Virginia travels to face N.C. State; NFL playoff picks

Virginia at N.C. State, 5 p.m. Saturday ESPN2

The Cavaliers whipped Wake Forest on Wednesday night in Charlottesville, 74-51, and it probably could have been worse. The Wahoos bolted out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back. The closest the Demon Deacons got was 11-4 and 29-20 with about four minutes left in the first half. Virginia led 41-24 at halftime and was outscoring Wake 18-4 at one point in the second half.

Malcolm Brogdon had 14 points and six rebounds and was 2 of 2 from 3-point land. It was one of his best games in awhile. Joe Harris, who was questionable to even play after suffering a concussion early against Florida State on Saturday, also got out of his funk a little bit, scoring 11 points, nine in the first half, on 3 of 6 shooting from 3. Justin Anderson moved his double-digit scoring streak to six games with 11 points. Anthony Gill (10 points) had his best game since tallying 12 against Green Bay. Akil Mitchell also had a pretty good game with seven points and seven rebounds.

The Wahoos did their job on defense as well. No Demon Deacon starter scored more than eight points and only one, Coron Williams off the bench, scored in double figures with 11.

It was definitely one of the best games of the year from the Cavaliers. They have had games where they have played well at times but they haven't really put together a complete game until this one. Wake has a solid record but like I said before the game, I'm not convinced it is a great team. Still, if the Wahoos can play at home like that every game, they won't lose many more if any home games. And if they can take 75 percent of that on the road, that will be sufficient for a good ACC record as well.

Next up for the Cavaliers is the Wolfpack, who are 11-4 like the Wahoos. In the ACC, N.C. State is 1-1 (UVa is 2-0) with a win over Notre Dame on the road, 77-70, and, most recently, a loss at home vs. Pitt, 74-62. The Wolfpack's other losses are to Cincinnati, North Carolina Central in OT at home (clearly their worst loss of the year), and Missouri. After that bad loss, N.C. State got things turned around and won seven games in a row. State's other wins are over Appalachian State, Campbell, Florida Gulf Coast, Northwestern, Eastern Kentucky, Long Beach State, Detroit, Tennessee, East Carolina, and North Carolina Greensboro. That Tennessee win was on the road, a place Virginia lost to the Vols by 35. Anything the Wolfpack has done to make it not look very good this year should be forgotten based on that fact. Beating Tennessee on the road should get Virginia's attention.

State has done pretty well this year despite losing lots of players in the offseason, including Rodney Purvis (transfer to UConn), big man Richard Howell (graduation), 3-point specialist Scott Wood (graduation), and C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown, who both decided to skip their senior seasons and declare for the NBA Draft. T.J. Warren, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward who averaged 12.1 points per game last year, has stepped up big time and taken up a lot of the scoring slack, pouring in 23.4 ppg, which ranks fifth in the country. After that, there is quite a drop off. Anthony "Cat" Barber is an effective freshman point guard, averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 assists per game. Two other plays average more than nine points per game: Ralston Turner (9.1) and Desmond Lee (10.5). Warren (7.8) and Lennard Freeman (6.5) are the team's top rebounders.

N.C. State isn't too notable otherwise. It is solid but not great in other categories such as points allowed per game (67.8, tied for 112th in the country), points per game (74.5, 127th), rebounds (36.5, 145th), assists (13.9, 116th), field goal percentage (47.3, 65th), free throw percentage (67.1, 251st, UVa is 300th at 64.5), and 3-point percentage (30.4, second to last in the ACC).

If Virginia continues its trajectory upward, it should win this game easily. I think UVa will have to play better than it did vs. FSU but not necessarily as good as it did against Wake. It would surprise me, though, to see the Wolfpack lose two straight home games. They generally have a good home atmosphere and play well there. It will be one of the toughest environments UVa has played in this year. The Wolfpack should be feeling good about themselves, too, because they just beat Notre Dame after the Irish beat Duke. N.C. State has been at times great and at times not very good under third-year coach Mark Gottfried. We will just have to wait and see what happens. It would be great for UVa to win this game because Monday, after just a day of rest, UVa plays at Duke, and we know that will be a tough game to win.

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NFL playoffs

I went 2-2 in my playoff picks last week which would make me 54-42 on the year in NFL picks. I finished the bowl season just 7-12 and with five straight losses, which did not jive with my regular-season record of 75-31. So I finished the entire college season 82-43 in picks.

