SEC Expats

Bad system or not, we have a deserving champion

2012-01-10T10:19:00.004-05:00

The BCS is about to be pulled off the respirator. The strange amalgam of profit motive, computer dweebiness and institutional corruption has one more year before it goes in the ground.

Fine.

But don't for a second think that the flaws in the system overshadow the verdict delivered on the field Monday night.

Alabama won its second championship in three years by routing LSU, a 21-0 sleeper hold that did little for TV ratings, but put this team and coach Nick Saban in the record books. AP voters who had threatened a revolt to bring about a split championship largely fell into line. The Tide's domination gave them little choice.

And yet the Occupy BCS critics, though in far fewer numbers, were back waving their signs this morning, choosing once again to concentrate on the flaws of a system rather than the superiority of a particular team in college football's winner-takes-all stage.

Alabama was that good. In November, the Tide exposed the one flaw in LSU's arsenal -- the lack of a balanced offense. This time they fully exploited it. When LSU couldn't run, quarterback Jordan Jefferson had no hope of consistently throwing the ball down the field. It would have taken a big play -- Alabama's extraordinary defense gave the Tigers no air to breathe -- or a transformational mistake -- unlike November, the Tide was not in a giving mood -- for the tide, so to speak, to change.

Next season, Alabama and LSU will contend for the last BCS title. Alabama will lose key players across what might be the best college defense of all time. LSU needs to find a quarterback. If it does, the Tigers will be awfully hard to beat.

But so will Alabama, and Arkansas, and Florida and Georgia, and Texas A&M on the road, and on and on and on. It's the SEC, after all. Big Boy stuff. And whatever the new system, that's not likely to change.

MG

Alabama 21, LSU 0: The morning after

2012-01-10T06:16:00.000-05:00

Truth be told, once the game settled into a rhythm -- you know, field goal for Alabama, 3 and out for LSU -- I started flipping back and forth between the game and "The Andromeda Strain," where an entire town is wiped out except for a crying baby and an old drunk who likes his Sterno. Kinda like Baton Rouge this morning.

Funny thing ... way back in September I picked LSU to win the SEC but not the national championship. Right and right, though I didn't quite figure on it playing out like this.

FYI, the image above is from the movie, though it could double as 'Bama's defensive playbook. -- R. Trentham Roberts

LSU-Alabama for the title: Who ya got?

2012-01-09T14:22:00.001-05:00

Fellow SEC fans, let's start off by congratulating ourselves on six straight national championships. Back pats and hearty handshakes all around. Now then... who's it going to be?

Here's our picks. Stick yours down in the comments. It's gonna be a great night.

R. Trentham Roberts: LSU has more firepower now than they did in the first go-round. I figure 3 players will have better numbers this time: Jordan Jefferson (if only because he'll be playing the whole game), Ruben Randle and Kenny Hilliard. Can't say the same for Alabama -- Trent Richardson should go for over 100, but he already had 89 rushing and 80 receiving the first time. AJ McCarron, Marquis Maze? About the same. So make it ... LSU 23, Alabama 13.

Peter St. Onge: Alabama 17, LSU 14: The only consolation I get out of this is that Nick Saban will likely coach his way into another NFL job.

Mike Gordon: Given that most wars have been fought and won in the time that has elapsed since either team played, it's tough to predict whether LSU or Alabama will play up to form. But for the sake of this exercise, let's assume they do.

Let's give LSU its edge in special teams. Let's stipulate that both defenses make it awfully hard to string two good plays together much less an 80-yard drive. Let's also agree that as great as Trent Richardson is, he will be largely negated by the deepest stable of running backs in college football today.

So here's where that leaves us: the quarterbacks. Jordan Jefferson didn't have to do much the first time around except be better than error-prone Jarrett Lee. A.J. McCarron threw a key second half interception and failed to find several receivers running uncovered in LSU's secondary. He has to play better. If he does, Alabama wins. The same goes for Jefferson. If he can run and throw against the Alabama defense, LSU will be very hard to beat.

My guess? McCarron makes a few more plays. That means that in this fight between two perfectly matched teams, Alabama will score a few more points. Tide, 24-20.

Tommy Tomlinson: LSU has a higher ceiling in this game, but it also has a lower floor. It's easy to imagine Jordan Jefferson imploding (and Jarrett Lee imploding right behind him) in a way that A.J. McCarron probably won't. It wouldn't shock me to see Bama run away with the title on the shoulder of a pick-six or two.

But... I wonder if, as good as this LSU team is, we're not still underestimating it. They played seven teams that are probably going to end up in the final top 25. Setting aside Alabama for a second, here's the list:

Beat Oregon (top 5) by 13

Beat Arkansas (top 10) by 24

Beat West Virginia (top 20) by 26

Beat Georgia (top 20) by 32

Beat Florida (top 25) by 30

Beat Auburn (top 25) by 35

That's six wins, over top competition, by an average of 27 points, plus that Bama.

Alabama beat Arkansas, Florida and Auburn by similar scores, and the Tide also beat Penn State by 16 (although Penn State might not finish in the top 25). That's a strong resume. But LSU, because of the teams they've beaten, has put together one of the great seasons in college football history.

I love this Alabama team. Most years, they'd win the national title. This isn't most years. LSU, 21-10.

Tuesday morning readings

2012-01-03T07:14:00.001-05:00

* From The New York Times, a breakdown of Nick Saban's and Les Miles' salaries. (Make sure you check the graphics). Click here.

* Least forgiving headline of the day, from al.com: "Georgia rolls over and plays dead in Outback Bowl." Click here.

* From the Orlando Sentinel, coverage of South Carolina's school-record 11th win in the Capital One Bowl. Click here.

* From ESPN's Big Ten Blog, game wrap-ups and impressions of Monday's 1-4 league showing. Click here.

2012 conference schedule is out

2011-12-28T11:19:00.001-05:00

And here it is. It all starts Aug. 30 with South Carolina and Vanderbilt. 'Bama and Florida both get Missouri and Texas A&M. Enjoy.

Bowl games are upon us

2011-12-26T15:28:00.007-05:00

The fun starts Friday for SEC fans. Below is the list, and to the right is the LSU-Bama poll.

-- Dec. 30: Music City Bowl, Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest

-- Dec. 31: Liberty Bowl, Vanderbilt vs. Cincinnati

-- Dec. 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl, Auburn vs. Virginia

-- Jan. 2: Capital One Bowl, South Carolina vs. Nebraska

-- Jan. 2: Outback Bowl, Georgia vs. Michigan State

-- Jan. 2: Gator Bowl, Florida vs. Ohio State

-- Jan. 6: Cotton Bowl, Arkansas vs. Kansas State

-- Jan. 9: BCS championship game, LSU vs. Alabama

Correction: Obviously spoke a little too soon. The fun started Monday for fans of soon-to-be-SEC Missouri. Texas A&M, meanwhile, plays Northwestern on New Year's Eve.

Early look at 2012

2011-12-11T18:33:00.005-05:00

New teams. New schedule. But what to make of the teams?

Jess Nicholas of Tidefans.com offers these predictions on the 2012 SEC season.

Trending upward: LSU, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi State and Vandy. Trending down: Arkansas, South Carolina, Auburn, Tennessee and, gulp, Alabama.

The Newbies? Nicholas puts Missouri and Texas A&M among the down arrows. As Dean Wormer might have put it, That's no way to start life in a new conference, son.

Read more of Nicholas' thoughts, ratcheer.

MG

Wednesday morning readings

2011-12-07T06:28:00.002-05:00

* With Oklahoma State left on the outside looking in, Big 12 athletic directors show support for a four-team playoff and a plus-one title game. Story by Andy Staples of SI.com here.

* Georgia gets a big-time RB recruit in Keith Marshall. Story from Raleigh News & Observer here.

* Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com hands out his end-of-year awards. Story here.

* Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com lists the 10 biggest duds of the season. Story here.

Next time just check the lost-and-found box

2011-12-06T16:33:00.002-05:00

We were just wondering where those titles have been hiding all these years when we saw this headline on www.olemisssports.com. Hope the new coach polishes them up a bit.

MISSISSIPPI MAN: FREEZE TAPPED TO RETURN TITLES TO OLE MISS

SEC's new St. Louis media outpost weighs in on BCS

2011-12-06T08:35:00.002-05:00

If SEC football fans aren't familiar with Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, they soon will be.

Since Missouri joined the party, Miklasz has been writing more about Southern football. And while he acknowledges an early addiction to the Paul Finebaum Show -- Courage, Bernie, there's help available -- he normally writes an informed column that's never short on opinion.

His take on The Rematch: Why the outrage?

Hugh Freeze to Ole Miss

2011-12-05T12:32:00.004-05:00

It's official. Go here for the Ole Miss news release and to hear from Archie himself.

Freeze himself announced it on Twitter a couple of hours ago ...

I asked for a word from God, I found Jeremiah 29:11-14. I have taken the Head Coaching Job at Ole Miss, but it's not without a heavy heart.

And for the great unwashed among you, that passage goes like this ...

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Who's bowl-bound and other thoughts

2011-12-05T05:50:00.004-05:00

Who's going where:

-- Dec. 30: Music City Bowl, Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest

-- Dec. 31: Liberty Bowl, Vanderbilt vs. Cincinnati

-- Dec. 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl, Auburn vs. Virginia

-- Jan. 2: Capital One Bowl, South Carolina vs. Nebraska

-- Jan. 2: Outback Bowl, Georgia vs. Michigan State

-- Jan. 2: Gator Bowl, Florida vs. Ohio State

-- Jan. 6: Cotton Bowl, Arkansas vs. Kansas State

-- Jan. 9: BCS championship game, LSU vs. Alabama

For the record, that's 3 SEC-Big 10 matchups. That always makes bowl season a little more fun, though I wouldn't be all that surprised if the SEC didn't win a single one of them.

* Count me among those who wanted to see LSU-Oklahoma State. Here's why: If LSU were to defeat OSU, the Tigers would have played and beaten EVERYBODY (everybody in this case being the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th teams in the BCS, along with the teams ranked 16th and 23rd and a couple of other bowl teams for good measure). And if Oklahoma State were to win, they'd claim the title for beating the No. 1 team in the title game. (Besides, I have a bit of an easier time hearing Oklahoma State saying "We deserve a shot" than Alabama saying "We deserve another shot.")

* That said, now that it's LSU-'Bama, might I suggest this new motto for the Magnolia State: MISSSISSIPPI: BORDERING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS SINCE 2009.

* Congratulations to East Mississippi Community College, which claimed the national juco title with a 55-47 win over Arizona Western College in the El Toro Bowl on Saturday. (Story here.) Let's see ... No. 1 playing No. 2, on one team's home field (in this case, top-ranked Arizona Western) ... that all sounds vaguely familiar.

-- R. Trentham Roberts

The BCS Showdown and post SECCG edition

2011-12-04T18:33:00.004-05:00

Update: The deal is done. LSU and Alabama finish 1, 2. The Rematch is on.

First things first: Congratulations to the University of Georgia. For one magical half, they made LSU look tepid and slow. They made Jordan Jefferson look like, well, the Jefferson of yesteryear. They made the Tigers' defense look disorganized. They took the fight to a bigger team and overwhelmed them for 30 minutes. They showed, particularly on defense, how much they've grown.

But they kept dropping the stupid ball.

In the end, the Bulldogs learned what every other team on LSU's schedule already knows. Get to the Les Miles' team early. Otherwise, the window closes. The vise tightens. The chances of victory, already small, become shards, and then shards again.

LSU is that good. Only one team has traded blows with them in the middle of the ring. That team is Alabama, which lost in overtime to the Bengals in Tuscaloosa, and at this hour appears to be the last detail standing before one helluva party breaks out in the bayous.

Ah, that last detail.

An imperfect system has one job: to pick the two best teams. This year, there are two teams with viable arguments for a single spot. Oklahoma State couldn't have asked for a better closing argument than the utter humiliation of its despised rival before a national audience Saturday night. But that will have to do for this year.

The computers and the human voters and coaches and the alchemists secretly manipulating the BCS data from some castle in the Balkans all had their say on Sunday. It appears the SEC will have its sixth straight national championship. It will still be five weeks, however, before we know which name goes on the trophy.

LSU's opponent officially comes out of the hat tonight on ESPN. But the tweets have been singing like cicadas throughout the day, and the din keeps pointing toward Alabama. Nick Saban's team had its shot, true. But his team played an almost identical season to LSU's. Alabama was every bit as dominant playing an eerily similar brand of football. On Nov. 5, one team made three field goals; the other made two. That's it.

Sure it's unfair for LSU to have played an extra game and now have to beat the Tide a second time. But as deserving a titleist as LSU would be, coronations for national champs went out when the BCS came in. No more bad matchups because of conference affiliations. The two best teams settle things. Period.

And that's what will happen Jan. 9. The two best teams from the best conference. Everyone else will be home watching. Even for the SEC, that will be a first.

mg

From Moo U to Happy Valley?

2011-11-30T10:02:00.002-05:00

That's the rumor going around about Dan Mullen and Penn State. (It began with ESPN, a Scranton newspaper and a Jackson TV station.) Read the Clarion-Ledger story here.

Now this is how bowl invites are meant to go out

2011-11-30T05:06:00.003-05:00

And now let us harken back to the days when there were only a half-dozen bowls at season's end (1957, to be exact) ...

LOST PHONE

NUMBER LOST

TEXAS BOWL

KNOXVILLE, TENN., Dec. 1 (UP) -- Tennessee clinched an automatic Gator Bowl invitation by beating Vanderbilt, but Texas A&M may have slipped into the Jacksonville, Fla., classic by dint of a smudged phone number.

Joe Livingston, a member of the Gator Bowl selection committee, said chairman Sam Wolfson wrote down the numbers of Aggie coach Bear Bryant and Texas athletic director Ed Olle on a slip of paper.

When Wolfson started placing his calls Saturday afternoon, he intended to call Olle first and offer an invitation to the Gator Bowl on Dec. 28. He and the rest of the 11-man committee were convinced that the Sugar Bowl already had a commitment from A&M.

