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).

Random Game Day Thoughts

* With Oklahoma and Virginia Tech losing yesterday, the Rebels have a decent shot at moving up to #6 in the AP poll with a convincing win today. Ponder that for a second...

* Speaking of the Sooners, it's a shame to see Sam Bradford go down like he did. You never want to see that happen to one of the game's biggest stars. It also opens up the Heisman race a bit, meaning Jevan Snead may be more of a candidate than some expected.

* BYU has a chance to run the table and play in the BCS Championship game. They've got 3 games against ranked squads left - Florida State, Utah, and TCU - but the biggest hurdle is cleared.

* New Belgium's newest seasonal beer Hoptober is really good. It's no Fat Tire, but it's certainly on par with Skinny Dip.

* For Georgia's sake, let's hope that Joe Cox's flu symptoms were worse than they let on. After an impressive opening drive, that offense was just bad.

* Hats off to the three new HCs as all picked up blowout victories in Week 1. Lane Kiffin and Tennessee welcome UCLA next week, while Dan Mullen and Mississippi State travel to Gene Chizik's Auburn team. The honeymoon phase will be over for at least one coach next Saturday.

* Once they hit their stride, Alabama just manhandled VTU last night. If we - or anyone - is going to beat them, we've got to keep the defense off the field. The undersized Hokies just wore down as time ticked on. It was a perfect example of the difference between the quality of ACC and SEC teams.

* Admittedly, I was asleep long before the game ended, but LSU's pedestrian 31-23 over a Washington team that went 0-12 last season can't bolster the confidence of Tiger fans.

* I have no idea how Memphis' OL is going to even attempt to stand up against our DL. We may not register many sacks - Memphis runs a very quick drop offense - but the passing lanes are going to crumble a lot quicker than anything they could simulate in practice.

* I'm really glad this series is going on an extended hiatus and I live in the Memphis area.

Friday Morning Reading

One week from today, the first SEC game will be in the books. Just one more week...

* Pot, meet kettle. Is it just me or is a Duke fan calling the 2008 Ole Miss Rebels mediocre just a wee bit silly? The fact that the groundwork for our recent 4 year coma was laid by now Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and his utter refusal to recruit or hire a competent staff makes the irony just a little sweeter.

* Nothing groundbreaking here, but a nice read on Snead's path to Ole Miss and expectations for 2009 in The USA Today.

* I wonder what Beck Campbell and her precious little snowflake Mitch Mustain think about this. It's actually a sad tale of what overprotective, overzealous parents can do to a kid.

* A couple of things struck me from this article in The Sun Herald. First, I'm impressed they were able to publish an article mentioning Ole Miss football without also publicly lamenting the fact that Ole Miss and Mississippi State won't play Southern Miss in football. Secondly, who the hell wrote the caption for that picture of Tyson Lee? His mom?

Mississippi State quarterback Tyson Lee passes the ball during practice in Starkville. Lee, the 5-foot-10 senior from Columbus, is the gutsy team leader who overcame physical disadvantages last season with brains and heart, and is the current front runner for the starting position.

* This proves 2 things: Preseason polls are worthless and Jim Leavitt is a douchebag.

* Former Ole Miss tennis star Devin Britton drew a first round matchup with Roger Federer in the US Open.

Sunday Night Niblets

* I'll be the first to admit that when EOr hired Dan Werner, I was less than thrilled, but this is a great article about him and how's he rebounded from his wife's unexpected death earlier this year. I'll be pulling for North Delta School this year.

* The Birmingham News suggests that Alabama and Auburn should subsidize the little guys in Alabama, saying "get off your high horse and throw your neighbor a bone." Maybe Auburn will bring UNA and Terry Bowden to Jordan Hare...

* Some random college football predictions including a 7-0 start for Auburn and Joe Cox putting up better numbers than Matthew Stafford

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.

Blind Side Previews up, looks pretty bad

Like any college football fan, particularly those blessed enough to be red and bue, I read and enjoyed Michael Lewis' The Blind Side. It was hard not to pull for Michael Oher to do well after his humble beginnings. When it was announced that there would be a movie adaptation, I was skeptical. Movies are rarely, if ever, up to par with their written counterparts. When it was announced Sandra Bullock was cast as Leanne Touhy, I officially gave up hope. Based on the above preview, that was the right decision.

The Blind Side seamlessly wove Oher's story with the emergence of the high salaries shelled out to left tackles, who's main job is to protect the blind side of the quarterback. When not dealing with the intricacies of the position, it portrayed Big Mike as a gentle giant who was rescued by an affluent family in East Memphis and focused on his (sometimes difficult) adjustment to that lifestyle.

