SEC Talk

First of all, if you are reading this on the Fourth of July… well, you need to get outside and grill some burgers!

Now, in the meantime:

Every day my inbox is flooded with announcements of this or that Southeastern Conference school landing a huge recruit for the 2010 football class.  And I continue to be amazed by the amount of media coverage. I mean, its front page stuff, but I don’t get it.

I could understand a few lines, but headlines?

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again… these commitments aren’t worth the paper they aren’t signed on yet! Signing day for the 2010 class is FEBRUARY 3, 2010!

These kids all end up taking more visits, and often end up changing their minds… and that’s ok.

I understand coaches want the early commit from players, but when they bank on those commits too much, the coaches and universities end up getting screwed.

Way back in 1999, quarterback Chris Simms, son of Hall of Famer Phil Simms, announced he was attending the University of Tennessee. So Head Coach Phillip Fulmer backed off recruiting other quarterbacks and focused on other positions. Then, days before signing day, he de-committed and signed with Texas.

Many experts think that was the beginning of the end for Tennessee and Phillip Fulmer, as the program ended up with no strong QB for years.

So what’s a coach to do? Well, there’s an old saying in sports — run through the tape and play through the whistle. Be glad you got the commitment, but keep pressing the pedal to the floor.

Alabama announced today that it will appeal NCAA sanctions that were handed down by the NCAA last week.

The sanctions were in response to self-reported infractions where UA athletes were getting free textbooks for friends. While athletes from 15 sports were involved, football sustained the biggest hit, with orders to vacate 21 wins from 2005-2007. It’s been speculated that football was more harshly reprimanded because the program was still in a five year probationary window from previous infractions.

“We appreciate that the committee recognized the isolated nature of this violation as well as UA’s immediate and aggressive actions to correct the situation as soon as we discovered the problem. However, we are disappointed with the excessiveness of the sanctions in view of the facts of this case and the penalties in other textbook infractions cases.

“There is no evidence or allegations of other NCAA violations; no coaches or administrators were involved; no players obtained books and sold them for cash, and all the books were returned or charged to the student’s account as required by the UA textbook policy in effect at that time.”

Alabama President Robert Witt

Bama has until June 26 to formally file with the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee.

IN OTHER SEC NEWS:

Sites for upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were announced on Wednesday, added to sites previously announced:

Men’s Tournaments:
2010 - Sommet Center, Nashville, Tn.
2011 - Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.
2012 - New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, La.
2013 - Sommet Center, Nashville, Tn.
2014 - Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.

Women’s Tournaments:
2010 - The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.
2011 - Sommet Center, Nashville, Tn.
2012 - Sommet Center, Nashville, Tn.
2013 - The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.
2014 - The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Dulluth, Ga.

Both Arkansas and LSU advanced into the Winner’s Bracket at the College World Series, Arkansas with a 10-6 upset of Cal State Fullerton, and LSU with a 9-5 win over Virginia.

But only one SEC team will remain in the Winner’s Bracket after tonight’s games.

Top-ranked LSU and #7 Arkansas will face off against each other at 6 pm CDT, meaning one team will advance in the Winner’s Bracket and the other will be forced to try to work it’s way out of the Loser’s side.

The two teams met in a three game series earlier this year, with the Tigers taking the series 2-1. The Razorbacks won game one by a score of 11-4, but LSU battled back to take games two and three by scores of 5-0 and 4-3.

LSU will start senior right hander Louis Coleman in tonight’s game. Coleman has a record of 13-2, with an ERA of 2.74 in 115 innings pitched. He gave up 19 walks while striking out a whopping 125 batters.

Arkansas will counter with sophomore righty Brett Eibner, 5-4 with a 4.61 ERA in 70.1 innings pitched. Eibner gave up 33 walks while striking out 66.

Tonight’s game, like all College World Series games, will be televised on ESPN.

IN OTHER SEC NEWS:

The NCAA’s Track & Field Championships, held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, ended this weekend. Here are the final results for SEC Schools:

WOMEN’S RESULTS:
LSU - 6th
Florida - 9th
Tennessee - 10th
Auburn - 25th
Arkansas - 29th
South Carolina - 40th
Mississippi - 70th (tie)
Mississippi St. - 70th (tie)

MEN’S RESULTS:
Florida - 2nd
LSU - 5th
South Carolina - 6th
Arkansas - 9th
LSU - 11th
Auburn - 12th
Kentucky - 15th
Mississippi St. - 17th
Tennessee - 58th
Alabama - 62nd

Sometimes it’s tough to find a college sports subject to write about, especially during the summer months. But Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin is keeping journalists and bloggers alike busy as bees, wondering where and when his next NCAA infraction will occur.

