#5 The Sony Open in Hawaii
Your average duffer’s golf clubs are still stored away in the garage until Spring, but the winter blues are over for the pros in the PGA. Live vicariously through your favorite tour star as they play the Sony Open in Hawaii this weekend.

#4 New York Giants at Green Bay Packers
Are the Green Bay Packers as good as they appear to be? Are the New York Giants peaking at the right time? We’ll find out this weekend when the 10-7 Giants travel to frosty Lambeau to face the 15-1 Packers. Expect to see the ball in the air a lot, especially if the Pack jumps out to an early lead and Eli Manning is forced to play catch up all day long.

#3 Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens
This one would almost be easy to overlook. The Baltimore Ravens’ crushing defense stifles both the pass (fourth) and the run (second). But the Houston Texans are just as dominant, ranking third against the pass and fourth against the run. And let’s not forget Arian Foster has lead the Texans to the #2 rushing attack in the NFL. Baltimore cannot be too confident against the upstart Texans on Sunday.

#2 Denver Broncos at New England Patriots
Is there another miracle in the Denver Bronco’s season? For a team the stumbled backwards into the playoffs, they provided quite a show in the Wild Card round. Of course, that was in the friendly confines of Mile High Stadium. This week, Tim Tebow and company have to travel to the decidedly unfriendly home turf of the New England Patriots.

#1 New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers
The New Orleans Saints looked just about unstoppable in the last half of the Wild Card game against the Detroit Lions last week and really for the last half of the regular season. They scored at least 20 points in every game this year and have the number one passing game in the league.
The San Francisco 49ers are doing it all with defense and the run game. They allowed more than 23 points just twice all year and boast the top ranked run defense in the NFL. Unlike last week’s lopsided matches, this game should be down to the wire.

#5 Tiger’s Triumph
Tiger Woods winning is old news. Really, really old news. It feels like 2005. Tiger Woods won a golf tournament. The Chevron World Challenge isn’t an official PGA event, but still – it’s Tiger’s first win in just over two years. This is a tournament that he’s won 4 times in the past and he looked like the Tiger of old – comfortable and confident. Wonder if he’s going to Denny’s to celebrate.

#4 Let the Hating Begin… Again… Still
Tim Tebow led his Denver Broncos to another thrilling, gut it out, come from behind fourth-quarter win. The hopeless 1-4 team that Tebow inherited is now 7-5 with a good shot at going to the playoffs and… who knows? It won’t matter to the anti-Tebow contingent in the media who are intent on proving that the Kid Who Just Wins isn’t a winner.

#3 Soccer is spelled STANFORD
One goal. That’s the difference between Stanford winning the College Cup and being the runner up again. This time around, the Stanford Women’s Soccer team would not be denied. With flawless goaltending and just enough offense to get the job done, Stanford beat out Duke 1-0 to claim the first soccer championship in the school’s history.

#2 Perfect Pack
The New York Giants didn’t make it easy for the Green Bay Packers to go to a perfect 12-0 on the season. Eli Manning engineered a plucky fourth quarter drive and the G-Men executed a sweet 2-point conversion to tie the game with 59 seconds left. That’s about 40 seconds too many when you’re giving the ball back to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Green Bay made it look easy as they demonstrated a perfect 1-minute drill and kicked the game winning field goal as time expired.

#1 Cam Can
Cam Newton, the #1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, played like it on Sunday. He rushed for three touchdowns, giving him a total of 13 on the season. Newton now owns the record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season. A statistic made all the more remarkable if you recognize a) there are still four games left to play and b) he’s still a rookie. Even though the Panthers are not going anywhere near the playoffs this season, the future is looking bright for Newton and company.

(U.S. Army photo)

#5 The President’s Cup
The USA beating the rest of the world in the President’s Cup doesn’t exactly qualify as an upset since they won the last three in a row. But Jim Furyk going a perfect 5-0? Tiger Woods clinching the victory for his team? That was surprising enough to count.