He could not read Olle's number, which was smudged, and placed a call to Bryant in Houston, Tex. Bryant, whose Aggies had a better season record than the Texas Longhorns, accepted.

"Bryant appeared to be miffed at the Sugar Bowl for some reason," Livingston said. It may have been that the Sugar Bowl officials kept both Texas and Texas A&M dangling until the last minute.

Postscript: The Aggies lost 3-0 to Tennessee in Bryant's final game at A&M. Ole Miss pounded Texas 39-7 in the Sugar Bowl.

Just call him Coach. TOSU does

2011-11-29T07:28:00.006-05:00

From Urban Meyer's contract (Go here for the PDF):

The Ohio State University, on behalf of its Department of Athletics ("Ohio State"), and Urban F. Meyer ("Coach") have had certain discussions regarding Coach's employment as Ohio State's head football coach. The parties recognize that Ohio State shall present Coach with a more thorough employment contract addressing additional terms of employment in the near future. Until that time, the parties hereby agree to the following terms as follows:

And so on and so forth. A couple of the many things of interest: Meyer's base salary ($700,000 per year) is half what he gets from "Apparel/shoe/equipment" ($1.4 million); and he gets $250,000 if Ohio State plays for the national championship.

Urban Meyer 2.0

2011-11-28T17:15:00.003-05:00

Read THE fine print carefully in THE owner's manual for THE new coach for THE Ohio State University. Operating instructions comes courtesy of longtime Florida Gator worshipper Spencer Hall.

For starters,do not fold, spindle or mutilate. But you can press here.

mg

Who Ya Got? The Thanksgiving Leftovers Edition

2011-11-24T20:47:00.013-05:00

Nothing riding on this weekend's game, except the final piece for the SEC Championship Game, the BCS Championship Matchup and the future of man as we know it.

Spin this anyway you like. Cut it. Mash it. Slice it. Ginzu Knife it ... The SEC still holds all the cards in the national championship race. If LSU wins Friday, they're in -- even if something really peculiar happens next week in Atlanta. If Alabama wins at Auburn. They're in. If Arkansas upsets LSU, they'll be in if Alabama stumbles or LSU falls to Georgia. It's hard to imagine another team or conference getting back into the discussion. And if chalk holds, it's LSU and Alabama Part Deux early next year in New Orleans.

How can you top five straight championships? By having two SEC teams playing for number 6, that's how. Release the hounds!!

Arkansas at LSU
When he was alive, my father used to predict the outcome of games based on the physical attributes of key players. In his eyes, those with "weak chins" were destined for failure. Which brings us to the Hogs. Bobby Petrino's piggies have the size and skill to make this a game against top-ranked LSU. Except that the Hogs are one team at home and an entirely different one on the road. Death Valley on a Saturday can become an alien outpost, but it still ain't in Arkansas. And Arkansas, in its road unies, hasn't shown it can take a punch.TIGERS, 35-24.

Georgia at Georgia Tech:

One of the truly nasty rival games of the year finds the Dawgs paraphrasing The Clash: Should we play or should we blow? The SEC Championship in Atlanta is clearly Georgia's higher calling. But these two teams just can't stand the sight of each other. Tech's defense stinks, again, but their option has driven Georgia crazy for three years running. This one has upset written all over it, particularly with UGA's muddled tailback situation. But can Tech run the ball? Not sure. Not sure of anything on this pick. But I'll run with the Dawgs. UGA, 28-24.

Alabama-Auburn
I've seen two punts blocked. I've seen Bo over the top and Bo run the wrong way. I've seen The Kick. I've seen The Comeback. I've seen Musso best Sullivan to Beasley and the bands flee the stadium when the tornado sirens went off around Legion Field.

But I can't for the life of me see how Auburn wins this game. And that's a little scary. Weird things always happen in the Iron Bowl, sure, and Auburn is a far better team on the Plains. But Alabama is bigger, deeper, more talented, more experienced and has a mad on much bigger than the 24-point lead it blew a year ago. If it needs any more incentive, there's that little matter of having a shot at keeping the national championship trophy instate for another year. TIDE, 28-10.

FSU at Florida:
Two awfully trendy pre-season picks limp into their rivalry game like punch-drunk ham-and-eggers. Who wins this one? The team that shows up, that's who. The Good Ship Jimbo springs another leak. GATORS, 20-17.

Ole Miss at Mississippi State:
Something is rotten in the Egg Bowl. For another year, Dan Mullen's Bulldogs couldn't win a meaningful conference game, and Houston Nutt's last Rebel team is one of the worst in school history. Ole Miss laid down several weeks ago, and it's hard to imagine it getting to its feet, even for the instate rivalry game. When the new coach gets to Oxford, he's not going to know where to start. BULLIES, 24-13.

Clemson at South Carolina:
We'll make this quick. A team that got steam-rolled by NC State doesn't have the ball bearings to go four quarters against a defense as talented as South Carolina. If the Roosters don't drop the ball all over the field and the USC defensive backs do a reasonable job guarding the Tiger wideouts, and if Steve Spurrier doesn't try to steal the spotlight with some cutesy calls, the Gamecocks size and speed on defense should prevail. USC, 21-17.

Tennessee 24, Kentucky 7.

Kirk Herbstreit on Urban Meyer and the spread offense

2011-11-23T12:14:00.005-05:00

From today's "Mike & Mike in the Morning," on whether Meyer -- if and when he takes over at TOSU -- can make the spread offense work in the Big Ten ...

"Sorry, but the SEC defenses across the board are way, way more athletic and more physical ... the closest thing we have in college football to NFL defenses is the SEC. And if Urban Meyer and his offensive style can be successful in the SEC, it'll be like going up against the scout team when they go up against the Big Ten."

Herbstreit also talks about the LSU-Alabama-Arkansas conundrum. Listen here.

The Egg Bowl, in 140 characters or less

2011-11-22T06:24:00.005-05:00

Pound sign of the times: What one end of Scott Field will look like for Saturday's Mississippi State-Ole Miss game in Starkville. (Personally, I would have gone with #dogtag.) In this matchup of two offensively challenged teams, perhaps it will help one of them find the end zone. State is also trotting out new uniforms for the game. Go here and here for a look. -- R. Trentham Roberts

Larry Munson: The voice in my head

2011-11-21T10:09:00.002-05:00

The football I caught all the game-winning touchdowns with was made out of vinyl. Each section was a different color, none found in nature. It was from a dime store. It was not regulation. But I'd fire it high into the air -- did I mention I was also a record-setting quarterback? -- and track it down the length of our side yard. Sometimes I would slow down so I'd have to dive for the catch. And as I held the ball in the air to celebrate, I was also the announcer, going crazy over yet another last-second win.

Kids everywhere do this sort of thing. But I was a Georgia boy. So even though the announcer was me, the call was not really mine. The voice in my head was Larry Munson.

Munson died Sunday night at 89. He started calling Georgia Bulldogs football on the radio when I was two years old. On the Sears Roebuck stereo in my childhood bedroom, in the dorm at UGA, driving around Charlotte at night trying to pull in WSB from Atlanta, Larry called out to me.

"HE'S RUNNING OVER PEOPLE..."

"THE STADIUM ROCKS AND SWINGS..."

"MY GOD ALMIGHTY DID YOU SEE WHAT HE DID..."

In TV sports, it's a bonus if the announcer is good, but you don't need it -- the action is there in front of you. On the radio, the voice is everything. He makes you see. "Get the picture," Larry Munson said before every kickoff, and he would tell you which way each team faced and the colors of the uniforms and how hard the wind was blowing and where the shadows fell across the field. He was always worried. Auburn had that big running back and Georgia Tech was hungry to beat us and even Kentucky could pull the upset if we looked too far ahead and dropped a couple on the turf and the penalties, oh, the penalties...

He was a homer -- Georgia was always "we" -- but if he was watching a pile of manure, he never called it chocolate. One miserable night in Starkville, when Georgia was losing to Mississippi State in a lightning storm, Loran Smith -- the Bulldogs' sideline reporter -- checked in to say he was going to call it a night. Munson pondered this and said: "I don't think Loran's calling it a night. I think Loran is going to a graveyard to find a dead man named Jack Daniels."

After a bout with throat cancer 18 years ago, I ended up with a pretty good Larry Munson voice. But every Georgia fan does an impression. Lay down a bed of gravel in the back of your throat, act like right now is the most important moment in human history, and you're off. I remember the campus radio station doing a skit about Munson cooking breakfast: "And the egg CRACKS open and DRIVES into the skillet... FIVE seconds... TEN seconds... needs a block..."

If you follow sports the voices fill your head. Maybe, for you, it's Vin Scully calling the Dodgers. Maybe it's Dick Vitale at Carolina-Duke. For me it's a guy who played piano with Sinatra in Minneapolis, had a fishing show in Nashville, and found his home in a radio booth in Athens, Georgia. He told the stories of the moments I cared about. When he said "we," he wasn't just talking about himself and the team. He was talking about me and all those other listeners. He made me, and them, into us.

I happened to be in Athens on the day of the Georgia-Florida game in 1980. I was on my high-school debate team, and we had been in a tournament, and we gathered in an auditorium on campus waiting for the results. Some kids in the back had a radio and were listening to the game down in Jacksonville. I couldn't hear the words, but I could hear the tone of Larry's voice. Georgia was done. Third-and-forever on their own 8.

And then Larry's voice rose, and I looked over my shoulder and the kids in the back had jumped out of their seats. I know this next part didn't happen, but it's what I remember: The radio was dancing off the floor and the words were flying out of it, like you see in cartoons.

"45, 40 -- RUN, LINDSAY -- 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, LINDSAY SCOTT! LINDSAY SCOTT! LINDSAY SCOTT!"

We ran outside. You could hear hollering from the dorms, and car horns honking, and people just stood there on the sidewalk and screamed. This went on for hours. I was 16, and it was the most spontaneous joy I had ever been a part of. From that moment on I knew where I would be going to college.

It wasn't until later that I heard what Larry said after he got Lindsay Scott into the end zone. For a while, there was nothing on the air but the cheers of the Georgia fans in the Gator Bowl. Then Munson said this.

Well, I can't believe it, 92 yards and Lindsay really got in a footrace. I broke my chair. I came right through a chair, a metal, steel chair with about a five-inch cushion. I broke it. The booth came apart. The stadium, well, the stadium fell down. Now they do have to renovate this thing. They will have to rebuild it now. I, this, this is incredible. I didn't mean to beg Lindsay to run, but I HAD to. 26-21 with a passing attack that wasn't working all DAY, and Lindsay caught it, I think, the 25 or 30 or so, no timeouts left in the game.

You know, this game has always been called the World's Greatest Cocktail Party. Do you know what is going to happen here tonight, and up in St. Simons ... where all those Dawg people have got these condominiums for four days? Man, is there going to be some property destroyed tonight.

26 to 21, DAWGS on top. We were gone. I gave up, you did, too. We were out of it and gone. MIRACLE.

If that impossible, spontaneous poetry ends up being the voice you grow up with, the voice of your team, the voice in your head ... all you can do is accept the gift and count yourself lucky to hear it.

Miracle.

-- Tommy Tomlinson

The Great Munson: Rest in peace

2011-11-21T08:57:00.003-05:00

Perhaps the last and best of the SEC's traditional voices has passed. Larry Munson, whose growling, hob-nailed boot of a voice became synonymous with Georgia football, died Sunday. He may have been the best college football announcer of all time.

Read the fine AJC.com obit here.

mg

A 1 and a 2 and a 3

2011-11-21T05:58:00.007-05:00

So LSU and Alabama and Arkansas sit stop all the polls (go here to see 'em). Full disclosure: I'm old enough to remember when the Big 3 of the Big 8 led the way in 1971. It was all so simple then: Nebraska beat everybody. First was the 35-31 Thanksgiving classic over Oklahoma, then the 38-6 mauling of Alabama in the Orange Bowl, one of just a dozen bowl games. (And as proof that a final poll is never really final, we bring you TipTop25.com, where author James Vautravers takes another look at the rankings and does some repair work. Here is his take on the 1971 season.) -- R. Trentham Roberts

Missouri coach's road to the SEC

2011-11-18T08:47:00.004-05:00

In light of Missouri coach Gary Pinkel's DWI charge, couldn't pass up the opportunity to show him promoting roadway safety. Click here for the Columbia Missourian's coverage of Pinkel's arrest, suspension and the $300,000 it could cost him. (And under the category of how times have changed, here's a line buried deep in the Missourian's main story: "Head football coach Woody Widenhofer was arrested and pled guilty to DWI in 1987, but he did not miss any games. Widenhofer was fined $500.")

By the numbers: Coaches' pay

2011-11-17T08:49:00.003-05:00

Go here for the full database from USA Today. Parse it anyway you like, but here's the headline: the SEC pays the going rate and then some. 7 of the 11 highest-paying jobs are in the conference.

Another day, another list: Brand U.

2011-11-17T07:31:00.004-05:00

Where SEC schools rank when it comes to moving merchandise. (Go here for the full list.)

1. Texas

2. Alabama

3. Florida

4. Auburn (amazing what a national championship will do for marketing)

6. Georgia

7. Kentucky

9. LSU

14. Tennessee

17. Arkansas

18. Missouri

19. Texas A&M

21. South Carolina

39. Ole Miss

63. Vanderbilt

You'll notice that Mississippi State is nowhere to be found in the top 75 (couldn't hang with the likes of Fresno State and Wyoming). That's my alma mater: Often overlooked, always outmanned. -- R. Trentham Roberts

Recruiting update: They grow 'em big in ... Switzerland

2011-11-17T06:01:00.009-05:00

Comes word that a couple of SEC schools are interested in the services of one Daniel Glauser, who's currently manning the offensive line at New Mexico Military Institute. The reason he gets a mention is not because of his size (6-6 and 315) but because he would apparently be the first Swiss to play D-1 football. His offers and official visits include Arkansas and Mississippi State (which just might have the inside track because, as everyone knows, cowbells are a common sight in his homeland). Here's hoping he makes it to the SEC, where the headlines and nicknames are just sitting there waiting: he's at a military school (SWISS ARMY KNIFE) in Roswell, New Mexico (CRASH) and, well, he's from Switzerland (THE BIG CHEESE or, my personal favorite, THE NEUTRALIZER).