Sunday ESPN’s Outside the Lines featured a segment on Kiffin. In it, he is seen meeting with a recruit and his family… a violation according to the NCAA rule book:

A member institution shall not permit a media entity to be present during any recruiting contact made by an institution’s coaching staff member.

NCAA recruiting rule 13.10.1

Oops.

But the reaction of the coach is telling. Just another minor misstep. Can’t keep all of the rules, this stuff happens all the time. And besides, Kiffin repeatedly claims, he is doing all of this just to fire up the Vols fans, it’s all by design.

Athletic Director Mike Hamilton sounds like it is all just another day at UT, saying that self-reporting these things lets the NCAA know that the member institution is on top of things.

But what about this statement from the NCAA rulebook?:

By definition, a secondary violation is one that is isolated or inadvertent in nature, provides or is intended to provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage and does not include any significant recruiting inducement or extra benefit.

Hmmm…. Isolated? For the record, this will be Kiffin’s sixth secondary violation in his seven months on the job. That’s not so isolated if you ask me.

I don’t know if Lane Kiffin is brash, arrogant, or just ignorant. I doubt it is the latter. He had a successful run at Southern Cal as offensive coordinator, and one of his biggest boosters is USC coach Pete Carroll.

One of two things is going to happen with the Lane Kiffin Experiment. Either he will win big and be gone to greener pastures, or he will lose and be gone anyway.

It will be interesting to see whether Tennessee survives the Kiffin era intact, or on probation.

Both Florida and Mississippi fell short in their bids to advance to the College World Series.

Ole Miss lost to Virginia 5-1, dropping the best of three series 2-1. The Rebels finish with a record of 44-20, and marked the fourth time in the last five years that they have been in a position to advance to the CWS. UM’s 44 wins ties the mark for second most wins in a season in school history set in 2006. The school record is 48 wins, set in 2005.

Florida is perhaps the biggest surprise of the Super Regionals, failing to win even one game. The Gators, ranked 9th took a lead into the 8th inning on Sunday, but #17 Southern Miss scored three to take the lead and the game. Florida led 6-1 in the third, but USM kept pounding away, eventually winning the right to advance to the CWS in Omaha this weekend.  Florida ends it’s season with a 42-22 record.

In a bit of irony, both Florida and Ole Miss were hosting regionals. So much for home field advantage.

Arkansas and LSU have already advanced to the CWS, along with Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, North Carolina, Southern Miss and Virginia. Arkansas will play Cal State Fullerton and LSU will face Virginia in opening round action. Times and dates are TBA.

One spot is still open, to be decided on Monday. TCU and Texas will battle for the lone remaining slot, with the series tied at 1-1.

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Carroll helped MSU to the Liberty Bowl victory.

Well, what I had hoped would come true, came true. The Bulldogs managed to stop the NCAA’s top rusher in UCF running back Kevin Smith, limiting Kevin to just 119 yards on 35 carries. It was a tremendous defensive performance and I want to congratulate the entire Mississippi fanbase on their great win today.

If you think about what Mississippi Bulldogs coach Sylvester Croom was able to do this year. After getting absolutely dominated by LSU in Week 1, and to come back, go 8-5 on year and win a bowl game. What a tremendous job by Croom and the Bulldogs. They built the team on defense because they didn’t have many playmakers on offense, and it was the defense that came up huge today in the win. Sometimes football isn’t pretty, there were few big plays to be had all day today, but the plays that were made were on defense and the Bulldogs came up with a key drive late in the game to cap it off. When the Knights tried to go to the air, the Bulldogs shut that down as well.

So looking forward to next year, the Bulldogs are a really young team, they only had 14 seniors this year. With the incredible success they had this year including the Liberty Bowl win today, Sylvester Croom will have a great chance at bringing in all that great Mississippi football talent. This is a team on the rise, if they get a few more playmakers on offense, watch out for MSU, they will be a college football force in the SEC for sure.

Mississippi St, Liberty Bowl

Moreno looks to roll over Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.

Hawaii Warriors 12-0 (8-0), 1st Western Athletic
VS
Georgia Bulldogs 10-2 (6-2), 1st Southeastern - East

In a game that resembles the Boise St. vs Oklahoma game last year, the Hawaii Warriors play the role of the underdog undefeated team taking on a Georgia Bulldogs team that feels they should be in the National Championship but must settle with a BCS bowl in the Sugar Bowl. With the game being played in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, all the advantages appear to go to the Bulldogs. Perhaps that’s why the Bulldogs are a 7.5 point favorite over the Warriors.

