Contemplating a Bears upset and the Big Ten hoops race

Monday night's game at Soldier Field is just the kind the Vikings and Brett Favre have been known to lose.

The Vikings are infamous for choking away late-season games with playoff implications. They've been particularly brutal outside when it's cold _ as has Favre, who hasn't been Old Man Winter since his younger days in Green Bay.

This equation also could serve the Bears well: 28 (Adrian Peterson) + 10 (cold digits) = x (fumbles).

Finally, there's the whole Favre-vs.-Childress curfuffle that supposedly has been all worked out. Well, these things rarely get worked out so quickly.

This game smells like an upset.

Or at least it would if the Bears didn't just plain smell.

Jared Allen figures to hammer Jay Cutler so often that the beleaguered QB will legally change his name to "Nails."

And I have a hard time believing Matt Forte will find much room against the Williams Wall.

And how in the name of Craig Steltz will the Bears' patchwork defense prevent Favre, his receivers and Peterson from doing pretty much anything they want?

It also is perfectly kosher to wonder how hard many Bears will play for a coaching staff they know will be stuffed into the shredder in a week's time.

Bottom line: It simply is impossible for anybody not named Lovie to pick the Bears. And, sources say, even he's laying the 7 1/2.

Vikings 27, Bears 13

The Quote

"I answered that question for seven weeks straight. Are you serious?" - Tyrus Thomas

After the maddeningly inconsistent forward scored 21 points in his return from injury and helped the Bulls beat the Hornets, I simply asked him if watching from the sideline had been especially difficult because the team had been doing so poorly.

It was a perfectly good - and completely innocuous - question. Thomas' response displayed the immaturity that has undermined his four years in Chicago and that led the organization to ignore his request for a multiyear contract. (His unnecessarily confrontational tone also illustrated that every media/athlete "situation" isn't the media's fault.)

Anyway, I defended myself by saying it was a good question - and one I hadn't asked at all the past seven weeks. After I refused to back down, Thomas actually gave a decent answer.

"It's hard. It's real tough, especially when you're a competitor. It's hard to sit and watch, especially when your team's struggling."

Now that wasn't too painful, Tyrus, was it?

THE BALDEST TRUTH

I've covered several Northwestern basketball games this season and have been impressed by the Wildcats' resilience after the preseason injury to Kevin Coble. They are 10-1 and they've beaten some decent teams.

Still, Big Ten prognosticators, many of whom are predicting a fourth-place or even a top-three finish for the Wildcats, are getting a little too ga-ga. We're talking about a crew that almost lost at home to Tennessee State, for cripe's sake, not to mention one that must learn how to overcome a history of futility.

If the Wildcats are making their outside shots, they certainly can win just about any Big Ten game, but isn't the same true of pretty much every team in the league? Northwestern will be overmatched inside most games ... and this isn't an especially quick group, either. There will be nights the 'Cats are outrebounded by dozens.

A sixth-place finish would represent nice progress for a team that has lost forever, and a fifth would be amazing considering everything that has transpired.

Here's my predicted order of finish:

Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa.