Who would you select as the No. 1 pick in this year's NFL Draft?

Personally, I'd go with Leon Sandcastle.

Alabama and Auburn football fans will have good reason to tune into the NFL draft this week as a number of former players from both schools will be up for selection by NFL teams.

Draft eligible players from both schools include:

- Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner

- Alabama offensive guard Chance Warmack

- Alabama offensive tackle D.J. Fluker

- Alabama running back Eddie Lacy

- Alabama defensive tackle Jesse Williams

- Alabama center Barrett Jones

- Auburn outside linebacker Corey Lemonier

- Alabama inside linebacker Nico Johnson

- Alabama strong safety Robert Lester

- Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb

- Alabama long snapper Carson Tinker

- Alabama tight end Michael Williams

- Alabama defensive end Damien Square

- Alabama defensive tackle Quinton Dial

- Auburn tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen

- Auburn wide receiver Emory Blake

- Alabama kicker Jeremy Shelley

- Alabama fullback Kelly Johnson

- Auburn offensive guard John Sullen

- Auburn strong safety Daren Bates

- Auburn cornerback T’Sharvan Bell

Other in-state players in the mix include:

- Alabama A&M offensive guard Jamaal Johnson-Webb

- UAB offensive tackle Chris Hubbard

- West Alabama free safety Otha Foster

- West Alabama outside linebacker Ridge Wilson

- Troy wide receiver Chip Reeves

- Troy strong safety Brynden Trawick

- Alabama State offensive guard Terren Jones

- South Alabama inside linebacker Jake Johnson

- Troy running back Shawn Southward

- South Alabama strong safety B.J. Scott

- Alabama State wide receiver Gregory Jenkins

- North Alabama strong safety Rod Woodson

- West Alabama outside linebacker Deon Lacey

- Alabama State strong safety Kejuan Riley

- Troy fullback D.J. Taylor

The first-round of the draft will be held today (Thursday) with the second and third rounds to be selected on Friday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds will be selected on Saturday.

Who will be the No. 1 pick overall? Your guess is as good mine, but if I had my choice, I’d go with Leon Sandcastle.

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The NBA playoffs tipped off this past Saturday, so pro basketball fans have a lot of good basketball to look forward to. Teams from the Eastern Conference that made the playoff cut included the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets, the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers, the Atlanta Hawks, the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. Teams from the Western Conference that made the playoffs included the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets, the L.A. Clippers, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Denver Nuggets, the Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs and the L.A. Lakers.

At this point, I look for Miami to win the East, and for Oklahoma City to win the West with Miami to win it all in The Finals. The Knicks and the Spurs could also make strong playoff runs, so I’d consider them to be a pair of dark horses.

With that said, we’ll have to wait a while to see if I’m right. The NBA playoffs are notoriously long. The first round started this past weekend and the last possible date for the NBA Finals will fall on Thurs., June 20. That’s a grand total of 57 days from today, that is, a little over eight weeks.