On to the divisional playoff picks:

Saints (12-5) at Seahawks (13-3)

4:35 p.m. Saturday FOX

Seattle dismantled New Orleans in the Great Northwest during Week 13, 34-7. The question is not will the Saints play better this time around. That will most surely be the case. The question is can the Saints play so well they knock off the NFC No. 1 seed at the toughest place to play in football? I think the answer to that will be no. New Orleans barely squeaked past the the Eagles last week, who proved to be a good but certainly not great team. The Saints like to pass the ball around but did a good job of running it last week with Mark Ingram. They will need to do more of that at Seattle, where the weather is expected to be nasty -- rainy and windy. Expect a sloppy, defensive-minded affair.

Seahawks 24, Saints 10

Colts (12-5) at Patriots (12-4)

8:15 p.m. Saturday CBS

After eking out some wins and losing to the Dolphins, New England finished out the year in strong fashion, destroying the Ravens, 41-7, and downing the Bills, 34-20. Indianapolis was down, 38-10, last week at home vs. the Chiefs but Andrew Luck led the Colts on an amazing comeback and Indy won, 45-44. They haven't lost since Dec. 8 to the Bengals on the road. I think this will be a good game. Both teams have had moments of inconsistency and moments of greatness this season. Both Brady and Luck are masters of the comeback: Brady has 41 wins when tied or losing in the fourth quarter and Luck already has 11 such victories in his short career. So no matter the score it will be hard to count either guy out until the clock reaches all zeroes. I think the Patriots take this one at home but the Colts are clearly growing as a team and I think their time will come with Luck.

Patriots 34, Colts 31

49ers (13-4) at Panthers (12-4)

1:05 p.m. Sunday FOX

San Francisco won last week at the Frozen Tundra, knocking off Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, 23-20. The Niners have now won seven straight games. This game in Charlotte is expected to be about 50 degrees warmer than that game. The Panthers won the NFC South this year, clinching it with wins over the Saints and Falcons at the end of the year. Carolina won at San Fran earlier this season, 10-9, on Nov. 10. The Panthers have had an excellent season and play a demanding style. The problem is so do the 49ers, and they have played a lot better since losing that game two months ago. The Niners have more experience in the playoffs and will play Carolina better this time around. I think San Francisco will end up beating Carolina at its own game. I think this is also a time where playing last week will benefit the 49ers, who were able to keep up their momentum. The Panthers had a bye and also didn't play that well in their final game of the regular season at Atlanta.

49ers 20, Panthers 16

Chargers (10-7) at Broncos (13-3)

4:40 p.m. Sunday CBS

The final game of divisional playoff weekend is also a rematch from the regular season. San Diego won at Denver during Week 15, 27-20. The Chargers have won five games in a row and have pretty much been in must-win mode since early December. Last week, they beat the Bengals soundly in Cincinnati, handing them their only home loss of the season. Philip Rivers and the Chargers are no doubt playing good ball. Denver has been spectacular at times this season but has certainly fallen off from what it started out the year like. After the loss to San Diego, the Broncos finished the regular season with easy wins over the Texans and Raiders, nothing to be too proud of. It will be interesting to see how they react vs. the Chargers. I think they will come out with a good game plan. There are a couple X-factors to watch in this game. One is the weather. It isn't expected to be too cold but the wind could be gusting around 20 mph. This is something that will probably give Broncos QB Peyton Manning some problems. I can't remember what radio show I was listening to but I heard that wind and not cold is what bothers Manning most because his throws aren't as strong as they used to be after his neck surgeries. For the Chargers, offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt has been a busy man this week. He is a hot possibility for teams that need a head coach. He was previously the head coach of the Cardinals and took them to the Super Bowl a few years ago. NFL.com says Whisenhunt interviewed with the Lions for their head coaching gig Thursday, the Titans on Friday, and is going to talk to the Browns on Saturday. Whisenhunt of course says that these interviews aren't distractions and his is focused on the game. But come on. One interview, OK. But three? That has to be somewhat of a distraction. We will probably never know if it makes a difference in the result this week but just something to keep in mind. In the game, I like the Broncos, but barely. I think Manning will play well enough but not spectacularly and the Broncos defense will do enough to flip the score of these teams' meeting from a few games ago.

Broncos 27, Chargers 20