Best of the SEC Blogs: Valentines Day Edition

OK, the SEC blogs were busy on Valentine's day -- maybe it was their significant other's gift to them to be able to freely blog for a day, who knows. The nominees for Best of the SEC Bloggers for today are:

• Lawvol at Gate 21 for this post recalling legendary SEC broadcasters.
• OutsideTheSidelines at Roll Bama Roll for his fisking of Brian Cook's Saban abuse.
• Vince Gagliano at Orange and Blue Hue for this great post examining how Florida State will handle the academic cheating scandal which has beset them.
• Jerry Hinnen at The Joe Cribbs Car Wash for his defense of Brian Cook's position attacking Alabama's Nick Saban for oversigning players.
  

And the winner is:

Jerry Hinnen at the Joe Cribbs Car Wash. Jerry makes a very strong argument against the Alabama argument (Jerry's an Auburn fan, so who can blame him?). Earlier I lauded the reasoning of the Alabama bloggers against Cook, but this is a fine defense of Cook's position, arguably better than Cook's own. Here is a taste:

Brian's obviously not a fan of oversigning, but it's the heartlessness of Saban potentially stripping kids of their scholarships that's his essential point--a point completely lost on the Alabama bloggers who have responded to it. One of them is the Fanhouse's resident Tide supporter and thrower of stones in glass houses Pete Holiday, who blithely asserts that "academic disqualification, medical problems, early entries, team dismissals for rules violations" should solve Alabama's numbers issues (nevermind that draft entries for the year in question are long since past or that assuming six guys have horrific injuries or break rules really does make an ass out of U and me) while completely ignoring the whole, you know, guys getting their scholarship jacked thing. Even after a commenter helpfully reminds Holiday of the potential for cuts, Holiday reverts back to a no-more-than-25-in-a-class mantra, which is certainly true and all, but doesn't change the fact that Alabama has, according to Gayle, "70 non-seniors" on the roster and that 70 + 25 does not, in fact, equal 85. (In that comment Holiday also says "Spring enrollments are the only ones you need cap room for, and I don't think Alabama is anticipating having any of those" ... despite the fact that Gayle said two Tide signees had enrolled in January. Did he even read the article in question?)

Strong stuff. Hinnen goes on to assail OutsideTheSidelines' post at Roll Bama Roll, noting for the record that RBR is an excellent blog (no doubt) and that the scholarships have not been revoked yet. And in a final twist, perhaps not having a chance to read my admonition about making sure your coach is in order before assailing others, adds this:

UPDATE: Cripes. Perhaps before posting I should make sure in the future that nothing developed on the Auburn newswire late the previous evening that might make me look like a giant hypocrite. For the record: if Tubby pushed these guys out rather than having them simply decide to leave--one of them according to Marshall is about to graduate already, so at least he won't need the scholly in the fall--it's just not defensible. Likewise, the attitude of some Auburn fans in the comments that it's a good thing for Tubby to "rid the team of weight that is not performing" is, well, nauseating. I wish Daniels, Shrader, Miller, and Ferguson the best and really, really, really hope this is a decision they genuinely wanted to make, a decision that hopefully won't hurt an education they actually want. I'm not confident that's the case.

Heh. That always tough to recover from, Jerry. Good luck with that.

Runner up: Lawvol at Gate 21. What an excellent post he had today. Here is a taste:

Larry Munson is one of the few remaining patriarchs of the golden age of college sports radio broadcasting. He has been broadcasting Georgia games since 1966. Up until the last season, he had missed only one football game in that time. This past year, due to debilitating arthritis and back problems -which made travel, and at times even walking, extremely difficult for the 85 year old — Munson only broadcast home games from Athens, leaving the road games to younger men. Mississippi State’s salty and sarcastic Jack Cristil has been at it even longer than Munson, having begun his stint behind the microphone in 1953. Up until 2006, Max Falkenstein of Kansas had been broadcasting for an unbelievable 60 consecutive years. Falkenstein had been broadcasting so long that, when dubious clip of him calling the final game of Kansas’ last undefeated basketball season appeared on the internet, that I’m sure some thought it was some probably thought it was authentic … despite the fact the game was played in 1909. This select band of broadcasters served as the eyes for fans all across the country, and in their heyday every school had its own “voice” which was as unmistakable as the mascot and the school colors.

Awesome post, Lawvol.

'Bama responds to Brian Cook; Gators undone by Tigers

Yesterday, I noted in my runner-up for the best post of the day two dueling diatribes by Fanhouse authors Brian Cook and Pete Holiday.

OutsideTheSidelines, who blogs for Roll Bama Roll, takes dead aim at Brian Cook's piece. I know it's a shock, and maybe it's just me, but I don't detect a whole lot of love emanating from RBR over Cook's accusations against Nick Saban. But anyway, here is a taste:

In the blogosphere, you tend to get a bit accustomed to running across drivel masqueraded as legitimate commentary, but occasionally something comes up that simply takes the cake. Today I ran across one of those pieces. It seems Brian Cook, a Michigan blogger -- and no I'm not sure how in the hell he feels qualified to discuss Alabama football on that basis -- isn't too big of a fan of our latest recruiting class. In this piece of analytical garbage, if it even deserves that high of acclaim, he labels Saban a "Snake Oil Salesman," essentially states that our class is very overrated due to over-signing, and bemoans the practice of over-signing itself.

OTS goes on to analyze Cook's piece, and I think he really puts the screws to him. I don't know Brian Cook, but I will venture a bit of advice -- when you attack another team's head coach for doing something, make damn sure your coach isn't doing the same thing. Otherwise you will lose, and not just the argument, but credibility as well. Credibility is the coin of the realm in the Blogosphere, and in this blogger's humble opinion, Cook just went on a spending spree. But in the larger sense, since Big 10 and SEC fans aren't exactly on the best of terms these days, perhaps he made up for it in the eyes of Michigan fans.

But lest we be guilty of representing only one side of the argument, His Blognificance Orson Swindle has weighed in on the debate:

Nick Saban can’t count. Or worse yet, he can: Brian is shocked, shocked! in finding out that again, an SEC school has signed more recruits than they can possibly put on scholarship. Even more shocked, shocking! is the fact that it’s Nick Saban, an old hand at juggling massive signing classes: greyshirts, JUCO guys, and the old reliable: forcing people off the team because you want to put another player in his place. It’s not quite as bad as Brian paints it…but it’s cold, opportunistic roster manipulation more often seen at the NFL level. Meaning: bad.

With all due respect to Orson, I don't think his argument is quite as compelling from a reasoning standpoint, but he is correct to condemn "opportunistic roster manipulation," especially forcing people off the team because you want to replace them. If that happens at Alabama, I think it should be roundly condemned by all. We will have to wait and see about that, but either way, you still have the fact that other coaches are doing this also, and why is it bad at 'Bama and not at other schools?

Finally, I think we have to note that Florida suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of a resurgent LSU. After John Brady was rudely dismissed from his head coaching job, the Tigers have been playing much better under Butch Pierre. Geaux Tuscaloosa has the LSU side:

Congratulations to the Tiger basketball team and to Butch Pierre for the biggest win of the season last night. Granted, Florida is not a national power this year, but they're still a good team, likely headed to the NCAA tournament, and we beat them in their own house by a convincing 85-73 score. Only 6 players scored points, but 5 were in double figures, with 3 getting 19 points or more.