The tenth ranked Warriors head into the Sugar Bowl just happy to be part of a BCS game. True, they went 12-0 but they didn’t really play anyone. In fact, their only win over a ranked team was over Boise St. who isn’t nearly as good as they were last year. In fact, they’ve struggled to beat some mediocre teams like Washington, Nevada and Louisiana Tech. The Warriors are led by outstanding quarterback Colt Brennan who was a Heisman candidate this year. Brennan has a great arm and has played well all year long.

The fourth ranked Bulldogs aren’t just happy to be at the Sugar Bowl, they want to pound the heck out of Hawaii to show the BCS committee they made a mistake by not choosing Georgia. Heading into bowl season, no team has been playing better than Georgia, winning six straight games over teams like Florida, Auburn and Kentucky. Led by bruising redshirt freshman Knowshon Moreno on the ground and the steady quarterback play of Matthew Stafford.

I like the Bulldogs in this game running away. Hawaii hasn’t played a team like the Bulldogs all year, plus the added travel will be a factor. I expect the Bulldogs to pound the ball with Knowshon who is my MVP of the game. Georgia wins 35-14.

Sugar Bowl, Georgia

Tebow looks for another dominating performance.

Michigan Wolverines 8-4 (6-2), 2nd Big Ten
VS
Florida Gators 9-3 (5-3), 3rd Southeastern - East

Heading into the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida on New Years Day, the Florida Gators appear to have the upper hand all the way. First off is the coaching situation at Michigan, Lloyd Carr will coach his last game for Michigan at the Capital One Bowl after announcing his resignation earlier. Incoming coach Rich Rodriguez will be watching from perhaps a box seat in the stands. Then you have the Heisman winner Tim Tebow leading the Gators against the Michigan team that has had problems with the spread all year. Finally, with the Capital One Bowl being playing in Orlando and just a stones throw away from Gainesville, home of the Gators, you can easily see why the Gators are a 10.5 point favorite over the Wolverines.

So much was expected of Michigan to begin the year. Almost all the pundits had them in a BCS game. All of that changed Sat. Sep 1, the first game of the year when Div 1AA Appalachian State shocked the Wolverines in the Big House no less. The Wolverines struggled against the spread offense and would continue to struggle against Oregon’s spread the next week. Credit to the Wolverines though, they battled through and rattled off 8 straight wins, but perhaps the distractions of the coaching situation got the best of them in the final 2 weeks of conference play losing to Wisconsin then Ohio State. The Wolverines still possess one of the nation’s better offenses in Seniors Chad Henne and Mike Hart.

The Gators were all about outstanding sophomore Tim Tebow this season. The Heisman winner was simply electrifying setting all kinds of SEC records for rushing touchdowns and passing touchdowns. The Gators would be playing in a BCS, perhaps even defending their National Championship if it weren’t for a bad stretch of 1-3. Though all three of those losses were against the SEC’s best in LSU, Georgia and Auburn. The Gators prolific offense under Tebow was a constant threat to score from the first whistle racking up 66 total touchdowns.

Florida’s spread offense will cause all kinds of problems for Michigan. Though Lloyd Carr has had a bunch of time to prepare, he simply doesn’t have the athletes on defense to matchup. This game should be over by half, I’m predicting a 44-21 win for the Gators.

Capital One Bowl, Florida

McFadden tries to go out with a bang.

Missouri Tigers 11-2 (7-1), 1st Big 12 - North Division
VS
Arkansas Razorbacks 8-4 (4-4), 3rd Southeastern - West

The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas on New Years Day has many interesting storylines heading into the matchup. Perhaps the biggest story surrounding either team involves Bobby Petrino who made a highly controversial move by bolting from the Atlanta Falcons mid-season to take the vacated head coaching job at Arkansas following Houston Nutt’s departure. The most interesting part is that Petrino will not be on the sidelines, defensive coordinator Reggie Herring will be. The other big storyline heading into the matchup is the battle of Heisman candidates, Missouri’s quarterback Chase Daniel and Arkansas’ running back Darren McFadden.

The seventh ranked Missouri Tigers would have been playing for the national championship had they beaten Oklahoma in either of their 2 meetings this season. Perhaps Missouri would be playing for the national championship had the Big 12 not mandated they play the conference championship game that other conferences such as the PAC10 do not have. In any case, the Tigers come into the game as one of the most prolific passing teams in the country. Chase Daniel has been simply sensational finishing with a total of 33 touchdowns in 13 games.

