Dan Lefevour67th roundCentral Michigan

Illinois 76, Clemson 74 Wow, what a comeback by Illinois to beat Clemson on the road. All the Illini had to do was 21 point deficit which was the biggest comeback in school history for a victory Mike Davis 22 points to go along with nine rebounds. Penn State 69, Virginia 66 The Nittany Lions got things started in the Challenge with a close win over Virginia. Talor Battle scored 32 points, 28 of those in the second half. Boston College 62, Michigan 58 This was probably the biggest disappointment of the Challenge. Despite the close score, Michigan looked overwhelmed against Boston College for most of the game.

Manny Harris was almost all of Michigan's offense, scoring 19 points, assisting on six other baskets and grabbing three offensive rebounds. Miami 63, Minnesota 58 The Gophers were unable to hold off the hot Hurricanes, who are now 8-0 on the season. Minnesota committed three consecutive turnovers at the end of the game that prevented them from getting back in the lead. Lawrence Westbrook led the Gophers with 14 points in their loss. Virginia Tech 70, Iowa 64 Let's be honest, no one really expected the Hawkeyes to win this one. They gave it their best effort though, and cut Virginia Tech's lead to 63-59 with just under two minutes left. It was too little, too late, though.

Anthony Tucker had a season-high 24 points in Iowa's losing effort. Maryland 80, Indiana 68 Turning in the worst performance of the Challenge for the Big Ten was Indiana. The Hoosiers shot an atrocious 32 percent from the field in this game. Maurice Creek had 19 points in the losing effort. Maybe winning the Challenge means it's the Big Ten's year to bring home a National Championship. . 1st round 7th overall2nd round 6th overall3rd round 5th overall3rd round 25th overall4th round 7th overall5th round 6th overall5th round 27th overall7th round 7th overallThese are our projected picks for Oakland Raiders Next Year. Many fans complain about how Davis is a terrible GM, but Davis has nailed several late round picks over the last few years and actually picks just about as well as most teams in the NFL. The only difference is that the top of our draft has not been as well. I do not think that Cable is the next great head coach of the NFL but he does not need to be replaced this year because if he is no head coach will want this job. Period. Cable has done a good job cleaning up our roster and one more year should get the bottom feeders off of our roster. The problem with changing coaches so often is that talent is not developed and those who underachieve stay year after year. So with our post season hopes over and a few games left to play, the look to the future begins. To this point we have had several bright spots. Assuming that Al Davis doesn’t hire a GM and retains Cable, the following is a break down of our roster who should stay and players I have seen that can improve our team. QB-Gradkowski, Russell, FryeGradkowski has played well and is still young. He has experience and is a pretty good leader. Russell was drafted too high to give up on now, but he must restructure to stay if he doesn’t we should look for a QB late. Frye is another player who has potential and experience, for how cheap he can be a very capable back-up. Potential Draft PicksZac Robinson- 6-7th round- Oklahoma State. He is mobile and has lots of experience throwing the football. He could easily develop into a very good number 2 QB. Dan Lefevour-6-7th round-Central Michigan. Very similar to Tebow. Has great running ability, but throwing ability needs some work. Could be worth a late round pick to develop. RB- McFadden, Fargas, BushWe are definitely set here. We need all three because they all have very specific purposes. McFadden is an incredible athlete which needs touches catching and running. Fargas is the tempo setter. He gives absolute effort and is an example to all teammates of the correct way to do things. Bush is the short yardage back/ backup. All are capable of being the feature back. Fargas or Bush could be used as trade bait, with Bush being the most likely to be moved. Potential Draft Picks (If Fargas or Bush happen to get traded)Montario Hardesty- 4-5th round- Tennessee. He is very elusive and strong, a senior who has really came on this season. Being able to watch him personally, he will make a very good back-up at the next level. He has good hands, excellent vision, and runs extremely hard. Chris Brown- 6-7th round- Oklahoma. He would be a starter for many of the other teams in the nation, but because of Peterson and then Murray he has had to take a back seat. He is a very good runner and experienced. He can pass protect and catch the ball. FB- Lawton, RussellO’neal is one of my favorite players, but he is way too injury prone and was already a sixth year senior at Arkansas State because of injury. Lawton is a very good lead blocker, and Russell ads the playmaking ability from the position you want. I would love to see the Raiders draft a fullback in the Jon Richie mode. Potential Draft PicksRichie Brockel-7th round- Boise State. He is a very good blocker, for a team that continually runs the ball well. Has played tight end and fullback. Has pretty good size. WR- Schillens, Heyward-Bey, Murphy, Higgins, Miller, WatkinsSchillens is our number one and is very capable in that role, he was definitely a steal us. Heyward-Bey was very raw coming out and will improve. He has gotten dramatically better over the year. Murphy was a steal for us in the fourth round. He will definitely be our third receiver and should be able to put up better numbers with another year of developing. Our receivers strength are definitely size and blocking ability. Hopefully we will get a good position coach to help these guys push themselves. The last three need to be replaced. I know Higgins has the big play potential but he will never start for us and is now scared to return kicks. Miller may catch on because of his fearless mindset and return ability. Watkins could come back but should be replaced as well. Definitely need receiver but one late in the draft or a mid-range free agent would work. Potential Draft PicksGolden Tate- 2-3rd round-Notre Dame. I know I am dreaming, but if he were to somehow fall to the third round we should sprint to the podium to announce this pick. He is extremely explosive has good hands and enormous return ability. He is raw as a receiver due to the fact he played running back in high school. He has a very high ceiling, but needs work, also no character problems. He reminds me a lot of Percy Harvin. Terrance Toliver- 4-5th round- LSU. Tall and fast. He is a bit on the thin side but has very good hands. He would provide another big target to make life easier on our QB and would not have much pressure to produce right away. Has come up with several big catches during his career. Jordan Shipley-4-5th round- Texas. He is very fast, a hard worker, and very reliable. He offers return ability and the correct team first attitude. Many questions about his size and whether McCoy made him better than he actually is but would be a very welcome addition to our locker room and return game. TE- Miller, Myers, StewartMiller has become a pro bowl caliber TE, enough said. Myers has looked strong and should improve going into his second season. His pass catching ability is a nice surprise. A late round pick could happen but not very likely. Potential Draft PicksRichard Dickson-5-6th round- LSU. He is a very solid player. He catches the ball well, blocks well, and does whatever it takes to get a win. He comes from a winning program and has played since his freshman year. He also is the example of what you want from a player when it comes to being a good teammate and a hard worker. Michael Hoomanawanui-6-7th Illinois. He is a monster as a blocker and has very good hands. He Could be an enormous upgrade in our run game as well as special teams. I have not seen him much but what I have seen he really stands out. Size is a huge plus with him since is nearly the same size as an offensive lineman. Jeff Cottam-7th round- Tennessee. He is a prototypical TE with good size 6-7 and very good hands. He can block and catch well, but is not too fast. He is a pretty good run blocker and played in a spread offense requiring offensive lineman to be very good at pass blocking. He would be a young backup who could come in and start after a few years. OG-Gallery, Carlisle, Morris, Draft Pick/Free AgentGallery has really become a very good guard. He is playing at a pro bowl level. Carlisle is playing well but we could use an upgrade or eventual replacement. Morris can play either guard spot or center. He is better suited to the backup center spot. We really need to address this position in the offseason.