From the Gator side, we have Mlmintampa at Alligator Army:

Young teams are supposed to lose three of four. But no team should allow an opponent to shoot 59%, when their average in conference play was 39%. Or allow them to score 23 points more than their season average.

LSU played extremely well, so I don't want to take anything away from them. However, I've seen intramural teams play better defense than the Gators did tonight. There was no focus or effort on the defensive end and Florida was never able to build any momentum. This is now three of four games the Gators have lost where they looked completely lost at several points in the game. Against Arkansas it was understandable. That was a road game against a NBA-sized team. The Tennessee loss was fine too because of the quick road turn around and UF's lack of depth. But there was no excuse tonight.

I have already warned Gator fans about the problems with Florida's defense. Florida is a very good offensive team, but they play defense very poorly. I'm sure Donovan will be working hard on that.

Still, the gators seem poised for another invite to the NCAA tournament if they don't have any really bad losses between here and the SEC tournament, or they do well there. They aren't likely to get a high seed, but they will still get in in my opinion. But they do have work to do.

Best blog posts of the day in the SEC

The post of the day was this outstanding analysis by Saurian Sagacity. Mergz blogged about an analysis he has done on 111 D-IA football teams' recruiting efforts, basing his talent estimates on Rivals.com ratings over the last four years.

This is quite an impressive undertaking. Here is a taste:

It does show however those schools that have been most successful over the past 4 years in attracting the big names – the talent every school wanted. Thus in that way it shows where the most desired recruits have chosen to play their college ball in the past 4 years.

It also shows, if the near past is any indication, the limited pool of possible schools from which a mythical national champion will be named as in the past 4 years, the eventual MNC was a name somewhere in this top ten list.

It's amazing and somewhat frustrating to those of us who cheer for schools not in the top ten, or even top 25. The only consolation I could find for the Kentucky Wildcats is that they are about mid-pack, and given our limited football tradition, I don't expect that to change radically in the next decade or so.

I have always wanted to do an analysis like this, and now I must think of something else to write about.

Runner up for today is this post by OutsideTheSidelines at Roll Bama Roll looking at the University of Alabama's domination of it's home-state recruits, and the substantial failure of Auburn to make inroads into said domination. This is an interesting, complex (and quite lengthy) read detailing the failure of the Auburn program to recruit well at home, even among recruits that were Auburn fans growing up. Here is a taste:

The only real success that Auburn had in recruiting this year was with former commitments to previous classes, and they did not even have complete success in that area. Raven Gray was a commitment to the 2006 class, and he has enrolled, admittedly a very big signing. Jermaine Johnson was a good addition, but he was an academic casualty from the 2007 class, and may not qualify this year either. Enrique Davis would have been a huge commitment, but he ended up going to Ole Miss after Auburn changed directions with the offensive coordinator.

I would love to hear an Auburn response to RBR's post, not so much because RBR is indicting Tuberville for recruiting malpractice -- they are 'Bama fans, for heaven's sake, what would you expect? -- but more because their larger point seems to be that Auburn is doomed to second-class status in the state very soon even though they have been dominating Alabama. The big question that I have is about this assertion:

Saban is as at least as good of a coach as Tuberville, and likely better, and at the current rate the talent level that Alabama will have will dwarf that of the Auburn roster in the very near future.

So what say you, Auburn fans? Has Tuberville's lack of recruiting doomed you? Is Bama about to dominate your future? Is Saban a better coach?

We will see, I guess.

Arkansas kicks Florida to the curb. Vols handle Dawgs.

I said just below that the Gates were not as good as their shiny new #20 ranking, but I do believe that they are much better than they showed in the 19-point drubbing they just took in Fayetteville. I predicted and Arkansas victory, but I most surely didn't expect a blowout, and the final score does not even come close to reflecting the absolute domination the Razorbacks visited upon the hapless Gators.

GatorPilot at Orange and Blue Hue has this:

When the shots don’t drop, this team will lose. When young teams get behind, things can occasionally snowball. That is what happened for this group today. Arkansas starts three seniors and have lights-out sophomore guard in Patrick Beverly. They showed why they were a pre-season SEC contender and they were in top form today. With the two-time defending national champs in the building, the crowd was loud and wanted blood.

I think he is exactly right. The Gators just threw in a clunker this game, much like Vanderbilt did in the O-Dome last weekend. They are young and tender, and the tough, grizzled old Razorbacks just took them to the woodshed. Florida will have a few games like that one this year, and they really must improve their defensive intensity.

Mlmintampa at Alligator Army sees it this way:

I think it's significant to mention this today because while Arkansas is not back at the level of "40 Minutes Of Hell", their defense is good enough, with a home crowd, to stop UF's offense. Is Florida better than the Hogs? Maybe. Records say yes but Arkansas has an RPI of 41 with a SOS of 61. The Gators are 43 and a SOS of 150. We again are having the same conversation we had before the Kentucky game; who is better? A tested team or a talented team?

There is really no knowing the answer to his question, but a lot can be said for experience. Talent is important, but you have to suffer a few depredations at the hands of SEC foes before you can really toughen up enough to be a major force in this league. Florida probably needed this lesson, and may be better for it. Eventually.

So far, nothing really out there from the Razorback faithful. I'll try to catch that up later.

Moving on to the Tennessee vs. Mississippi State game, I called this one much more correctly scorewise. I didn't see the game like I did the previous one. However, a perusal of the statistics provides some insights:

• Turnovers -- Tennessee forced the bulldogs into almost 24% turnovers. Unlike most teams who don't always hurt you off turnovers, the Volunteers almost always do. Here is a classic example -- MSU scored 8 points off 13 UT turnovers. The Vols scored 18 points off 16 MSU turnovers. The ten point differential was more than enough to win the game for the Vols.
• Three point shooting -- Tennessee put up 63 3-point shots, which effectively nullified MSU's great shot blocking. Even so, MSU blocked 10 shots, but that wasn't enough.
• Free throw shooting -- In the end, when MSU came back by getting open looks in the half court and knocking down shots, they couldn't finish because they had trouble making free throws. MSU shot a dismal 59% from the line.

Not much so far from either team's bloggers (basketball just doesn't quite draw the immediate reaction that football does in the SEC), but I will update this post when we do have reaction.

Groundhog day: The big games in the SEC

What are the really big games in the SEC this weekend? Let's see:

• Mississippi State hosting #7 Tennessee
  This game is significant for both teams. Tennessee has won two in a row after dropping one on the road at Kentucky, and the serious roll that MSU has been on through the SEC schedule was derailed slightly at Arkansas earlier this week. MSU needs a win against a ranked foe to propel them into the top 25. Conversely, A second loss in four games would hurt the Volunteer's quest for a 1 or two seed in the NCAA's.
  
  Tennessee will try to get the pace into the 72+ possession range, and if this happens, MSU is in trouble. MSU also tends to turn the ball over a lot. MSU can win by keeping the tempo down -- Tennessee is not a good half-court team, and MSU is 5th in the nation in defensive points/possession.
  
  My Pick: Tennessee wins a squeaker, 79-75
  
  Blog Commentary:
  
  
• Mississippi State: Alrliss, Mississippi State Basketball:
  

  This game could make or break all the sucess we had in January. Win were back in the top two in the SEC, lose and were back fighting to keep the west lead. It could go either way, I hope the team that played UM comed out.

