Wednesday: Media Days!

Yes, it's SEC media days again, and there is no shortage of excitement around the SEC bloggers. So instead of creating a narrative for this particular event, a link dump should suffice:

• The Wishbone Blog (Alabama)
• Outside the Sidelines (Alabama)
• The Capstone Report (Alabama)
  
• The Daily Advertiser (MSM-Louisiana)
• The Charleston Post & Courier (MSM-South Carolina)
• Kyle Veazey (Mississippi State)
  

No, that surely isn't all of them, but I think it's enough.

This post by Kevin Donahue at Fanblogs.com looks at how closely Nick Saban is being watched by fellow SEC coaching staffs. It looks to me like a lot of folks are really worried about Saban, and I don't think it is about breaking rules. I think Donahue has it right:

Long story short? Sounds like there are several coaches who are nervous about what Saban is doing with the Tide.

Outside the Sidelines (Alabama) reviews the SEC pass defenses of last year. This is good work, and an in-depth look at the strengths and weaknesses of the SEC's pass defenses. Of course, I was saddened to see Kentucky's third from the bottom, but there is no doubt that is where it belongs, if not dead last. Recommended reading.

Orange and Blue Hue (Florida) has an excellent look at five elite football teams that the author thinks could slide into mediocrity. Some of the names on that list really surprised me, but I think I sense a bit of cognitive dissonance in his reasoning.

Fulmer's Belly (Tennessee) gives us the "Six Degrees of Tennessee", and they appear to be ... photographs of hot women! Well, the place did need a little prettying up. Today's feature: Jessica Biel.

The NBA referee scandal is causing college sports to stand up and take note. Gerald Boudreaux, SEC's supervisor of officials, said that the scandal "calls everyone into question". A Sea of Blue (Kentucky) has coverage of this story, as do many of the major sports outlets. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that SEC commissioner Mike Silve says it boils down to the honor system:

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive acknowledged how all the attempts to eliminate gambling boil down to the old-fashioned honor system. Ultimately, all referees must take it upon themselves to avoid the ever-increasing availability of gambling.

"Background checks are part of the answer," Slive said. "But the answer is honesty, trust and integrity. We all have a responsibility to one another and the game."

Geaux Tuscaloosa reports on the huge volume of LSU football news yesterday, from Alley Broussard leaving the team to DeAngelo Peterson reopening his recruitment.

College football fans will want to read this long, detailed examination of the BCS playoff controversy at Rocky Top Talk. This is a nice piece of reasoning and an example of why what you get in the blogosphere is often so superior to what you get in the mainstream sports media. Here is just a taste:

Many fans of college football today believe the game is all about the money. I would tend to agree to a certain point, but what has been missing among all the on-the-field controversy is the innate factors involving human nature that have existed for the last 50 years in the behind-the-scenes area of college football, which has essentially created the monster known as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Finally, the Mississippi State Basketball Blog is collecting comments from Kentucky fans about Scottie Hopson, a highly-ranked basketball recruit from Kentucky who has signed early with MSU. Obviously, some UK fans are hoping he will change his mind. I don't think so, nor, as a UK fan, do I want him to. He made his decision. Let him live with it.