Tuesday this and that

2011-11-15T06:51:00.007-05:00

* Wanted to see how Stanford-Oregon played out before posting any bowl projections. Good thing. Here's how SI's Stewart Mandel sees it at the moment (go here for full list, then here for one from CBSSports):

-- BCS championship -- LSU-Oklahoma State

-- Sugar Bowl -- Alabama-Houston

-- Music City Bowl -- Vanderbilt-Miami

-- Liberty Bowl -- Mississippi State-Southern Miss

-- Chick-fil-A Bowl -- Auburn-Virginia Tech

-- Capital One Bowl -- Georgia-Michigan

-- Outback Bowl -- South Carolina-Nebraska

-- Gator Bowl -- Florida-Ohio State

-- Cotton Bowl -- Arkansas-Kansas State

That's assuming Vanderbilt and Mississippi State get themselves bowl-eligible. Vandy can do so by beating Tennessee or Wake Forest; MSU will need an Egg Bowl win over Ole Miss to get there (notice I didn't even entertain the possibility of the Bulldogs beating Arkansas this weekend). Tennessee could still get there, too, by winning out against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

2. The site Pre-Snap Read re-ranks all 120 teams every week. If you're an Ole Miss fan, hide your eyes: the Rebs come in at 105. Full list here.

3. And a couple of fun reads from the time capsule, proving there's not much new under the SEC sun:

-- Tigers Put On Probation Because of Recruiting (February 14, 1956)

-- 'Bama Violates Scholarship Rule (February 8, 1966)

Now THIS is a punt return

2011-11-14T14:02:00.000-05:00

Being a naturally humble person and coming from a naturally humble university and all, I won't say much about Georgia-Auburn except WOOOOOOOOOOOOO 45-7 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

(/realizes we have to play LSU)

(/gulps)

So that's enough about that. To cleanse the palate, here's Joe Adams faking out the entire state of Tennessee:

P.S. WOOOOOOOOOOO 45-7 WOOOOOOOOOO....

-- Tommy T.

1, 3 and 6

2011-11-14T07:04:00.004-05:00

The rankings of LSU, Alabama and Arkansas in all of this week's polls (go here for a look). Tough division, the SEC West. Still wondering about that lone vote in the AP poll for Georgia Southern, though -- could it be because the Eagles (9-1 and #3 in the FCS poll, with their only loss coming to Appalachian State) are playing at Alabama this weekend? Just wondering.

UPDATE: The mystery balloteer who cast a vote for Georgia Southern has been identified. Go here to find out who it was, and here to see his entire ballot.

Need a kicker? Call the frat house

2011-11-08T09:40:00.004-05:00

Lost in all the weekend hubbub was the great story of how Derrick Brodus came to kick for Tennessee on Saturday. Go here for the details from GoVols247. The episode also gave us one of the gameday quotes of the year, courtesy of UT's Derek Dooley:

"Just get him here and we'll do a Breathalyzer."

What we think we know -- digging out of the ashes edition

2011-11-08T08:10:00.005-05:00

OK, so I still feel like the Scarecrow after the attack of flying Honey Badgers, er monkeys. Legs over here, arms over there, guts strewn west toward Tuscaloosa. BUT ...

1. Great game. Great setting. Two great teams. So is there any need, room or moral imperative for a rematch?

I'm of two minds. The BCS is supposed to be about the two best teams standing in the final games. So if Stanford loses to Oregon, and Oklahoma State drops a game, can anybody argue that another bout between the SEC's Godzilla and King Kong makes as much sense as anything? But if I'm LSU, I've settled things. I went on the road and won. Why should I have to beat Alabama again? This kind of rematch happens all the time in the NFL and other sports, but almost never in college football. So if the tumblers fall into place, let's just look at chapter II as a glimpse of the future, when the college game goes to some sort of limited playoff.

2. Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron is a fine prospect, already good enough to win 11 games on the Tide's schedule. But he's not good enough to beat LSU, not yet anyway. Saturday, he didn't see the field particularly well and his passes floated for most of the night. One of his nerf balls led to fourth-quarter interception that cost Alabama the lead. McCarron also didn't spot some wide open receivers and was never precise enough to compete against LSU's extraordinary defensive backfield.

That said, he looked like Johnny U compared to poor Jarret Lee.

Lee, the front-runner for the SEC Player of the Year at kickoff, was by the third quarter doing a passable impersonation of Jimmy Stewart in "Vertigo" -- flashing back to a nauseatingly spinning world with interceptions -- along with Kim Novak -- falling from the sky. Credit Les Miles with spotting the PTS symptoms and employing the quick hook. It won the game for his team. Whether it salvaged Lee's psyche remains to be seen. As good as LSU is, it may still need a passing game to win another BCS title.

3. Generally, cheap shots are a private affair. Which makes Tyler Mathieu's clubbing/calf throw of Dre Kirkpatrick all the weirder. The assault took place in the middle of the field, when Mathieu and Kirkpatrick might as well have been contestants in "Dancing with the Stars,'' minus a few sequins. Mathieu, who had done little in the game but yap at this point, must have wanted his name mispronounced by Verne Lundquist one more time. Why he wasn't tossed is one of the bigger questions of the night.

4. Alabama fans are still in an uproar about the goal line catch/interception that may have turned the game. Spare me. Tide tight end Michael Williams was running alone, but injured Marquis Maze threw a pooch punt instead of a forward pass. That gave Tiger safety Eric Reid enough time to leave his own man and catch Williams at the goal line. Williams still caught the throw, and the stadium erupted. But Reid came up with the ball. Did he steal it after Williams had hit the ground, meaning the play was dead? Maybe. But football is a simple game. You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You don't leave it to the officials to make the call in perhaps the biggest game of your life.

5. Good riddance to Houston Nutt, but who knows where Ole Miss goes from this point? Suffice to say a school still engaged in Civil War over its former plantation owner mascot needs a fresh start. Ole Miss. Fresh start. Try saying that with a straight face.

mg

What now for Ole Miss?

2011-11-08T05:48:00.004-05:00

Some of the names being thrown around include Alabama's Kirby Smart, Auburn's Gus Malzahn, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Louisville's Charlie Strong. Ron Higgins of The Commercial Appeal tries to make a case for Mike Leach and Rich Rodriguez (though with Saint Archie on the search committee, I imagine the new coach will be more of the squeaky-clean variety). Fact remains that Ole Miss has the second-lowest enrollment in the SEC (ahead of only Vanderbilt) and for years some of the state's best players have been lured elsewhere. The back-to-back Cotton Bowls were more an exception than an annual expectation.

In a Nuttshell: Ole Miss coach, AD leaving

2011-11-07T15:06:00.003-05:00

Go here for the official annnouncement, then here and here for a couple of lookbacks and look-aheads.

Upon further review ...

2011-11-07T06:28:00.005-05:00

Catch or interception? They'll be arguing that one for a while. The photo is from The Daily Reveille. Click here for the CBS footage, which had several replay angles. Look to the right for a poll on The Play of the Game of the Century.

And Mizzou makes 14

2011-11-07T05:51:00.003-05:00

They'll be in the SEC East, alongside Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

Read all about it at The Kansas City Star and the Columbia Missourian and ESPN and the SEC's website.

Ripped from the front pages

2011-11-06T09:17:00.003-05:00

and a couple of websites ...

EPIC VICTORY: (Baton Rouge) Advocate

ONE AND ONLY: (New Orleans) Times-Picayune

TIDE STUMBLES IN OVERTIME: Tuscaloosa News

KICK IN THE GUT: Montgomery Advertiser website

A WORK OF HEART: SI.com

THAT SETTLES THAT: ESPN.com

Chew on this

2011-11-05T10:50:00.003-04:00

Les Miles has been hired as spokesman for Louisiana's turfgrass industry. Story from The Times-Picayune here.

When again?

2011-11-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

Want a playoff? OK. Want it so much that you'd be willing to give up games like tonight's?

Here's Cecil Hurt's take from the Tuscaloosa News, a thoughtful columnist writing at the top of his craft.

mg

Some perspective on the lack thereof in the South

2011-11-05T09:00:00.002-04:00

Yes, the peg is LSU v. Alabama, but Andy Staples goes broader than that: On the South's looney-bin love affair with football.

Little wonder that the most religious part of the country follows football with a spiritual zeal. Who says there are only heavenly rewards.

Enjoy!

mg

Armageddon (a/k/a Bama-LSU): Who ya got?

2011-11-04T14:32:00.000-04:00

Tommy here. Are y'all giddy? I'm giddy. Of course, I'm not an Alabama or LSU fan. Many of them are already curled up in the fetal position. Or drinking. Or both.

The SEC has a slew of big games every year, but this one is special. Even the New York Times decided to write dueling pieces about LSU-Alabama. The stories do get into identity and academics and other topics NOT APPROPRIATE FOR GAME DAY, but here's the Bama story and here's the LSU story if you want to check them out.

But what you really want is predictions. You should know, if you haven't come around here much, that Michael Gordon is a Bama fan extraordinare. It was a great show of restraint for him to leave out the word "we" in his pick.

Michael:
Let's save the prose and put out the same caveats I used for last year's game in Baton Rouge. If Alabama can avoid giving up Big Plays and being sucked in by the Trick Ones, it should win. Last year, it couldn't deliver on either of those fronts. This year, I think it will. Of course, that presumes AJ McCarron's head doesn't explode from the pressure and the staggering talent of the LSU team. He'll have to show more precision under a level of heat he hasn't seen all year. But the kid can play. So can his teammates. Tide, 24-21.

Peter St. Onge:
Two super defenses - but different. LSU is built on speed more than size, and it hasn't faced an offensive line with the kind of push that Bama will bring. LSU will have to work for its yards just a little more than the Tide. Nick Saban, with the football world watching, coaches his way back to an NFL sideline. Bama, 20-13. (And yes, the Saban to the NFL thing was completely gratuitous. Can't let Gordon enjoy this too much.)

Trent Roberts:
As much as anything, I'm interested in seeing the in-game adjustments by both teams -- what happens after Richardson rips off a 45-yard TD early on, or Lee hits Randle for 70 just after halftime. Gimme LSU, 18-17, with a late two-point conversion from The Hat & Co. being the difference.

Tommy:
For weeks now my suspicion has been that Alabama would win this game in a blowout, and I still wouldn't be surprised if it ends up something like 31-10. The great thing about this game is that the teams are so similar (great defenses, questions at QB) but the coaches are so different. It's like a real-life test of the old line about Bear Bryant -- "He could take his'n and beat your'n or he could take your'n and beat his'n."

So who's the better coach? The Saban X3000 or the Mad Hatter?

I want it to be Les, because we need more entertaining weirdness in the world, and especially in college football. Plus, LSU is awfully good on the road and at night. It's so, so tempting. But I just can't do it. Alabama, 23-20.

VIDEO: LSU-Alabama previews

2011-11-04T11:50:00.003-04:00

Your video preview headquarters for LSU-Alabama:

Nick Saban's take:

Les Miles' take:

CBS Sports keys to the game:

And the winner will be ...

Fox Sports' preview:

Pregame reading and viewing

2011-11-04T10:47:00.003-04:00

LSU's Daily Reveille has an 8-page special section today. Click here for the Reville website, then go to the lower right to flip through the pages. (And don't miss the ad for Tiger Plaza apartments on Page 8.)

In the spirit of fairness, here's this morning's Crimson White.

Meanwhile, the SEC itself has put together a blood-thumper of a video in the best tradition of John Facenda intoning "this was a war" over slow-motion NFL highlights. Go here for that.

Honey badgers, Chinese Bandits and 200 pounds of alligator meat

2011-11-03T07:47:00.006-04:00

Continuing with items that have no bearing whatsoever on the big game:

* Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana took to the Senate floor Wednesday to talk up the game and his team. Story and video from The Washington Post here.

* Go here for a version of "Chinese Bandits" from the rock band Better Than Ezra, from their new LSU-themed record "Death Valley." (More info from the band's website here.)

* Pregame activities include a bid to make the world's largest pot of gumbo. Go here for the details.

Good seats still available (especially at $6,000 per)

2011-11-02T13:03:00.004-04:00

Checked in on StubHub just to see what the going rate was for Saturday night ducats. They range from $300 for a spot in the corner of the end zone to $6,000 for the rarefied air of the Ivory Club. Or you could just go to eBay and spend 9 bucks on 2 ticket stubs from 1997. (And you get a picture of the band to boot!)

-- RTR

What's LSU-Alabama without Gary and Verne

2011-11-01T14:57:00.002-04:00

Quick Q&A on the biggest game of the season from the CBS crew of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson.

I know Gary thinks highly of himself, but he knows the game and isn't afraid to tell you what he thinks and just saw. Verne stumbles these days more often than Gerald Ford, but he's still got the voice and presence to stand up to a Big Game atmosphere.

May be my Crimson paranoia, but I think Danielson believes LSU is goinna win.

See what you think.

Georgia-Florida, once more into the breach

2011-10-28T11:55:00.000-04:00

Three and eighteen.

Three and freaking eighteen.

If you were born in 1990 and grew up a Georgia fan, you've seen Georgia beat Florida just thrice in your lifetime. You are also old enough to legally drink. Which would be perfectly understandable.

It helps, a little, to have a longer view of history. When I was a student at UGA, we were in the middle of a 15-4 run over the Gators. We beat them on Run, Lindsay, Run. We beat them 44-0. We beat them the week after they had been ranked No. 1 for the first time in their (then-)sorry history.

But all that was a long time ago.

I can't think of another rivalry like this, where one team dominated for so long only to have it totally flip the other way. It's like one of those European tides that recedes all the way to the horizon before coming back to the cliffs.