• Tennessee: Tennessee Volunteers v. Mississippi State Bulldogs: stats comparison
  
  
• #20 Florida at Arkansas
  
  The Gators are on a three-game roll, and last week ran a feckless Vanderbilt team out of the O-Dome. As a consequence, they jumped up to #20 in the polls, but trust me when I say that these Gators are not the 20th best team in the nation just yet, especially as unproven as they are with an RPI of 43 and a #150 strength of schedule (compare to the Razorbacks #41 and #61). This is a matchup between two very even teams with different strengths and weaknesses.
  
  Arkansas must handle the Florida pick and roll, and nobody is more capable than former UF assistant, John Pelphrey. Keeping the ball out of Nick Calthes' hands is critical to Arkansas' success, because Calathes has proven that he can kill teams all by himself if you let him touch the ball where he wants to. Arkansas has the edge in athleticism, but they must avoid falling into the wide-open running game that Pelphrey enjoys. Florida is simply better at it, and their biggest weakness is their half-court defense. If Arkansas can force Florida into the half court, the Razorbacks' athleticism will assert itself.
  
  My pick: Arkansas takes down the Gators in a close game, 75-73.
  
  Blog commentary:
  
  
• Gators: GatorPilot, Orange and Blue Hue:
  

  O&B Hue’s Keys to Victory:

  • - Get a true inside out attack going with Speights.
  • - Play Billyball. Wear them out so we can win the game in the final 5:00.
  • - Use the press.
  • - Make the extra pass and keep searching for the open look.
  • - Get points in transition.
  • - Make the shots.

• Razorbacks: HogBlogger:
  

  So what’s my winning formula for these guys?

  • Play very intense defense…including using a strong press often. I think the use of the Wooden-era, UCLA-type ‘token’ press has been the root of many of the lazy habits shown by this team.
  • Pass the ball on offense — don’t dribble it unless for a specific purpose. Quick ball movement is the key that will allow these guys to play better on offense.
  • Emphasize a controlled fast break with secondary options — no long passes.
  • Use ball rotation and pick and roll to get the ball into the paint.
  • Ride Sonny Weems early and often. Post him up…get him the ball in scoring positions…put this team on his back.
  • Play inside-out with Weems and Beverley.
  • Make the post players kick the ball out to the shooters (this means you Charles Thomas — quit getting your shot blocked).

Gators maul the Commodores

I must confess, I had serious doubts about Florida's basketball team's ability to beat a good team. They certainly proved me wrong, and that in spades.

Florida obliterated Vanderbilt in a game that demonstrated how a good offensive team doesn't have to play defense at all to win. Florida took a page from Vanderbilt's book and ran the Commodores off the basketball court early in the first half. Vanderbilt missed at least ten layups in the game, and even though a couple of them were tough, there is just no excuse. Not only that, the Commodores played lousy defense that wouldn't have stopped a high school team.

But the Gators deserve credit for taking advantage of Vandy's early struggles and just completely burying them in a barrage of hot shooting. Florida cooled off considerably in the second half, but were still much the best team yesterday. Here's a look a the box:



Now, let's go to the blogs. Let's let Orange and Blue Hue start on the the Gator side:

It’s time to remove the qualifiers. This is a VERY good team which has the firepower to beat any team in the conference. Nick Calathes is the leading contender for SEC freshman of the year honors and should be first-team All-SEC. Marreese Speights has arrived. Three games in a row he’s shown us an aggressive, powerful presence in the low post. The switch has been flipped. Big Mo is now arguably the best big man in the SEC.

I think he is correct. The Gators are capable of beating anyone in the conference, and even though this wasn't Vandy's best, you have to admire the maturity and execution of their young basketball team. Their defense is highly suspect, in my opinion, but they run the offense beautifully, and many times wound up with layups by running the Commodores off screen after screen. Combine that with the savvy and outstanding court awareness of Nick Calathes, and you get a beat down of the 14th-ranked 'Dores.

Mlmintampa at Alligator Army doesn't seem to recognize his own team:

Who were those guys out there? I saw players wearing white jerseys, then I saw the team make a 23-0 run and I seriously doubted that Speights, Werner, Calathes, Lucas, and Hodge were on the floor. It was a run reminiscent of older teams who knew how to destroy people.

Heh. I was wondering the same thing. Very impressive.

For the Commodore side, we have Save the Shield first. Philipvu94 says that he didn't see the game, but now he sees the 'Dores and the SEC in a bit of a different light:

But man, it’s clear that our OOC record that made us look like the best team in the SEC, right up there with Tennessee, was really flattering us. In reality, here’s how I see the SEC:

Serious Final Four contender: Tennessee

Mediocre-to-good; might land a 5-to-8 seed with a strong February: Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, State, Vanderbilt*

Low-mediocre: Arkansas, Georgia

Flat-out terrible: Alabama, Auburn, Carolina, LSU

I'm reluctant to agree with the idea that the Gamecocks are terrible -- they certainly are more capable than I previously thought, but their record is poor. Then again, so is Kentucky's.

Bobby O'Shea at Vanderbilt Sports Line says it's not time to panic ... yet:

As Aaron wrote in the comments section for the Florida Preview, no one who watched today's game can be happy with the Commodores performance. It's not just that we lost the game, it's that we were never really in it. Let's give credit where credit is due: Florida is a very talented team that played one of, if not their best game of the season. The fact that Vanderbilt opened up the game 2-16 from the field and allowed Florida to go on a 23-0 run didn't help matters either. During the first 12 minutes, it honestly appeared as if there was a lid over the basket. We must have missed 6 or 7 shots around the basket early, and of AJ's 6 missed from the floor (he was 2-8), all of them were within 3 feet of the basket.

He's right. Vanderbilt played very badly, and did a lot of self-inflicted damage. I don't mean to belittle the Gators effort, though. I'm not at all convinced anything but the final score would have been different if this was the Vanderbilt of late December. With all that said, the Commodores definitely do need a win now. They have been hit hard lately, losing 3 out of the last 4 games, and things don't get any easier when they travel to Ole Miss on Wednesday.

For the Gates, they have almost a week off before they take on the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. Both those games are highly interesting to SEC basketball fans.

Friday is for fun

OK, it's Friday. Time to find the fun stuff to get us ready for the weekend.

Says here were gonna start with Ryan Ferguson of Fanhouse, who blogs about a little Hawai'i dissin' coming from the Aloha state:

Here's one for the "Oh no he DIH-UNT" file. Former Hawai'i Warrior Lene Amosa says Hawai'i just didn't bring it in their game against Georgia.

As a former player, I'm tired of hearing fans and the media say that we were overmatched by bigger, faster, stronger players.

Georgia players are no different than us; the problem was they came to play and we didn't.

Oh, I get it -- the game's over, so now you talk smack. I hate to beat on the Rainbows, but please, God, don't let them play in a BCS bowl ever again. I'm with Ryan on this one. Somebody could get hurt, and unless Hawai'i starts feeding their boys an awful lot of poi, it won't be the Georgia boys.

Jai Eugene at Loser with Socks hasn't held back ... well, ever, and today is no exception. Florida fans will want to check out the Herbanator:

Hell, if Herban Meyer was a tool, he would be a toilet brush. All good Gators know that he will clean up these recruiting violations and make them go away like a large shit that leaves a skidmark in a newer low eco-friendy toilets. He is like the best tool ever!

