in places where I could find historic mixed-use buildings in the city. The businesses located in these buildings often relied on their locations next to the streetcars, so I figure many of these are safe assumptions. Here are some examples of routes where I took some liberty in placing the lines through educated guesses. If you have personal knowledge that any of these are incorrect, please let me know in the comments:

 

Many of these structures pictured above are still standing almost a hundred years later. This lends credence to the argument that traditional neighborhood planning can last for generations. What are we building today that will be worth investing 100 years into the future?

Update: Due to request, here is what the network looks against the current IndyGo bus network:

Good white Bordeaux does not conform to many general expectations of what makes a wine interesting.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra says it has achieved a balanced budget for the second straight fiscal year. The organization says income from ticket sales jumped more than 15 percent compared to the previous year.

Last month, I wrote that it was time to retire clichés about the “slow but steady” recovery in the job market. The recovery had found its footing; there was no longer anything “slow” about it. But I had one caveat: Job growth was strong, but employers weren’t raising pay.

Now even that caveat is looking less necessary.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that employers added 321,000 jobs in November, the most in nearly three years. And crucially, employers are paying workers more: Average weekly earnings rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier, their fastest pace in a year.

Note that’s weekly earnings. Hourly earnings are up a more modest 2.1 percent, only a bit faster than the rate of inflation. The growth in weekly earnings was driven by companies asking their employees to work more hours — a good sign for the economy but not evidence that employers are being forced to offer raises to hold on to workers. In any case, one month of solid wage growth isn’t enough to declare victory.

But let’s call a spade a spade: This month’s jobs report crushed it. Job growth far exceeded economists’ expectations — they were predicting only about 230,000 new jobs — and was widely distributed across industries. The government also revised up its estimate of September and October job growth by a combined 44,000 jobs. There were some notes of caution buried in the report, as there always are, but all the trends are pointed in the right direction. After years of tempered optimism, this economy is finally starting to look like one that Americans can feel good about.

 

Here are some other observations from Friday’s report:

A strong trend: It’s never wise to get too excited, or too depressed, over one month’s jobs report. The month-to-month figures are volatile and subject to revision. But though November’s 321,000 jobs may turn out to be an outlier, the longer-run trend is nearly as strong. This was the 10th consecutive month of job growth over 200,000 — the first time that’s happened since the Clinton administration. The economy has added 2.7 million jobs over the past year, and the year-over-year pace of job growth has shown a clear acceleration in recent months.

Not just jobs. Good jobs: One of the fears in the recovery has been that while the economy is creating more jobs, it isn’t necessarily creating the right kind. But that’s been less true in recent months. In November, job growth was spread across industries, with construction, manufacturing, finance and other generally well-paying sectors posting strong gains. Meanwhile, fewer people are getting stuck in part-time jobs. The number of people working part time because they can’t find full-time work is at its lowest level since the recession (although it remains high by historical standards).

Unemployment flat: The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 percent in November, which might sound surprising given the rapid pace of job growth. As regular readers know, the jobs report is based on two surveys: a huge survey of businesses, which is the source for data on job growth, and a smaller survey of households, which produces the unemployment rate and related figures. This month’s household survey wasn’t as strong as the business survey: Unemployment was up slightly, and employment was barely positive. That most likely reflects monthly volatility — last month’s household survey was unusually strong — and the overarching trend remained positive. But Friday’s report does drive home how hard it remains to find a job: More unemployed Americans stopped looking for work than found jobs in November, and fewer people re-entered the labor force to look for work.

CORRECTION (Dec. 5, 11:50 a.m.): In a previous version of the “Monthly Job Growth” chart, the line showing the six-month average was incorrect. The chart has been corrected.

An upscale hotel in downtown Indianapolis is open after a $13 million transformation. The 12-story Le Méridien is located in the former Canterbury Hotel. Ohio-based Rockbridge Capital LLC purchased the historic property last year.

Present ideas for everyone on your shopping list, selected by Times experts.

It happens every few years: a star-studded college team, fresh off a dominating performance, is compared favorably to the worst squad in the pros. A few years ago, it was the Anthony Davis-led Kentucky powerhouse vs. a pitiful Charlotte Bobcats outfit that set a new NBA low for winning percentage in a season. Now, it’s Kentucky’s 2014-15 team, which trounced fifth-ranked Kansas on Tuesday, vs. the tank-tactic Philadelphia 76ers.

