This Peyton Manning vs. Jim Irsay stuff is getting dicey. We all knew it would. What if Andrew Luck is a bust? What if he ends up being another Ryan Leaf? If the guy makes questionable facial hair choices, how are you going to trust him with your franchise? Peyton Manning does things behind center that very few people are capable of. Peyton Manning could very well be the best quarterback OF ALL TIME. Letting him go could send your franchise into a complete tailspin. You’ve got no pass rush, no secondary, and no running game. You’re going to put Andrew Luck behind center with no weapons and ask him to win games with a porous defense. Luck will inherit an offensive line that gave up 35 sacks this year. Luck will be in a position to fail and the Colts will be the next Jacksonville Jaguars while Peyton Manning goes elsewhere and wins playoff games.

Don’t compare the Colts situation to the Brett Favre situation. The Packers had an amazingly talented young team that was taken over by a one-of-a-kind star like Aaron Rodgers, who SAT BEHIND a veteran before taking over a talented team.

The Lakers are now 1-7 on the road after falling to the Bucks last night. Kobe had a decent all-around game with 8 rebounds and 9 assists to go with his 27 points. They travel across the border for a match-up with Minnesota tonight.

Carmelo Anthony got out of Denver like he wanted. The Nuggets sport a 14-5 record while Carmelo’s Knicks are 7-13. Maybe ‘Melo is the problem?

The Washington Wizards have won 2 of 3. Don’t call it a comeback.

The Heat host the Bulls today at 3:30 in a preview of your future Eastern Conference Final. I can’t wait.

Are you more likely to watch the NHL All-Star game today or the NFL’s Pro Bowl? Neither is a completely acceptable answer.

Tiger Woods finished 3rd in the Abu Dhabi Championship. He has now finished in the top 3 of his last 3 stroke play tournaments.

Unranked Iowa State upset #5 Kansas yesterday.

Unranked Pittsburgh defeated #10 Georgetown.

Murray State remains undefeated.

#4 Syracuse narrowly escaped West Virginia 63-61 at home.

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I want you to imagine winning the jackpot on any lottery ticket. It could be a few hundred dollars or several million. Now, I want you to imagine giving it back because they didn’t give you crisp, new bills. Unless you already have a lot of money laying around, that sounds pretty stupid. That is how I feel about any team not willing to take a chance on Peyton Manning’s health. At least any team that hasn’t already hit the jackpot with a Tom Brady, Drew Brees, or Aaron Rodgers.

Peyton is due a $28 million dollar bonus in March if he is still with the Colts. Several people believe that he will be cut because of the timing and his health. If that is the case, where would he want to play? Here is my top five if I were Peyton.

5. Tennessee Titans – Manning would get to return to the state where he is still worshiped. Few players are still loved like he is in Tennessee. Even though he never won a national championship, he is arguably the best player to play on “Rocky Top”. The Titans also have a good running back and capable receivers. They also gave up the second fewest sacks last season.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars – Don’t you think Maurice Jones-Drew deserves someone like Manning? The entire team does, really. Last season they finished 6th in total defense and MJD was the NFL rushing leader. The Jags do have first year quarterback Gabbert, but after finishing 32nd in passing yards last season, he could learn a lot from Manning.

3. New York Jets – New York is probably the only city big enough for two Mannings. Peyton would be in a major market, which I think he would like. He has had a ton of commercials and his Saturday Night Live United Way skit is hilarious. He could be the missing piece for the Jets. Shonn Greene ran for over 1,000 yards. Receivers Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress both finished, tied for 11th in the NFL, with 8 touchdowns. I’m not sure he would want to deal with the current Jets drama but winning would fix everything.

2. Miami Dolphins – The Dolphins struggled early last season, but rallied to win six of their last nine. However, that didn’t save their coach. Joe Philbin was hired as head coach and named Mike Sherman his offensive coordinator. Sherman and Manning would make a great pair. Sherman has plenty of head coaching experience, including his time in Green Bay. In 2003, Brett Favre led the NFL touchdowns passes under Sherman. There, he would have 1,000 yard guys in Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush.