Heh. Toilet brush. Don't you know that those plastic handles with the disinfectant-impregnated single-use sponges has replaced those? And man, they are cool, and they make a really good plunger substitute when ... Ah, never mind, TMFI.

Moving right along, we find that The Bulldawg Blawg is having more fun with Brian VanGorder. And I'll bet he got a raise, too. Finally, Third Saturday in Blogtober brings us this gem. Here's a taste:

The SLA (Sign Language Associates), along with other sign language groups, have filed suit against the NCAA, Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN, and other companies dealing with college football recruiting for trademark infringement. It appears that National Signing Day is already a holiday that is observed by many deaf people and their families on September 29th. And they don’t want to share it.

I love it when a blogger throws political correctness to the winds and just says "Damn the torpedoes! Let's mock the hearing impaired!" No doubt, more suits will be forthcoming.

Happy Friday!

A basketball post!

Yes, I know I should blog more. So sue me. It has been a tough couple of months. I promise to try to do better.

So, here we are in SEC basketball season. Time for SEC teams to start doing the work, because they certainly didn't do much work in the non-conference season (I'm looking at you, Kentucky, LSU, and South Carolina).

From Statsheet.com, here are the current SEC standings as of today:

Team Conference Overall W L Pct W L Pct Loading data... East-1 Tennessee 2 0 1 14 1 0.933 East-1 Florida 2 0 1 15 2 0.882 East-1 Kentucky 1 0 1 7 7 0.5 East-4 Vanderbilt 1 1 0.5 16 1 0.941 East-5 Georgia 0 1 0 9 5 0.643 East-5 South Carolina 0 2 0 8 8 0.5 West-1 Mississippi State 2 0 1 11 5 0.688 West-1 Arkansas 1 0 1 12 3 0.8 West-3 Mississippi 1 1 0.5 14 1 0.933 West-4 Alabama 0 1 0 11 5 0.688 West-4 Auburn 0 2 0 9 5 0.643 West-4 LSU 0 2 0 7 9 0.438

The SEC clearly needs to do some work in it's non-conference schedule, as having the tenth toughest is not at all what I would like to see. When the MAC, the MVC and the WCC all have stronger out of conference schedules than the SEC, I can't blame a soul for claiming that the SEC is scheduling cupcakes. Yeah, we do have a pretty good record against them, but we surely could do better, collectively.

This year, Tennessee looks like the class of the conference, although Vanderbilt has been making a lot of noise with a 16-0 run. The 'Dores did trip up yesterday against my Wildcats, and that was a game I am proud to win. Take nothing away from Vandy, though -- Rupp Arena is a tough place to win, and Kentucky badly needed a victory, whereas the Commodores may be getting a little overconfident. While it is easy to take UK for granted this year, Vandy just showed why you don't want to do that.

At this particular moment, Alabama is really struggling. They are 11-5 overall, but a young Florida team came into Coleman Coliseum Tuesday and spanked them. Even thought the final margin was only seven, the game wasn't that close. The Alabama Basketball Blog wonders what happened to Richard Hendrix's free-throw shooting. My response to him is that Hendrix's best season has been a whopping 62%. He shot 59% Tuesday. That's close enough for me.

What are we to make of Ole Miss this year? Andy Kennedy has just done a bang-up job in his second season getting these guys to play ball, and they nearly came into Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday and handed the mighty Vols their hind parts. World Class Glass says, "Don't blame the refs:"

Some will blame the referees on this game, however that is not why
we lost. The referees let alot of calls go both ways. Yeah they missed
a call at the end, but that was not the reason. As Kennedy said in post
game, "We aren't going to get any calls"

Officiating is something we all gripe about, but it is part of the game. When you are the visiting team, you have to expect to overcome officiating in order to win. What hurt Ole Miss was their relatively poor field goal percentage, fully 5% down from their season average. But you have to give the Rebs credit -- only ten turnovers against the UT pressure is exactly the kind of ballhandling presence you need to have any chance at all to beat the Vols at home.

Ghostofneyland at Third Saturday in Blogtober found some high comedy in one of Tom Hammond's comments about Bruce Pearl:

“Bruce Pearl already over there jacket off. He usually doesn’t do that until the second half.”

I nearly spit out my Diet Dr. Pepper. I looked at my dad, whose eyes
widened and jaw slacked open. “What did he just say??” my dad asked,
bumfuzzled. Surely Bruce wasn’t over on the sideline in front of 21,000
people doing what my dad and I (and we’re not dirty-minded people)
thought Hammond said he was doing.

Heh. That's funny right there, I don't care who you are. I think the pics of Bruce with young blonde hotties over the summer must have had more of a ... ahem ... subliminal impact than many might think.

Well, that's all for now.

Christmas is over, time to clean up the BCS mess

The Capstone Report recently mentioned that I might have a thing or two to say about the BCS now that, in his words, "the apocalypse has arrived." If only that were so.

Before I go on, let me explain what I was hoping for. I was hoping for the kind of situation that would force conferences like the SEC, who are top-heavy but not nearly as much as conferences like the Big Ten and the Pac 10, force change. I wanted to see Hawaii or Kansas playing for the Mythical National Championship, and I wanted to see the SEC shut out of it by weaker teams playing weaker schedules. I wanted a genuine apocalypse, a cataclysm that would force a change in the way people see the BCS, like Hawaii or Kansas playing in the BCS championship game. I'm not demeaning either one of those fine teams, but you can't compare the schedule they played to that of, say, LSU or Georgia or even Arizona State or USC.

But alas, it was not so, and as a result, we must face at least one more year before an outcry will reach sufficient volume to produce changes. Despite the reasoned arguments of Henry Gomez and Mergz at the excellent Saurian Sagacity, Jai Eugene at Loser with Socks, and Senator Blutarsky of Get the Picture, nobody will listen, and there will be little outcry. Thanks to MSM pundits like Teddy Greenstein (who's inane arguments against the BCS set new records for sports pundit lunacy) and Jason Whitlock. After reading these articles, you might think that these guys were actually watching some other sport, like maybe soccer, and occasionally writing about football by perusing box scores. What is even more disturbing is the fact that the official BCS website lists these defenses of their flawed scheme as "News". As Henry Gomez of Saurian Sagacity points out, what other sports governing body shamelessly plugs media defenses of their setup. It is unseemly, unfair, and should probably inspire conspiracy theories.

But unfortunately, the outcome of the BCS has produced a result that will appear to most football fans as only slightly flawed, and arguably not as flawed as many other times in it's history. What that means, my friends and neighbors in the blogosphere, is that change has been delayed yet another year. Outcries will be poo-poo'ed by the likes of ESPN and others in the established sports media, who seem for all the world to have a vested interest in the current setup. "Fairness" doesn't appear to be the most important thing, and that should be frightening to every sports fan. Nobody likes playing a rigged game, but college football teams do it every year, and what we get are indefensible defenses of the BCS, all lined up neatly as though ordained from above.

This will be my last lament of the BCS this season, as fans will quickly move on to other things. But trust me, we will revisit this again next year, and hopefully we will get a little help from a benevolent God (whom I am convinced is a football fan) who must sometimes feel the need to intervene and supply the impetus for change our BCS system so badly needs. I thought it might be this year, but alas and alack, we are to be denied even the least of that.

