Day After Labor Day Links

* #6

* Johnnie Brown, he of the 15 tackles Saturday, was just one of a handful of Rebels battling the flu

* Here's a breakdown of Sowell and the job he did last Saturday

* Gary Parrish would like to remind everybody what a douche bag he is with this column

* Sure John Feinstein can be whiny and beat a dead horse with the best of them, but this is good stuff. The ACC is an absolutely wretched football conference. It's supporters claim parody, I claim widespread mediocrity. Is it wrong to take pleasure in Duke losing to Richmond?

* In the latest edition of the Forde Yard Dash, Pat Forde takes what I would typically call a at a fellow SEC school. Based on its target though, I just think it's funny...

Mississippi State's Dan Mullen (33). There was an epidemic of penalties and some other sloppiness against an even sloppier opponent, Jackson State. But the Bulldogs also scored more than 40 points for the first time since Sept. 14, 2002. That alone should have sent fans sprinting naked into the streets in Starkville (assuming they have streets in Starkville).

Good read from Pat Forde

More ESPN hype for the Rebels, this time from Pat Forde.

Monday Morning Munchies

* Bad day yesterday for Tony Fein. It seems that he was put in an awkward situation by some overzealous employees, but you've got to keep your cool, particularly a guy of Fein's stature where every move is exaggerated.

* The Commercial Appeal has a nice read up about Jevan Snead.

* The Quad, the surprisingly good sports blog at The New York Times, has the Rebels ranked #13 in the preseason and offers one of the most in-depth previews I've come across.

* I'm as excited as the next guy about seeing Raymond Cotton in action, I just hope it's not this year. Barring any disastrous injuries to other QBs, I think he'd benefit greatly from a year on the scout team.

* If there's a more blatant homer in the "national media" than Lou Holtz, I'd like to know who it is. The good doctor and future senator has proclaimed that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take on Florida in the national title game this season. As much as I would like to see a 35-point Florida win over the Irish, I'd rather not see the Irish taking a BCS berth from a much more capable and deserving team.

Nutt, Saban, and Coaching Trends

You can add Shane from the Capstone Report to the growing list of bloggers who are latching onto the Anti-Ole Miss Bandwagon, though, like most, he lacks creativity in his reasoning. It's not quite Finebaumian in its lack of legitimate points, but it's close:

Some of you might ask, “What about Ole Miss?” The pundits are convinced they will play Florida in the title match. Well, those of us who’ve studied Houston Nutt know that (and I keep bringing it up), somewhere in the course of the season, he’ll blow a game he’s supposed to win - it happens every year. In fact, I think that is exactly why Arkansas fired him. That’s right Rebel fans, Arkansas cut Nutt loose for “choking.” Putting your faith in Coach Nutt is futile. Under his guidance, I’m afraid Ole Miss is destined to remain a pretender.

Ah yes, the Houston Nutt argument. For those who have actually taken the time to look at things – like cocknfire did here – there’s actually a different story. But we shouldn’t let facts get in the way of this argument. Sure, Nutt’s teams have dropped some games they shouldn’t have – it’s part of the game – but I don’t recall Nutt comparing those losses to “catastrophic events” like Pearl Harbor or the 9/11 Attacks. Saban’s Tide were embarrassed last year in the Sugar Bowl by Utah in a game Alabama was supposed to win. Let's not forget that Saban can scratch losses to UAB and Louisiana-Monroe off his bucket list as well.

I do find it interesting though that he brings up coaching trends. In his 13 seasons of being a head coach in college football, Saban’s teams have won 10+ games 3 times: 2001, 2003, and 2009. His teams won 8 and 9 games in 2002 and 2004 respectively, meaning he’s never won 10+ games in back to back seasons. It’s going to take 6+ SEC wins to win the SEC West this year, meaning the Tide will need 10+ wins to secure it. According to Shane’s logic, history always repeats itself, so there’s no way Alabama win double-digit games this year, right?

