Pre-Olympic Power Rankings

Using the Olympic medal projections from Sports Illustrated, I compiled the following power rankings. I know other projections might be different, but I just went with the one that was easiest to find. Obviously, it only matters how things turn out in a couple weeks, so this is just for kicks.

1. Bryan - 19
His team is anchored by Shani Davis, though he is already wondering if he made a mistake by passing on Apollo Ono. He put a lot of faith in the halfpipe hopefuls. If they fail to medal, he could end up near the bottom.

2. Dustin - 17
Hedrick is one of the guys that everyone is talking about. If he is able to medal in all his events, Dustin could run away with this one. Michelle Kwan is also a wild card. She's not expected to medal... which might be just what she needs to finally win one.

3. Jeremy - 13
Getting Ono at the fourth pick was probably the steal of the draft as the SI predictions have him second in total points only to Hendrick. Bode Miller is also a high risk/high reward proposition. If he is on his game, he could medal in every event. It's also just as likely that he won't finish half the events. Jeremy could win it all if Ono lives up to his expectations and Miller plays it safe.

4. Lee - 6
Lee's advantage is that he opted for athletes with a lot of events rather than those who are favored to win. If one of these athletes happens to catch fire this week, he could be right in the thick of things. Also, Casey FitzRandolph is a proven winner and could duplicate his Salt Lake City magic in Torino. The head scratcher of the draft was Lee's selection of two biathletes and a cross country skier. No U.S. athlete has ever earned a medal in the biathlon and the only cross-country medal was won by William Koch in 1976. Of course, if any of these athletes have a breakthrough Olympics, Lee will look like a genius.