Jumping in while the water is warm

The big news around the football world, of course, is Florida State's mass suspensions due to academic improprieties. Because Florida state is playing Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, I'll have to write this piece from a bit of a Kentucky-centric perspective.

First of all, Kentucky has known many years of football futility and many years of basketball success. Today, the fortunes of the two sports at Kentucky seem oddly reversed, as Kentucky struggles to integrate a new coach into their basketball program, and the football program prepares for the culmination of two of its most successful years in memory. It is a strange juxtaposition, but good fodder for commentary.

Comes now Florida State with some 36 players suspended for the Music City Bowl, some of them several games into next season as well. The reasons for these suspensions include the academic cheating scandal, violations of team rules, injuries or "other reasons," leaving the Seminoles with a total of only 43 scholarship players available for the game. The list includes a total of 13 players who had started games at one point or another in the season for Florida State, and the lines seem to be the biggest sufferers of attrition.

As most watchers of football know, the lines are often the difference between bad teams and good teams. Lots of bad teams have good skill players, but without the lines, they are very limited in how far they can go in any given season. Florida State's biggest and perhaps only advantage over Kentucky has taken a thunderous hit, and it is unclear if the remains will be enough to make FSU competitive for the game.

From a Kentucky standpoint, this is a disappointment. UK fans always wanted to face Florida State at it's best, mainly because an opportunity to play and perhaps even defeat one of the great college football programs in the nation is good for our program. Unfortunately, the Music City Bowl will now be all about the FSU suspensions, and Kentucky must face the fact that they will be playing in a no-win situation. If the Wildcats win, it will be because of the the suspensions. If they somehow lose, it will be proof that Kentucky football is still the same as it always was, and can't even beat a team that has 25% of its best players missing. That will be the story line, true or not.

But the reality is, Kentucky has always been a destiny-blasted football program. How can we truly complain if that gets thrown in our face yet again just when things start to look up? As a Kentucky fan, I don't blame Florida State -- if it hadn't been them, it would have been someone else. The one positive in all of this is that Kentucky, who has a long record of compliance issues with the NCAA, actually winds up looking like good guys for once. At least, that is the silver lining I have found. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Besides, why should Kentucky fans blame Florida State when there are so many Florida fans to do it for us? I must have truly must have lived a sheltered life for the last 20 years, because I had no idea of the visceral hatred the Gators have for the Seminoles. I knew they were rivals, but I had no idea it was almost as bitter as Alabama and Auburn. I suppose the fact that they play in different conferences mutes the rivalry a bit, like Kentucky vs. Louisville or Indiana in basketball. The rivalries that get lauded as the "best" always seem to be in the same conference.

But back to the Gator schadenfreude at the expense of the Seminoles. Mlmintampa, writing for Alligator Army, gives us perhaps the archetype of the disgust Florida fans feel for FSU:

When we first wrote about the FSU cheating scandal in September, it was limited to 23 athletes in several sports. But, St. Nick has given us an early Christmas present.

As many as 20 Florida State football players will be suspended from playing against Kentucky in the Dec. 31 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, as well as the first three games of the 2008 season, for their roles in an alleged cheating scandal involving an Internet-based course, a source with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday morning.

Excuse me for a moment.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

Wait, Mlm -- now tell us how you really feel. But I gather that this is just typical of the kind of joy that Gator fans have felt at the troubles of their rival. Orange and Blue Hue also engages in a bit of schadenfreude. But all that taken together doesn't match this post from Chris at The Gator Blog:

I hate Florida State. So much that I can barely get through writing out the school's name. I would rather see the entire school disband and Tallahassee be swallowed by a sink hole, if it weren't for the fake that I wouldn't get the satisfaction of beating them once a year.

I hate Chris Rix, Geno Hayes, Sebastian Janikowski, Thad Busby, Mickey Andrews, Jack Childress, PK Sam, Lorenzo Booker, DeCody Fagg, Peter Warrick, "The Choke at Doak," jump passes, flare passes to the RB, Samari Rolle, Chief Osceola, his dumb flaming spear, the FSU flag boy, Chris Weinke, Leon Washington, "the echo of the whistle," Darnell Docket, Greg Carr, and especially you, Bobby Bowden.

I hate that they changed their foundation date so they can "beat out" us. I hate that they count 31-31 a win, I hate that they altered the record books to count a 21-19 "win," I hate the Swindle in the Swamp, I hate that they give free rides to Seminole Indians to prevent being sued. I hate the Warchant, I hate the website Warchant, I hate everyone who posts there, I hate Dot, and all their delusionole (ha!) fans. I hate that they talk "band smack."

I hate that they make me root for Miami once a year, and that they made me root for Tennessee and Georgia. I hate that Tallahassee is the capitol of this state. I hate that FSU is so crappy that we get downgraded to noon ESPN2 games (like last year).

You know Navy's losing streak to Notre Dame? I want that against Florida State...only 40 years from now, I want to still be beating them.

Now that, my friends, is an impressive rant against a team. That is loathing of a character I can barely comprehend, and I can comprehend quite a bit. That is visceral, it is active and it has the vitality of hot battery acid.

AEM at SEConds to Victory has another impressive rant against FSU. Now, I don't know his partisan affiliation, but he berates the Seminoles for moral turpitude:

I have just one little thing to say: Are we kidding? When is it going to be enough and when is someone that can do something about it, such as the NCAA, going to show us that the people making a paycheck for doing nothing are actually making a paycheck because they are doing something? Don’t get me wrong, I blame a lot of people for this mess. The kids that need to understand the true meaning of “student athlete”, the school for not having the guts to send these kids packing and setting an example once and for all, and of course the NCAA for not delivering a harsher punishment to the players, while having no problem that the tutors have been sent away.

He makes a strong point. It is a bit short of compassion, but I can't say that he doesn't have it right -- spare the rod, spoil the child and all that. NCAA institutions are utterly guilty of self-interest in their lopsided application of the rules, and the NCAA itself is a willing accomplice. At the end of the day, the pursuit of lucre will always triumph over moral integrity, even in the hallowed halls of the academic institutions and the Association itself. This may seem a cynical view, but given the discordant history of responses by both the schools and the NCAA itself, it's hard to ascribe any real moral authority to those worthies.

Finally, Ian Cohen at Fanhouse wins the "Best FSU Lede" contest with Did You Get Suspended by Florida State?:

Seriously, check your voicemail: Florida State's gone on a suspension spree two weeks out from their Music City Bowl tilt with Kentucky, with as many as 20 Seminoles missing out on Nashville in December and possibly the first three games of next year. This all stems from an alleged online cheating scandal that's already claimed the jobs of two academic assistants (they were only trying to assist!). I mean, all things considered with online classes, I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often.

Ah, well. At Kentucky, we have to take life as it comes. We are still looking forward to playing Bowden & Co., and hopefully beating our second ACC team in a row at the Music City Bowl. It will be a less than perfect ending for Kentucky's seniors, win or lose, but it is surely better than sitting home and watching others play football during the holidays.

Mr. Touchdown wins the Heisman

So Tim Tebow was chosen for the Heisman trophy, breaking the sophomore curse. Congratulations, Mr. T. You definitely earned it with your play this year. I would have voted for McFadden, myself, but both men were certainly worthy, and Its wonderful that the Heisman is back in SEC hands.