Also, given Saban's inability to win double-digit games in back-to-back seasons, this statement becomes even more outlandish than it first appears:

I have no doubt that these two SEC “superpowers” will meet in Atlanta for the next three or four years in a row.

And if we're dwelling on trends, then Alabama will be back on probation in, what? 2011? Maybe 2012?

But hey, it's all just posturing at this point. All that matters is this... both teams have a legitimate shot at being undefeated when they clash on October 10th, setting up the biggest game in Oxford in decades, certainly since LSU in 2003. The winner of that game will have the inside track for the SEC Western Division crown and a shot at Florida or Georgia in the SEC Championship game.

Embrace the hype. Love the Hype. Resistance is Futile.

26 days until the Rebels hang 50 on Memphis.

In response to ATVS

I wanted to take a minute to respond to this post from And The Valley Shook, a very well done LSU blog. It's a fairly in-depth rundown of why Ole Miss won't win the West this year, and unlike Finebaum's pointless rant, actually offers some research.

Take this quote for example:

But this is a team that has to improve in order to win the division, and I don't see that improvement. I believe that it will be a major challenge to merely maintain the massive improvement the program made last season. I actually believe Nutt is up for that challenge, but expecting more seems a tad unrealistic. The jury is still out on whether last season was a one-year aberration or a new level for Ole Miss. The most likely answer is that the truth lies somewhere in between.

I take umbrage with a few points in that paragraph, and not just the misuse of the word "massive".

• First, I'm not sure how much the Rebels actually have to improve to win the division this year. I'd say there's signiifcantly more pressure on LSU to get better, particularly when they're building their offense around an unproven and (at least in my eyes) overrated commodity in Jordan Jefferson. There's also a lot of pressure on Alabama to simply maintain what they were last year with the loss of a senior QB, a huge chunk of their OL and some key defensive losses. Arkansas has the potential to be the most improved overall, but a killer schedule leaves them a year away from a run at the SEC West. Auburn and MSU are non-factors in the grand scheme of things.


• As for not seeing the improvement, considering the Rebels haven't even reported yet, that's a bold statement. No one will see any improvement or steps back until the product hits the field next week. And it'll most likely be the South Carolina game before the Rebels are faced with an imposing test, and that'll give Nutt and staff two games and an off week to rectify any problems. While everyone else in the West is trying to get their offense in sync, Snead and crew will be hanging 50+ on Memphis and SELA.


• Earlier in the post, he says that last year was good, but not great, which I agree with. The last 6 games were fantastic, but the seaon as a whole left something to be desired. But his sentence wondering whether 2008 was a one-year abberation or a new level for Ole Miss shows a subtle disrespect for the Rebels. Wiith a legitimate head coach in place for the first time since Pine Box Tommy skated town under a cloak of darkness and the current and incoming talent pool, there's no reason that the Rebels can't maintain a degree of success similar to 2008. It wasn't all that long ago that Ole Miss took 4/5 from the Tigers before the dark days of EOr ran the ship ashore.

Tuesday Linkage

* An amusing read from Souvenir City about a Big12 Rivals writer calling the SEC Overated.

* Reason #4,576 that SEC Football is the best in the land... Houston Nutt is in the top 10% nationwide for salaries, which is good enough to land him 6th in the SEC.

* Reason #4,577 that SEC Football is the best in the land... This quote right here from The Daily Illini:

Reporters at Big Ten Media Days didn't focus on Tebow, but there was no shortage of discussion on the SEC.

While I wasn't at SEC Media days, I feel certain that Houston Nutt, Urban Myer, Lane Kiffin, et al, weren't fielding questions comapring the SEC to the Big 10.

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez even had this to say:

"I think our league is poised to have a big bowl performance situation very, very soon if you look at who's coming back in our league and the teams ... As a league, once we get a few big wins, whether it's regular season, nonconference, a BCS bowl or bowl games, that perception will change,"

Talking about it and doing it are two completely different animals though. Talking about it won't make the players in the Big10 bigger, stronger, faster, better. That's the difference between the leagues right now... not perception.

