Seattle remains the pick

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a time to look back on what has been and to speculate about what may be.
In our final question-and-answer column of 2013, we’ll look back on basketball in the state of Indiana over the last couple of months. And we’ll look ahead to the NFL playoffs.
There’s not much time left in 2013, so let’s get to it.
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What is the minimum salary for NFL players on the practice squad?
— Jerry Sullivan,
Portland

Players who are on an NFL practice squad don’t have a yearly contract because their status is always in flux. Instead, they are paid on a weekly basis, and the minimum salary is $6,000. There is no maximum salary.
Each team can have up to eight players on its practice squad, but other teams can sign those players. A player is only eligible to be on a practice squad if he has not been on an active roster for at least six games, and in most cases they are limited to practice-squad status for two seasons.
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If a player is signed to the active roster after being on the practice squad, he is guaranteed at least three NFL game checks. The minimum salary for an active-roster player this season is $405,000 (about $25,000 per game) for rookies and $480,000 ($30,000 per game) for second-year players.
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Who is the best college basketball team in Indiana this year?
—Aaron Loy, Portland

This is a tough one because there is no elite team.
Currently, Butler has the best winning percentage with a 10-2 record. But several other teams — Indiana (10-3), Purdue (10-3), Indiana State (9-3) and Notre Dame (9-4) — have been solid as well. (Sorry Ball State, 2-7 isn’t going to cut it.)
Although any of the above could go on a winning streak and pull ahead of the rest, for now I think the Bulldogs are again the best team in the state.
Butler’s two losses have come to LSU (by two in overtime) and No. 5 Oklahoma State (by two). And it has defeated Notre Dame and Purdue in head-to-head match-ups.
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How good are the Indiana Pacers?
—Nathan Miller, Wannamaker

Outstanding.
As of this moment, there are five NBA title contenders. The Pacers are one of them. (The others are Miami, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Portland, just for the record.)
Indiana is the best defensive team in the league, and it’s not close. They give up just 89.4 points per game. The second-best team in the NBA in that category is Chicago (93.1).
The Pacers are built somewhat like the Pistons teams of the early-to-mid 2000s in terms of being a balanced team. But they have a real leading man as well in Paul George, who will be in the top five in the MVP voting.
This team is headed for 65 wins, the No. 1 or 2 seed and a date with the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. After that, anything can happen.
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Getting back to the topic of this month’s first question — the NFL.
I’ll close this week’s with my NFL playoff picks.
This weekend San Francisco will defeat Green Bay, Cincinnati will beat San Diego, Philadelphia will beat the Saints and Indianapolis will knock off Kansas City. The divisional round will see Carolina beat Philadelphia, Seattle get past division rival San Francisco, Cincinnati stun New England and Peyton Manning’s Broncos beat Andrew Luck’s Colts in Denver.
I’m very tempted to take the Bengals to upset Denver but going through both Brady and Manning seems unlikely to happen for a second year in a row. (Baltimore did it last year.)
Instead, I’m sticking with my preseason call and choosing Denver and Seattle as my Super Bowl teams. And the Seahawks will win it all.[[In-content Ad]]