Georgia seems to have all the advantages this year. Florida is 4-3, has lost three straight and hates its quarterback. Georgia has rebounded from an 0-2 start to win five in a row. Georgia still has a decent shot to win the SEC East (although I'm not sure that's a good thing, because either Alabama or LSU will be waiting). Florida's best-case scenario is the Liberty Bowl.

But: Three and eighteen.

I won't be surprised at all if Florida steamrolls us. I won't be surprised if they win on a fake field goal. I won't be surprised if Isaiah Crowell is running for the winning touchdown and a rogue elk downs him at the 1. When you're three and eighteen, you just brace for the pain.

Having said that... the tide has to come in sometime. Why not now? The cocktails are finally going to taste good on the Georgia side. Dawgs, 27-18.

(If we lose, forget I ever said this.)

-- Tommy T.

Word from St. Louis: Missouri coming to the SEC East

2011-10-23T12:32:00.003-04:00

The latest this morning from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the westward expansion of the SEC as a done deal. Except, Missouri, the conference's new northwestern front, will compete in the SEC East.

That would keep many of the existing rivalries as they are, and Alabama avoids choosing between Tennessee and Auburn for their rivalry game out of the Eastern Division.

One of the most geo-sensible solutions to the addition of Mizzou would have sent the new Tigers to the West and Auburn to the East. But under the current conference rules, a team can keep one team from the other division as a rivalry game. To wit, Auburn and Georgia; LSU and Florida; Alabama and Tennessee. Had Auburn moved east, Alabama most certainly would have kept the Iron Bowl on the schedule, but would have presumably lost its annual "Third Saturday in October" collision with the Vols. And given how bitter the Iron Bowl has become, a surprising number of Alabama fans say they would have been willing to chuck that game for Tennessee. Now they apparently will not have to choose.

Under the current model, Missouri's rival from the West would appear to be Arkansas or Texas A&M, the conference's other recent addition.

mg

Who ya got? -- Week 8

2011-10-22T08:31:00.006-04:00

Pardon the reference, but it feels like the SEC is on furlough for the next couple of weeks. Four teams have the week off Saturday, and then Alabama and LSU sit out next Saturday to begin a bullfighters' buildup to Nov. 5.

Still, slim pickins in the SEC can still fill a plate. And after the drug-related arrests at LSU -- and Alabama -- this week, we've got a real hankering for a couple of the games.

To wit:

Tennessee at Alabama: Sshhhh!. The hushed tones you hear emanate from the leftover reverence for the "Third Saturday in October." Once upon a time, in a universe far, far away, this was as big a game as any on the SEC schedule. But then Alabama went on probation twice and Florida got good, then Mike Dubose and Phil Fulmer and Lane Kiffin eventually left a trail of slug slime all over this once marquee game. Suffice to say, the Vol-Tide affair is at a nadir, though many Alabama fans, in genuflecting to Neyland and Bryant, still elevate this rivalry over Auburn. And England and France once regularly went to war over Alsace and Lorraine. Well, maybe one day soon. Alabama, 30-6.

Arkansas at Ole Miss: The Houston Nutt good-bye tour welcomes Arkansas to Oxford. Instead of bringing their former coach a rocking chair, the Hogs hope to string the Right Reverend up like a pinata then leave him in little pieces at midfield. In administering one of the worst beatings in Ole Miss history, Nick Saban and Alabama actually showed some mercy. Arkansas will not. The Rebels do get some suspended players back, but that's like bringing a dozen reinforcements to Little Big Horn. Ole Miss will be announcing Nutt's departure very soon. Arkansas, 48-14.

Auburn at LSU: If you're Clint Moseley, you have to wonder. Am I the sacrificial lamb? Think about it: Moseley gets his first start of the season in Baton Route, against the top-ranked Tigers, and if you have an Oliver Stone, "Any Given Sunday" outlook on life, why not allow LSU to break Moseley in half, then go into the stretch drive with the two quarterbacks who've gotten just about all the snaps this season? Of course, we could take the Auburn coaches at face value and conclude that they don't have anyone better behind center. Either way, it won't be a fun night for Moseley or his teammates. Tigers, bayou chapter, 35-14

Elsewhere ...

Army at Vandy: Too much You Tube time for Vandy coach James Franklin this week portends a major letdown for Vandy against the rushing attack of the Cadets. Franklin's confrontation Saturday night with Georgia's Todd Grantham, who again came across like Fred Flintstone on a bender, may have gone viral, but it now sets his team up for the EXPATS' upset special of the week. Heck, let's go ahead and pick it. Army, 27-25.

Kentucky, 17, JSU, 14.

mg

Suspensions II: Two LSU stars to sit following failed drug test

2011-10-19T14:34:00.003-04:00

Just when LSU was easing the team bus into the high-speed lane toward another national championship . . .

Sophomore stars Spencer Ware and Tyrann Mathieu, will sit out the Auburn game -- and maybe several more -- after reportedly failing a drug test.

Toke, I mean, take a deep breath, Tiger fans, and read more here.

The key question in all of this is how long the players will sit. Top-ranked LSU will be a big favorite against once-beaten Auburn. Then it has next week off. Next, on Nov. 5, the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa for what should be the game of the year, or any year for that matter.

LSU, of course, is deeper than Pontchartrain. But the absences of Ware, the leading rusher, and Mathieu, a defensive back who has dominated highlight reels all season long, would be a serious blow, er, loss, against second-ranked Alabama.

And if the reports are true, there's a lesson for all the LSU players. Leave the grass to your coach.

mg

Dogs, 'Dores hit with suspensions after Saturday chippiness

2011-10-19T13:45:00.004-04:00

Two key Georgia starters and one from Vanderbilt received half-game suspensions from the SEC today, stemming from unpleasantries between players and coaches during and after the game.

The Bulldogs won 33-28, but now UGA losesk noseguard Kwame Geathers and safety Shawn Williams for the first half of next week's Florida game. Vanderbilt center Logan Stewart also has to sit for a half.

Read more here.

No word on how the SEC plans to handle the post-game contretemps between Vandy head coach James Franklin and Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. This is not Grantham's first trip to the rodeo. Last year he was reprimanded for giving the choke sign to the Florida kicker, just before he booted the game-winning field goal against Grantham's players.

mg

What we think we know -- Week 8

2011-10-18T17:47:00.005-04:00

**Forget that his undefeated team has hardly taken a punch, Nick Saban is locked in. The Alabama coach cut loose with a couple of S-bombs during his press conference this week. He didn't exactly go "Old Ball Coach" on the assembled reporters, but he certainly showed his Little Nicky side when asked a series of questions he thought stupid (and a couple of them were). He apologized -- Saban issues some of the lamest apologies in the history of sports and apologies. But as long as Saban beats Tennessee this week, he has nothing to worry about. You know what they say about the marathon ... at 20 miles, you're halfway home. It's the last six that will kill you. The same goes for the Alabama schedule. The Tennessee game will be a romp, then comes a bye week, and the defining stretch of the schedule begins. LSU visits in two weeks. Then it's SEC road trips to Mississippi State and Auburn. Then it's the SEC Championship Game. No wonder Saban is wound a little tight. He knows he has a special team this year and he has little time for distractions like press conferences, civil conversation, sleeping or eating. For now, we're told, he can still find his way home.

**Have we ever seen the SEC weaker? Two-and-a-half good teams in the entire conference. When is our lifetimes have we seen Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn all have a simultaneous down year? In Oxford, they're starting to dream of a winning season with the same nostalgia once reserved for the Civil War. Mississippi State has yet to win an SEC game, and South Carolina, well, after the loss of Marcus Lattimore, let's see what Steve Spurrier still has in the tank. That leaves Georgia, which appears to be the weakest pretender out of the East since Dukakis. Alabama and LSU still give the conference enough street cred, since one of them is an overwhelming favorite to vie for the SEC's sixth straight national title. Still ...

**Strange season. Is it just me or has 2011 just limped along? Sure, we can look ahead to Nov. 5. But there's been so little buzz about most of the games that we can step outside and hear Will Muschamp screaming. Besides, whatever happened to Boise State? Still undefeated, sure, but not much being said about the Spudheads.

**What is it about coaches and God? The more they cite the Almighty, the more we should check the jail log. Let's consider the two head guys most public in their spirituality. That would be Chizik ("It's a God thing") and Georgia's Mark Richt. Funny thing, though, Richt's 2010 team took the Fulmer Cup, betowed to the football squad with the most arrests. And Richt's defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, last seen offering free Heimlich training to Florida's kicker, was face to face with Vandy coach James Franklin after Saturday's close Bulldog win. The SEC was not charmed. Chizik? His team is neck and neck for this year's Fulmer award, just as it finally got untangled from another man of the cloth, Bishop Cecil Newton, who admitted trying to sell his son to Mississippi State. The ying and yang of it all harkens to former Colorado coach Bill McCartney, who helped start the Promise Keepers while his players ran amok all over Boulder. How's this for a promise, coaches. Keep your players in line.

MG

One more time, for emphasis...

2011-10-12T20:28:00.000-04:00

The NCAA found no major violations by Auburn connected to the pay-for-play allegations involving Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton.

Peter St. Onge

What we think we know ... Week 7

2011-10-12T07:56:00.006-04:00

Halfway through the schedule, the SEC season -- as well as the BCS horse race -- has been parboiled down to a handful of games.

In the SEC, the biggie, of course, is LSU vs. Alabama on Nov. 5. That will settle the SEC West. But both teams will have significant challenges remaining on their way to the National Championship game: LSU will face Arkansas at season's end; Alabama must go on the road to Auburn, where the stadium will be chained down to keep it from blasting off its moorings.

In the SEC East, Steve Spurrier this week threw a couple more logs on the fire of South Carolina's year. If he can control the flames, he may salvage the Gamecocks' pre-season ticket to Atlanta. But the 'Cocks still must beat Arkansas, which at this point would be an upset. Otherwise, South Carolina must pull for a Georgia loss against Florida or Auburn.

The end of the Stephen Garcia Era was sad but predictable. He failed his drug test Oct. 4. The announcement of his final departure came after Spurrier's banning Tuesday of columnist Ron Morris from his press conferences. Why Garcia was allowed to play his senior season will be debated to the end of the Cosmos. Suffice to say, his inability to stick within the university's behavior guidelines doesn't shine well on Spurrier, who's never been known as a strict disciplinarian.

The TOBC's brouhaha with Morris will blow over in a matter of days. But it's not a stretch to say that Spurrier could be grieving the loss of Garcia, or be upset at his inability to reach him, and he may have been directing some of that emotion at the writer.

Read the offending column from last March. The headline is far more accusatory than anything Morris wrote. But Spurrier has made Morris the bad guy, when the Gamecocks' so-far disappointing season is the real story, and the very one that Spurrier may not want to address.

Maybe this is what Carolina needs to finally gel. Nobody could look at the assemblage of talent and experience in Columbia this year and say the Gamecocks have appeared focused and well-coached. Now Spurrier can play the "us against the world" card. Maybe it will work. Up to now, little else has, and that includes coaching.

**Outside the conference, the battle of Oklahoma will determine the SEC's likely opponent in January. These championship games haven't been close. This one should be. The Sooners appear to be the best-balanced team since Pete Carroll's early USC squads. But Oklahoma State looms.

**Speaking of the Nov. 5, just when do we think college football fans will get to tune into LSU-Alabama? The ACC broadcasts, now starting at 12:30 p.m., are back to their poaching ways. There's nothing more depressing to a Charlotte-area SEC fan than turning on WBTV at 3:15, and finding 11 minutes on the clock and the officials going to a replay to settle a fumble call in a pivotal Boston College vs. Virginia game. By the time the game ends, Verne and Gary will have burned through most of the first quarter. That's an outrage most weeks. But if it happens to the LSU/Alabama game, it will be a crime.
(More on this to come.)

mg

Revisionist Th

The Ol' Ball Coach ain't happy (plus: Garcia? Gone.)

2011-10-11T14:17:00.002-04:00

Steve Spurrier started his press conference Tuesday by getting a little something off his chest. He thinks Ron Morris, sports columnist for The State in Columbia, is doing him wrong. And the Ol' Ball Coach has decided to do something about it.

If he's really mad at Morris for a column from months ago, this seems like an odd time to vent. Maybe the real reason is that Morris called Spurrier out for botching the final drive in the Gamecocks' loss to Auburn two weeks ago. (Full disclosure: The State is owned by the same company that owns the Observer. For what that's worth.)

My quick take: Spurrier knows how good his team is this year. They could've been 12-0 going into the SEC championship. They won't be, at least partly because of his coaching. And it's eating him up that Ron Morris mentioned it.

UPDATE: Just as I was getting ready to post this, thestate.com put up a story that might explain why Spurrier is so upset -- Stephen Garcia has been booted off the team. This time, it seems, for good.

I've never been able to figure out whether Garcia was so erratic because Spurrier kept jerking him around, or because Garcia is just an unstable guy (a lot of evidence certainly points to the latter). Garcia at his best could've taken South Carolina to places they've never been. But now, even though they're 5-1 and lead the SEC East, it feels like the season is lost.

-- Tommy T.

Update: Here's the Morris column from March that Spurrier was apparently referring to.

Who Ya Got? -- Week 6

2011-10-08T08:19:00.003-04:00

We celebrate the halfway point of the season with the best run of weekend games yet. No, Giselle-like matchups, perhaps, but a run of really knockout games throughout the day that reminds the world just how deep this conference really is. And while we're waiting for the final papal dispensation regarding Missouri's entrance into the league . . . Go CARDINALS!!!