* There's a piece in The Sun Herald today that really offers no newsworthy information... lots of hype in Oxford, Jevan Snead is good, Paul Finebaum is an idiot, Ole Miss has never to Atlanta, etc. But I did want to make a comment or two on this excerpt:

Ole Miss is generating this buzz based on three or four things:

1) The Rebels are loaded on the defensive line, even after Peria Jerry’s departure;

2) They waylaid LSU at Tiger Stadium, and were the only team to beat Tim Tebow and Florida in 2008;

3) They can score points in bunches and move the football, whether they’re in their conventional offense or Houston Nutt’s beloved “Wild Rebel” scheme;

4) And most important, they’ve got a big-time quarterback.

I'll grant Mashek that those are all major factors in the hype. It certainly doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure that out. But in no way shape or form is that the limit of what is generating this buzz. Here are 3 more that popped into my head while I read this.

• The Rebels have as strong a stable of running backs as they ever have. Their ability to break away is key to Jevan Snead having space to throw in


• Alabama and LSU both come to Oxford this year


• And, perhaps most importantly, the other starting QBs in the division have yet to prove themselves on the field. Ryan Mallett seems to be regarded as the best of the bunch, but he's going to be working behind a patchwork OL, runs about a 10.9 40, and struggled mightily against Big10 defenses. Jordan Jefferson and Greg McElroy will be working with talent around them, but are unproven commodities at this point. Snead is the only one in the West, and one of two in the conference, that you know what you're going to get on a week to week basis.

Winning the SEC West: Inside the Numbers

Let's get the obvious out of the way first: The hype leading up to the 2009 football season is something that Oxford hasn't seen in decades. For the first time in years, the Rebels will field an explosive offense with a stout defense and experienced special teams. There's legitimate talk of the Rebels making the program's first appearance in the SEC Championship game.

But what will it take to make it to Atlanta? Besides just winning more games than divisional opponents and a little bit of luck along the way, what do the Rebels need to do on the field to put themselves in that position?

Using the always awesome cfbstats.com, I took a look at the SEC Western Division winners from the last 5 years and some key metrics. See below for how the quintet compares in Offensive Yards Per Play, Defensive Yards Per Play, Run/Pass Ration, Turnover Margin, Offensive Third Down Conversion Rate, Defensive Third Down Conversion Rate, Offensive Points per Game, and Defensive Points Per Game.
So what do the numbers say? For one, turnover margin is not necessarily as important as many think it is... just look at LSU from 2007 (+20) and 2005 (-9). It also points to a reliance on a strong running game as each team had at least a 1.38/1 run/pass ratio. The 2004 Auburn Tigers had a 1.8/1 ratio. Not surprisingly, they also point to a strong defense that can get off the field in 3rd down situations. None of the last 5 winners has allowed 20ppg or more than 4.7 ypp.

Another interesting note is how comparable last year's Rebel team was to the previous winners. And, just for some sadistic fun, I threw up the numbers from the 0-8 team.
Yep, last year's team was much better. The question is, of course, can this year's Rebels maintain that explosiveness on both sides of the ball with the losses of Peria Jerry, Michael Oher, and Mike Wallace? Peria will certainly be missed, but with the depth the Rebels have stockpiled along the defensive front, that unit will be okay. Patching up the holes on the offensive line certainly present some issues, but talent is there and Mike Markuson is one of the best in the business. If a legitimate deep threat steps up to replace Mike Wallace, there's no reason to think that this year's offense won't be as good if not better than last year's.

Perhaps most telling in this comparison is the difference in the number of plays we ran on offense, and under a much healthier run/pass ratio. As bad as our QB situation was in Orgeron's entire tenure, we still threw the ball more times than we ran it in 2007, mostly because we were behind so big so early.

Coaches Pre-Season All-SEC Team Announced

It was posted here on the official conference site and raises some interesting questions.