The 25th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks have had an up and down season all year but ended their regular season on a high note by beating then number one ranked LSU in a dramatic 50-48 overtime shootout. Heisman candidate and runner up Darren McFadden was simply unstoppable. After a slow start to the season, McFadden turned up his play in the latter half and by all accounts should be the first overall pick in the NFL’s entry draft next spring. McFadden had some monster games this season, including a 321 yard game in the win over South Carolina and a 206 yard game in that big win over LSU.

What will be the determining factor in this game will be Missouri’s ability to contain Darren McFadden. If Arkansas can pound McFadden for 5 or more yards per carry, Missouri’s high-octane passing attack won’t even have a chance to get on the field. My guess is that Missouri can’t stop McFadden in what will be his last college football game of his career, Razorbacks in a close 41-35 win.

Cotton Bowl, Arkansas

Tuberville leads the Tigers to Atlanta

Clemson Tigers 9-3 (5-3), 2nd Atlantic Coast - Atlantic
VS
Auburn Tigers 8-4 (5-3), 2nd Southeastern - West

The Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 31, New Years Eve, should be a great game. Clemson heads into the game as the fifteenth ranked team in the nation while Auburn is 22nd in the nation. It’s the battle of both Tigers. There has been a lot of recent battles between these two storied college football programs over the past ten years. For Auburn though, they’ve been on the winning side claiming 12 straight over the Tigers of Clemson.

Clemson is building off the momentum of two very strong seasons. And they hope to carry that through to next year as coach Terry Bowden will carry 18 starters from this years team. After a couple of disappointing losses to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, the Tigers stormed back winning 5 of 6 to get into the Chick-fil-A bowl. The Tigers relied on a stingy defense to limit their opponents to just 22 touchdowns over the entire season. That defense could be tested New Year’s Eve though, as 2 starters were ruled academically ineligible due to poor academics.

Auburn comes into the game brimming with confidence with their 8-4 record in the tough SEC. Add the fact that Tommy Tuberville is safely a Tiger for the foreseeable future, nothing would be sweeter than a win on New Year’s Eve. After 2 early losses to a decent South Florida team and a surprising Mississippi St. team, the Tigers made good the rest of the way losing only to LSU and Georgia. There was also the close win over Florida in October. Like Clemson, Auburn relied on their defense to win games and will do so again on New Years Eve. In fact, Auburn’s defensive team stats are nearly identical to Clemson with 22 touchdowns allowed and 119 rushing yards allowed.

The game will no doubt be a low scoring defensive battle. Turnovers, special teams will all play a major factor in the game. Clemson is a 2.5 point favorite according to the Vegas line. I actually like Auburn to win, they have that 12 straight winning streak over Clemson and have traditionally played well at the Georgia dome. My pick is Auburn 10-7.

Auburn, Chick-fil-A Bowl

Andre Woodson looks for a repeat Music City Bowl winning performance.

Kentucky Wildcats 7-5 (3-5), 4th Southeastern - East
VS
Florida State Seminoles 7-5 (4-4), 4th Atlantic Coast - Atlantic

The Music City Bowl in Nashville Tennessee on New Year’s Eve is going to a huge wildcard this year. That is because a major academic scandal involving 36 players from the Florida State football team will be ineligible to play. It’s one of the biggest academic scandals of its kind leaving the Seminoles devastated heading into the bowl game.

Though it would appear that Kentucky has the game in the bag going in, the Wildcats have not played their best football in the second half of the season. After winning five straight games to start the season, the Wildcats finished off 2007 with a 2-5 record. Though, many of the losses came against top SEC teams in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia, after their stunning upset of LSU, many expected the Wildcats to be in a BCS bowl game come January. For senior quarterback Andre Woodson, this will be his second appearance at the Music City Bowl, after leading the Wildcats to the victory last year over Clemson. Woodson who was an early Heisman candidate is expected to be first round draft pick in next year’s NFL entry draft.

To say that the Seminoles are in disarray would be huge understatement. Coach Bobby Bowden has just 43 scholarship players traveling to the game. The most devastated part of the lineup will be on the defensive side of the ball. A starting linebacker, cornerback and 3 defensive tackles will not be with the team. With an offense that scored just 24 touchdowns the entire season over 12 games, coach Bowden is hoping that they can buck the trend on gameday.

