In Defense of the SEC Scheduling

The NCAA came out with its official listing of FBS versus FCS games. And as per usual? The SEC comes strong with the gimmes. The ACC has one more, but the fact of the matter is that when you have 12 games that are gimmes? Your nonconference record and reputation can be slightly inflated.

And as a football fan? It’s definitely a terrible thing. Beyond a shadow of a doubt there’s no real entertainment value for a game that’s likely to be 38-3 at the half. But that being said? The SEC does it a little differently.

There are 11 games of this ilk that are set to go off past September. The SEC has seven of these games. One is interesting in a sort of dynasty versus dynasty. (Appalachian State at Florida). One is interesting in a will Nick Saban put up 100 sort of way? (Georgia State at Alabama.) All are guaranteed wins.

But they are guaranteed wins that allow the teams breathing room. Georgia State comes before the Iron Bowl. Appy State comes before a seemingly sprightly Florida State. Mississippi State travels to Non-AQ superpower Houston right after they play Alcorn State. LSU gets McNeese State before Auburn.

In fact? Georgia and Auburn are both taking the gimmie before they play each other on November 13th.

I know, I know, cool story bro. I get it.

But you know what this is? This is a trend. You’ll see more teams jerryrig a schedule to get a tuneup before the big game. You won’t see a conference like the ACC schedule 12 September games with local FBS powers anymore.

It’s the wave of the future, and the SEC is out in front of it.

Rating the Indoor Practice Facilities of the SEC.

I know what you’re thinking. LOL what? Is this even a post. And I say unto you, mister and missus hypothetical reader. I like to challenge myself. Sometimes, I want to see if I cannot make something interesting. And when Auburn tripled the size of their indoor practice facility? I have an excuse!

In one of the strangest one of these things is not like the other sort of scenarios? Two out of the twelve? Don’t have indoor practice facilities. One of them is Vanderbilt. Guess the other one. Come on.

I’ll even add to it that it’s nobody in the SEC West. When Auburn’s expansion is complete? There will be nobody who has to work a short field either. You might guess Kentucky. But you’d be wrong.

South Carolina and Tennessee are both working off of short fields. But they’ve got something to work with.

So at this point? The fact that Georgia and Florida don’t have an indoor facility is strange. These are the Eastern powers of the SEC, after all. They should be top of the line in everything they do. But one of them has plans for a new indoor facility.

And guess what? It’s not Florida.

Let me say that again. The team of the previous decade has found their way into the best high school recruits of this generation. And their facilities are lacking. There is an obvious lesson to it.

But I’ll leave that to you to figure out.

The “Little Ten” of the SEC

The narrative coming out of the SEC, besides Alabama’s general ailments of the bye week disadvantages, is that we are in the midst of a duopoly. There’s Florida, there’s Alabama, and then there’s the other ten teams. I come to you with one question. Can anybody charge in and steal a spot?

10. Vanderbilt (Nope. A running game and a decent defense means you have a punchers chance against the majority of the league, but that got Mississippi State five wins last year. That’s seven wins too little.)
9. Mississippi State (2%. Mullen may be building off of last season, but the team still needs more at WR than Chad Bumphis and an Anthony Dixon replacement. They won’t steal anything more than the Liberty Bowl this year.)
8. Tennessee (5 percent. They won’t m9iss Bryce Brown, and you may not be able to throw too well on them. But these are underdogs who made their bed and has to lie in it.)
7. Ole Miss (5 percent. They have a solid run defense. But their team is too young. Nathan Stanley doesn’t have a great offensive line to protect him either. And Raymond Cotton? He has the shoulder of the Tubervillian Chris Todd. They’ll be interesting again. But not this year.)
6. South Carolina (10 percent. In terms of talent? They may surprise. Ellis Johnson has a defense that reloads every season. And the offense is intriguing in terms of Jarvis Giles and Marcus Lattimore carrying the rock, and the catching the ball? Alshon Jeffrey isn’t gonna be pumping gas anytime soon. The problem? Stephen Garcia’s general incosistency plus program inertia equals Pizza bowl.)
5. Kentucky (They have a 1 in ten shot of beating Florida. And if they do that? Their number rises exponentially. But at this point? Hartline-Cobb-Matthews-Locke are a lot more interesting to me than they are to you. As such? This is the one that could rise in unlikelyhood.)
4. Arkansas (20 percent. Alex Tejada plus a road game at Auburn could pose a problem. The Defensive Front Seven could pose a problem. Ryan Mallett’s inconsistency? Also problematic. But you answer one of the questions? And they’re a dangerous middle of the road SEC West Team.)
3. Georgia (25 percent. Freshmen don’t win the SEC. In that respect? Aaron Murray’s weight is better than the other 10 returning starters. A defensive switch in scheme doesn’t help either. And even a Freshman Matt Stafford couldn’t beat Kentucky in Lexington in the pre-Raylan Givens era.) 
2. LSU (25 percent. I don’t trust Jordan Jefferson, and the line lost its players of value as well. But they have a lockdown pass defense and considering the state of the SEC West? That’s worth a lot to the party right there.)
1. Auburn (50 percent. Here is your last, best hope for an insurgency. And as such? It’s 50-50. Either they beat The Crimson Tide or they don’t.)