John Jerry and Greg Hardy both landed 1st team nods, Dexter McCluster and Jevan Snead earned 2nd team nods, and Shay Hodge, Marcus Tillman, and Joshua Shene wound up on the 3rd team. Not a bad showing for the Rebels.

One thing of note though... three player were unanimous first teamers: Eric Berry, Ciron Black, and Julio Jones. Not Tim Tebow though. While he's the obvious choice as first team QB, there was at least one dissenter along the way and my guess would be Mr. Kiffin. And, by the way, I know Julio is great and all, but how is he unanimous and AJ Green isn't? Green's numbers were better than Jones' last year.

Speaking of quarterbacks, it's a sad state of affairs when the 3rd team nod gets split between Stephen Garcia and Mike Hartline. Those two combined for 2498 yards with a 15/16 TD/INT ratio. I'd say that Mallett or Cox will end up 3rd team. I'd even take McElroy before either Garcia or Hartline.

I also think it's interesting that no Rebel RB made the list. I know that the depth Nutt has at his disposal hurts individual numbers, but gimme Brandon Bolden over any back in the league except for Charles Scott. Michael Smith will put up gaudy numbers as the featured back at Arkansas, but if I need 2 yards, I'll take Scott or Bolden over anyone else.

Last thoughts about finebaum's column

Cocknfire over at the always great Team Speed Kills linked back to my response to Finebaum's recent pot-stirring column and makes some of the points I wish I had made, but was too flabbergasted by the gall it took to pen such meaningless crap.

If you don't believe that Ole Miss is going to win the SEC West this year, that's one thing. There's plenty of people out there who believe the Rebels will not win it and offer legitimate reasons they won't. Then you have Finebaum who somehow pieces together 827 words of inflammatory muck without offering a single intelligent statement or snippet of research as to why the Rebels will fail this year. I'd be impressed by the sheer ineptitude if I weren't so bothered that his editor ran with the story.

As Cocknfire points out, most of (Finebaum's) shots are "playground-level taunts, but that's Finebaum's usual fare." It's the sort of inane banter expected on the free access areas of message boards, but not from a professional paid "journalist". He could have worked in "Ole Piss" and "webels" and not compromised the integrity of the column, as there was none left to lose by the fourth paragraph.

Catching up with the pundits

I've been away for awhile, but I'm back.

* The more I read and hear Paul Finebaum, the more I wonder who the shiny-headed blowhard has nekkid pictures of. He's a pot-stirrer at best who rarely - if ever - writes anything non-inflammatory. The latest bandwagon he's jumped on is the anti-Rebel Bandwagon bandwagon.

This piece may be pointless and empty of any real substance, but at least it's clouded by ridiculous hyperbole, metaphors, and Caesarian references. I'm not even going to justify it by quoting it on this site. It's bad even by Finebaumian standards.

I will say one thing though. Mr. Finebaum, please allow me to speak for the Rebel Nation when I assure you that we don't need your pity. Whether or not the Rebels win the SEC West this year remains to be seen, but win or lose, I'll still be a Rebel and you'll still be a washed-up never-was that panders shamelessly to anyone that will actually read or listen to you, the overwhelming majority of which recognize you for the fraud you are. So please, spare me your faux-pity.

* Then there's Tommy Tuberville, whose opinion I actually do respect. He offers a pretty fair assessment of the the three-team race atop the SEC West, though he gives the edge to LSU. Personally, I think he's putting too much stock in Jordan Jefferson, but that's just me.

Tuberville's thoughts are after the good article about the Louisiana players on the Ole Miss roster.

* Wally Hall is typically as big a homer as Finebaum is pointlessly inflammatory, so I was surprised he listed Mallett behind Snead in his rundown of the SEC QBs. If the Hogs OL can gel and hold up, I can see Mallett flourishing in Petrino's offense. That's not the issue I have with this list. It's the ranking outisde the top 3 that leave me scratching my head.