So what is the reaction from around the blogosphere? Well, the first place I always turn for Heisman information is the Heisman Pundit. But today, there is a liveblog with HP doing the honors over at Orange and Blue Hue, and you can replay the entire liveblog from there.

But Heisman Pundit also has stats and pics on his own blog from the cermemony, which he attended. Very cool.

Ryan Ferguson, who also writes for Orange and Blue Hue, had this to say at Fanhouse:

What, you weren't surprised?

Oops. Sorry.

Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. He joins two former winners from the University of Florida: Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel.

When Tebow's name was announced, he made his way to the podium and took a minute to compose himself. The speech started slow, gained steam, and then started looping: the Gators QB thanked his Savior first, family second, and players/coaches/etc. third. Then he did so again. And again.

Great stuff. Tim Tebow is truly an amazing football player, and I cannot even imagine what kind of an impact he will have on the NFL when he eventually finds his way there.

Mlmintampa writing for Alligator Army is understandably as proud as if he were Tebow's papa:

It is impossible for me to express how proud I am of Tebow. As fans, we take ownership of these guys as if they were our brothers or sons, so to see our guy thanking offensive linemen by name along with Jesus was pretty great.

So true. Living vicariously through athletes is a kind of national pastime here in America like nowhere else. Tebow seems like a very humble and grounded young man. Florida fans should be proud.

Year2 has more Florida fanblog reaction:

Only 4 schools have more Heisman winners than Florida does - Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC each with 7, and Oklahoma with 4. Florida is tied for fifth with Army, Michigan, and Nebraska. When you compare Florida’s tradition with the rest of those schools (about 30 good years out of 101), that’s not too shabby at all.

No, indeed, that isn't shabby whatsoever. It's always great when an SEC school brings home the hardware, and this year we had both first and second place.

Speaking of second place, let's get some reaction from the Arkansas bloggers. TipsterHog, writing for Razorbloggers Network, has lots of links to the media reaction. Whole Hog Sports had this quote from D-Mac himself:

“I have no regrets,” McFadden said. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same way. I love all my fans back home. I don’t think they are going to disown me because I didn’t win the Heisman.”

You were awesome, brother. I'll never forget the game you had against South Carolina, it was simply some of the most fantastic running I have seen. D-Mac will be an unbelievable NFL stud, in my opinion. He is a winner in every meaning of the word.

Now just a few quick reax from around the other SEC schools, starting withGeux Tuscaloosa:

Tim Tebow is an outstanding player who had an outstanding year. He did things that have simply never been seen before on the college football field. We've simply never seen a strong-armed quarterback who is also a power running back and also a natural team leader. Or at least, we've never seen it from someone playing at so high of a level as Tim Tebow does.

It amazes me how much responsibility on the football field this kid has. Almost every play runs through him. On 90% of the offensive plays, Tebow is either throwing the ball, taking the ball on a designed quarterback run, or running an option play that requires him to read defenders and choose to either keep it or give it to a running back.

Indeed. Add to that his amazing durability, and you have Larry Czonka (am I dating myself here?) with Bob Griese's arm.

Of course, Orson Swindle has a little ... err, different take on the Tebow Heisman:

Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy this Saturday in New York, an award all but ensuring an end to his lifelong streak of athletic excellence.

...

“I’ll follow the example of my boyhood hero Danny Wuerffel and help those less fortunate by preaching the word and working in the community. It would also really help if I didn’t have to throw anything ever again, since I couldn’t toss a sandwich wrapper into a wastebasket with any accuracy now. I would also appreciate not being jostled or bumped.”

A chorus of chuckles rose from the Heisman voters, who included Troy Smith, Gino Torretta, Chris Weinke, and Andre Ware.

Heh. No doubt, winning the Heisman is no guarantee of continuing success. I think, though, in Tebow's case, it is really hard to imagine that he is the next Gino Toretta. But you have to love this finish:

The only two-time winner of the award, Archie Griffin, was unable to comment for this story. Griffin has been on bedrest for 32 years following the awarding of his second trophy, after which he became so weak he could not stand or feed himself. He is said to be happy for Tebow and is also extremely fond of a nice, warm bowl of nutritious chicken broth.

Only Swindle.

Finally, we go to Third Saturday in Blogtober:

This year, several coaches who received a “vote of confidence” are looking for jobs and a few coaches who vowed loyalty have interviewed elsewhere. Also this year, an honest-to-God kid with no arrest record who blushes at the thought of girls won the Heisman.

Somehow, I doubt if Tebow blushes at the thought of girls. But now that I think of it, there was that man-kiss earlier this year ... ugh. Maybe TSIB is right about that, after all ...

Florida fan may cost Tebow the Heisman

Sometimes, the bizarro world of NCAA compliance is has more pitfalls and gotchas than even Federal tax or weapons exports. This is a perfect example:

GAINESVILLE - SI.com has listed an orange license plate which reads HE15MAN as one of its top Christmas gifts this year. The plates are being sold on the Web site TEBOW4HE15MAN.com, which is owned by Melbourne resident Brett Black.

There's only one problem.

The plates may be an NCAA violation that could put the eligibility of University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, a Heisman Trophy candidate, in danger. UF officials are certainly concerned about the unlicensed and unauthorized selling of products promoting the sophomore quarterback -- which has become rampant on numerous Web sites.

Look, Tebow wouldn't be my pick for the Heisman, but he certainly deserves consideration, and he is surely the favorite. I really don't blame the Florida fans for doing this, nobody in their right mind would think that selling licensed plates to fans hyping Tebow's candidacy would run afoul of NCAA rules.

If it does turn out costing Tebow the Heisman, I'm absolutely going to spare no aspect of the NCAA in series of diatribes -- it's just wrong to punish the young man for something clearly well-intentioned fans did.

Awards, rewards, and searches around the SEC

Well, I guess the biggest news so far today (or actually, yesterday) is that Tommy Tuberville finally signed his extension with Auburn, thereby largely ending the Tubby-to-Arkansas and Tubby-to-A&M speculation that has been percolating on the Plains. War Eagle Reader says, "Fear the extension:"

Tommy Tuberville is the grandfather who doesn’t know what a blog is, the Dad who talks to the media on his cell-phone while at the mall (telling them things, oh, like that he’s never been contacted by Texas A&M) while his son is buying a game for something called a Playstation.

Tuberville is the football coach who has repeatedly accomplished what no other Auburn coach has accomplished. Tuberville is the man with the 9 trillion square foot new Auburn house (it is beautiful) who loves Auburn, who’s aging Mom is reportedly in love with the place, and Tommy Tuberville is the man who cried at the thought of leaving (or from the joy of staying).

Hmm. Well, okee-doakee then. I guess all is good down in Auburn, and the Tiger fans can sit back, relax and enjoy the bowl season. Meanwhile, Arkansas is still without a coach, and the search continues. Whole Hog Sports reports that Tommy Bowden doesn't want the job:

Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden apparently had an overnight change of heart, declining an overture from Arkansas to succeed Houston Nutt as the Razorbacks’ head football coach.

A source close to the negotiation said Arkansas was ready to present Bowden a multiyear contract worth more than $ 2 million per year, but in a news conference announcing his acceptance of a raise and contract extension at Clemson, Bowden said he was “never offered” a job by Long during talks Monday night.