Auburn at Arkansas
A long, long time ago and in a universe far, far away ... an Auburn team just kept winning. Nobody really knew how, but they strung together one ugly victory after another, lost badly on the road, then went back to making one key play after another. This, of course, was "The Amazins," and way back in 1972 they -- this is starting to get painful here -- went on to block two punts in the last five minutes against Alabama, win their bowl game and finish 11-1. I'm not saying the 2011 Auburn team will follow the identical path. But there's something about the way Gene Chizik's God Thangs have gotten to 4-1 that speaks to a certain manifest destiny on The Plains. Now it's Arkansas, and a sane man would never bet against the Hogs at home. Still, this was supposed to be The Year of Payback for Auburn, the year when all the SEC teams that got body-slammed by Nick Fairley or took a collective whiff at the legs of Cam Newton were to inflict reciprocal pain. And only Clemson has. The Hogs are a 10-point favorite, but the young Tiger players are getting better by the week. Is this an Upset Special? This EXPAT won't go that far, but Arkansas better pay heed. Hogs, 35-31.

Florida at LSU

In the old days, this would be the perfect occasion for LSU to sleep-walk. The Bengals have been dominant. They're playing at home. And they get an opponent that last week lost its lunch money, its backpack, and its Ipod 5G to the school-yard bully. But Florida lost more than a game to Alabama, it lost its quarterback too. Jeff Driskel will play better this week against LSU, but all those "Look-at-me, I'm a 5-star-recruit" players on the Gator defense just don't like getting hit in the mouth. While there's always a chance Jarred Lee will fall off the wagon, Florida should schedule a Monday trip to the orthodontist now. LSU, 27-13.

Georgia at Tennessee

Barbara Dooley went on the radio again to defend her "Baby Boy" this week. Not that Derek Dooley's pants are on fire in Knoxville, but this a fanbase never known for its patience. What can we say about Tennessee up to now except Meh!! The Vols are not bad, just inconsequential, and it's hard to see how and when they'll regain their seat at the adult table. Georgia's Mark Richt and the Bulldogs has already been moved closer to Tennessee's side of the room, demonstrating that it's worse losing something than never having it at all. Georgia likes to think of itself as still being elite. Tennessee, playing its first complete game of the year, reminds them they're not. Mama will be proud. Vols, 27-24.

Vandy at Alabama
One of the Alabama boards did the Tide a favor this week. Someone put up an extended replay of the 1974 Vandy-Bama game in Tuscaloosa (I sat in the end zone, by the way). Alabama won by two touchdowns. But if Nick Saban's crew needed any reminder of the Commodores' tradition of playing UA hard, they got it in the grainy footage. Vanderbilt's defense is underrated, but overmatched by Alabama's size and numbers. This is supposedly a breather on the UA schedule, but it's a deceptively important week for Tide QB AJ McCarron. He still needs to show he can hit the long ball, and Vandy's DBs will make him work. Tide: 27-0

Kentucky at South Carolina
Kentucky football is like a small newspaper that some days can do pretty good work. But there's never enough people and the talent is always walking out the door. South Carolina is like owning a Toyota with an engineering flaw. Just when you least expect it, you and your Camry are upside down in a ditch. In this battle of dueling metaphors, the spotlight is one again on Steve Spurrier. Can he and his coaches salvage a season that has been belching smoke since the first snap? Fortunately the chickens get Kentucky, which, as the SEC's weakest team, can't get the paper out the door. USC, 20-7

Mississippi State at UAB
Almost overnight, the Bulldogs went from trendy pick to trending badly. The Magnolia State has had better falls. And now the state's best team goes on the road to play UAB? Oh, the humanity. Bullies, 21-10

MG

Why Missouri? One columnist shows why

2011-10-05T13:30:00.001-04:00

With Missouri's leaders voting Tuesday night to toss a shovel's load of dirt on the Big 12, Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitutions looks at the reasons why adding another set of Tigers to the SEC could stand the test of time.

Show me? Punch here.

MG

What we think we know ... Week 5

2011-10-05T08:07:00.003-04:00

Nov. 5 will be the SEC's Election Day. Lots of games still to be played, of course, but it's appeared from the start of the season that LSU-Alabama will be a winner-takes-all affair. "All" being not only the SEC West, the SEC Championship but a shot at the conference's sixth national championship in a row as well. LSU toyed with Kentucky, like a big cat coughs around a kitten. As for Alabama, for the second week in a row, the Tide went Dexter all over a highly ranked opponent. In fact, the Swamp needed a few more plastic curtains hanging behind the Gator bench to keep the blood from spewing into the front rows. Now the two teams are ranked 1 and 2 in the polls. The numbers and order are meaningless until the two teams settle things in a month.

Let's hear it for the other Tigers. Yeah, I know, the cynics say all Gene Chizik and his staff can do is recruit and offer sound investment counseling. But fair is fair. The Expats' AU representative, Mr. St. Onge, came down from the Ivory Tower of the Observer's editorial board this week to make this point: The Tigers' defense that rooster-tied joyless South Carolina exceeded expectations for a reason: Chizik told defensive coordinator Ted Roof to play his kids. And play they did. South Carolina got a few yards, but nothing like the cartoon numbers Auburn's defense had been giving up week after week. Chizik et al has brought in talent. Saturday in Columbia they decided to turn it loose. Sure the kids will make some mistakes, but they played fast and hard. Georgia and Alabama fans take notice: By the time late November rolls around, this could be an entirely different Tiger team.

As for South Carolina, where can one start? How about with Jungian Psychology 101. Coach Steve Spurrier and quarterback Stephen Garcia have what Carl Jung would call an "enmeshment," an unhealthy relationship that chains them together and plays to the worst in each. The two have only synced in spurts. Then Garcia self-destructs off the field or makes a key on-field mistake and Spurrier starts to publicly needle and mock the player. The pair's hijinks over the off-season were well chronicled. This year, Garcia seems to have finally learned to behave out of uniform. But whatever drove him to his private excesses appears to have also fueled his occasional brilliant performances. Last year, Garcia unleashed The Perfect Game against Alabama. This year, after coming off the bench in the opener, he has labored through a season-long fog. Which is astounding, given that Garcia was handed the playbook just after Ronald Reagan left office. Spurrier's problems don't end there. His veteran, talent-laden team played at three-quarters speed on Saturday against an inferior opponent and before a national audience. Now Garcia is back on the bench, South Carolina's season is at the crossroads and Spurrier needs a new scapegoat. Your move, coach.

MG

Who Ya Got? -- Week 5

2011-10-01T09:16:00.004-04:00

It's a good day to be an EXPAT: Temperature dropping, significant games to be played in the chill for the first time. So much on the line at so early a point in the season (plus playoff baseball to watch during halftimes).

Alabama at Florida:

In a different sport and generation, John McEnroe ran Bjorn Borg out of tennis by beating him in two matches: Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, both in 1981. To the world, perhaps, it looked like two hard-fought battles that happened to go McEnroe's way. But the two players knew better: McEnroe had figured Borg out, Borg knew it, and the Swede took early retirement instead of a series of future beatings.

Nick Saban delivered that same message to Urban Meyer in 2009 and 2010, pummeling the Gators over six quarters by the combined score of 44-6. Now Meyer, who won two national titles over a three-year period in Gainesville, is in a TV booth, and Saban brings what may be his best UA team to The Swamp. Meyer's ghost will not be waiting. In rapid fire, replacement Will Muschamp has changed the offense and installed a defensive attack he learned as a Saban assistant. Will it be enough?

Keep an eye on the two quarterbacks. Keep an eye on the offensive lines. Keep an eye on which little man -- Marquis Maze for Alabama; Jeffrey Demps and Chris Rainey for UF -- has the biggest impact. In the end, keep an eye on both defenses. Florida has size and speed. UA has that plus experience. For another year at least, the Tide keeps control of this series. Alabama, 23-14

MSU at Georgia

Every week the stakes get a little higher for Georgia coach Mark Richt. Georgia has its season record back to 2-2, with wins over a sugar cookie and the worst Ole Miss team of a lifetime. Now State, disappointing in its own right, offers the latest checkpoint in the Bulldogs' road back to a respectable season. Here, we get a glimpse of how Richt's near future will play out. Close, but take Georgia and the home crowd. Dawgs, 27-24

Kentucky at LSU
When I was an undergrad in Tuscaloosa, a dee-jay with WTBC promo'd a Wildcat visit to Baton Rouge thusly: Kentucky commits suicide in Baton Rouge. That game turned out to be surprisingly competitive. This one will not. LSU, 45-6.

Auburn at South Carolina
The Payback Bowl in Columbia promises to be nowhere near the blowout the Carolina fans feel is deserved. The Gamecocks, though undefeated, have not played a complete game. While Auburn's defense has been dreadful, its offense will make enough big plays against Carolina's talented but undisciplined defense to keep this one interesting. Given the two loses Auburn inflicted last year, USC fans want blood. What they'll get is another win, but not by much. Gamecocks, 35-28.

Elsewhere ...

Arkansas at Texas A&M: Nobody plays particularly well after they face Alabama. Arkansas, beaten. black and blue in Tuscaloosa last Saturday, is no exception. A&M, 31-28.

Tennessee beats Buffalo 45-20.

Fresno State beats Ole Miss, 24-23 (The Rebs have been sleep-walking all season; with the three-hour time change, they achieve REM.)

MG

An SEC fan's guide to Texas A&M

2011-09-27T05:25:00.009-04:00

With A&M joining the fold, it's time to get educated about Aggieland.

* First, let's go to Monday's welcoming party in College Station -- here is the Houston Chronicle's story, here's the one from USA Today, and here we have Dallas Morning News coverage.

* A&M will be the biggest school in the SEC, and they've played LSU 50 times (for the record, it's LSU 27, A&M 20, with 3 ties). That and more from The Birmingham News here.

* What does A&M bring to the table? Eyeballs, for one thing. Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston rank 4th and 8th, respectively, among the top TV markets for college football. Go here for more on college football viewership.

* The SEC's official website has details and links here.

* A&M's athletics site here. Aggie traditions here.

* And about the photo: "Come and Take It" dates to the Texas Revolution. More on that here and here.

What we think we know -- Week 4

2011-09-26T11:39:00.003-04:00

Let's have a hearty EXPATS' welcome to Texas A&M . . . clap, clap, clap . . . Sorry, that's the best I can do.

I just don't buy the notion that the SEC needs to expand to protect its preeminence, particularly when the new teams may or may not enhance the best brand in all of football. How do you expand a footprint that already runs coast to coast? Given the damage expansion inflicted on ACC hoops, SEC football already offers the only MUST-SEE TV in college sports.

Further, it took years before Arkansas and South Carolina in the SEC didn't sound and feel totally weird. Some Hogs fans still believe they are the outlier. The Aggies, who will give us an Auburn sensibility when/if Auburn goes to the eastern conference, will certainly bring a fanaticism that's par with its new surroundings, and it's on the upswing as a team. Saturday nights in College Station could be a great 7:30 game -- with the right opponent. But that's one of my problems: How long will the SEC have to carry A&M before it reaches conference cruising speed?

The best thing that may come out of this is further isolation of Texas. The Horns lose their biggest in-state rival. Their conference continues to teeter, and if it falls apart, UT may be left sucking its thumb with its $300 million network, spending nights in the fall watching reruns of Happy Feller and Tommy Nobis. Missouri? Bigger TV market, right. Your honor, as Exhibit I, we'd like to introduce Boston College . . .

Auburn's Gene Chizik has had the shortest honeymoon since Ernest Borgnine married Ethel Merman.

How do you go from having the greatest year in the school's history, capped out by the GREATEST winning comeback in Iron Bowl history, made EVEN GREATER because the Tigers turned the Tide inside out IN TUSCALOOSA!! to drawing the level of ire Chizik is getting now for AU's struggling start? Let's review. They didn't call it "All In" for nothing. Auburn lost about everything. Somehow that's been lost on a surprising number of AU fans, or at least the ones spending too much time posting and not enough thinking. Anonymous internet heroes, as a group, show the analytical skills of an army ant. But c'mon! In this case, the so-called Family -- even the online bohunks -- needs to show some patience. Auburn has brought in very good players. The season is young. Talent + practice + game experience = Improvement. The defense is awful, inexplicably so. But it should get better. Too bad for the Tigers, the meat of the schedule is at hand.

OK, I admit it: Alabama appeared scary good against Arkansas But before Tide Nation flies too close to the sun, remember what's waiting Saturday: A stadium filled with alcohol-enhanced, full-throated obnoxiousness and a roster with just as much athleticism as Alabama. This is our Blinking Yellow Game of the Week. True, AJ McCarron was 15-20 for 200 yards against Arkansas on Saturday, but that's the most misleading stat of the weekend. He still doesn't look comfortable in the swarm. His downfield accuracy is suspect, and Will Muschamp will be firing his guns from the get-go. On the other hand, if this is the Alabama defense we'll see from here on out, McCarron can sit in a lounge chair at midfield and slug beer all night, and still walk out of Gainesville with a win. Big game for both teams. But if Alabama escapes, it will be on veritable cruise control until its November matchup with LSU. This is no gimme. In fact, I think it will turn out to be the slugfest Arkansas/Alabama was supposed to be.

How bad is Ole Miss? Maybe we can trade the Rebs' outright to Southern Conference for Wofford and App State and a Miss America Finalist to be named later. Houston Nutt ran a shell game for years in Arkansas and once again he has fielded a team in Oxford that is outgunned, undermanned and undercoached.

No way to go through life, son.

MG

Welcome, Aggies

2011-09-26T06:46:00.004-04:00

It's official: Texas A&M is coming.

Go here for the story from the Houston Chronicle, then here for a Q&A with Tony Barnhart. And while you're in a reading mood, go here for the official announcement on Texas A&M's website (with a helpful link at the bottom to "Learn more about the SEC").

Among the many pressing questions: Who'll have a better year in 2012, A&M or its current most-famous alum, Texas Gov. and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry? (Here's his transcript to prove he didn't spend game days at the library.)

Polls are out; LSU the new No. 1 in AP

2011-09-26T06:30:00.003-04:00

Beating 3 ranked teams in 4 weeks will do that to a team. Go here for the AP and USA Today rankings. Guess this means we can officially start the countdown to the Nov. 5 game between LSU and Alabama. Here's who they play between now and then. (And, interestingly, both teams have a bye week before the game).

* LSU -- Kentucky, Florida, at Tennessee, Auburn.