In a radio interview this week, former Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe (now of the Phoenix Suns) said his alma mater would own the hypothetical matchup. “I’m definitely taking Kentucky,” Bledsoe said when asked who would win a best-of-seven series between the Wildcats and Sixers. “I think Philly would probably get maybe one game.”

As others have pointed out, that’s absurd. As awful as they are — and boy, are they awful — the Sixers’ roster represents an All-Star team of college players from the past few seasons:

• Center Nerlens Noel was first-team All-SEC two seasons ago; if he were in college now, he’d likely be considered the best player in the country;
• Point guard Michael Carter-Williams was an honorable mention All-American as an NCAA sophomore; had he not left Syracuse, he would likely be considered the best guard in the college game;
• Guard Tony Wroten made first-team All-Pac 12 as a freshman two years ago;
• And rookie K.J. McDaniels was named to the All-ACC first team last season.

These are all players who could still have NCAA eligibility if they had they not departed early for the NBA.

To put these anecdotes in a more rigid framework, we can return to the same projection methodology we used for our NBA preview. The premise there was to take Real Plus/Minus data from last season, adjust for aging effects and regress to the mean to estimate each player’s true talent level. In this case, we also need to account for any information gleaned from the first three weeks or so of the NBA season; since RPM isn’t available for 2014-15 yet, I’m using a weighted average between a player’s current 2014-15 Statistical Plus/Minus (a box score-based statistic designed to emulate RPM in situations where RPM isn’t available) and our projected RPM ratings from the preseason.

By this accounting, the 76ers are made up exclusively of below-average players. In fact, 54 percent of the team’s minutes have gone to players below the replacement-level RPM threshold of -2 points per 100 possessions. If we compute a minutes-weighted aggregation of ratings for Philadelphia’s 2014-15 roster (and adjust for the fact that the Sixers are usually trailing in their games), we’d expect them to lose to an average NBA team by 8.9 points per 100 possessions, which is ridiculously bad for a team’s true talent level. (Other teams have posted worse seasons, but that’s usually because they have bad rosters that perform below their talent levels.)

But as bad as the Sixers are, Kentucky’s roster would translate to an even worse team at the NBA level. Looking at how well players’ draft slots predicted their rookie RPM performances (and, in turn, how well ultra-early mock draft rankings like these predict a player’s draft slot), and turning the clock back on those rookie-year RPM projections using an aging curve, we can also estimate an NBA-equivalent 2014-15 RPM talent level for every player on the Wildcats’ roster. Their top prospect, Karl-Anthony Towns (who sits at No. 3 in ESPN’s class-of-2015 draft rankings), would translate to a -2.6 RPM performance at the NBA level this season, worse than almost every player on Philadelphia’s roster. Every other Kentucky player, from Willie Cauley-Stein to Alex Poythress and the Harrison twins, grade out with various shades of putrid RPM ratings that would embarrass even Hakim Warrick.

The aggregation of Kentucky’s NBA-translated RPM scores would predict an efficiency margin of -13.6 against an average NBA team. Even after accounting for the fundamental uncertainty surrounding projection models, such a team would lose about 88 of every 100 games against average NBA competition on a neutral court. The Sixers are far from average, of course, but even they would be expected to beat the Wildcats 74 percent of the time at home, and 56 percent of the time on the road. Using those probabilities to simulate Bledsoe’s hypothetical best-of-seven matchup, Kentucky would lose the series 78 percent of the time even if we gave them home-court advantage, most frequently falling in six games.

It’s also likely those numbers vastly overestimate Kentucky’s chances. The NBA doesn’t let prospects who are not believed to be pro-caliber players take the court in games, so we don’t really know what kind of performance expectations to set for those Wildcat players who will never play in the NBA. This means the aforementioned translations are naturally biased toward inflating Kentucky’s rating. Furthermore, it’s probably not appropriate to assume the same uncertainty level around Kentucky’s rating that we would for an NBA team. Ironically, because we know they are a college team with no historical track record against NBA teams, we should probably be more certain that their horrible aggregated RPM rating is appropriate, because the sample of (NCAA) teams they’re being drawn from is known to be inferior to the NBA.

Kentucky would not be favored against any NBA team, even one as horrid as the Sixers have been. The Wildcats look good when dismantling collegiate opponents, but the NBA is, quite literally, a whole different ball game.