Hey y’all … This is the last installment of my column for the year, so I thought I’d do what most sports writers do around this time: make predictions.

Since I’m not really sure where to start, I’ll just go from the sport finishing first to the one finishing last.

I’ll start with the wonderful world of college football, which is perhaps my favorite of all sports to watch. However, with the recent developments (Nebraska and Oklahoma were both upset), it may be hard to make a prediction. I think that in the end, Miami will take out Florida in the Rose Bowl. While sophomore sensation Rex Grossman will be good enough to lead his team to Pasadena, he simply won’t be enough to conquer the most talented team in all of college football.

In the realm of professional football, I think that the Rams will reign supreme again. They will beat Philadelphia in the divisional championship before beating the Bears and their revamped defense to earn a trip to the big dance. In the AFC, Pittsburgh’s new-era steel-curtain defense will lead them to victory. Jerome Bettis will steamroll Baltimore and the Raiders before falling to the high-powered attack of the Rams in the Super Bowl.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Lions will continue their struggles en route to the first pick in next year’s draft. They will manage to pull out two wins and avoid being associated with the piss-poor Chargers of last year for the worst record of the modern era. On a lighter note, I think that the NFC will blow out the AFC in the Pro Bowl.

Next on the list is college basketball, in which the Blue Devils of Duke will repeat as national champs. Illinois, Maryland and UCLA will all make big surges for the top spot thoughout the year, but won’t be able to catch Duke and player-of-the-year candidate Jason Williams. Duke fields a starting lineup in which any player would be the go-to guy on any other team. The Blue Devils have depth this year, which is scary for the rest of college basketball.

For what it’s worth, Williams will be, in my opinion, the winner of theWooden Award. Nobody can match his skills, poise and leadership. He’s the real deal and should go first in next year’s draft.

On a side note for UC students, UC Irvine’s men’s basketball squad received two votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coach’s Poll, which means that it is actually being recognized for an athletic program that doesn’t blow goats. It’s a proud day for UC students, but at the same time, a sad day for UCSD students who now have to cope with the fact that UC Irvine’s basketball team could kick the crap out of ours.

Pro basketball will offer an interesting race. The Lakers are the best team in basketball right now, and that’s not just a statistic. Los Angeles has actually improved on its dominant team of a year ago. The team has gotten much more athletic and has a solid supporting cast to go along with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who are incidentally first and third, respectively, in the league’s scoring leaders. The Lakers added aging Mitch Richmond, who can be another scorer for a team that has relied on only two people for so long.

Sacramento is still another year away from dethroning the champs. Both Minnesota and San Antonio will give chase from the Midwest, but won’t be enough. Milwaukee will be the team from the East, but just doesn’t have the horses to keep the mighty Lakers from a three-peat.

While I readily admit to not knowing a whole lot about college baseball, I know that San Diego State will be much improved with Tony Gwynn as the Aztecs’ new manager. Tony is one of the best baseball guys of all time. He knows his stuff and if he can impart only a fraction of his ocean of baseball wits onto these young men, San Diego State will soon turn into a major powerhouse in Division I college baseball.

I am much more informed on the pro ranks of baseball. While it is still a bit early to make World Series predictions, I can make a few other speculations. I know for a fact that the Padres will be better next year. Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin will be improved and could both go for 40-plus homers next year. With the added bat of star prospect Sean Burroughs, San Diego is a few pitchers away from being a legitimate contender.

I can say that whoever is lucky enough — or, more appropriately, rich enough — to land Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi will be much improved and could contend for a ring. One wild card in this mess will be the dissolvement of two teams, in which case their players would be drafted off to other teams, evening the playing field somewhat. Possible available players will be Vladamir Guerrero, Brad Radke, Joe Mays, Corey Koskie and Doug Mientkiewicz. Any one of these players can add five wins to a bad team.

So there you have it. I’m pretty confident in these predictions, but I don’t take responsablility for any of you morons running to Las Vegas to place a few bets. In fact, you shouldn’t bet on the college sports anyway … but that’s another installment. For now, just suffice with my decree that you shouldn’t do it.

Because I said so.