The Hog Blogger says Bowden was a crappy choice anyway:

Jeff Long scours the entire nation, and he comes back with Tommy Bowden? Really? If Long is foolish enough to think he can wow fans with a big name who isn’t actually a good coach, (Dave Wannstedt?) this is not the job for him. We’re all for giving guys a chance, but this offer makes absolutely no sense. There’s a reason Bowden has been on the hot seat for what seems like forever. People may have given Nutt a hard time for only winning ten games once, but Bowden has pulled it off in a grand total of zero seasons. In Mike Leach’s case, at least he plays in a division with three of the premier programs in college football and has an excuse for never winning anything.

He has a point. Tommy Bowden has been anything but impressive at Clemson, and you all remember that lil' ol' UK beat them convincingly in last year's Music City Bowl when the Tigers were heavily favored. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Tommy Bowden's coaching prowess.

Heisman Pundit wonders if there is a Tebow backlash building for the Heisman:

For the record, I don't think there is a Tebow backlash going on. I do think that what we are seeing is a race that is not a landslide, like we have been used to in recent years. The voices rising up against Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Troy Smith were few and far between. In a relatively close race, there is going to be a variety of opinions. In a chaotic race like this year's, even more so.

So what does this mean? Well, HP goes on to say he thinks Tebow will win comfortably, but McFadden is still an issue. Senator Blutarsky is on point:

Ladies and gentlemen, Knowshon Moreno is your SEC freshman of the year. Unanimously so.

As a sidenote, it’s interesting that McFadden was named offensive player of the year and not Tebow. Could that be a foreshadowing of the Heisman vote?

Hmm. Sophomores are known to have difficulty winning the Heisman. McFadden had an incredible year, as did Tebow. Part of the reason Tebow's was so incredible was his relative youth. Will this work against him in the Heisman voting? I note that Heisman Pundit's final straw poll showed only a 2-vote differential between Tebow and McFadden, 23-21. Tebow has been holding in the 20-23 range for 3 weeks and has apparently topped out, while McFadden has lately been moving up dramatically. This one could be close. And in another late development, McFadden has won the SEC offensive player of the year award.

And in case anyone didn't notice, Sylvester Croom strikes again, taking Coach of the Year honors. Kyle Veazey has the goods:

Back from The Hump, where I spoke with Ben Hansbrough.

But you guys probably don't care too much about that right now, seeing as how Sylvester Croom has just been named Southeastern Conference coach of the year by his peers.

More to come on clarionledger.com

Congratulations to Coach Croom on his well-deserved recognition. Mississippi State has really improved this year, and Croom has shown that he is a better coach than many gave him credit for. [UPDATE] Croom also won the AP Coach of the Year award.

That's all for now.

Friday SEC blog piñata

Well, here we are again -- another Friday. Soon my wife will be home, and I'll be mixing the martini an cosmopolitan. Ahhh, sweet -- the Friday Night Cocktail!

But before that, I have a hodgepodge of goodies to bring you -- a Friday grab-bag if you will. A sports blog piñata.

First of all, a reader made me aware of this blog at The Legend of Cecilio Guante, which basically explains what we all know to be true -- the SEC is the best football conference in the land. Here is the money graf:

I hear a lot of hype about Ohio State/Michigan this week. Now you know what every game feels like in the SEC. Let me run down a list of SEC teams that have spent some time in the Top 25 this year; LSU, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and Arkansas. That'd be 9 out of our 12 teams. Only one SEC team is below .500. Maybe they should call us the All-star Team Conference. And by the way, has Les Miles officially changed his name to Titanium Stones yet?

The author goes on to talk about the women, the angst, the glory of the SEC. Great read. Don't miss it.

Florida fans are getting silly over the Georgia-Kentucky game. Saurian Sagacity starts us off:

First of all let me say it was nothing personal in beating you on October 20th, purely business. I’m sure you understand. I hope you will also understand if we ask a favor of you. As far as favors go, it is one that is mutually beneficial, so we are certain you won’t mind.

Please beat Georgia.

Heh. You'd think these guys had something on the line, here, like maybe a trip to Atlanta, wouldn't you? Mlmintampa of Alligator Army also has a missive, and he offers ... things ... in return!

If it makes you feel better, by beating Georgia and Tennessee, you will keep out teams that lost by at least 21 points this season. (UGA at UT; UT at Bama and UF.) You're doing a public service! But, what else is in it for you? After discussions with our close personal friends in the UF Athletic Association, we have devised a very appealing prize package should you win out and Florida wins the SEC East.

1. We will not finish ahead of you in basketball this season.

2. Free Gatorade for a year.

3. A lovely fruit basket from the orange groves on the UF campus.

Tempting. Does this count as a bribe? All this Gator love is making me feel all funny inside. Even Orange and Blue Hue gets in on the act:

Hey, Kentucky… we love y’all.

Y’hear?

All we need for you to do is to win your next two games. You do that, we go to Atlanta to (hopefully) ruin LSU’s national title hopes.

I mean, we're talkin' some serious reptilian amoré here.

Let's see -- what else do we have? Roll 'Bama Roll thinks that clarity has finally arrived in the race for the national championship. The Big 12 champion is apparently effectively guaranteed a spot in the national championship game, according to his reasoning (which looks sound to me). The big question, at this point, seems to be "who else will be in there?"

Clarity of a sort, I suppose.

A lot is on the line for Tennessee against Vanderbilt, also. Who Ya With thinks that this week could be the difference in the season for the 'Dores:

The commodores travel to the Evil Empire this weekend to take on the Great Pumpkin (Fat Phil) and the Vols. If the defense can show up like they did in Columbia, and Spuds can play the QB position as well as he did last week against UK, this game could be won. There is nothing I would love more than to see 105,000 disappointed Vols fans walking out of that stadium. How much money would Fulmer have to donate to UT to feel comfortable then?

Oh, the 'Dores and the Vols do indeed despise each other. They love to see the other cry.

Meanwhile, Jon at Fulmer's Belly decides to try a little poor-mouthing to get the Vols a win:

First off, we lost to a freaking Cal team at a game that I personally attended. A Cal team that has lost 20 games since beating the hapless Vols and their non-existant defense and special teams play. DeSean Jackson looked like a damn Heisman candidate after te UT game, and has been pretty craptacular afterwards. What does that say about our team? It says we suck. Hard.

Heh. For a team that has a chance to win the East, and the only team that doesn't need help, that is some poor-mouthing indeed. Joel at Rocky Top Talk is wondering WTF:

So what's the deal? Why can't we be negative when our team really needs us? Here's the thing: they're pretty good and getting better. The future looks bright indeed, and the Vols, even this season, are perfectly positioned to win out and represent the East in the SEC Championship. There, they'll be pitted against LSU, and the media will give them no chance against the Tigers, which is, of course, right where we want to be. Forget the pessimism. I love this team.

So we have a little plus and a little minus. It's been that kind of season for the Vols.

We may not know who will go to Atlanta from the East this weekend, but we will have a somewhat better idea of who is not going, guaranteed. The Gators need a Kentucky win or they stay home. Georgia, the converse. And Tennessee? Well, they just need to win two games back to back and they can book their flights.

Fun times.

