Conference Championship Picks

I went 3-1 last week, among the many who simply didn't give the Buzzsaw that is the Arizona Cardinals their proper credit, apparently. At 5-3 so far this post-season, I'll need to get all three remaining games correct if I'm to improve on last year's 7-4 record for playoff predictions. Among the crowd at Yahoo! and ESPN, I'm in a five-way tie for second place with Mike Golic, of all people, leading the pack. Sorry if that sort of bothers me, but Golic finished at the bottom with Seth Wickersham in the regular season, so his resurgence is somewhat stunning. Still, it is a difference of one game and these are the playoffs we're talking about, so chances are that when all is said and done, most of the records for these "experts" is going to be pretty close—unless, of course, you're talking about poor David Fleming, who has now guaranteed he will finish below .500 in his own predictions. Chump.

Anyway, here's a look at how everyone has performed so far this post-season (last week's record in parentheses) and what their Super Bowl predictions are heading into this weekend:

Mike Golic, ESPN: 6-2 (3-1)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)
YOURS TRULY: 5-3 (3-1)
ESPN Accuscore: 5-3 (2-2)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)
Eric Allen, ESPN: 5-3 (2-2)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)
Jason Cole, Yahoo!: 5-3 (2-2)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)
Charles Robinson, Yahoo!: 5-3 (2-2)
(Philadelphia-Baltimore)
James C. Black, Yahoo!: 4-4 (2-2)
(Philadelphia-Baltimore)
Ron Jaworski, ESPN: 4-4 (2-2)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)
Chris Mortensen, ESPN: 4-4 (1-3)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)
Mark Schlereth, ESPN: 4-4 (2-2)
(Arizona-Pittsburgh)
Michael Silver, Yahoo!: 4-4 (2-2)
(Arizona-Pittsburgh)
Seth Wickersham, ESPN: 4-4 (1-3)
(Arizona-Pittsburgh)
Merril Hoge, ESPN: 3-5 (1-3)
(Arizona-Pittsburgh)
David Fleming, ESPN: 2-6 (1-3)
(Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)

So nobody has a Super Bowl without a team from Pennsylvania? Yep, looks like that's the case, because my own predictions go like this:

Philadelphia Eagles over Arizona Cardinals

I have placed whichever team is playing the Buzzsaw as my most confident pick each of the past two weeks, and trust me, I'm hoping that I end up being wrong here. I'd love to see the Cardinals go to the Super Bowl and avoid the city of Philadelphia winning another world championship so soon. Still, the Eagles have been rolling and won't be phased by one more road game.

Baltimore Ravens over Pittsburgh Steelers

Hey, did you hear Baltimore's banged up? And their quarterback is a rookie? And so on.

But the Ravens wanted this matchup ever since they got screwed out of the division title. I'd actually be more nervous about their chances if it were any other team, but Baltimore's pulling this off.