Are the Miami Dolphins trying to send Jason Taylor a message?

Jason may be too busy practicing his tango moves to care. Nevertheless, the Dolphins have been conspicuously aggressive in stocking up on defensive ends in this draft.

On day one, the Fins took Clemson DE Phillip Merling. At the start of day two, they traded down a couple of spots with the Lions, then used their third-rounder to select Hampton’s Kendall Langford.

Langford, somewhat optimistically I would say, compares himself to New England Pro-Bowler Richard Seymour.

“He’s a bigger end that can play tackle, and he’s a physical guy, not a speed guy,” Langford said. “That’s how I look at myself.”

Langford is expected to play end in the Dolphins’ 3-4 defense.

A lot of folks didn’t think Villanova belonged in the NCAA tournament. And early in their first round game against Clemson, it began to look like those folks were right.

Clemson, runners-up of the ACC tournament, went on a 22-9 run to open the game, and led it 39-27 at the half. ‘Nova came out determined in the second half however, and fought back to take the lead on a Scotty Reynolds 3 ball with just under 12 minutes remaining.

The Tigers soon found themselves behind by 8, and needing their own rally. Clemson would get back into it on the free-throw line: Terrence Oglesby hit 5 straight free throws, three after getting fouled on a shot from behind the arc, and two more after Villanova coach Jay Wright got hit with a technical.

Clemson managed to tie it at 66 with 1:55 remaining. It came down to free throws for Villanova, and their guys were up to it. ‘Nova made 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the last two minutes, and claimed a 79-65 upset win.

USC will be a trendy pick. I see them in the Sweet Sixteen, but don’t see them getting past Georgetown. In fact, I’ll take Georgetown to win the bracket, beating Kansas in the Elite 8. No big-time upset possibilities stand out here. Unless you consider Villanova over Clemson a big-time upset (which I don’t think it is).

Clemson made a valiant run through the ACC tournament, but came up short in their quest to earn an automatic bid to the big dance, falling to North Carolina in the final 86-81.

The Tigers absolutely left it all out on the court. They had the Tarheels sweating until about the mid-point of the second half, when North Carolina’s superior talent began overwhelming the underdogs.

Clemson has already most likely earned an at-large bid to the tourney. North Carolina, meanwhile, has locked down a #1 seed.

(picture: Getty/Yahoo!)

Duke and North Carolina won’t get a third crack at each other after all.

The Clemson Tigers rose up and played spoilers in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, knocking off Duke 78-74. The loss eliminates Duke from contention for a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney.

Clemson will now face North Carolina in Sunday’s final. The Tigers already figured to get an at-large bid, but can sail into the Big Dance in higher style, with an ACC tournament title in their pockets.

(picture: Getty/ESPN)

The #1 team in the nation, the North Carolina Tarheels, got a scare put into them Saturday by Virginia Tech. The hard-fought ACC semifinal game was tied at 66 when Carolina’s Player of the Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough collected a teammate’s missed shot and hit a fadeaway jumper with .8 seconds remaining.

Carolina had fought back from what was at one point in the second half an 8-point deficit. The Tarheels will face the winner of the Duke-Clemson game in Sunday’s ACC final.

Virginia Tech, meanwhile, will wait to see if the selection committee bestows an at-large bid on them. Their run to the semis of the conference tourney should help them, as should their solid showing against Carolina.

One of these days, Clemson is going to win a basketball game at North Carolina. They’re going to be close late and have a break go their way…or maybe North Carolina’s regulars will all come down with a mysterious case of food poisoning right before the game.

No, I’m not advocating cheating. Clearly, Clemson doesn’t have to cheat to beat North Carolina. Cause they almost did beat them on Sunday. The Tigers took the Tarheels to not one but two overtimes…and still ended up on the short end of a 103-93 result.

Clemson was actually leading 45-34 at the half. Carolina coach Roy Williams knew then that his boys were in trouble.

“Fellas, it wasn’t looking good. We were looking at a 30-point butt-kicking there about 5 or 6 minutes into the game,” Williams said. “If I live to be 106, I won’t be any more proud of a group of kids than I am of that bunch right there.”

“Fellas”? Did Williams have his foot up on a cracker-barrel when he gave that quote?

Of course, Clemson being Clemson and North Carolina being North Carolina, the Tarheels were able to rally in the second half, and get to even by the buzzer. The first overtime was 8-8, then Carolina said enough is enough (dadgummit) and ended the game with a 13-3 run.