 I will make a more formal predsiction this Summer. And I will further the individual season previews in the weeks upcoming. So yeah. It’s coming kids.

FUHBAW!

Why I Want Cameron Newton To Succeed.

In terms of full disclosure, I did not grow up as a fan of an SEC team. It’s just me. But as I’ve found my way down toward the SEC, fun factor is something that is just as important as alliegance. And I’m here to tell you, a successful Cam Newton is good for the SEC.

Why? Well, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?

First of all? When you have someone who had the physical gifts of a 250 pound guy who runs a 4.5 40 yard dash, there is no doubt that you are the sort of physically gifted triggerman who would make the Gus Malzahn offense sing. He nearly combined for 3500 yards in total offense last year at his junior college. If he can translate this? There will be some big Saturdays in his future.

And if you steal the show? You get your own parody of the Bill Brasky facts. That’s just win.

Cameron Newton Fact: Alligators kill themselves for the chance to be worn by Cam Newton.

REASON THE SECOND! A part of the fun of the SEC is rivalry weeks. The Third Saturday in October, the Iron Bowl, the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Cameron Newton only makes this history more fun. Remember, Auburn almost beat Alabama with a rag armed pocket passer. Imagine how the games going to go with the man destined to run Gus Malzahn’s basketball on grass.

But that’s not all…

Yes, that is Tim Tebow’s hip colliding with the form of Cameron Newton. And yes, this was the man who beat out John Brantley before he transferred. For you see? He bought a stolen laptop and wasn’t nearly cool enough about it to stay within the Urban Meyer family.

So now? He’s a War Eagle. And for the next two years, he’s the sort of guy who’s potentially good enough to change the game and make music with the rivalries.

Reason the third? Because there is no way that a successful Cam Newton can make the common fan sick of the high praise and hosannas that the news of the mainstream media would undoubtedly rain down on him.

Of course? I could be wrong. But I really don’t want to.

Tyrik Rollison to transfer.

If you were wondering why your beloved or lead man in terms of the greatest confederation of football schools on this website has effectively ignored recruiting. This news item will explain myself. For you see, going into 2009? Tyrik Rollison was the great hope of the Plainsmen.

Chris Todd? He made Jonathan Crompton look like a random Clausen. Kodi Burns? Sure he was athletic, but he couldn’t beat out Chris Todd until he got hurt. So suffice it to say? They wanted this Texan to be ready soon.

But then. Like a Paul Finebaum column the week after a small event changed conventional wisdom. Things changed. Gus Malzahn became a genius. Chris Todd brought people back from the ledge in terms of actually being impressed by his play. And Cam Newton’s coming!

He’s 7’2″ 400 pounds and runs a 3.67 40. Arms are like tree trunks. He has a shock of hair. Red, like the fires of hell. Tyrik Rollison wasn’t feeling the love anymore. And he’s decided to go to Sam Houston State.

Which in one way is weird, because I’m sure some FBS school would love to love to have him. But in another way, it’s weirder. It’s the whole reason why my mind can’t wrap around that whole recruiting thing.

If the number two dual threat quarterback of 2009 barely makes it a year? Then who really cares if you have a Top Ten recruiting class, right?

Northwestern vs. Auburn, 2009 Outback Bowl, Prediction Pick

This was supposed to be a game where my hometown Wisconsin Badgers were supposed to be the Big 10 representatives. And I know what the average War Eagle fan is thinking. Hey! We got Northwestern! This will be easy, am I right? WAR EAGLE!

Well, it is and it isn’t. See, scheme-wise? Northwestern will be ready for this. They run a very similar offense to what Gus Malzahn runs. And it’s not as if the Wildcats will get run over either. They went toe to toe with the Badgers and found them wanting. And to explain. The Badgers were 15th best against the run. Auburn is 13th. Tate and McCalebb aren’t going to have as easy of a game as you think.