Florida makes the Evil Genius look average

A look around the SEC confirms a number of things that many SEC fans had long suspected:

1. LSU is the best team in the league;
   
2. Arkansas is indeed not a good football team;
3. Neither is South Carolina;
4. Georgia is looking like a good football team;
5. Florida is looking better all the time.

The jury is still out on Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi State. MSU has three very impressive SEC victories, one at home and two away, and with Arkansas and Ole Miss remaining on their schedule, have a real chance at winning eight games this year. Of course, Arkansas has been tougher after getting smoked, so who knows what will happen next week. And despite the fact that Arkansas isn't a very good team, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones are very good, and on a given day can dominate anyone.

I was surprised at the beat-down the Gators delivered to the Ol' Ball Coach this weekend. The Razorbacks exposed the run defense of USCe last weekend, but the Gamecocks got creamed in their own house. Neither team, seems to me, can make any case at all for their defense -- South Carolina isn't exactly an offensive powerhouse, and still managed to throw up 31 semi-meaningless points on the Gators. Still, Tim Tebow has yet to be stopped by any SEC defense except Auburn [UPDATE: An astute reader pointed out that Georgia also stopped Tebow, and I carelessly omitted mentioning them. Sorry, Dawgs].

At this point, there is so little blog reaction in from the Gamecocks that I'll defer looking at this game in depth until they have had a while to ponder this latest debacle. Obviously, the Gates are happy, but Ryan Ferguson was wondering over at Fanhouse if leaving Tebow in to run up the score was actually smart. Good question.

Mlmintampa writing for Alligator Army had no such reservations:

As much as I want to protect Tim Tebow, um, how do I say this...NO MERCY URBAN! RUN UP THE SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was nice wasn't it? If Lou Murphy had caught the other pass in the end zone, it could have been a lot worse. Lucky for Spurrier that Percy is at home sick. We could have hung 70 on him.

I think that pretty well sums up the Gator's feelings about the Visor. Ryan Ferguson has yet another post on the subject, quoting a Gamecock fan thus:

If history teaches anything, it really does not matter who coaches here, it has not improved by any discernable measure when you look at the "average" win loss ratios of the last 10-15 years or heck even more. Sure there have been ups and downs, but we always return to mediocre. So, SOS may as well stay. He can either tarnish his legacy like Holtz, or he can do something about. Heaven only knows which it will be. (sic)

Spurrier has recruited good talent to South Carolina, but so far, he hasn't been able to get the team to the point it can consistently compete with the best of the SEC. The SEC is quite unforgiving to program-building, and once you get down to a certain level, it is very hard to raise the bar in this conference. Just ask Kentucky, the Mississippi's, and Vanderbilt. Yes, all have had some success, but when was the last time any of those teams won the SEC, or even a division? Hint: It was Kentucky in 1976, the Bicentennial year -- they shared the SEC title with Georgia. Before that, you have to go to the Ole Miss teams of the 1960's.

The SEC is a very, very unforgiving league.

New Orleans Love says that Spurrier was "inconsolable" after this huge defeat. Senator Blutarsky at Get the Picture says it was karma, and karma is "a beyotch". The Visor no doubt agrees.

Week 10: Big Games

The way I see it, there are three big games this week that could have a serious impact on how the SEC turns out: Vanderbilt at Florida, South Carolina at Arkansas, and of course, LSU at Alabama. Now, let's have a look at how the SEC bloggers see these games.

The Vanderbilt Tailgate has hope for the visit to the Swamp, and lists five things that Vandy has to do to be successful. According to my records, Vanderbilt has not won a game against Florida at Florida since before Kennedy was president.

Vanderbilt Sports Line and Saurian Sagacity are doing the blogswap thing. From Saurian Sagacity's post at VSL:

Vandy is a team the Gators should beat. But one thing is for sure, if Vandy wins on Saturday they will have proven that they do indeed belong in the league and that the South Carolina game wasn’t a fluke. I hate to see it, but we are starting to see some parity in the SEC, with teams like Mississippi State and Vandy that can no longer be taken for granted. Vandy, is trying to prove that it belongs with the adults and I for one am hoping the Gators can send the Commodores back to kids table.

It truly is frightening (and a revelation to the Great Powers of the SEC) that this league is more competitive this year than perhaps any time it its history. We are used to seeing Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, LSU and Tennessee run roughshod over the lower half of the league except every three or four years when one of the lower half rises up to smite the mighty. Will this be that kind of year, or is this a trend for the future?

For their part, VSL puts this post on the Saurian Sagacity blog. VSL predicts that the game will come down to special teams and turnovers:

Like last year, I predict this game will come down to two factors: special teams and turnovers. Vandy special teams have improved significantly over last year, but the kickoff and punt defenses still rank at the bottom of Division 1-A. That doesn't bode well with Brandon James taking back punts for Florida. Both teams have quality kick returners and I think DJ Moore is due to take one to the house.

If this prediction turns out to be true, the Gators will be in trouble, because it will likely mean that the Commodores have a shot at them. I'm not ready to believe in that, especially in the Swamp, but the Gators have lost one game there this year to a good defensive club.

Garnet and Black Attack has a blogswap with Razorback Expats, an Arkansas blog. Instead of swapping posts, this is just a Q&A session from both sides. I found this an interesting question from G&BA, and answer:

What are your feelings about Arkansas being in the SEC?

Actually, they're kind of mixed. I'm sure the accounting books would emphatically validate the move to the SEC. Still, there's something about being in the conference that leaves me a little cold. We've been in the SEC for 15 years, and you can't really point to any program as Arkansas' true rival. I miss how fired up I used to get for games against Texas and Texas A&M. Part of me thinks the Razorbacks would be a better fit in the Big 12, where several of their former SWC foes now reside. But that's emotion talking. Whether that would be as good financially for Arkansas, I have not the slightest idea.

It's kind of funny that Arkansas has no football rival in this league, or hasn't been able to generate one. I would've thought that LSU or Tennessee would have been a natural rivalry, but both those schools have long-established football rivalries within this league, and as we know, rivalries take many years to develop and some event has to occur to create some genuine enmity between fan bases. As far as I know, that hasn't happened with Arkansas yet.

But remember, Arkansas does have a basketball rival in the SEC -- Kentucky. That one has not been too bitter lately, as Kentucky has owned the basketball Hogs for several years. But with former UK player John Pelphrey now at the helm of the Razorbacks, we could see the old days of the early 1990's renewed.

For their part, Razorback Expats had this question, with the answer from Garnet and Black Attack:

9. You’re made czar of college football for one day: Do you put South Carolina in the SEC or the ACC?

I was born and raised in Alabama and started off as an Auburn fan. It wasn’t until I moved to South Carolina and then went to college there that I became a Gamecock — so I’ve only been familiar with the team as part of the SEC, and always loved it being that way. If it were my choice, my team would remain in the best conference in the country.

There were some fans, back when the ACC was expanding, who wanted to return. So some older fans would probably make a different choice than I would.

Its interesting that both of these schools were imports into the SEC from other conferences, and many people still remember those days, although frankly, I had mostly forgotten them. Neither South Carolina nor Arkansas have any natural football rival in the conference, nor have they been able to really develop one since expansion. You would think that Spurrier's presence would have fostered a USC-Florida rivalry, but I guess until USC starts beating Florida with a bit more regularity, that won't have a chance to grow, either.

I'll look at the LSU at Alabama game in a separate post.