At no point in the book was Leanne Touhy the focus. The trailer seems to portray her as the protagonist and focuses on her story. I understand that she's (for some reason) a popular actress, but Disney-fying the book is bad. Outside of Speed and A Time to Kill, I can't think of a single movie of hers that's even remotely watchable. You can tell from the snippets shown that they screenplay took some liberties with the actual story - Leanne threatening the guy at the table, for example - and made the movie about her, which is an absolute shame. Oher's story is a remarkable one, but apparently not enough so for Hollywood.

While it will be interesting to see Saban in an LSU shirt again and it's always entertaining trying to decipher what Ed Orgeron is saying, I'll wait until the DVD comes out to catch this, if even then.

***Update***
Blutarsky and Hey Jenny Slater share my skepticism, though Ghost at Red Cup Rebellion holds a more favorable view.

Monday Morning tidbits

* Blutarsky links to a couple of posts discussing the quarterback situation in the SEC for 2009, including a look at the SEC champion quarterbacks from the past eight years. Good news for Rebel fans...

* The News Star takes a look at some questions for LSU's upcoming season and have a very favorable prediction for Jordan Jefferson. I'm still trying to figure out why. Sure he didn't throw a Pick6 every other pass attempt like Jarrett Lee did, but what about him makes people think he's so great?

He became the Tigers' #1 QB in the Ole Miss beatdown last year and amassed the following statistics in the final 3 games of the season: 53% completion rate, 4/1 TD/INT ratio, 6.3 yards per pass attempt, 2.5 yards per carry. Why do those numbers give Tiger fans hope?

* Tony Barnhart has "Five Burning Questions About the SEC West" and Question #5 deals with our Rebels.

5-Ole Miss finally cut signee Jamar Hornsby loose. Is that good karma or bad karma going into preseason practice?

My burning question is how it could possibly be bad karma to get rid of a cancer like Hornsby. He's more interested in fighting at McDonald's in Starkville at 2AM than he is his team. He's a thug who is destined to spend a good portion of his adult life behind bars. The bad karma came with recruiting him, not with seeing the light and kicking his ass to the curb releasing him from his letter of intent.

* The Baltimore Sun has a very quick interview with former Rebel FB Jason Cook up on its site. While Peria Jerry and Michael Oher got most of the attention last year amongst the seniors - and deservedly so - Jason Cook was overlooked. It's good to see him reunited with Big Mike in Baltimore.

A buncha Sunday Linkage

* Tyson Lee hopes to be the next star quarterback in the SEC. Hey, when I was in college, I hoped I'd be able to go to class with a Camelbak filled with Jack and Coke, but my aspirations were met with a certain degree of disapproval by UPD. A word of advice to Mr. Lee, if I may... I'd worry about merely surviving the season without being trampled by the other team's DL. That's probably a more realistic goal for you.

* This is a surprisingly level-headed look from Oklahoma at the difference in the Big12 and the SEC. Bottom line is that while it may be fun to run up 60 points against bad defenses for an entire season, but when you're actually forced to play a decent defense, you're in for a rude awakening.

* It won't happen again, but it appears the numbers are working out for Nutt and staff.

* There's a good read in the Chattanooga Free Press about the upcoming season.

* You have to wonder about this article coming from a Tennessee writer. He's obviously fishing for a response with his lead...

Whenever Ole Miss plays football, TWO of the NCAA's most productive passing attacks probably will be on display - one belonging to the Rebels, the other belonging to whoever they're playing.

Considering Tennessee passed for more than 200 yards exactly twice last year and bring back the same quarterbacks and very few experienced wideouts, I assure you that UT won't be a productive passing attack against Nix's boys.

* LSU and Auburn both have issues.

Friday Afternoon Delights

What's the best way to complain about the out-of-control media hype that a non-story is getting? Well, if you're Danny Belch of the Stanford Daily News, you write a story about it for the newspaper...

I could not believe the coverage this little incident — if we even want to call it that — was getting. In my mind it shouldn’t have gotten any.

Yep, no better way to make sure a "little incident" gets no media coverage than to write about it in the paper. Not a bit of irony there.

And why does it concern a Stanford student anyway? I agree with your assertion that it needs to go away, but it's become a non-issue around here now to everyone but Spurrier himself. I don't think the media "forced" Spurrier to change his vote. He's a disinterested shell of his former antagonistic self and most likely truly delegated his voting duties.

And, Danny, if I may call you Danny, a little fact checking wouldn't hurt along the way.