The line for the game is OTB, or off the board as they say in Vegas. With all the recent turmoil over players suspended and who will be and who won’t be playing, it’s hard to put a line, suffice to say that Kentucky will be a big favorite heading in. The gameplan for the Seminoles pre-suspensions was to slow the air attack of Woodson and Kentucky. Now that most of his best defensive players will not be there, the Seminoles will look to grind out ground yards 3 at a time and try to maintain possession of the ball. If the Wildcats manage to score 3 or more touchdowns, they will win the game running away.

Kentucky, Music City Bowl

Nick Saban attempts to salvage season 1 with a bowl win.

Alabama Crimson Tide 6-6 (4-4), 3rd Southeastern - West
VS
Colorado Buffaloes 6-6 (4-4), 3rd Big 12 - North Division

Two average teams that appeared to have played themselves out of a bowl game see themselves facing each other in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., on Dec. 30. Alabama is making it’s second straight Independence Bowl appearance after they lost to Oklahoma State last year.

What started as such a promising season under Nick Saban turned into a nightmarish four game losing streak to end the season. The Crimson Tide appeared to be on the verge of making it to a BCS game with a 6-2 record until they gave up a late lead to LSU in their matchup November 3 and it all went downhill from there. Particularly demoralizing were losses to Louisiana-Monroe and cross-state rival, the Auburn Tigers.

As for the Buffaloes, it has been an equally rocky ride all year. There was the high of beating third ranked Oklahoma, but there was also the lowly loss to Iowa State in the second to last game of the year. To cap it all off, the Buffaloes came back in dramatic fashion to post a comeback win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers to earn a berth here in the Independence Bowl.

Alabama is a 3.5 point favorite heading into the game. I think the game will be very high scoring with a score somewhere in the 40s possibly. Both teams can certainly move the chains, but which team will come up with the key stops. Special teams will most certainly be a factor as well.

Alabama, Independence Bowl

Sylvester Croom leads his boys into battle.

Bowl season is upon us and I will be previewing all the bowl games featuring SEC teams from now until they play. First up on the schedule is the Liberty Bowl between Central Florida Knights and Mississippi St. Bulldogs.

UCF Knights 10-3 (7-1), 1st Conference USA - East
VS
Mississippi St. Bulldogs 7-5 (4-4), 3rd Southeastern - West

Both teams head into the game under similar circumstances having endured long droughts without a bowl appearance. UCF capped off a fantastic season, including ending the regular season on a seven game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs made it to the Liberty Bowl by beating some of the SEC’s top teams, including over ranked Kentucky and Alabama before winning the Egg Bowl over Ole Miss to close out the regular season.

The game is being played in Memphis on Saturday Dec 29, with Central Florida favored by a field goal. The scouting report on UCF is simple, they have the NCAA’s top rusher in the nation, Kevin Smith, who averaged 188.3 yards per game and is just 180 yards shy of Barry Sander’s single season record for most yards rushing in a single season. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are led by freshman quarterback Wesley Carroll, who was named to the freshman all-SEC team.

The game will come down to whether the Bulldogs can stop the prolific ground game of the Knights. If they can keep the score in the teens, then Mississippi St. should have enough to come away with the win. Consider this though, the Bulldogs have allowed an average of 159.0 rushing yards this season, and have given up more than 200 yards on the ground in four of its last six games. Hopefully coach Croom has a plan to stop the NCAA’s leading rusher come Saturday.

Mississippi St, Liberty Bowl

Holliday is a Mountaineer at heart.

More news from the coaching carousel, it appears that Florida Gators associate head coach John ‘Doc’ Holliday will be headed to West Virginia to take over the head coaching position that Rich Rodriguez left to go to Michigan. I think it’s a good move for everyone involved.

Holliday has spent a couple of seasons now under Urban Meyer at Florida, and having won the National Championship last year, he has plenty of big game experience under his belt. They offensive system that the Gators have been running under Urban Meyer, the spread option, is the same exact system that Rich Rodriguez ran while at West Virginia, so the players that have been use to running the spread option can continue under the same system but of course under a new coach.

Another big reason is that Holliday is a West Virginia alum. Played his football at WVU as a linebacker in the 70’s, was an assistant in with the Moutaineers from 1979 to 1999. He’s about as close to a sure thing for WVU as they come. As for the job itself, WVU football is as strong as it has ever been thanks to Rich Rodriguez. Holliday has an excellent base to build off with some terrific talent like Noel Devine coming up.

For Gator fans? It won’t be such a huge loss. Recruiting wise, Holliday was a standout, so there might some fallout there, but I expect Urban Meyer to pick up where Holliday left off and should be able to keep most of the interested recruits, this is Florida after all.

John Holliday, Florida