History remains intact - Carolina has won 53 straight home games against Clemson. That breaks the old record of 52, set by Princeton over Brown from 1929-2002. Still, Clemson players don’t believe the basketball gods are against them.

“I don’t think there’s a curse,” said Tigers leading scorer Cliff Hammonds. “We wanted it most of the game, but then we lost focus on our defense coming down the stretch and they wanted it a little more than us.”

Nah, they didn’t want it any more than you Cliff…you’re just Clemson.

(source: ESPN)

Clemson made out like a rich kid at Christmas Wednesday, nabbing several big-time recruits, including the guy listed by ESPN as the #1 overall prospect in the nation.

The big prize for Tommy Bowden and the Tigers is DaQuan Bowers, a 6-4, 265 lb. defensive tackle out of Bamberg Ehrhardt HS (Bamberg, SC). Bowers is considered the #1 prospect in America by ESPN and #2 overall by Rivals.com. Scout.com says of him:

Easily convertable from DE to DT and vice versa, but his height and current body type makes him into a perfect strongside defensive end prospect. Has a good motor off the ball and is strong getting up the field, though he is playing off of mostly sheer natural talent rather than technical prowess. Incredible athlete, as he shows in his running back film. Simply needs to become more consistent with what he shows in flashes off the edge.

The Tigers also added Jamie Harper, ESPN’s #3 running back, a 6-foot 220 pounder out of Florida’s Trinian Christian Academy (those Bowdens and their Florida connections). The ESPN #4 QB prospect, Kyle Parker of Bartram Trail H.S. (FL), also lands with Clemson, as does #3 defensive tackle Brandon Thompson of Thomasville H.S. (GA), and #3 safety Spencer Adams of Butler H.S. (NC).

Overall, Clemson has snapped-up 12 guys rated 80 or above by ESPN.

This is a huge mess:

* Ohio State didn’t play a conference championship - so sat at 11-1
* Kansas has one loss as well - but is ranked 8th
* Hawaii is perfect and 8th?!!!
* Meanwhile, LSU has 2 losses and has no right being in the BCS with 2 losses

1. Ohio State (50) 11-1 1,578
2. LSU (11) 11-2 1,519
3. Oklahoma (1) 11-2 1,423
4. Georgia (1) 10-2 1,421
5. Virginia Tech (1) 11-2 1,380
6. USC 10-2 1,346
7. Missouri 11-2 1,195
8. Kansas 11-1 1,164
9. Florida 9-3 1,071
10. Hawaii (1) 12-0 1,050
11. West Virginia 10-2 1,040
12. Arizona State 10-2 939
13. Illinois 9-3 797
14. Boston College 10-3 668
15. Clemson 9-3 614
16. Tennessee 9-4 554
17. texas 9-3 517
18. Wisconsin 9-3 447
19. Brigham Young 10-2 439
20. Cincinnati 9-3 394
21. Virginia 9-3 344
22. Auburn 8-4 264
23. South Florida 9-3 246
24. boise state 10-2 221
25. Arkansas 8-4 173
Others Receiving Votes
Texas Tech 137, UCF 35, Connecticut 31, Oregon 30, Oregon State 30, Michigan 26, Air Force 17, Kentucky 13, Penn State 1, Wake Forest 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Oregon 18.

… But the real question is:
* What will it look like when the BCS rankings come out?
* Will Missouri remain #1?
* Why is Hawaii so low? They are undefeated and beat a top 20 team this past week.

AP Top 25
1. Missouri (45) 11-1 1,604
2. West Virginia (20) 10-1 1,574
3. Ohio State 11-1 1,469
4. Georgia 10-2 1,354
5. LSU 10-2 1,269
6. Virginia Tech 10-2 1,266
7. Kansas 11-1 1,217
8. USC 9-2 1,212
9. Oklahoma 10-2 1,191
10. Florida 9-3 1,029
11. Hawaii 11-0 991
12. Boston College 10-2 909
13. Arizona State 9-2 826
14. Tennessee 9-3 746
15. Illinois 9-3 719
16. Clemson 9-3 553
17. texas 9-3 435
18. Oregon 8-3 419
19. Wisconsin 9-3 398
20. Cincinnati 9-3 343
21. Brigham Young 9-2 329
22. Virginia 9-3 288
23. Auburn 8-4 226
24. boise state 10-2 197
25. South Florida 9-3 190
Others Receiving Votes
Arkansas 138, Texas Tech 119, Connecticut 41, Michigan 19, Air Force 19, Kentucky 13, UCF 11, Oregon State 5, TROY 3, Tulsa 1, Wake Forest 1, Penn State 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Connecticut 20.