* Alabama -- at Florida, Vanderbilt, at Ole Miss, Tennessee.

Who Ya Got? Week 4

2011-09-23T13:50:00.003-04:00

Two big games, finally, kick the SEC schedule into gear this week -- none bigger than the Red on Red affair Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa.

For sheer gothicness, though. you'd be hard-pressed to find a deeper dive into the archetypes than the moonlight battle between LSU and West Virginia in Morgantown.

Alabama and LSU should survive. But as little as we still know about Nick Saban's current squad, he thinks he has something special. OK, show us. As former Alabama All-American Forrest Gump might put it, "Special is as special does."

Now let's open up this week's box of chocolates.

Arkansas at Alabama

Simple game, really. Arkansas has the better offense, Alabama controls the D. The winner will be the team that better plays to its strength. Of course, there are wrenches galore -- what if Arkansas forces the Tide to throw? What if Alabama's young quarterbacks live up to their billing? Arkansas under Bobby Petrino is still chasing that first truly big win. This would be it. But Alabama will make the visitors earn it. And the Hogs, with key injuries, just aren't quite good enough to get her done. Tide, 24-17

LSU vs. West Va.

In Baton Rouge, they howl at the moon for the fun of it. In Morgantown, the baying comes from a deeper spot. The Mountaineers have one of the best crowds in all of college football. And given the pre-season embarrassments brought on by their current and former head coaches, there has to be the feeling among the faithful that the program's prominence is slipping away. Don't be surprised if the home team defends its turf with a last-stand desperation. That will work for a quarter. And then listen as the baying grows faint. Tigers, 27-12.

Florida at Kentucky

With Alabama coming to Gainesville next week, this matchup, and millions more like it, explain the popularity of the term "trap game." If only Kentucky could play a lick, but it can't, so we're spared cliche abuse for another week. Gators, 30-10.

Georgia at Mississippi

If Mark Richt wants to truly experience the charms of the hot seat, let him lose to Houston Nutt's train wreck in Oxford. I'm sure the Right Reverend would be happy to give up his chair, were he not chained to it. Georgia better take heed. This is a Dawg team that speaks with a straight face about still getting to Atlanta, but it's also a team strung together with duct tape. And its way past time for Aaron Murray to play up to his press packet. Georgia, 21-17

Vanderbilt at South Carolina

With Auburn's loss last week, the Gamecocks cemented their spot as the most suspect undefeated team in America. Something is truly amiss with Steve Spurrier's squad, which despite all its returning talent, has turned into a one-trick pony. Marcus Lattimore is actually a horse who performs a pretty good trick, and South Carolina gets the surprising Commodores at home. USC, 24-14

Florida Atlantic at Auburn

A truly awful team has come to the rescue of the Tigers at just the right time. This game should be over after one quarter. If it's not, whoa boy. Calling Icon the Entertainer AU, 45-14.

La Tech at MSU

A deceptively tough team hits Starkville just when the Bulldogs may be at their weakest emotional point of the Mullen Regime. State thought it was big time. Auburn and LSU showed them they are not. This one wears a blinking yellow light. Bullies, 35-21.

MG

Big 12 saved, or is Missouri still in play?

2011-09-23T06:11:00.005-04:00

Today's quiz: Who said it?

"... pushed me out of the stands ... eight foot drop onto concrete."

a) The Iowa State mascot, who broke his arm during the game at UConn. (Story here.)

b) Former Big 12 commish Dan Beebe.

The correct answer is a), but for the purposes of this and future posts, b) is perfectly acceptable as well.

Sports Illustrated sums it all up: "The Big 12 dumped embattled Commissioner Dan Beebe on Thursday and announced a plan to bind nine member schools together by holding a huge financial hammer -- their TV rights for the next six years -- over the heads. The plan is far from a done deal, since it must be approved by some if not all the schools' governing bodies." (Full story here; Andy Staples surveys the scene here.)

So Missouri's in lockstep with all this? Maybe, maybe not. Here's the headline from The Kansas City Star: "Mizzou doesn't commit to Big 12, SEC still an option." (Full story here.) That doesn't quite square with The Times-Picayune: "Missouri off the table for SEC's 14th team" (Full story here.)

But Texas A&M is still SEC-bound, right? Sure. We think. "They're so far down the line with the SEC that I don't think they are likely to change their mind," said Oklahoma President David Boren.

For now, the last word belongs to new Texas A&M chancellor John Sharp, who said Tuesday, "We are going to the Southeastern Conference to play with the big boys," then added, "That will come back to haunt me."

Paul Finebaum and his love song to AU

2011-09-22T21:57:00.004-04:00

I take no joy in posting this. Paul Finebaum is a professional cheap-shot artist. Though he mocks Auburn with this piece in Sports Illustrated, he could have easily targeted Alabama(or any other team).

In fact, he's probably well into a first draft.

Punch here if you must.

mg

What we think we know ... Week 4

2011-09-22T11:23:00.004-04:00

Is it just me of is the college football season having trouble getting out of the gate?

We've had one truly memorable game -- the Toon Town final minutes of Notre Dame and Michigan -- but even that highlight reel can't hide the fact that two mediocre team were playing the worst defense since the Maginot Line. Besides, too much of the season's energy has been siphoned off by scandal and its endless variations, or the unholy conference alliances drummed up by greed that could turn the sport into a total made-for-TV ersatz spectacle. Let's hope Alabama-Arkansas, among other games, seizes the microphone this weekend.

Does Auburn need to change its slogan from "All In" to "All Fall Down"?

We are watching a defensive collapse on the Plains of Biblical proportions. The defending champs weren't statistically great in stopping other teams last year, but they played harder and better in the second half, and never stopped attacking. This year they're lucky to be 2-1. The "God Thang" has quickly become a "Ted Roof Thang." The beleaguered defensive coordinator was let off the hook last year by the ferociousness of Nick Fairly and Cam Newton's knack for singlehandedly scoring a few more points than Roof's players allowed. Auburn is young, ridiculously young. And the kids weren't helped when last year's team ticked off so many opponents on their way to the streaming confetti. It's payback time, with interest, in the SEC. Will The Family get stronger from the experience or will it crumble altogether?

Should Marcus Lattimore have a chair to use between plays?

As Steve Spurrier gets older, he's getting harder and harder to figure out. I know Lattimore is a big time player, and it's clear he plays a disproportionate role in his team's chances week after week. But he is being steadily chewed up like a cheap pencil -- on pace for more than 300 carries this year. Here's a suggestion: Why doesn't the no-longer Boy Genius fix his passing game? Unless, of course, a three-year starter at quarterback and an all-American receiver leave him criminally short-handed. Get coaching, coach. If Stephen Garcia isn't working, coach up Connor Shaw. Figure out a way to get Alshon Jeffery the ball. Teach all those future NFL draft picks on your defense to guard and tackle. Otherwise, at the end of the year, you'll have a beaten up Lattimore, nothing to fall back on, and only yourself to blame.

The Book of Revelations -- Chapter 2

The Enigma Bowl kicks off in Tuscaloosa at 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Alabama and Arkansas are SUPPOSED to be really good. Defensively, Alabama is SUPPOSED to have perhaps the country's best unit. Offensively, Arkansas is SUPPOSED to be as creative and explosive as anyone. But neither school appears to have found its form. In Tuscaloosa, the believers say the Tide will play up to the level of its competition. In other words, the offensive line will try blocking for a change, and the defensive line might actually put some pressure on the quarterback. Like Alabama, the Hogs are undefeated, but they've played the weaker of the two schedules. They've been hit by key injuries. Tyler Wilson has been good enough, but he and his teammates weren't sharp last week against undermanned Troy. So will the real teams please stand up! If the Arkansas lines holds their ground, we're in for a dilly. If Alabama can run the ball and pressure Wilson, the Hog killing will commence shortly.

If not Nutt, whom and when?

The state of Mississippi has a long proud tradition of falling for the silken words of charlatans. Houston Nutt is the latest, and now he's the architect of the worst football team at Oxford in ages. Will he last the season? It would be the gentlemanly thing for Ole Miss to do. Not that manners has much to do with SEC football or with losing to Vanderbilt for the second consecutive year.

Book of Revelations Revisited

Florida is better than I thought, and the Gators could be scary by the time they play Georgia and South Carolina. Tennessee? The EXPATS prescribe a mild sedative to take the edge off the entire coaching staff and roster. The whole place is a tad too manic right now.

mg

And Missouri makes 14?

2011-09-21T05:24:00.003-04:00

That'll be the talk today, what with stories from The Birmingham News (here) and The Kansas City Star (here) that an informal offer has been extended. The News goes on to say that if Missouri comes aboard, Auburn would go to the East, making the divisions look like this:

WEST

Alabama

Arkansas

LSU

Mississippi

Mississippi State

Missouri

Texas A&M

EAST

Auburn

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vanderbilt

Stay tuned. The University of Missouri System Board of Curators is scheduled to meet Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, here's the yep-that-pretty-much-sums-it-up quote of the day, courtesy of Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel:

"I have a lot of opinions, but I have absolutely no control."

Rumblings - make that rantings - in Oxford

2011-09-20T08:31:00.004-04:00

A nonprofit group called Forward Rebels! ran this full-page ad Monday in newspapers in Memphis, Jackson, Tupelo, Hattiesburg, Biloxi and yes, Oxford. I'd say it speaks for itself.

Go here for the fallout and here for the group's website.

Taylor Branch on the NCAA and the sham of amateur sports

2011-09-20T07:59:00.002-04:00

When the morning paper brings us banner headlines on NCAA investigations into both UNC and South Carolina, perhaps it is time to step back and study a little history.

Suffice to say, the basis for the absolute power that the NCAA tries to enforce over its members and the futility it displays in policing its sports will become painfully evident by the close of this piece in Atlantic Magazine by noted historian Taylor Branch.

It's long, but from this point on it's also required reading for any fan of college athletics.

MG

Who Ya Got? -- Week 3

2011-09-17T06:29:00.006-04:00

Fair to middlin' lineup at the picture show this week ... maybe that's because for first time since I had hair, ACC football is making headlines. What with FSU going all in down to its last dime against Oklahoma, and with every team this side of the New England Patriots lining up to join the country's most distinguished gridiron coalition, who can look away?

In the meantime, the five-time defending champs will make its headlines with a few games that everyone seems to want to watch. The SEC is parochial that way. Wait, John Swofford's phone is ringing again. Must be Belichick.

Tennessee at Florida

Win a couple of games and the expectations grow. Throw in some extreme dislike and, presto, we have us here a ballgame. What used to be the early verdict on who would come out of the East, the Vols-Gators hatefest veered for most of this decade into the realm of irrelevancy. This one will be fun, if only to see whose eyeballs pop out first, Dooley or Muschamp? Take Dooley for the ocular comic effect, and Muschamp's defense for the win. Florida, 21-14.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt

Nutts! Again! But not for long! 'Dores, 24-10

Auburn at Clemson

The Separated at Birth Bowl has Clemson fans still pondering the narrative arc that has taken them from a dropped end zone pass and a missed chip-shot field goal of beating the eventual national champions to almost being run out of Death Valley by the Wofford Terriers. The search for moral victories continues this week. Maybe Auburn's eagle will fly into Frank Howard's rock. Tigers (Alabama chapter) 42-21

North Texas at Alabama:

Everybody wearing a red jersey plays this week, and that includes the band. Tide, 42-7.

Coastal Carolina at Georgia
Moral-Schworal. Dawgs, 45-14.

Louisville at Kentucky

In the SEC's football solar system, Kentucky remains Pluto. What a dark, cold, distant place to be. Cards, 20-13

Navy at South Carolina

The visor could have grass stains after this one. South Carolina should win, will win. But Navy won't be coming to Columbia in their dress whites, and a Gamecock defense still trying to hold someone under five scores will have its hands full.
USC, 42-28.

Troy at Arkansas

On its state of Alabama itinerary, the Hogs get Mini Me this week. But Doctor Evil looms. Arkansas, 55-17.

EXPATS' Bonus Pick

Oklahoma at FSU: Unless the Seminole defense plays out of its mind, I'll take the experienced QB over the new guy. Patience, FSU fans, your time is coming quickly. But not quite yet. Sooners, 28-24.

LSU-Mississippi State: Who ya got?

2011-09-15T15:26:00.001-04:00

Big SEC game on Thursday night -- perfect if you want to put off household chores, talking to family members, etc. Our predictions:

Peter:
LSU 24, MSU 10: Auburn figured out in the second half last week that MSU can't throw downfield. Unlike Auburn, LSU can take away the run, too.

Trent:
As it happens, the email edition of my alumni newsletter arrived today, carrying this message at the very end: "The Athletic Department would like to thank you for your cooperation and continued support in staying within the rules and regulations of the NCAA and SEC." It's that kind of attitude that will keep the Bulldogs from ever achieving true greatness. LSU, 24-16.

MG
Until someone can force the LSU quarterbacks to make throws that truly matter, the beatings will continue. Tiguhs, 27-10.

Tommy:
My LSU buddy Steve says this one will be easy for the Tigers. I'm not so sure. I think we're gonna find out that Auburn is pretty good, and More Cowbell had a shot to beat them at the end. My heart says Bulldogs. But my head says LSU 24, MSU 21.

So who ya got?

What we think we know after Week 2

2011-09-14T14:11:00.006-04:00

The SEC's version of the Book of Revelations opens this week when we finally get an idea of the relative strength of some of the teams. This week's headliner carries a small "H" with the battle of reclamation projects: Tennessee vs. Florida. More on that later.

Up to now? Well, here are some scatter shot observations.

1. Who can argue the power of the God Thang Voodoo being practiced on The Plains? Auburn is undefeated. Most of the world is happy to declare that they don't know how that's possible. But the explanation is simple: When it's time to win or lose the game, Auburn makes all the plays. Ryan Smith's tackle of Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf came straight from the Nature Channel. You know, the slow-motion footage of a wildebeest -- that would be Relf -- one stride from freedom when WHAM! the lion -- that would be Smith -- appears out of nowhere to knock him off his feet. I don't fault Bulldog coach Dan Mullen for putting the ball -- and the game -- in the hands of his best player. Relf is a so-so passer and a strong runner. He needed a yard against a bad Auburn defense. Yet, the game was on the line and Auburn, again, rose up. Smith's tackle was one of the best you'll see anywhere. Which brings us to this: There will be no easy outs against Auburn this year.

