Meister der Farbe » -greatest turnaround in SEC history in 2013. In

1. Why do we tend to write off the qualifying final losers?Sydney and Hawthorn confront the ignominious straight sets exit from the finals this weekend after finishing top-four, making for a tense week for the warrior teams. But since the current finals system was introduced in 2000, only five of 64 top-four teams have been booted out in that manner.The rider to all this is that it has happened three times in the past two years -- to Geelong and Fremantle in 2014 and Sydney in 2015. There is also a strong argument to suggest the AFLs pre-finals bye may have helped the teams in the bottom half of the eight, and an even stronger argument that the teams who finished fifth to seventh were much stronger this year.But Hawthorn and Sydney, both playing at home and stung by last weekends results, should make strong cases to continue this weekend.2. Is Eddie Betts the best-ever small forward?This one cropped up the other day and to be honest, there is some hyperbole in it. What is more accurate is that Betts, with 77 goals, has produced one of the best-ever seasons by a small forward.This century only two -- Brad Johnson (74 in 2006) and Jeff Farmer (76 in 2000) -- have come close to that level of output. And needless to say, Betts has become close to the best player to watch in the land. Nick Smith, his likely opponent this week at the SCG, has an enormous task ahead of him.But the best-ever? A couple of blokes named Matthews and Bartlett (and Daicos, if you consider him small) would have something to say.3. In defence vs. offence, who wins? Sydney vs. Adelaide represents the No. 1 ranked defensive team against the No. 1 attacking side. Hence, it is the duel of philosophies, in a sense.It is common for people to say in sport that defence wins championships, but it is scarcely that simple, and in any case, Sydney were fourth in the competition for scoring this season, hence have both genres covered. The problem for the Swans last weekend was they were shut down, and Lance Franklin went goalless, which they cannot afford to allow again.Don Pyke has changed the game in his first season by encouraging his players to run at the forward presses that have become the norm in recent years, and to scythe through the webs to score easy goals. All power to him for making ball movement king. But in short, both teams need to address each phase of the game to win.4. Could Luke Beveridge be a great coach? Tim Watson raised this notion during the week and it is worth pondering. On the small sample that Beveridge has offered up at this level, it is quite possible the next Alastair Clarkson has arrived.The Bulldogs will be everyones second team this weekend on the back of what they achieved at Domain Stadium last weekend and on the way they have worked through their terrible injury toll in 2016. Two factors tell you that Beveridge is really good: first, his players want to play for him, manically so as we saw in Perth. Second, players improve under his watch.He also knows Hawthorns method inside out, having spent a couple of years as an assistant to Clarkson, being one of five coaches in the competition who came through that particular school. This week, he said Hawthorn have changed so much that it would not help him. But he would say that, wouldnt he?5. Are the Hawks gone?We now know that Hawthorn have to go the long road if they are to win a fourth consecutive premiership, but it is not impossible by any stretch. As recently as last year the Hawks had backs to the wall after losing to West Coast in the first week of finals, only to hit their best in the run home. Sydney (in 2005) and West Coast (in 2006) are among other teams to take that route to a flag.It is true that Clarksons team has not played as well as in 2016, dipping to sixth in scoring in the absence of Jarryd Roughead. But aside from a crooked kick from Isaac Smith last weekend they would be premiership favorites right now. Watch this space on that one.Kenny Stabler Raiders Jersey . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Clelin Ferrell Raiders Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. http://www.footballraidersmall.com/Youth-Bo-Jackson-Elite-Jersey/ . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Johnathan Abram Raiders Jersey . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Fred Biletnikoff Womens Jersey . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play.Mark my words: There will be one team that comes from nowhere to make a run for the playoff.Iowa did it in 2015, TCU made an unprecedented eight-win leap in 2014, and Auburn made the single-greatest turnaround in SEC history in 2013. In this sense, college football is predictably unpredictable. There will be a team that comes out of left field to shock the world, but identifying that team in the preseason is nearly impossible.Even so, with the help of some advanced metrics, we are going to take a crack at finding the team that can make an Iowa-like leap this season. Admittedly, no team is expected to jump from seven to 12 wins because even the top teams arent projected to run the table.dddddddddddd Nonetheless, below are three Power 5 teams that finished with seven or fewer wins last season yet could make a major leap in 2016.Each teams chance to reach double-digit wins is courtesy of ESPNs Football Power Indexs season projections. This number accounts for a teams past performance, strength of schedule, number of returning starters and more, and because of how it measures prior performance, it implicitly includes other predictive metrics referenced below. ' ' '