Then they can go find the person who voted for Brett Favre instead of Tom Brady for the 2008 NFL MVP. If you forgot, Brady broke the record by throwing 50 touchdowns during the regular season, and also led the Patriots to the only 16-0 NFL regular season. Pretty deserving, I would say. He received 49 out of the 50 possible MVP votes. So why did we not hunt down the person who voted for Favre? Maybe because that person had an opinion, and thought Favre’s outstanding 2008 season was MVP-worthy.

In 2008, Tom Brady completed 7/11 passes for 76 yards before suffering a season-ending injury. If anyone voted Brady MVP with those numbers, there probably should be an investigation. I believe you meant 2007, but seeing as how you included "2008" twice, I fear your research crew may be failing you.

* Two other articles about the 10 quarterbacks in the SEC not named Tebow or Snead here and here.

* Wally Hall likes the Rebels in the SEC West this year

* John Stroud is being inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame tonight

Because you really can't ever beat a dead horse enough

In what basically reads like a Southern Miss fan message board post, The Sun Herald editorial board proposes the novel concept that Ole Miss and Mississippi State should be ashamed of themselves for not subsidizing the Southern Miss football program. Even the headline - "It's what the people want" - shows the delusion has permeated the media. What "people" did they talk to? Southern Miss fans obviously. I know of very few Ole Miss or Mississippi State fans that want anything to do with the Southern Miss football program.

It's a lose-lose situation for either in-state SEC school. A win is a win over a CUSA school, a loss would be absolutely disastrous for recruiting and message board reading. With Nutt at the helm and the recent influx of talent to the Rebel program, I don't think a loss would be a realistic possibility, but the risk - however minimal - outweighs the benefits, which are basically non-existent.

Sure USM would look better than most or all of our 2009 OOC opponents, but this year is something of an aberration regarding scheduling. With upcoming games against BCS opponents as well as Tulane - which offers the best regional road trip - there's nothing appealing about such a series. Who wants to go spend a day in Hattiesburg?

I'm a big proponent of the baseball and current basketball series. One of the most exciting basketball games I've ever attended 113-107 2OT game in late 1995. The neutral site locations for the games certainly add some excitement to the series, but basketball and baseball are completely different animals than football, particularly in Mississippi.

Then there's this:

Gov. Haley Barbour and the Legislature should serve notice that Ole Miss, Southern and State will compete annually in major college sports. Because it is in the economic interest of taxpayers. Because it would be public policy that would bolster pride in the state’s athletic community.

Yep, that sounds about right. Mississippi has solved all its other problems and economic woes. It's time for federally-mandated football games. Bravo.

And, for your viewing pleasure, here's a completely uninformative blog entry from the SEC football mecca of Seattle. Ole Miss is listed as a possible team "from a BCS Conference who traditionally doesn't sit atop their conference (that could) have a great season and shake things up like Texas Tech did last year or like Kansas the year before."

Basic recap:
- Rebels have good QB with cool name
- Snead is getting unwarranted Heisman hype
- OMGWTFBBQ! Jevan Snead is white
- Picture of Jevan Snead and his whiteness
- Rundown of favorable schedule

Enjoy.

Dave Curtis is strange, likes understatements

The Sporting News' Matt Hayes and Dave Curtis squared off yesterday about a variety of college football topics, including the following question: I've got a pair of 50-yard-line, 2009 season tickets for any team in the country. Who are you taking?

Hayes responded with USC, apparently wanting to see which medicore Pac-10 team they Trojans will inexplicably choke against this year. Dave Curtis, though, went an entirely different route, mixing in the understatement of the year...

Curtis: Mississippi State. (Say what?) On the surface, spending seven Saturdays in Starkville sounds like a Siberian exile. But check out the teams coming to Scott Field this fall: Jackson State, LSU, Georgia Tech, Houston, Florida, Alabama and Ole Miss. That's a strong football buffet -- great defenses, a triple option offense and one of the nation's five best from outside the Big Six conferences. Here's the added bonus: I'm a sucker for watching a team build itself up from the basement to the penthouse. Mississippi State won't win a national championship, but Dan Mullen's bound to make this program a factor in the SEC West. Get on the bandwagon now, and enjoy watching this squad grow almost from scratch with a lineup of young players.

Really? First off, I was unaware that the bulldogs had a bandwagon. As bad as it crashed and burned to the ground last year, I think the bulldog bandwagon is a figment of Curtis' imagination. Sure, they've got their base of loyal fans and alumni, but that's hardly enough for a bandwagon. It's rarely enough to fill their stadium.

Secondly, I'll take Curtis' bet that Mullen makes state a "factor in the SEC West." They're mired deep in the cellar as it is... which school are they going to surpass? LSU and Alabama? Obviously not. Ole Miss? Given Nutt's track record against the bulldogs? No chance. Arkansas? Say what you will about Petrino, but he'll win some games while he's there. Auburn? Would seem to be the most likely given their offsesason shenanigans, but Chizik put a good staff together and seems to be recruiting fairly well. My guess is that Mullen finds what every other coach who goes to the land that fun forgot... you can't win there without cheating.

