Around the SEC bloggers

We are in that time of year where the remnants of the college football season is, in the words of Montgomery Gentry:

Gone like a freight-train, gone like yesterday
Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang

That's right. Gone. We are in that long, 7-month period where recruiting and the NFL draft will be the only things to talk about, and glory on the field is over half a year away.

Ethanator1088, The SEC Football Blogger, thinks that this is a good time to reminisce a little, like back to Auburn's 2004 undefeated season in which it was denied the Hajj to the BCS championship:

Let me get right to the point. Auburn was gypped. They were cheated. They were “ done wrong”. They should have won the national championship. This is the best reason for a college playoff. I do not care if you are an Auburn fan. If a team goes undefeated through the SEC, they deserve a shot at the National Championship. It is idiotic to think otherwise.

After castigating Booty and Cotu below for whining, I'll bet you think I am going to do the same thing here. But you would be wrong. I think Ethanator1088 is right. Auburn wasn't necessarily robbed because they were a better team than either of the eventual contestants, although I think I could make a sound argument they were. Rather, they were robbed by the system which forces a choice between two of three virtually equal teams in every respect without giving them a chance to settle the matter on the field.

Of course, I have agitated over this all year long, and since we are entering the interregnum between this season and next, I expect to agitate some more. But not today.

Moving to the sport that tends to occupy our attention during said interregnum, it seems that Ole Miss easily dispatched a tough Mississippi State [UPDATE: OOOps. Got that one backward. Thanks to Marcus for pointing out my egregious error, and apologies to MSU for my faux pas. Too much blogging lately.] Mississippi State dispatched an Ole Miss team that has been on a roll yesterday at the Hump. Strands of Crepe Paper has the word:

The score on this one says it all. State beat us tonight like a drum at a sold out Humphrey Coliseum. Charles Rhodes completely had his way inside, scoring 26 points on 12 of 14 shooting. Curtis, Kenny Williams and Malcolm White were continuously schooled inside and stayed in foul trouble.

Ole Miss has announced its arrival as an SEC force, for this year at least. I really expected MSU to do better, and as a Kentucky Wildcat fan, this isn't encouraging after MSU beat Kentucky in a tough game at the Hump. As a Kentucky fan, the MSU loss now doesn't seem so bad. Kudos to Ole Miss MSU, and Parrish Alford tells the tale from the Rebel side of things:

What’s next? State wasn’t a must-win game. The biggest loss in the last two games was at Auburn, because that’s a place the Rebels were favored and a road game they could have won. It was going to be far more difficult to win at State.

To my mind, the ultimate act of disrespect to a rival is to say something like the above. Just another game. Meant nothing. Ouch.

Turning back to football, Third Saturday in Blogtober has an update on Alabama's search for a new Offensive Coordinator, and the name ... Jim McElwain. Your reaction is probably the same as mine, and his: Jim Mc-who? The Tide Druid is also reporting on this.

Joel at Rocky Top Talk is reporting that Eric Ainge was named the offensive MVP for the South in the Senior Bowl. Kudos to Ainge and the Vols. In more Volunteer news, Georgia went up to Tennessee to challenge the knot-headed Volunteers in hoops, and got sent home bloodied and humbled. Lawvol at Gate 21 has the call:

In the process of laying it to the Dawgs, Tennessee secured its 27th consecutive victory in the Tommy Bowl. and improved to 17-2 on the season. Chris Lofton — apparently feeling the juice once more — scored 27 points, including 6 three-pointers. Lofton has been steadily improving over the last few games, which is good considering now is when the Vols will need his shooting ability most — in the heart of the SEC schedule.

Paul Westerdawg at The Georgia Sports Blog has the view from the other side:

Here's my issue with the game...no the program as a whole. My source of frustration if you will. I'm no hoops guru, but I know three things to pretty much be unshakable, unwavering hoops truths:

1. If you don't hustle defensively on the road, you don't win.

2. If you don't pass well or move without the ball effectively, you're easy to defend. I think it was Bobby Knight who said, "The easiest man to defend is the man standing still."

3. Moving and passing intelligently do NOT depend on talent.

Speaking as a person who is a hoops guru (well, I like to think so, anyway), I think he is dead right in all three areas.

Finally, the Bleacher Report gores one of my all-time favorite oxen -- Bobby Petrino. Seems the game of musical defensive coordinators has left Petrino the odd man out, and not Spurrier after all:

[Ellis] Johnson left his position at Mississippi State around a month ago to be the new defensive coordinator at Arkansas.

Then he moved on to join sleazeball extraordinaire, Bobby Petrino, to rebuild the Razorbacks. Well, that marriage also lasted just a month.

Now Arkansas is the odd man out: The only party without a defensive coordinator. I think it is great. Petrino deserves it.

See, it seems that Spurrier stole Johnson away from Petrino. Ah, [dis]loyalty -- it's not just for head coaches anymore.