#4 Unlucky #4
Oregon lost the first game of the season to a then-#4 ranked LSU. Then a couple of weeks back they shocked the world by beating Stanford, who was ranked #4 at that time. So it was that the #4 ranked Oregon Ducks faced an unranked USC Trojans team in a game that should have been a gimme. But no one told USC that. The good news for Oregon is that they will neither be nor face a #4 team next week.

#3 Giant Killers

The New York Giants came into the game 6-3.  They’re the trendy choice to win the NFC East and face the Green Bay Packers for the NFC championship.  The Philadelphia Eagles, on the other hand,  were anointed the Dream Team at the start of the season and have disappointed greatly ever since.  They entered the  game 3-6.  They lost to New York once  already this year, at home, and that was with a healthy roster.  Now, without their starting QB, their #1  receiver, and their biggest off-season acquisition CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, they came in to New York for the rematch shorthanded.  Add to all that the fact that the Eagles, who  held a slim 10-3 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter, have blown a  mind-boggling five fourth quarter leads this year while the Giants have four come-from-behind victories under their belt and the Eagles‘ odds were long  indeed.  But after a brutal, physical 60  minutes of football, Philadelphia left with a “W”.

#2 Oklahoma Falls
Oklahoma’s one loss this season, a shocking, hard fought battle with Texas Tech, was supposed to be just that – their one loss this season. The Sooners started the season on the top of almost everyone’s list of championship contenders. Even after their loss, optimism abounded for Oklahoma’s season. Baylor, with their 3 losses and #22 ranking, was supposed to be one in a series of tune up games for Oklahoma’s regular season finale against Oklahoma State. “Any given Saturday” and “Best laid plans” and all that. The Baylor Bears came to play and, led by QB Robert Griffin III and his four TD throws, gave Oklahoma all they could take and a little bit more with a fantastic final drive to take the lead for good with eight ticks left on the clock.

#1 Oklahoma State Falls, Too
Iowa State Beat Oklahoma State? Really? How did that happen? This was not a good week to be a fan of Oklahoma schools. Not only did the Cyclones – the four-loss Cyclones – beat the heavily-favored Cowboys, they spotted them a generous 10-point lead to start the game. Two overtimes, five interceptions, eight touchdowns, 68 points, and a shocking upset. This is what college football is all about.

#5 Upset Special
The Green Bay Packers are the defending Super Bowl Champions. The Cleveland Browns are… the Cleveland Browns. Saturday’s preseason game between the two may be the only chance the Browns have to win against the Pack for years to come.

#4 Cam Unveiled
The Carolina Panthers ranked dead last in passing yards last season with a putrid 143.1 yards per game. Not coincidentally, they owned the #1 pick in this year’s draft. Maybe, just maybe, last year’s QB performance factored into their decision to spend that first pick on Auburn‘s Cam Newton. With barely enough training camp for Newton to learn the names of his teammates, they’ll trot him out at some point in Saturday’s game against the New York Giants to take the future of their franchise for a little test drive.

#3 Johnson vs. Busch II
Jimmie Johnson passed Kurt Busch on the last lap of the Pocono 500 last week and held that lead for about three seconds before Busch slapped up against the side of Johnson’s car at 200 MPH. Both drivers are skilled enough to bump and push each other without causing a major crash, which means they got away unscathed last week. It also means they’ll feel OK about renewing the discussion on the track next weekend at Watkins Glen. Whether they can do that dance again on Sunday without ramifications remains to be seen.

#2 PGA Championship
The fourth and final major PGA tournament of the year will feature everybody who’s anybody in the world of golf. This one is as big as golf gets (OK, there’s the Masters.  But this is big).  Add in a little of Tiger Woods‘ drama and the Atlanta Athletic Club will be rocking throughout the weekend.

