Prior to the 2002 Super Bowl, the Rams were 14-point favorites. Everyone talked about how the Rams’ offense was unstoppable. The Patriots set a precedent for team unity by following the Rams individual player introductions by being introduced as a team. They proceeded to grit out a 3-point win for the first of their multiple Super Bowls during the decade. It’s hard to imagine the Patriots as an underdog, but prior to the 2002 Super Bowl they were. And the pundits were wrong.

Also in 2002, the second round of the NBA Playoffs provided a match-up that the pundits and even Las Vegas were drooling over. The two most high-powered and entertaining offenses in the NBA that year were matched-up in what was sure to be a high-scoring series. Because they hoped to see a long series between two fun-to-watch teams, pundits predicted a close matchup.

Side note: While in Las Vegas for my 21st birthday, I put 20 bucks on the “under” in Game 1 of the series. Everyone thought the series would be really high-scoring, and it ended up being so. Game 1, however, was not. My 20 bucks on the under was one of the only sports bets I’ve ever made. Betting against the prevailing wisdom is good to do sometimes.

This morning, ESPN’s NBA experts were talking about how great the upcoming series between Memphis and Oklahoma City would be. They said that the Grizzlies have a great chance to win the series and hyped the series more than any second round series during the past few years.

This is another case of the pundits being wrong. I am picking the Thunder in 5 games. Much like the Mavs-Blazers first-round series, the games will be fun to watch, but the series will never be really in question.

Other predictions:

Lakers over Mavs in Six games.

Heat over Celtics in Six games.

Bulls over Hawks in Five games.