The state of Arkansas...football

Two weeks ago, Arkansas football had a surefire top-25 team for 2012 coming off a 21-5 record the past two seasons. Today, the Razorbacks have that same team, but Bobby Petrino is no longer there to lead them. In fact, his house in Fayetteville, Ark. is up for sale for $2.5 million, about $1 million less than the salary he was due to earn this year.

Right now, linebackers coach Taver Johnson, a former Ohio State assistant who was hired in the offseason, will serve as the interim coach for at least the rest of the spring. Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, who took a huge stand in firing Petrino for his transgressions, now has the task of finding a new coach who can keep Arkansas near the top of an SEC West division that has Alabama and LSU.

Arkansas has the advantage of not conducting a head coaching search under the auspices of an NCAA investigation or sanctions like USC and Ohio State. The Razorbacks return a very strong team, including two of the best offensive players in the conference in quarterback Tyler Wilson and running back Knile Davis. Unfortunately, very few coaching searches occur during or after the spring, so it'll be hard to find a current coach willing to leave his program and jump into a new situation.

South Florida head coach Skip Holtz and new Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn are two of the top names being talked about to replace Petrino. Holtz has been a successful coach everywhere he's been, from Connecticut to East Carolina to USF, and his father, Lou Holtz, was the head coach at Arkansas from 1977-83. Though Skip Holtz hasn't been at South Florida very long, SEC jobs don't open up with the regularity of other conferences, and Arkansas would be a great situation to jump into. Malzahn was the Razorbacks' offensive coordinator in 2006 after being the head coach at Springdale (Ark.) High from 2001-05. It'd be hard for him to leave Arkansas State months after taking the job, but if Arkansas goes with an interim head coach for the entire season, Malzahn would probably be more interested.

Then again, there's John Daly's idea. Daly, the golfer and Arkansas dropout, tweeted earlier this week with his suggestion.

"My first loyalty is to the University of Arkansas. I trust that Jeff Long will do what's best for the program. Everyone ogs in the Razorback Nation is devastated! This is heartbreaking as Coach Petrino is a very good friend of mine! From here, I think we will need a great coach like him to continue our winning ways! I myself, would hold out for a great NFL coach---GRUDEN! #GoHogs"

Another guy's baseball predictions

Baseball season is upon us, and everyone has predictions about who will make the playoffs. ESPN posted the predictions of 51 different analysts and writers earlier this week, and here are a few more:

National League
East champion: Atlanta Braves
Central champion: St. Louis Cardinals
West champion: San Francisco Giants
Wild cards: Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds
League champ: Braves

Sleepers: Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks

The prevailing wisdom is that the Phillies, by not losing much and adding closer Jonathan Papelbon, will be the best team in the NL this season. They still have Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, a top two that any team would love to have, but I believe the Braves have a better pitching staff from top to bottom than Philadelphia. A staff with Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson (when he comes back from back surgery), Jair Jurrjens, Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy combined with the bullpen combination of Jonny Venters, Craig Kimbrel and Eric O'Flaherty should keep Atlanta in every game. Miami and Washington are both much improved, but the Braves and Phillies are still the class of the division.

In the Central, the Cardinals still have Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright and a lineup that features Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltran and World Series MVP David Freese.Cincinnati has the hitting and defense to last, but the Reds have to have consistent pitching to win the division. Acquiring Mat Latos from the Padres should really help their cause, but Johnny Cueto, who has never won more than 13 games in a season, needs to turn in ace-like numbers. Whatever Ryan Braun does coming off last year's MVP and subsequent offseason issues, Milwaukee will have a hard time making it back into the playoffs without Prince Fielder.

What the San Francisco Giants don't do at the plate, they make up for on the mound. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, baseball's newest $100 million man, make up one of the best one-two pitchers in the league. With the Dodgers and Padres not expected to make much noise, the NL West should be a two-team race between the Giants and  Diamondbacks, who surprised many by making the playoffs last season.

American League
East champ: New York Yankees
Central champ: Detroit Tigers
West champ: Los Angeles Angels
Wild cards: Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers

Sleepers: Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox

Though the Red Sox have close to the same lineup that had them leading the AL East midway through last season, that lineup suffered one of the worst collapses in baseball history and not much has changed. The Yankees still have the edge in the division, and the Rays, with their wealth of young talent, aren't far behind. Though New York is still led by aging stars Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettite and Alex Rodriguez, younger All-Stars like Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson provide a lot of firepower. Tampa Bay introduced the league to young flamethrowers Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore last season, and combined with David Price and James Shields, the Rays have arguably the best pitching staff in the division. The progression of young outfielder Desmond Jennings will be key in Tampa Bay's pursuit of the AL East crown.

The Tigers were a clear favorite in the AL Central before they added Prince Fielder. Now, they should definitely run away with it. The Royals, with their impressive stable of young players, have been an intriguing team for the past couple of seasons. Is this the season Kansas City breaks through? Who knows, but the Royals are definitely a team to watch this year.

The West was a two-horse race before the Angels went on a spending spree this offseason, signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. The Rangers have won the American League pennant the last two seasons, and they replaced Wilson with Japanese phenom Yu Darvish. If Darvish can give Texas anything close to Wilson's production, the Rangers could be well on their way to another league title.

World Series prediction: Braves over Angels