#1 To Dream Team or not to Dream Team
The Philadelphia Eagles have done everything short of taking out a billboard or renting a blimp with a “We Are not the Dream Team” banner to lower the expectations that some of their overly excited new acquisitions have cranked up. Dream Team or not, the heavily-revamped Eagles will be on display Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Who would have thought two years ago when Michael Vick left prison that he’d not only return to Pro-Bowl form, but he’d become the most powerful talent magnet in the NFL?

#5 The Future is Soon
The MLB Futures Game doesn’t get a lot of press. Most fans don’t take any notice of it. But the annual matchup of the best of the minor league players provides a glimpse into the future of the major leagues. For those of you who watched along with me on Sunday, the names we heard on ESPN2 – some of them, anyway – will be household names three, four, five years down the road.

#4 Pinging in the Rain
The LPGA US Open took longer than expected because the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. After herky-jerky start stop start stop play over the first three days, the LPGA did everything it could to cram as much golf into the final day as humanly possible.

#3 1st Time for Everything
There’s a first time for everything, or so the saying goes. Saturday was the first time for Sprint Cup Racing at Kentucky Speedway, or anywhere in Kentucky for that matter. But even with all the newness, there was plenty familiar about seeing Kyle Busch take the checkered flag in a NASCAR race – he won two of three races run this weekend, in fact.

#2 Marta Who?
The US Women’s Soccer Team was forced into a Quarter Final match against Brazil after an ugly loss in the Group Round final. The road to the World Cup was suddenly blocked by the greatest female soccer player in the world and the rest of the Brazilian team. But the US has had Brazil’s number for years, knocking them out of several tournaments and winning 5 in a row against their rivals. It took every bit of regulation and them some. It took an amazing effort when down by one player. It took enough to overcome some officiating that can only be politely described as ‘questionable’. But in the end the US Women are on their way to the Semis while the Brazilian head home to cry in their… whatever it is that they drink in Brazil.

#1 3,000 – With Style
Derek Jeter took the long road to 3,000 hits. But Saturday, he reached the milestone with a flair that few in that prestigious club have matched. Like Wade Boggs before him, Jeter made his 3,000th hit memorable by knocking it over the outfield fence. He started the day two shy of the mark and finished three over. For those of you who struggle with math, that’s a five hit day – out of five plate appearances. The fact that his final hit of the day was the game winner didn’t hurt the mystique, either.

#5 Boston Ascendant

#4 Alvarez – Rhodes
Saul Alvarez, at 20 years old, already has 5 years of professional boxing under his belt. And speaking of belts, he’s got one of those, too. The WBC Junior Middleweight belt to be specific. Saturday night he showed that he’s got endurance, pelting a hapless Ryan Rhodes in the twelfth with a flurry of punches sent boxing writers to their thesauruses looking for a more intense word for flurry.

#3 The College World Series
It’s not like there weren’t enough MLB games over the weekend to satisfy even the most hard-core baseball junkies. But it’s still nice to diversify a bit, and the College World Series has the same kind of intensity as March Madness, only with baseball. Watching Vanderbilt dismantle North Carolina while Florida mopped up Texas was a reasonable substitute for the pro games. And the ping of the aluminum bats is just plain cool; I don’t care who you are.

#2 Gold Cup
OK, I admit it. I only like soccer when the US wins. Today, I like soccer. Sunday’s 2-0 win over Jamaica was a beautiful thing. The US team gets to move on to play either Panama or El Salvador on Wednesday in the Gold Cup Semi-final round. Not bad for a country that likes sports where you can actually touch the ball with your hand.

#1 US Open
I wanted to be the first writer to use some form of “Roring” to describe Rory McIlroy‘s amazing US Open victory, but I was beaten to it by… well, a lot of online sports writers. Still, it’s not about who comes up with the most clever pun, it’s all about who shattered Tiger Woods‘ record for the best score ever at the US Open.