Let me be the first to say that if there are 7 worse quarterbacks in the league than Tyson Lee, the SEC is in for a long, miserable season. He's a shoo-in for highest interception/attempts ratio in the conference. What exactly has Wally Hall seen from Lee that makes him think Lee can even be a serviceable QB in the SEC?

And ranking Joe Cox last? In this mediocre crop of SEC QBs, give me a fifth-year senior with UGA's OL with AJ Green lined up wide any day of the week over the majority of QBs ranked ahead of him. Cox would very well be 4th in the league in passing yards behind Tebow, Snead, and Mallett.

The same can also be said about Greg McElroy ranking 11th. Bama has some questions on the OL, but as long as Julio Jones is running around, McElroy will have one of the top bail-out options in the country.

As long as Garcia's antics are a thing of the past, I think, almost by default, that a Spurrier-coached QB (even a down-trodden, disinterested Spurrier) is going to be better than anyone Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Auburn, or mittippi tate run out there this year.

I'll grant you these lists are always subjective, but I can say unequivocably that Mr. Hall is dead wrong on many accounts in his list. I'm not sure what his criteria were, but if you're basing strictly on the productivity expected for the 2009 season, I think the list should be:
1) Tebow
2) Snead
3) Mallett
4) Cox
5) Garcia
6) Jefferson
7) McElroy
8) Burns
9) Hartline
10) Smith/Adams
11) Crompton
12) Tyson Lee/whoever replaces him when Mullen realizes he's not an SEC-caliber QB

Thursday Links

* As I predicted – not that I really went out on a limb – Chris Low ranks Jevan Snead the 3rd best player in the SEC. It’s hard to really disagree with him. Snead’s talents are best summed up in this sentence:

He's the kind of talent at quarterback that doesn't come along very often, and more importantly, the kind of talent you build championship teams around.

That leaves only UT DB Eric Berry and that one dude who plays QB at Florida… whatever his name is. If you were going to have a draft to start a college team, each would likely be the #1 overall pick for their side of the ball. Tebow and Berry are once a decade talents that have dominated their positions for the last 2 years. As good as Snead is, the gap between 2nd best and 3rd best players in the SEC is very, very big.

* Low also has a good read up entitled Simply Loaded in the SEC and looks at the stoutest units in the conference. Predictably, the stable of studs that Nutt and Nix have available at DL is mentioned:

Former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron obviously knew a thing or two about recruiting and developing defensive linemen. The Rebels will go about eight deep across the defensive front in 2009, and that's after losing first-round draft pick Peria Jerry. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt says pass-rushing extraordinaire Greg Hardy is dialed in mentally like he hasn't seen him, and tackle Jerrell Powe lost weight and is coming off a stellar spring. Ends Marcus Tillman and Kentrell Lockett combined for 17.5 tackles for loss last season, and both are dynamic leaders. Ted Laurent, Lawon Scott and Justin Smith make for an imposing trio on the inside.

Other units mentioned are the Alabama DL, the LSU secondary, the UGA OL, the Arkansas WRs, and the UF secondary (which is doing just fine thanks since parting ways with the cancerous Jamar Hornsby.)

* Ole Miss guard Terrico White and 16 players you’ve probably never heard of were invited to the Team USA U19 Trials in Colorado Springs, CO.

Glancing over the roster, it appears that Terrico has a legitimate shot at making the roster. This is a great chance for him to get in some additional live game action and hopefully develop a little more reliable outside jumper. If he can consistently knock down an open 15-20 foot jump shot next season, it will open up world of possibilities for him and the Rebel offense in general.

So apparently Ole Miss is going to be good or something...

One of my favorite SEC sites - GatorTailgating.com - posted this Rebel football preview earlier today. It's a very well-informed piece that covers a lot. It wraps up with this doozie:

Predictions: I honestly see the Rebels going 12-0 (8-0) and being in national title contention. (Yes I know it is Ole Miss) The only true tests on their schedule are Alabama and LSU, both of whom will have to travel to Oxford. They will lose to the Gators in the SEC championship and go to a BCS bowl.

