Getting personal with defensive line; Bzdelik

Thinking pig and fall afternoons.

Not quite the beach and half-clothed beauties but maybe the next best thing.

While everyone is chewing fingernails over Colorado's offense the BGT is hungry to find out what the defense is going to do in 2007 and that all starts with the men slugging it out on the line.

The Buffs could do far worse than George Hypolite and Brandon Nicolas but who else is going to be consistently breaking down doors of offenses inside? That is one important test question.

Hypolite and Nicolas might become one of the best interior tandems in school history but depth is mandatory.

Next, where is the pass rush coming from? The defensive backs want to know.

Abraham Wright has left the building. Is some Kansan named Drew Hudgins the answer? Is raw-as-grocery store-meat Conrad Obi a diamond-to-be? Will someone who has been marinating in the program for a season prove dirt tough and defiant to offensive lineman's attempts to block him, say Marquez Herrod? Or will Mo Lucas juice up the engine to become the quarterback hunter he's expected to be at CU?

The Buffs need this unit to be nasty and rough and productive if it is going to give the defense a chance to do good things. The offense needs them even more.

It's over

Air Force's breakout season has come to an end with a 68-67 loss to Clemson in the NIT at Madison Square Garden.

Think CU athletic director Mike Bohn and Falcons' coach Jeff Bzdelik are having breakfast in bed today?

Croissants and a contract offer.

What a way to wake up.

Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh has already shown signs of not handling the breakup well. Rumors of Bzdelik leaving him for another have been out there for so long and Mueh likely feels humiliated. Not gonna be pretty on the day when the coach says breaks it off with him.

"Really, it's not you, it's me."

Someone always feels jilted, always gets hurt.

Bohn just pulled up curbside, all flashy and confident and told Bzdelik, "get in and let's roll."

The coach smiled, obviously intrigued. Now all he has to do is decide this is it for him. He likes the idea of trading excitement for stability, doesn't want to hurt his soon-to-be ex but knows he wants what he wants.

Orange nuggets

O.K., let's move quick...

Jeff Green of Georgetown, a wonderful talent, an NBA player but certainly not a future All Star as everyone is making him out to be. Man, can the media blow up anyone and everyone to be Superman or what.

Seth Davis of CNNSI.com threw out his favorites for coaching vacancies, which left me going "huh?" Tom Crean moving from Marquette to Kentucky? Nope. Not a glamorous enough hire for those bluebloods.

Chris Lowery leaving Southern Illinois for Arkansas? Would be a potentially fantastic hire for the Hogs and could go down. I'd say UK should look at him before Arkansas does but his defense-first approach would likely not fly in Lexington. And, for that thing I wrote about earlier this week, well, don't discount it -- it is Kentucky, after all.

Davis picks Creighton's Dana Altman to end up at Iowa, which sounds good to me.

But Lon Kruger at Michigan just doesn't work. Why leave Vegas for a job that is better on paper than in reality. Truth is Kruger is wayyyyy too good for that job. And relocating from the sun of the desert for Ann Arbor? Now, if the money was in unmarked bills and filled a phone booth, maybe Boulder could be attractive. Kruger's collegiate track record is superior to Air Force's Jeff Bzdelik no matter how not-gonna-happen-at-CU Kruger is, although a nice daydream.

Just in -- Ricardo Patton has asked for a contract extension at Northern Illinois. Says he's doing more with nothing than anyone in the country.

Interesting how Patton gets respect, we hear, from Texas' Rick Barnes, Indiana's Bob Knight and Indiana's Kelvin Sampson and yet all that love earns him a job at a place that would be difficult find, even with a map.

In the backyard

Quite the offseason the Broncos are having -- two deaths, taking Jake Plummer out to the curb for trash day, exporting Tatum Bell and George Foster, trying to do the same to Al Wilson and now Brandon Marshall, a rising star, getting cuffed for a little no-no called false imprisonment and domestic violence. That said, let's not judge him too harshly until more comes out as sometimes chicks get on the crazy train, think Joumana Kidd, and do wild things when their fuse gets lit, making up their own reality. If Marshall is indeed guilty, however, coach Mike Shanahan might need to make receiver a higher priority than it already is come draft time. Regardless, those Broncos have a hell of a start on a reality show or soap opera script, don't they?

One underrated guy, Keith Burns, has called it quits with Denver to help coach special teams, a skill he was best known for, to the point you forgot he was a linebacker when he entered the league from the old poke school, Oklahoma State. The man made one tall stack of money solely because he passionately and effectively played special teams, something for young, athletic one-trick ponies to remember.

Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, writing in Baseball America, thinks that by 2010, the Rockies' starting rotation will be upside down, with Aaron Cook going from the opening day selection to tail gunner, telling you all you need to know about Cook's legitimacy as an anchor for the seed throwers this season. Jeff Francis is projected to be second in line in three years with newcomer Jason Hirsch in the middle, last year's top pick -- Greg Reynolds -- at number four, another indictment on the front office and Cook being replaced at the top by, get this, strong-armed but ball-spraying Franklin Morales, he of little control.