#5 Gold Cup Quarterfinals
The US team isn’t quite what you’d call dominating. But then again this is soccer, one of the two sports (along with Cricket) that we’ve ceded to the rest of the world. As of this writing, the US team is working to squeak past Guadeloupe – which it turns out is a country and not a type of dip as I thought – so they should still be around to face some tougher competition come this weekend.

#4 Terrelle Pryor vs Perception
Ohio State phenom Terrelle Pryor finished his college career watching the games from home. By accepting “improper benefits”, he cut short his college career, ended coach Jim Tressel’s tenure, and missed out on the NFL draft. Now he’s hired super-agent spawn of Satan Drew Rosenhaus and announced his availability for this summer’s supplemental draft. This week will be all about the PR battle and changing the (well-earned) public perception of him as a rotten, self-centered brat.

#3 Busch vs Harvick II
Technically, the name of the event is the Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. Most people will just call it the Michigan 400. But what we’re all watching is the rematch between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Last week at Pocono, while still on probation for Busch vs Harvick I, they managed to put on a fairly good imitation of bumper cars before NASCAR warned them into submission. Now the probation is over, the gloves are off, and the bumping will be fierce.

#2 Inter-League Play
MLB is offering up a weekend of inter-league play, designed to pander to the rivalries that exist in schoolyards and barrooms across the fruited plain, but don’t mean all that much to the players. If proximity breeds contempt, then the most intriguing matchups this weekend are the Tampa Bay Rays against the Florida Marlins and the Kansas City Royals against the St. Louis Cardinals.

#1 The US Open
Tiger’s out. The reigning champion is some guy named Graeme McDowell. This weekend’s US Open in Bethesda, MD is wide open for some dark horse to take the course by storm and propel himself into the national spotlight… for a little while, anyway. Be honest, how many of you could name last year’s winner before reading this column?

Baseball, Soccer, Hockey, Basketball,

#5 USA Soccer
No, not the Men’s team, which lost to Spain 4 – Nil in a game that was even more one sided than the score suggests. It was the US Women’s team that did the nation proud by beating Mexico 1-0. What passes for a regular season in soccer is over now and the team heads to Germany to start their World Cup run later this month against North Korea.

#4 Pujols’ Homers
Most players can only dream of hitting a walk off homer. Even the greats can only hope to do it a couple of times in a season. Albert Pujols of the Saint Louis Cardinals hit walk off home runs against the Chicago Cubs two nights in a row – the second one in extra innings for added dramatic effect.

#3 French Open
Same old, same old. Rafeal Nadal and Roger Federer in the final round of the French Open. This was the fifth time we’ve seen this in the French Open and they all ended the same way. Nadal holds the trophy, Federer goes home disappointed.

#2 Stanley Cup Finals
How can the Stanley Cup Finals get any better? How about overtime? When three periods weren’t enough to settle Game 2 between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks, they had to go to OT – all 11 seconds of it. The Bruins didn’t fare very well in the Great White North, but the series shifts to Beantown for Game 3.

#1 NBA Finals
As predicted by me and… a lot of other people at the start of the season, the Miami Heat are in the NBA Finals. Not quite as many of us picked the Dallas Mavericks to be lining up across from them at tip off. We all expected LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade to be here, but who knew that Dirk Nowitzki would put the Mavs on his back and carry them to the promised land? And what’s more, have the series tied up after two games in the unfriendly confines of South Florida?

#5 Djokovic Rolls
Novak Djokovic’s Friday night match and its continuation during the day on Saturday were as different as… night and day. Djokovic looked vulnerable against Juan Martin del Potro on Friday night. Djokovic’s streak of 41 consecutive wins was in jeopardy against the former U.S. Open Champ in Paris on Friday. But after play was suspended for darkness, a rested and ready Djokovic made his 42nd straight victory look easy on Saturday.