1. Houston Texans – Current quarterback Matt Shaub only has one year left on his contract and is coming off of a foot injury. It would make plenty of sense to trade him and pick up Manning. The Texans could get something for Shaub before he becomes a free agent and Manning would make the Texans a Super Bowl contender. Peyton would give them the right amount of time to decide on Yates or draft a quarterback later. Manning paired with the running game of the Texans and Andre Johnson really doesn’t seem fair. That combination paired with the NFL’s 2nd ranked defense would be tough to beat.

All of the teams except New York are in states that don’t have an income tax. That could be a factor in his decision but I think winning a Super Bowl will be the biggest. Three of the teams are in the AFC South. If I were Peyton I would want every chance to make the Colts regret cutting me. The Texans give him the best chance at beating them twice a year, winning a Super Bowl, and making a little more money.

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Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay are trying to dispel “rumors” that there’s a rift between them. Jim Irsay said that he wished Peyton would have kept his issues “within the family.” When the franchise player of a proud organization sits down with Bob Kravitz to air out his problems, I’m sure his attempts to keep it “within the family” went unheard.

Tiger Woods is tied for 1st Place at -11 with Robert Rock after the third round of the Abu Dhabi Classic.

The United States Women’s Soccer team defeated Costa Rica 3-0 to capture a bid to the Olympic games. Hope Solo, battling a quad injury, pitched a shutout.

Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova to claim the Australian Open title.

Virginia Tech takes on Maryland today at 2:30. The Hokies have lost 5 of 6 and are coming off a loss at home to BYU. They played the worst offense I have seen in the first 10 minutes of a basketball game, only to come back and lose by 2. Maryland has lost 3 straight. 2 of those were to Duke and Florida State.

It’s hard to pick out any dynamite games in college basketball today. We’ll have to see how the day goes.

Take Marquette (-3) @ Villanova. That line is ridiculous. Look in your bank account. Whatever you’ve got in there, bet it on Marquette to win by 3 today.

Duke is overrated. Take St. Johns (+18) today in Cameron Indoor.

Virginia and N.C. State will be a low scoring affair. Take Under (124).

The West Virginia/Syracuse game will be physical and high scoring. Take Over (139)

Rob Lowe of “Parks and Recreation” tweeted yesterday that he heard from sources that Peyton Manning was going to retire.

The Rangers signed Japanese phenom Yu Darvish to a 6 year, 60 million dollar deal.

Joe Flacco said Ed Reed’s negative comments about him were “no big deal.” Have you ever heard a quarterback say otherwise after being criticized?

Trinity University had the longest winning streak in college sports in the sport of Squash with 252 consecutive wins. Yale ended that streak yesterday. Now, Hogwarts owns the record with 158 straight Quiddich wins. They take on Harvard tonight in Cambridge.

Virginia Tech hosts North Carolina this evening in a “must-win” for both teams. The Hokies have dropped 3 straight ACC contests and are in search of their first win, trying to avoid an irreparable 0-4 ACC start. The Tar Heels were embarrassed last time out by Florida State and need to regain their powerhouse image.

The Lakers and Heat face off in South Beach tonight. Wade will not play. LeBron James was sent home from shoot-around with flu-like symptoms and is a game-time decision tonight. “Game-Time” decision is a sneaky term. Game time is 8:00. Doesn’t LeBron need some time to put his uniform on? If Kobe vs. LeBron doesn’t get you a little excited inside, be sure to grab a tampon before Teen Mom. I get the feeling that he doesn’t want Kobe sinking fade-aways in his face all night, so don’t be surprised if King James is kept out with a “high fever.” In reference to LeBron’s “flu-like symptoms,” Stephen A. Smith said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, simply, “Kobe would play tonight.”

The Washington Wizards picked up a very impressive second win last night at home against the Thunder. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook took 50 out of 77 (64.9%) of the team’s shots. The Thunder lost. What does that tell you? Pass the ball! The difference in the game was Washington’s 19 offensive rebounds and Nick Young’s night from the 3-point line (Young made 5 of 10 from behind the arc). Oh, and the fact that Durant and Westbrook shot 50 times and only scored 69 points was a big reason the Thunder lost, too.