Those expectations are a little loftier than mine, but I'll not argue with them.

The one thing from the write-up I do question is this quote:

These aren’t the Rebels we all know and used to love to see on the schedule.

Last I checked, we've won 3/4 from the Gators, including 2 in a row in Gainesville. My guess is the Gators are glad to not see us on their schedule this season.

There's potentially a little bit of Pro-Mullen bias lingering as they're predicting a 5-7 season for mitippi tate, which is at least one more win than most are predicting. But that's understandable based on Mullen's run with UF, and I won't hold it against them...

Tuesday Things

* Chris Low rates Greg Hardy the 9th best player in the SEC. He sums up the essence of Greg Hardy in his first two sentences: “ Let's be honest here. Hardy has at times been a bit of an enigma.” When Hardy is healthy and properly focused and motivated, there are few offensive linemen who can match up with him one on one. He’s too quick and too good a slasher. With Peria Jerry gone, Hardy will be key to drawing double teams to let Patrick Trahan and others make plays in space.

My guess is that Jevan Snead ranks #3 in the conference behind Eric Berry and Tim Tebow. Or at least that’s how I’d rank them. Off the top of my head, in random order, Brandon Spikes, Rolando McClain, AJ Green, and Julio Jones will also be in the top 10. Who am I missing?

* The one thing Dan Mullen really had going for him so far this spring was he seemed to be the only rookie coach in the conference not making a spectacle of himself. Gene Chizik and his limos were all over the media and blogosphere. Lane Kiffin… well, that one speaks for itself. But Mullen seemed to just be going about his business. Until now.

Mullen used his recent stop at the Vestavia Country Club on his Bulldog Club tours to take jabs at Chizik and Kiffin. That’s most likely harmless as neither will be able to extract a painful revenge this season. Auburn and mitippi tate set modern football back 50 years with their heinous 3-2 game last year and Auburn won’t be blowing anyone out this season. And the bulldogs don’t face Tennessee in 2009, so no vengeance there.

Then Mullen decided to take a page out of the official “moou handbook for pandering to fans” and refer to Ole Miss by another name.

Go ahead, ask the New Hampshire native if he's already been introduced to his new school's rivalry with Ole Miss.

"The team up north?" he said. "We call them the team up north. I don't like to cuss by using the word that you just used."

That’s all fine and well. He needs to save up his profanities for when the season starts. This year’s Egg Bowl score may not be much different than the glorious 45-0 trouncing last year. I have a feeling that Mr. Mullen will be making up for lost profanities by the time the 4th quarter runs down to 0:00 this year.

* The All-SEC Baseball teams were announced and a big Dead Guy congratulations go out to first-teamer Jordan Henry and second-teamers Drew Pomeranz and Scott Bittle. Honestly, the Rebels weren’t as well represented as they should’ve been. Leaving Jake Morgan off is ridiculous. His numbers were fantastic – 7 Saves and a 1.29 ERA – but his emergence let us move Bittle to the starting rotation which turned our conference season around. David Brandt views it this way:

But really, as hokey as it may sound, this team hasn't been about individual honors. Almost every Ole Miss play(er) has good stats, but very few of them (except guys like Henry and Bittle) made you look at the numbers and immediately crown them All-SEC.

But hey, at least Alabama landed 5 guys on the first team alone.

* This is from last week, but somehow I missed it: Tommy Tuberville will talk SEC Football on BusterSports.com in 2009. In addition to radio appearances and podcast, he’ll interact directly with SEC fans through chat rooms, message boards, and call in questions.

After being tarred and feathered and run out of Auburn, it will probably be nice to take a year off and merely talk about the conference he coached in for nearly a decade and a half.

* After one of the worst years in recent memory, SEC basketball continues to improve itself for the 2009-10 season. With an influx of new coaches, including John Calipari, the league is set to return to relevance next season and prominence the year after that.