2. Alabama is 2-0 and near the top of the rankings, but Nick Saban's squad still feels like a submarine running in deep waters. True, the Tide dismantled Penn State, which after a promising start gave away any chance of winning with its ridiculous quarterback shuffle. Alabama, on the other hand, showed just enough to prove its superiority, then largely shut things down for most of the second half. This week, North Texas. Next week, Alabama throws a coming-out party for itself and visiting Arkansas, the scariest team on the Tide's early schedule. Granted, Hog quarterback Tyler Wilson will be making his first start on extremely hostile ground. But Arkansas has enough skilled players to press Bama's formidable defense. In the end, Wilson and Bama QB AJ McCarron should be the decisive figures. Alabama was lucky to beat the Hogs a year ago, and they did it by knocking Ryan Mallett into bad throws. Different quarterback this year, same blueprint for winning.

3. Bob the Rebuilder meets Bob the Rebuilder in Gainesville this week. Derek Dooley's Tennessee team faces another test in the long road back to respectability. Will Muschamp's Florida team must cover a shorter distance, but it's a path still filled with as much broken pavement as N.C. 12. Two traditional powers. Two young hyperventilating head coaches still trying to prove their chops. At home, Florida's defense appears to give a clear edge to Florida. But that assumes Gator QB John Brantley doesn't perform in his year-long clinch as he did in 2010. What used to be the conference's first heavyweight fight has fallen in class to a middleweight bout. Doesn't mean it won't be an interesting trade of blows.

4. South Carolina is 2-0. Georgia is 0-2. Georgia looked feeble against Boise State, but pushed the Gamecocks up and down the field last Saturday in Athens. Based on the performances of both teams, the SEC East race is far from over. South Carolina, with all its supposed offensive firepower, has needed turnovers and special team points for both of its wins. Its defense, again stocked with future NFL players, continues to play without discipline or consistency. Sure Georgia is winless, but the Dawgs should have won Saturday. The rest of the schedule sets up well IF ... UGA quarterback Aaron Murry can play up to expectations and IF ... Georgia can piece together a better defense. Big IFs, sure, but this team can beat anyone left on its SEC schedule. It could also lose to everyone of them. For the record, the numbers don't portend a happy ending. Georgia is 7-10 in the SEC since 2009.

MG

For the significant other in your SEC life ...

2011-09-14T07:17:00.008-04:00

... consider a gift of "Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie," written by Christie Leigh Mueller. From her website: "... a travel guide through the stadiums and tailgates of the South ... provides every Southern Belle with the must-knows for becoming a Gridiron Belle. Whether you have yet to develop a team allegiance, you revel in polishing the silver before kickoff, or you call pass interference before the official does, this guide to the South's most lively tradition is a must-read ..."

Go here for a Q&A with Mueller, whose in-season book tour will bring her to Columbia on October 1 for the Auburn-South Carolina game. (Turns out she's an Auburn fan.)

The 'fair market value' study

2011-09-13T08:48:00.002-04:00

The Associated Press got ahold of the report a day early, writing this on Monday:

The average fair market value of top-tier college football and men's basketball players is over $100,000 each, and the athletes are entitled to at least a portion of that, a new report from an advocacy group argues.

Instead of getting what they're worth, the players receive athletic scholarships that don't cover the full cost of attending school, leaving many of them living below the poverty line, says the report, "The Price of Poverty in Big Time College Sport."

A national college athletes' advocacy group and a sports management professor calculate in the report that if college sports shared their revenues the way pro sports do, the average Football Bowl Subdivision player would be worth $121,000 per year, while the average basketball player at that level would be worth $265,000.

Go here for the rest of the AP story, and here for the full report from the National College Players Association.

The study also listed the most valuable players (strictly in a monetary sense). Here's the top 10, with last season's records.

1. Texas: $513,922 (5-7)

2. Alabama: $393,251 (10-3)

3. Georgia: $387,528 (6-7)

4. Penn State: $384,082 (7-6)

5. LSU: $376,485 (11-2)

6. Florida: $375,916 (8-5)

7. Auburn: $361,949 (14-0)

8. Notre Dame: $351,010 (8-5)

9. Ohio State: $348,750 (12-1)

10. Michigan: $345,683 (7-6)

SEC commish talks expansion

2011-09-13T08:26:00.008-04:00

Here's the money quote from Mike Slive:

"When Texas A&M joins our conference, we don't have immediate plans for a 14th member."

Go here for Slive's full statement.

On the field, off the field

2011-09-08T07:34:00.012-04:00

On the field: LSU's Russell Shepard could miss three games total, not just one, returning for the Sept. 24 game against West Virginia. That's the word from tigersportsdigest.com.

Off the field: We'll see what the day brings on Texas A&M's efforts to extricate itself from the Big 12. Go here for the Houston Chronicle's story and here for USA Today's report. Two more: here is a short Q&A from a few days ago with the A&M president, and here is a Q&A with Keith Dunnavant, who wrote "The Fifty-Year Seduction: How Television Manipulated College Football, from the Birth of the Modern NCAA to the Creation of the BCS."

Turns out that Tennessee coach Derek Dooley summarized it best Wednesday: "It's that old saying -- it's not about the money, it's about the amount."

Off the field: More college rankings from Newsweek / The Daily Beast: Healthiest (LSU #2, Miss. State #3, Georgia #10) and Least Rigorous (Florida #2).

-- RTR

Texas A&M to SEC? Not quite yet

2011-09-07T12:50:00.003-04:00

The SEC is ready and the Aggies are willing.

If only it were so easy.

The short version: the SEC will take A&M if no one from the Big 12 makes a big fuss (or, say, files a lawsuit) over it. And Baylor just might.

Go here for the full story from Sports Illustrated, then here for today's statement from Florida president Bernie Machen, the chair of the SEC's president's group, and here for the September 2 letter he is referencing.

Also, Baylor has posted this on the school website under the headline "Don't Mess With Texas Football" (go here for full version):

"Texans must stand up and call the leadership of the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech to clear-headed thinking about the state's future. Texas' flagship institutions of higher learning are the guardians of the state's future—their loyalties must first be to Texas and to her citizens. Ask these leaders to take a stand for Texas and to stop this madness that will lead to the dissolution of the Big 12 and the end of an era for Texas."

Finally, there's this from A&M President R. Bowen Loftin:

"We are certainly pleased with the action taken last night by the presidents and chancellors of the Southeastern Conference to unanimously accept Texas A&M as the league's 13th member. However, this acceptance is conditional, and we are disappointed in the threats made by one of the Big 12 member institutions to coerce Texas A&M into staying in the Big 12 Conference. These actions go against the commitment that was made by this university and the Big 12 on Sept. 2. We are working diligently to resolve any and all issues as outlined by the SEC."

Update: And now Iowa State isn't ready to let go just yet? Go here for that story.

For a moment, the cleat was on the other foot: Arkansas AD says Big 12 was interested in having the Razorbacks return. Story here.

-- RTR

The True Top 10

2011-09-06T14:16:00.000-04:00

Every year, especially in this part of the year, we seethe with fury at the football polls. Teams that spend their first three weeks beating up on the local vo-tech schools still get ranked in the top 5 based on nothing but hype and history. Sometimes the rankings hold up; often they flame out as soon as an overranked team faces an opponent that doesn't care what you did in the wing-T era.

So this year we're fixing that. Today we debut The True Top 10 -- a ranking based on one thing only: performance. No credit for running up the score on a bad team. The True Top 10 rewards teams that schedule other good teams and win meaningful games. Yes, the Oklahomas and Alabamas of the world will climb in down the road... but only if they earn it.

And don't worry, fellow Expats... I'm pretty sure the SEC will always be well-represented.

-- Tommy T.

The True Top 10, Week 1

1) LSU. Thumped an Oregon team that might win the rest of its games. Won without its starting quarterback. Looks scary, fast, and deep. And that's just a Les Miles brain scan.

2) Boise State. Beat an SEC team on the road (it was in Atlanta instead of Athens, but when you're playing Georgia* at the Georgia Dome, that's on the road). Also won the battle of the post-modern unis. BEWARE THE HORSEHEAD OF DEATH.

3) Baylor. Beat TCU 50-48 Friday night, meaning the game of the year might've been played before the first Saturday of the season even began. (I think this was the plot of the last "Back to the Future" movie.) Baylor QB Robert Griffin III is your clubhouse leader for the Heisman, although I wouldn't run any more trick plays where he catches a pass over the middle. It's hard to play quarterback without a spleen.

4) South Carolina. So was Steve Spurrier a genius for sitting Stephen Garcia at the beginning against East Carolina? More likely, Spurrier just likes playing Jenga with his quarterbacks' psyches. (By the way, are those tie-dye undershirts the Gamecocks are wearing? And if so, that's got to be Garcia's idea, right?)

5) South Florida. I posted this on Twitter over the weekend: How old do you have to be to remember when Notre Dame was good at football? Still, full marks to South Florida: Notre Dame is better than the cupcakes most of the top teams played last weekend. Although the Irish would probably lose to Utah State. And maybe Sacramento State. And, you know, when you start going down that James Madison roster...

6) Houston. Here's this year's TCU -- they beat UCLA in their opener and that's the toughest game on their schedule. (Next toughest, I think, is East Carolina at home.) Would love to see them play Baylor in a bowl. The game might last three days.

7) Maryland. Beat a Miami team that still looked decent, even though several players were suspended and a couple of linemen are somewhere near the Abacos on "borrowed" Jet Skis.

8) Hawaii. Doubling up Colorado doesn't sound that great. Doubling up THE SHINY NEW MEMBER OF THE PAC-12 sounds much better. Maybe the Pac-12 should have gone west instead of east. Honolulu in December, or Utah? You decide.

9) BYU. Stole one at Ole Miss on a late defensive TD, which led to much despair in Oxford until everybody got back to the bourbon at their tailgates. The Cougars play at Texas next week. If they win that, they might settle in here for awhile. (Cougs, it was nice knowing y'all.)

10) Northwestern. This is the only week of the year when beating Boston College gets you into the top 10 in anything.

In next week: the Alabama-Penn State winner. That's how you schedule a nonconference game, gentlemen.

*INTERIOR, OPULENT HOME IN ATHENS, GA., EARLY MORNING. There is a KNOCK at the door. MARK RICHT opens it. A GAGGLE OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS is standing outside.

RICHT: Um, can I help y'all?

AGENT #1: Well, coach, we'd like to come in and look around. Take a few measurements. Maybe have a photographer come by.

RICHT: Excuse me, fellas, but this house is not for sale.

AGENT #2 (after awkward pause): Sure. Of course. We just... you know... in case anything should happen.

RICHT: Y'all know I've won, like, 75 percent of my games, right? Two SEC championships? Anybody remember those?

AGENT #3: Coach, you know how the real-estate market goes. Sometimes you're up, sometimes you get pounded by Boise State. So... do you think you'd want to leave the chandelier?

RICHT: Get out of here! All of you! I need to get my team ready for South Carolina?

AGENT #4 (with hat pulled over eyes, wearing large sunglasses): Coach, how many square feet would you say this house is? And have you thought about running the ball a little more? Say, 50 times a game?

RICHT (startled): Coach Dooley?

END

Let's invite Rice while we're at it

2011-09-06T05:22:00.003-04:00

Just for the band.

During the Rice-Texas game, The MOB -- Marching Owl Band -- spelled out exactly what jumping conferences means to confirmed flight risk Texas A&M.

Go here for the full script. It's good.

Alabama, 1961

2011-09-05T09:48:00.006-04:00

The national championship team, Bear Bryant's first, was honored before the Alabama-Kent State game on Saturday. That was the team that allowed just 25 points all year (including a 10-3 win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl). At left are QB Pat Trammell (12), LB Darwin Holt (32) and tackle Billy Neighbors (73). Some links:

* Season summary here.

* Regular-season game recaps here.

* Roster here.

* Video of "Bear Bryant Show" after Iron Bowl here.

First to worst -- Week 1 performances

2011-09-04T16:09:00.005-04:00

1. LSU. I should have figured they would be ready for the moment. The only surprise was how shaky Oregon looked.

2 through 7, in no particular order, for beating up on teams they were supposed to -- Mississippi State, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt.

8. Georgia. At least they played somebody decent. Decent and much better.

9. South Carolina. Stirring comeback against a team that in 2010 finished last in the country in defense.

10. Auburn. The reigning king of college football is still a drama queen.

11. Ole Miss. The only reason they're not at the bottom is because I watched a little of the Kentucky game.

12. Kentucky. And the circle is complete. The team they beat, Western Kentucky, plays LSU in November.

-- RTR

Who ya got, Week 1

2011-09-02T16:25:00.007-04:00

Time for remote-control calisthenics, improving your time in the 40 (the 40-foot dash to the fridge), and working on the cardio you'll need to hang in there from the first game at noon through Hawaii-Colorado sometime in the Sunday gray.

Week 1 is here.

On Thursday the SEC showed well (Mississippi State plastered Memphis 59-14) and not so well (Kentucky barely held off Western Kentucky 14-3). Saturday brings the rest of the conference into action, including a couple of big early games. Here's who we got. Note the total lack of cohesion in structure, style and even color. SEC Expats: Amateurish Design Since 2009! (From RTR -- I cleaned it up as best I could, but I'm an expat, not a doctor, dammit.)