The Washington Capitals went into Montreal last night, a day removed from a home upset to a the lowly Islanders, and came away with a 3-0 victory. Alexander Ovechkin added a 3rd period goal for his 19th of the season and Michal Neuvirth, in his first start in 11 contests, stopped all 31 shots he faced for his 2nd shutout of the season.

The Celtics are considering breaking up the big three. I’m considering a juicy McRib for lunch. Both are bad ideas.

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First of all, I must admit for the first time on this site that I was wrong.  Unfortunately for all of us this is most likely the first of many.  So, the Jags didn’t lay down to the Colts yesterday.  Silly Maurice Jones-Drew and his quest to crush the competition for AFC rushing supremacy.  Jones-Drew out-rushed the nearest competitor, Ray Rice of Baltimore, by 240 yards.  He had almost 2000 yards from scrimmage this year.  Could you imagine if he had been supported by any sort of a passing attack?  Wow, just wow.  With 25 carries for 169 yards, the Jags didn’t need anything from Blaine Gabbert (which is good, because the vaunted Jacksonville passing attack gained a whopping 71 total yards for the game).  Did I mention it was the Colts too?  That team is bad and they showed it again yesterday.

So, now that the Colts have secured the #1 overall pick in April’s draft, the consensus says that Andrew Luck is the guy.  Right?  Not so fast.  Today, the Irsay family said goodbye to Bill Polian and his sons.  You know, the guy who came to this Colts franchise a few years ago and made a statement in his first draft with the team.  That statement was named “Peyton Manning.”  The Colts won 10 games per season in 9 of the 14 seasons Polian was in charge.  There are rumors floating around that Polian was willing to cut ties with Peyton and move forward with a QB named “Luck.”  Apparently that option did not sit well with the Irsay’s.

So, does Indy auction the number one to the highest bidder and gear up for another Super Bowl run before Peyton finally breaks down?  Does this franchise pass on a near “can’t miss” guy at QB and take a tackle like Ryan Kalil?  Does Jim Irsay simply want to make sure Manning is with this team the next few years to help bring along the ”next guy”?  I’m not sure. And I doubt that anyone outside of the Irsays can answer that for sure… and there is a good chance that they have no idea what they plan to do just yet either.

The smart money is on the Colts taking Luck and letting him learn the ropes behind, possibly, the greatest signal caller of this generation. But, in the NFL, the smart money doesn’t necessarily do the talking.  Step one for the man or men who replace the Polians: Decide what to do with head coach Jim Caldwell.  My guess is that there will be a new head guy patrolling the sidelines in Indy next season, but we shall see.

While Polian was perhaps the most shocking casualty of the day, he was far from the only one.  Raheem Morris could not survive the 10 game losing streak his Buccaneers ended the year on.  Morris seemed to simply lose his team.  Tampa Bay was simply bad this year.  The effort wasn’t there. And as a result, the Glazer family had a pretty easy decision to make.  This franchise is very young and has some important pieces in place.  Tampa isn’t the only place looking for a new coach, though.  The St. Louis Rams parted ways with General Manager Billy Devaney and Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo.  This group looked like they had turned the corner last year and the Rams were a sexy pick to make the playoffs this year.  Well, injuries and regression nipped that in the bud.  The Rams suffered through a 14 loss season and that wrote the final notes on Spagnuolo’s tenure.  SI’s Peter King dropped this nugget about the Rams under Spagnuolo: the Pats have lost less games in a decade under Bill Belichick than the Rams did in three seasons under Spagnuolo.  Ugh.

The Jags, Dolphins, and Chiefs all can now start looking to replace the interim coaches with full-time guys.  Romeo Crennel may have a chance to keep his spot in K.C.; but in Jacksonville and Miami, there will be new coaches.  Keep your ears open because Black Monday is just the beginning.  AJ Smith and Norv Turner are probably gone in San Diego.  I’m not convinced that Jason Garrett is coming back to Dallas, despite every word of support from Jerry Jones.  Garrett simply seems over-matched out there.  We all know Jones needs a puppet for a head coach, but I’m not sure Garrett is up to the task.

Stay tuned for more off-season previews!  The fun has just begun!