Calipari’s signing of John Wall to Kentucky will land the ‘Cats in the top 10 preseason. As the “basketball face” of the league, UK’s recent struggles under Billy Gilispie marred not only the school’s reputation, but also the conference’s as a whole. While I’m certainly not a Calipari fan, there’s no denying his impact.

Time to get serious

Mentally unstable John Cohen and his band of mediocre bulldogs limp into Oxford this weekend, mostly hoping to give up less than 30 runs over the weekend. the bulldogs hit the ball well - they're 3rd in conference games with a .308 average - but don't pitch or field well, ranking last with a 7.79 ERA and a .959 fielding clip. The pitching staff is so bad, they've given up 74 more earned runs than the Rebels have despite playing one less game. Only Kentucky has given up more steals than the bulldogs have as well.

Good pitching and defense are what wins championships and the Rebels lead the pack in conference ERA (4.09) and rank 2nd in fielding (.959). The .294 average in conference games is not shabby either, ranking 6th. Even if Bittle can't go on Sunday, the bulldogs just don't have enough to win a game in this series if the Rebels show up to play.

While Bianco's overall record against state is just 19-18, this series hasn't been close since 2004, with the Rebels going 16-7 since then. If this team is serious about winning the division and the SEC overall crown, there is no excuse for not sweeping the bulldogs this weekend.

Here's hoping to a cumulative score of 35-15 with Cohen getting tossed out of Saturday's game for general douchebaggery.

* To go along with hammering state in baseball, we'll also get to end LSU's tennis season on their home court. Without digressing into bitterness regarding the regional location, the men will have an added chip on their shoulders this tournament, which may be exactly what they need.

* Just a friendly reminder to go ahead and plan your PTO for next week, as it's Notre Dame week on ESPN. Actually, I'd rather watch around the clock coverage of swine flu paranoia then sit through Fat Charlie trying to justify Notre Dame's relevance.

* Nice quick hitter on ESPN about the leaders that emerged on the defensive side of the ball this spring.

Wednesday Lunch Links

* The preseason recognitions keep flowing in for the 2009 Rebels both as a whole and as individual standouts. Bruce Feldman lists Patrick Trahan as one of his breakout players from the spring. It’s not surprising though, considering the way Trahan played at the end of the season last year. If he can add a little bit more upper body strength and keep his quickness, he’s got a chance to be special.

* The Quad is up to its 118th best team (AKA 3rd worst team) in the country and it’s the first with SEC ties – New Mexico State. In its first season since firing former UK coach Hal Mumme, the Lobos aren’t expected to do much... not that they did much while he was there. It was surprising how bad Mumme failed there, considering that Smart Football, one of the best sports blogs on the planet, called him possibly The Most Influential Coach of the Last Two Decades.

* There's already been a lot said and written about Daniel Hood, Lane Kiffin's latest signee at Tennessee. His story - actively assisting a 17-year old boy to rape his cousin with a plunger - is well publicized and everyone's got their opinions about this, and here's mine: You can save your “everyone deserves a second chance” line. Like Jamar Hornsby, Hood crossed a certain line that upstanding citizens rarely venture near and never cross.

It’s not like he was a young kid when he contributed to the raping of his cousin. By 13, you’ve got a good handle of right and wrong. How old do you have to be to know that stripping, binding, and raping your cousin is wrong? This was just four-five years ago. Kiffin and others can spin it how they want to, but this is a despicable signing, particularly for a school trying to distance itself from the late Fulmer-era arrest records. Neither he nor Jamar Hornsby should be anywhere near a football field come fall.

* Speaking of The Great Punkin, he apparently wants another crack at a head coaching job, possibly in the NFL. But without a mentor to stab in the back and force out, don't expect the NFL to give him a second thought, particularly when better SEC coaches - Spurrier, Saban, and possibly Petrino - all failed in the NFL.

Tuesday Tidbits

* It’s as though we’ve landed in some kind of bizarro world: College Football News offers the following Sugar Bowl projection: West Virginia vs Ole Miss. I’m just waiting for Kevin, Gene, Feldman, and Vargas to show up.