Mike:

Utah St at Auburn: After Auburn’s almost evangelical march to the promised land, almost every team on Auburn’s schedule will treat the Tigers game like a holy war. The key word is ‘almost.’ AU, 48-27.
Kent St at Alabama: Good opportunity for the Tide’s kid QBs to chuck it around a little and hand it to Trent Richardson a lot. Bama, 48-0.
BYU at Ole Miss: Not a great way for an endangered coach to start a season. BYU, 35-21.
Montana at UT: What happened to all that momentum? UT needs a win, but somebody behind center will need to make plays. (Maybe it will be Justin Worley, the freshman from Rock Hill.). Vols, 24-16.
Fla. Atlantic at Florida: So we know new Gator coach Will Muschamp will jump around a lot. The rest remains to be seen. Florida, 24-0.
Missouri St. at Arkansas: Scary, scary team that will score every point it can in hopes of sending a message to the SEC. Hogs, 55-14.
ECU-USC in CLT: The Gamecocks almost certainly will disappoint in their opening in Charlotte. In the past, that meant a loss. Here, it means Jadaveon Clowney didn’t fly over the stadium before the game. USC, 35-21.
Elon at Vandy: Do you know how hard it is for Vandy to find an opening patsy? ‘Dores, 28-14.
Boise at UGA: Do the intangibles of a new strength coach and a new commitment from a head coach to actually do the job he’s been paid really well to do make that much of a difference? I think it will … for a half. Georgia has forgotten how to win big games. And that negates any advantage the Dawgs have in size and speed. Say what you want about the Potato Boys, but they will keep it close, then do what they do better than Georgia – win a game late. BSU, 24-19.
LSU-Oregon: Both teams return plenty. But LSU’s preseason has resembled a Mardi Gras party turned mean. There are plenty of players to make up for the suspensions. But the disruption to preparations can’t be ignored. Oregon comes in with an underrated defense and a point to prove, after the Ducks got shoved around by Auburn in the BCS title game. Chew, Les, chew. Oregon, 28-24.

Tommy:

BYU at Ole Miss: My gut tells me the Rebs are a touch underrated this year. Then again, my gut used to think Milwaukee's Best was good beer. Ole Miss, 27-24.

USC v. ECU: Just yesterday I picked South Carolina to win the SEC, which led one commenter to note that I must have been smoking crack. Here was my theory: They have the best back in the SEC, the best receiver in the SEC, the top recruit in the country on defense, and the quarterback who led them to the title game last season. What did I forget? That Steve Spurrier can't help screwing with his quarterbacks. Stephen Garcia is out and Connor Shaw is in, at least for this week. That won't matter Saturday. But messing with Garcia's head will cost the Cocks down the road. USC, 31-20.

Boise State vs. Georgia: I've been thinking Georgia would win this game but lose to South Carolina next week. But now with Garciagate, maybe we could go 2-0... and beat Florida... and then Trent Richardson sprains his ankle in the SEC title game... and the Oklahoma team bus crashes... and we all ride unicorns in the victory parade. OK, one dream at a time. Georgia, 26-17.

Oregon vs. LSU: Is it really such a bad thing that Jordan Jefferson isn't playing? I believe in SEC athletes, I believe in LSU always having meat on the D-line, and above all I believe in Les Miles. LSU, 31-27.

Alabama 48, Kent State 3
Auburn 48, Utah State 3
Florida 55, Florida Atlantic 14
Tennessee 42, Montana 21
Arkansas 62, Missouri St. 13
Vandy 29, Elon 6

Peter:

Auburn 48, Utah St 24: Tigers fans continue annual first-game ritual of fretting about defense after an easy win.

Alabama 45, Kent St. 0
BYU 21, Ole Miss 20
Tennesee 35, Montana 14
Florida 28, Fla. Atlantic 17
Arkansas 55, Missouri St. 10
USC 24, ECU 10
Vandy 35, Elon 3
UGA 24, Boise 23
Oregon 28, LSU 14: Won't be off-the-troubles that stop LSU. It'll be Oregon's defense.

Trent:

Oregon 35, LSU 19: I have a feeling that Oregon coach Chip Kelly learned a lot about SEC-style football in losing to Auburn and will figure out a way to keep his team from getting pushed around this time. LSU will fall behind by at least 10 points early and never catch up.

Boise State 31, Georgia 28
Auburn 30, Utah State 3
Alabama 42, Kent State 10
BYU 28, Ole Miss 24
UT 24, Montana 17
Florida 48, Florida Atlantic 7
Arkansas 34, Missouri State 20
South Carolina 24, East Carolina 21
Vandy 20, Elon 0

Garcia out, Shaw in at South Carolina

2011-09-02T08:43:00.003-04:00

* Go here to read why Connor Shaw will start as SC's quarterback against East Carolina over Stephen Garcia.

* More QB news: Alabama will play both A.J. McCarron and Phillip Simms against Kent State -- rotating after 3 series each. Go here for that.

You can learn a lot from Thursday night radio shows.

The dirt on each other from SEC coaches

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

Want to know what SEC coaches think about the other teams in the conference. Look no further.

In which Les Miles explains the art of eating grass

2011-09-01T19:42:00.000-04:00

SEC grandmother of the year . . .Barbara Dooley

2011-09-01T18:28:00.003-04:00

This is just flat fun to read. Suffice to say the matriarch of the coaching Dooleys is not wearing mellow as she walks toward the sunset.

Enjoy, courtesy of AJC.com

mg

It's football time! (with some preseason predictions)

2011-09-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

Real football starts tonight. God bless us, every one.

The SEC is in action right away, but we all think Mississippi State will beat the Beale out of Memphis and Kentucky will whip Western KY tonight. So we'll save the weekend who-ya-gots for tomorrow. For today, let's look at the bigger picture and predict how the season will play out.

SEC East champ

Mike: South Carolina
Trent: Florida
Peter: South Carolina
Tommy: South Carolina

SEC West champ

Mike: Alabama
Trent: LSU
Peter: Ala... Alab ...(sorry, this is hard)...

Tommy: Alabama

SEC champion
Mike: Alabama
Trent: LSU
Peter: Alabama
Tommy: South Carolina

Will the SEC champ win the national title?
Mike: No
Trent: No
Peter: Yes, even with an Iron Bowl loss...
Tommy: No

SEC MVP

Mike: "The Wilson kid from Arkansas" (he's talking about QB Tyler Wilson)
Trent: Marcus Lattimore
Peter: Marcus Lattimore
Tommy: Marcus Lattimore

Game of the year

Mike: LSU-Alabama, Nov. 5
Trent: Arkansas-Texas A&M, Oct. 1 -- think of it as a sneak preview
Peter: Arkansas at Alabama, Sept. 24 -- Arkansas has 14 starters returning from a team that was up in the fourth quarter last year on Alabama (which has 17 returning starters.)

Tommy: South Carolina at Georgia, Sept. 17 -- The winner wins the SEC East. And if South Carolina wins... well, we won't even talk about the possibilities just now.

Drop your predictions down below. We hope y'all are as jacked for this season as we are.

Making the numbers work

2011-09-01T12:33:00.000-04:00

A good lawyer never asks a question unless he already knows the answer.

With that in mind, Texas A&M would never have bolted the Big 12 without a new address for the movers. But how does the SEC make it work?

The answer, says Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, better be quickly.

Read here.

-- mg

UPDATE: Look here for a 13-team SEC schedule (hypothetical, of course).

Two is not always better than one

2011-09-01T07:56:00.003-04:00

Among the biggest question marks heading into the 2011 SEC season is how will Nick Saban handle the quarterback position at Alabama.

Not only is two-year starter Greg McElroy gone, but Saban is not ready to make up his mind on a replacement. As a result, the Alabama practice field this fall has resembled Vladivostok, with all the experimentations and transmutations kept tightly under wraps.

The candidates: sophomore AJ McCarron and freshman Phillip Sims. Both will play against Kent State. But will Saban keep the yo-yo spinning when his team goes on the road in Week Two against Penn St.?

History tells us he might. History also tells us that he and Alabama have had mixed results with the two-headed QB.

Read more here.

mg

The train's leaving College Station

2011-09-01T07:41:00.003-04:00

News: Texas A&M tells the Big 12 that it's ready to join a new conference if invited.

Links:

* "Texas A&M to seek affiliation with new conference" (go here for official news release and here for the AD's blog post on Wednesday)

* "A&M to Big 12: We're out of here" (go here for Houston Chronicle story)

* "Texas A&M inching closer to the SEC" (go here for ESPN story)

Question: What about Virginia Tech as the SEC's 14th team? "Total poppycock," thundered a Hokie spokesman. (Don't know if you can actually say "poppycock" in a thundering way, but it's not often we get to use the word. Anyway, go here for the Daily Press story.)

The 12th Man: Go here for a capsule history from the school's website. And find out more about Jackie Sherrill's creation of the 12th Man Kickoff Team at the official website here.

-- RTR

The only crown Ole Miss will wear this year

2011-08-31T18:49:00.002-04:00

That would be "most beautiful," naturally -- as opposed to most naturally beautiful -- or so say the folks at Newsweek and the Daily Beast. The judges' criteria:

No one wants to spend four years in Uglyville. Newsweek crunched the numbers to determine which colleges offer it all — the most beautiful campus and the most attractive students. Just as it’s enviable to spend your college years surrounded by gorgeous co-eds, it’s not bad to walk amongst architectural treasures and lush greenery. We considered colleges that ranked on either PopCrunch’s annual ranking of the 50 Hottest Student Bodies or The Best Colleges list of the 50 Most Beautiful Campuses. Their respective ranks on either list (or both, in some cases) were then weighted equally with the College Prowler grade for male and female attractiveness, as well as the level of appeal the local atmosphere bears.

Others in the SEC-heavy top 25: Alabama #3, Florida #5, Georgia #8, Kentucky #12, Auburn #15.

Go here for the entire list.

Do the Dawgs -- finally -- show some teeth?

2011-08-31T11:14:00.004-04:00

We'll have this week's picks up shortly, but as an early course, here's one columnist's take on the best matchup of the week -- Boise State-Georgia.

The Potatoe Boys ain't stupid. There's a reason they agreed to play Georgia, in Atlanta, where the BSU fans will be outnumbered about 50 to 1. It's because they know they can win.

Georgia, under Mark Richt, is lost in the woods. The question remains, can they find their way out?

The answer begins to take shape Saturday night. Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more.

USC No. 1? Only in the New York Post

2011-08-31T06:59:00.004-04:00

Not sure how this one slipped by us, but go here as Lenn Robbins of the Post makes his case for why South Carolina will win it all. For the record, his top 10 includes Alabama at No. 3, LSU at 7 and Georgia at 10.

I don't care if it is Kurtis Blow, turn it down

2011-08-30T08:32:00.005-04:00

As a public service, we looked over the Cowboys Stadium guide for those area LSU fans who might be making the trip to Arlington for the Oregon game. And we quote:

Hand-held radios for personal use are allowed in the stadium as long as they are not larger than 12" x 12" x 12" and do not distract from the enjoyment of other guests. The use of headphones is required.

So much for that "Straight Outta Compton" party in the mezzanine.

Speaking of stadium guides, we like LSU's because it's written with the college football fan in mind -- it has pictures. So the next time you're off to Death Valley, remember, NO alcoholic beverages allowed inside: you'll have to leave your Pilsner glass at the gate. -- RTR

Three cheers for Vandy! (one for each win)

2011-08-30T05:47:00.005-04:00

Not this year, my friends. This prognostication has Vanderbilt going 6-6, beating Kentucky and Tennessee along the way and, dare we say it, being bowl-eligible. We link to it because we firmly believe a staffer at the school paper can be every bit as partisan as, say, an Expat. Click here for the rundown from The Vanderbilt Hustler.

And just for consistency sake, we add Jess Nicholas' appraisal: His prediction: 5-7

Tennessee: Not so fast on the big leap forward

2011-08-29T22:51:00.003-04:00

Tennessee's football program slipped significant punishment in a recent NCAA ruling. Now the bad news: The Vols must still play the games.

This is a team that is not deep or particularly talented, despite showing quick glimpses of promise during Derek Dooley's first season. But the Vols, like all bad teams, kept finding creative ways to lose. They couldn't count against LSU. They couldn't count or behave against North Carolina.

Now, after a disastrous spring and the disciplinary loss of its best player, safety Janzen Jackson, Dooley's squad comes into 2011 with as much momentum as an arthritic coon hound.

Read here.

The roosters may have something to crow about

2011-08-29T13:30:00.003-04:00

Experience, talent and coaching: The year is setting up nicely for Steve Spurriers's South Carolina Gamecocks.

The only issues: depth, which is improving quickly; and the performance of Stephen Garcia -- Spurriers's Jeckyl and Hyde starter at quarterback, who's been around Columbia as long as the bullet holes in the state capitol.

If the good Garcia shows up, South Carolina will be very hard to beat. But in South Carolina, history is everything, and history tells us that the bad Garcia will run onto the field about 40 percent of the time.

As alway, the Gamecock season will pivot early: The second game will on the road at Georgia, and the Dawgs and Mark Richt have more riding on the outcome than Spurrier's team.

Get through that game, and South Carolina will have another trip to Georgia, for the SEC Championship Game.

Here's the lowdown.

LSU's Russell Shepard suspended

2011-08-26T07:09:00.004-04:00

While whatever happened at Shady's is still sorting itself out (go here for the latest from the Baton Rouge Advocate), one thing is for sure: all-purpose threat Russell Shepard won't be playing against Oregon on Sept. 3. He's been ruled ineligible, possibly for several games. Writes The Times-Picayune: "The violation stems from the relationship between Houston native Shepard, LSU and Houston-based scouting service owner Willie Lyles. According to a source in the LSU athletic department, Shepard communicated the details of the NCAA inquiry into LSU's involement with Lyles to his cousin, sophomore safety Craig Loston. (Go here for the Times-Pic story and here for the Advocate's report.)

Janzen Jackson gone from Tennessee

2011-08-25T11:23:00.007-04:00

What a week in UT-land ... Summit, Pearl, Kiffin and now junior safety Janzen Jackson gets the boot (go here for that story).

Here's hoping this Tennessee-centric post finds its way to (and momentarily appeases) SECfan. Because I think we can all agree that a boiling bunny is not in anyone's best interest.