Thanks for the summation of what Phil Steele doesn't know Picker. I and many others have had a lot of respect for the opinions of Phil Steele, but your critique just goes to show how really nobody seems able to know everything.
Although, yes, some seem able to know more than others, especially locally

Jordan's 6 rings are great & awesome BUT compared to 11, it's nothing....

Bill Russell won 5 MVP trophies but in those seasons', he made 1st team NBA only 3 times....

To me, the greatest NBA player/champion of all-time is also the most under-appreciated player also....

CELTICS win the 2010 NBA championship in 7 games.... Boston has a better starting 5 & bench, Kobe's really good but he's outnumbered in this series....

Very hard to go against Bill Russell on this one.

Hey Picker you might want to re-think that comment about Phil Steele,here's a reply to a Texas fan on his website:

Mike You say I do a lousy job picking the Big 12 South. Lets see who I picked and who played in the Big 12 Title Game

2009 My pick Texas, B12 Title game Texas
2008 my pick Oklahoma B12 title game Oklahoma
2007 My pick Oklahoma B12 title game Oklahoma
2006 My pick Oklahoma B12 title game Oklahoma
2005 My pick Texas B12 title game Texas
2004 My pick Oklahoma B12 title game Oklahoma
2003 My pick Oklahoma B12 title game Oklahoma

You say I do a poor job in the Big 12 South and yet I have picked the B12 South champ SEVEN straight years. What am I missing here?

Also you ridicule me for my pick of Oklahoma at #5 last year but of the 16 magazines/internet sites in '09 my #5 was the LOWEST pick of any so I was the most accurate on OU as most had #2 or #3.

Phil"

Oh and for the record if you're going to write a column about somebody you might want to get your facts straight first,he picked OU #5 last year not #4 as you implied,and everbody else had OU picked higher.And you know as well as everybody else if not for the injuries last year OU would have been a top 5 team.

Phil who? The only two times a team other than OU or Texas won the Big 12 South was Texas A&M in 1997 and 1998. It doesn't take a genius to pick the winner of the Big 12 South.

Nolan can coach. The ticket prices are ridiculous. This is the WNBA we're talking about, not the NBA

MJ is still the best NBA Player of all time, better than Kobe Bryant. He lead the Bulls to titles from 1996-1998 with Luke Longley as the center. I don't know about you, but I'd say Gasol is clearly a better center than Longley was. Also, Shaq was clearly a better center than Bill Cartwright was when the Bulls won NBA Titles from 1991-1993. I'll put Kobe at No. 2 behind Michael Jordan.

If Phil Steele's job is to get people talking, well, he did his job. It's barely June. We don't even know what they will call "that" conference, which is currently home to OU and OSU. A&M vs. Iowa State in the Big 10 chumps game? Maybe OU can recruit Kobe to sell some tickets.

People are stuck on Phil Steele's pick of OU and justifiabl so since they are fans. But take a look at the other teams he picked last year. Picker mentioned a few of them. Ole Miss at #6? Notre Dame at #7? USC at #3? He was way off on all three. Notre Dame was the worst because I remember people laughing at it when he made it all the way until the end of the season.

As far as Kobe goes Pick, he did have Shaq (a future HOF candidate and one of the most dominant centers ever to play the game). With that said, Bill Russell does not belong in the argument. He did not lead his teams like Kobe and MJ did. Just because he has championships does not make him the best. Heck, Robert Horry has a ton of championships.

Actually though, if you could line up all the players of all time & say pick first, my first choice would be Wilt Chamberlain....

Jordan 2nd, Jerry West 3rd....

LOL

He was able to pick the Big 12 South?

LOL... oh the humanity.

Let me guess.... he also went out on a limb and picked FSU to win the ACC throughout the 90's?

Globally? lol you crack me up picker,since when is a anonymous sports writer for a local Tulsa newspaper considered "global".To quote a line from the movie Top Gun,son your ego is writing checks your body can't cash! lol Globally,give me a break dude,people in other countries don't give a rats patooty about american college football.Oh and what makes you think U doesn't have a running game? I seen where Demarco Murray set a goal of 1500 yards this year,and if he stays healthy I don't see why couldn;t achieve that goal.As a matter of fact Stoops thought it was too low.I think I'll trust Bob's judgement over yours on that too.True OU lost a few players on defense,but they are OU,they don't rebuild they reload.OU has plenty of talented players licking their chops to step in and show what they can do.So you just go on hating on OU and trying to stir the pot so you can sell more newspapers and us OU fans will just sit back and enjoy our season.

Tulsandn, in no way am I comparing Robert Horry to Bill Russell. I am saying that you cannot judge a player's worth by the championship rings on his fingers.

Bill Russell was great but I think that Kobe will go down in history as a better player.

love you to death master picker, but as for that closing statement, well, that dog won't hunt monsignor. kobe is great, just not when it truly matters, as this year's finals proved. other than that, we still good, homie.