Assuming the SEC champion is No. 1 and off to the national championship, the Sugar Bowl will get the first choice of teams and it'll most certainly take the second best SEC team. Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, Georgia or even Florida; throw a dart and you might have the right SEC representative. Boise State might be the call if the Fiesta doesn't have an interest, but geographically is makes more sense for the Broncos to go to Glendale and the Big East champion, possibly West Virginia, to go to New Orleans. The Mountaineers stunned Georgia the last time they were in the Sugar, played in Atlanta in 2006.

* Shiny-headed blowhard Paul Finebaum has high praise for Gene Chizik’s "Tiger Prowl". While Finebaum admits it was a gimmick, it seems he’s putting way too much stock in it.

There was another important aspect to Tiger Prowl as well -- stoking the home fires. In politics, you garner votes by exciting your base. You toss them red meat and hear them roar. The Auburn fan base was spitting fire last week. However, I think the most important message of the week was that Auburn is going to make Alabama fight for every acre of real estate in the state.

To me, this is exactly like John McCain choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate last year. Sure it got the fan base rowdy for a while, but once the novelty wore off, it was a gimmick with little to no substance. I somehow doubt Nick Saban is overly concerned about Chizik and his limo rides.

* Chris Low has his SEC Spring Wrap up on his blog and the Rebels are featured prominently. His Ole Miss wrap up is pretty good too.

* Jermey Parnell has signed a free agent deal with the Saints. Yes, that Jermey Parnell. While there's very little chance he makes the team, you can't teach the size, strength, and athleticism that JP's got. Who knows? Maybe he'll be the next Antonio Gates, just as a DL. I certainly wish him the best. If he doesn't go down against UT in the SEC opener last year, we probably win that game and a handful more of games we lost in the early conference season last year.

* The Quad, the New York Times college sports blog, has started its annual countdown of the best teams in America #120 - #1. Western Kentucky brings up the rear for a 2nd straight year. While it’ll be early July before any of our SEC brethren show up, it’ll be fairly quickly when UAB and Memphis show up. And then there’s the other half of the non-conference schedule – Northern Arizona and SELA – which won’t show up at all, as they’re both 1AA. So we’ve got that going for us.

Rebels in the 2010 NFL Draft

With the 2009 NFL draft now just a blip in history, it’s obviously time to get mock drafts together for 2010. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports offers his here, and projects Jevan Snead as the No.1 pick next year and lists Greg Hardy as No. 8. He says this about Snead:

An early look to next year's draft shows a class that could be quarterback heavy. My top guy, as always, is a quarterback. It's not who you think. It's not Oklahoma's Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy of Texas or even Florida's Tim Tebow.

It's Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead. Entering his junior year, this transfer from Texas has everything
I love in a quarterback. He has good size at 6-3, a rocket for an arm and sees the field.

He transferred from Texas because of McCoy. But I think come next April he will be the first pick in the draft. Snead, if he gives up his senior year, is next year's Matt Stafford.

Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated offers his here. He ventures to project the order of the draft and has Hardy going 18th to the Seahawks and Snead going 25th to the 49ers. Then there's this from Sports Illustrated that ranks Hardy #1 and Snead #32.

With a chance the NFL rookie salary cap comes to fruition in the 2011 season, I wouldn’t be surprised to Snead come out early, particularly if he plays like he did in the final 6 games of last season. The 3 consecutive throws he made to McCluster, Summers, and Wallace against LSU were as good as any throws any Rebel QB has made in a long, long time, including Eli.

With 2009 being the first draft the Rebels have ever had 2 players drafted in the first round, accomplishing it two years in a row would be a big statement for the program, particularly with the sad W/L record compiled in the EOr era. Nutt and his staff have done a good job replacing the outgoing talent, and while it remains to be seen whether it blossoms on the field, prospects are certainly high.

And if Snead is indeed gone after next season, here's hoping he goes out with an SEC title game appearance on his resume.