#4 Donald Over Westwood
It is a rare convergence of events that creates the kind of playoff that occurred in the world of golf on Sunday. Lee Westwood and Luke Donald were tied at the end of the regulation rounds of the BMW PGA Championship in England on Sunday. They were also the #1 and #2 ranked golfers in the world respectively. That confluence meant that the winner of the playoff hole would be the undisputed #1 golfer in the world… for a week at least. It only took one hole for Donald to distance himself from Westwood to claim both the tournament and the #1 ranking.

#3 Phils Beat Reds in 19th Inning
The Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds have played some memorable games over the decades. Their matchup Thursday night (and on into Friday morning) ranks among the most memorable. The matchup of Travis Woods and Roy Halladay didn’t exactly come off as expected. Then again, it’s pretty much understood that nothing goes as expected in a game that features two seventh inning stretches. After the first 18 innings, the Phillies exhausted their pitching roster and had to trot out unheralded utility infielder Wilson Valdez to the mound. Valdez proved to be the winning pitcher in the six hour plus marathon game that went into the wee hours of the morning.

#2 Bruins Top Lightning
As predicted, the Conference Finals between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning was a thriller down to the closing moments of the seventh game. In most sports a 1-0 victory is generally a dull defensive struggle lacking in any fireworks. In hockey, on this particular night, it was a thrill a minute, hard-hitting slugfest that disappointed no one. Well, OK, Lightning fans were disappointed that their team wouldn’t be heading to the Stanley Cup Finals this year. But it was a tremendous series from the first face off of Game 1 to the final buzzer in Game 7.

#1 The Indianapolis 500
If the Indianapolis 500 had ended 12 laps earlier, Danica Patrick would be the first woman ever to win the biggest open wheel race of the year. 10 laps earlier and Betrand Baguette would have been the first Belgian – and the first driver named after a French bread – to win. 100 yards earlier and rookie driver JR Hillenbrand would have won. Hillenbrand almost – but not quite – became the first driver in Indy history to win with only three wheels. Good thing for Dan Wheldon they do all 500 miles.

#5 Repeat
Last week, Lee Westwood won both the Indonesian Masters and the #1 ranking in the PGA. He followed up this week with a second straight win, cementing his spot – for now – at the top of the list. Westwood fell behind Miguel Angel Jimenez, then spent the last nine holes of the Ballantine’s Championship surging back to take the victory with a dramatic birdie on the 18th.

#4 Remarkable
Navok Djokovic won the Serbian Open this weekend. Serbian native Djokovic is having an incredible 2011, with 27 victories and no losses. Along the way he has collected 5 titles. This year has been berry, berry good to Djokovic, and it’s only May…

#3 Redoubled
The Nashville Predators scored three goals in five periods. Not stellar scoring, unless you consider that includes regulation and two overtimes in the playoffs. And the fact that they held the opposing Vancouver Canucks to just two goals during that same stretch.  With the series now tied and goals at an extreme premium (game 1 went 1-0 to the Canucks), the ability to squeeze one out in OT is huge.

#2 Revenge
The Boston Bruins failed in epic fashion against the Philadelphia Flyers last year. This time around, Philly is the team that seems to be playing over their heads. Boston took the Flyers to the frozen woodshed on Friday with a 7 point offensive surge. With Philadelphia’s goal tending woes continuing to hamper their efforts, they’ll need to put up gaudy offensive stats if they’re going to stay in this series.

#1 Redemption

LeBron James and his old team got manhandled by the Boston Celtics in the playoffs last year.  The owner of LeBron’s old team – perhaps holding just a few sour grapes – publicly blasted James for ‘giving up’ in last year’s playoff matchup with Boston, even though James put up 45 points in a losing effort in game 7 of that series.

This year, James and his new team are playing Boston in a best of seven series.  Game 1 went decisively, undeniably to the Miami Heat.  Whatever he may have done a year ago, LeBron brought it all to play against the Celtics this year.  Maybe the unflattering comments from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert inspired LeBron this year.  Then again, maybe James didn’t start opposite Dwayne Wade and James Jones coming off the bench on his old team.