But that being said? This is not your late-90′s Spread and Shred Wildcats. Their main way to move the ball down the field is via the pass. Andrew Brewer is a home run threat, and Zeke Marshausen is the posession guy. This bodes well for Auburn. Their defensive mishagoes were via the run. And Northwestern? Like I said previously, Damian Anderson isn’t going to be walking through that door.

The Outback Bowl missed an opportunity for a highly entertaining game by passing on Wisconsin. That would have been a battle to see. I’m not saying Northwestern is going to get launched. After all, they can stop the run and Auburn has inconsistency problems. But? Auburn has the sort of balance that I just don’t see Northwestern stopping twice.

I’m calling for a cover. And the under. Auburn 27 Northwestern 21.

2009 Iron Bowl, Alabama vs Auburn, Prediction Pick. This year will mark the 74th meeting of Auburn and Alabama in the Iron Bowl. This season I think most would agree that this is Alabama’s game to lose. The Crimson Tide is coming into this game undefeated and ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation. While Auburn has struggled in their SEC match ups this season. They come into this game with a 3-4 SEC record with losses to Georgia, LSU, Kentucky, and Arkansas. This game is a big rivalry game though, and often that means anything goes.

Mark Ingram and Ben Tate are sure to be battling it out in this game. Both are superb running backs who have already racked up over 1,000 yards each this season. Mark Ingram should fair well against Auburn’s defense who has allowed over 100 yards in all but two games this season. Ben Tate on the other hand may struggle against an Alabama defense who has only allowed over 100 yards in two games this season. Auburn’s best chance at scoring on this Alabama defense will be in utilizing their passing game. Alabama will have to be ready to stop Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery who together have over 1,000 in pass receptions this season.

Going into this game I feel pretty certain that Alabama will come out on top. Auburn’s defense has struggled so much this season that I don’t feel they will be able to shut down Alabama’s offense. Whereas Alabama’s defense has shown such great strength this season that Auburn will probably have a difficult time scoring on them. One thing that is going in Auburn’s favor is the home field advantage. Alabama has only won twice at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Nick Saban has never won a game at Auburn during his college coaching career, maybe this will be the year. If Alabama’s offense is firing on all cylinders I expect this to be very similar to last season’s Iron Bowl, which was a 36-0 win for the Crimson Tide. However, if Alabama’s offense can’t perform it could be very similar to the Alabama/Tennessee game earlier this season.

The Iron Bowl is always difficult to predict, but I’m going to call this one for Alabama 38-10. One thing is for sure though the rivalry will be in full effect this Friday. Fans all across the state of Alabama will be hoping to come out with bragging rights for the next year. Let’s see who gets ‘em this year.

Welcome to the SEC, Gene Chizik

I’ve always been a fan of harsh reactions. I mean, the feeling you get when a team that you decided to leave for dead comes back and stabs your expectations in the jugular? It’s fun to see. This is why I am absolutely delighted as to this Paul Finebaum masterwork.

Do the math. In two consecutive road games, the Tigers have been out of games before the uniforms got dirty, trailing by a total of 65-6. This wasn’t against the Denver Broncos or the New Orleans Saints. Auburn fell behind 34-3 to an Arkansas team fresh off a 35-7 pounding to Alabama. LSU has looked a little better, but it still took a miracle goal line stand to beat Mississippi State.

Can we say lousy coaching?

I say give Gene Chizik a contract extension before someone comes and steals him away. After all, that 10-22 record as a head coach would be tough to turn down. One can only imagine that his agent’s phone is blowing up right now with calls from Louisville and Virginia. One thing is for sure — they don’t want him back at Iowa State. Did you notice over the weekend that his successor won at Nebraska (first time since 1977) and matched Chizik’s two-year total of victories?

Most people expected this to be the team that would be thanking their lucky stars for the existence of Mississippi State. Most people did not this team to do much. If this was a team that didn’t have a schedule that was so frontloaded? Mr. Finebaum would not find himself pulling such a Jay Mariotti.

You have a team that lacked athleticism at wide receiver and has been dinged up with the injuries as the schedule was going to be getting tougher. This wasn’t going to be spectacular for Auburn. I told bossman Jaynes that he needed to slow his expectational roll. Seven wins is still going to be a good year.

But I’m going to read more from this young upstart, Paul Finebaum. I don’t have enough hyperbolic overreaction in my life.