Fortunately, Matt Hayes got things right when he asked about his favorite college towns, listing Oxford, Athens, Boulder, and Pullman. While I've not been to the latter two, Oxford and Athens rank #1 and #2 in my book and there's not a close third.

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.

Wednesday quickies

A couple of things caught my eye today perusing the web on my lunch break...

* Doc Saturday lists the six SEC teams he's like to see play a home/home with USC, and Ole Miss is one of them. He offers this explanation:

We're going to be honest here: We really, really want Houston Nutt plopped down in central Los Angeles for no other reason than to see what will happen. It's the college football equivalent of feeding peyote to your pit bull, and we are cheerfully unashamed of our desire to rubberneck. Those watching last year's Cotton Bowl will also recall the Rebels' recent penchant for knocking off media darlings -- while we would not necessarily pick Ole Miss to win outright, an upset would be far from the weirdest thing Nutt has ever done.

Hard to believe that statement is being written about a program that went 3-21 in the SEC over a very recent 3-year span.

* Then of course there's this, which the very title - Nutt, Rebels not giving up on Hornsby - is enough to make me sick. I am a Rebel through and through and I have for damn sure given up on Hornsby. I don't want him anywhere near Oxford or the football team.

Nutt said this about the nefarious delinquent:

"Talking to him, lawyers, his mama, coaches, people that have been around him, I think there's a lot of good there"

Good? The only "good" about Hornsby is his Rivals/Scout star rating and his size as a DB. He's been in trouble - in form or another - since he enrolled at Florida and we just don't need that distraction on the team this year. God bless the Right Reverend Houston Nutt for what's he's accomplished as a Rebel so far, but he is absolutely in the wrong for recruiting Hornsby in the first place and not cutting his losses now.

Even if Hornsby does end up in Oxford this fall, does anyone out there actually think he'll keep his nose clean long enough to play and make an impact? This is a disaster waiting to happen and I hope the staff realizes that before it's too late.

Monday Morning Munchies

I missed a busy week last week in my travels, but hopefully I can catch up here.

* After a pathetic showing in Oxford two series ago, the men’s baseball team rebounded and did what they needed to do against Arkansas in Fayetteville, clinching a share of the SEC overall championship. Congratulations are certainly in order for shaking off a rocky start to the season and rebounding to win the toughest conference in America. The 20-10 record is fantastic, obviously, but how nice would it have been to handle business against mitippi state one weekend earlier? Now, the Rebels tangle with previous #1 UGA on Wednesday in Hoover. The ‘Dawgs have been in a tailspin though since they were handled in Oxford last month. Hopefully that continues. More on that later this week. It sucks Scott Bittle won't be making the trip.

* So much for the snub providing the tennis team the motivation they needed to finally get over the hump… 2009 became yet another earlier than expected exit from the tournament for Billy Chadwick’s netters. It was certainly a season to remember, but it ended sooner than many thought it should.

* It’s been a busy week for the men’s hoops team as well. It was announced this week that Nick Williams, a fantastic freshman guard for Indiana University last year is transferring to Ole Miss. He’ll sit out 2009-10 and be eligible to play as a sophomore in 2010-11. He's a big strong guard that will almost certainly get better with a year of going against one of the best backcourts in the conference in practice.

* The Rebels will also be returning to Puerto Rico this year, playing in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic. It won’t take long for the Rebels to find out how good they are: The field includes Boston University, Dayton, George Mason, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, and Villanova.

* The Dagger takes a stab at ranking the SEC basketball coaches, and offers many of the same opinions I did a couple of months back. The difference is that every school has their coaches in place now, so allow me to express my opinions about the new guys.

It’s hard to argue with the hires made by Alabama and Kentucky. While both made big splashes with their hires, Kentucky landed the biggest catch, luring John Calipari from Memphis. I do have to disagree with the “Superelite” tag applied to Calipari. Coaches like Tom Izzo and Roy Williams are “Superelite." They’ve consistently won in the highest level of college basketball and have the banners hanging above their heads to prove it. Calipari is certainly elite, but until he wins in a Big6 conference consistently and cuts down the nets in early April, he’s not “Superelite."

Anthony Grant was primed to take over for Billy Donovan during his momentary lapse of reason a couple of years ago when he actually signed with the Orlando Magic. Now, he’s finally getting his crack at the SEC and it’s hard to see him not succeeding. He was an integral part of Florida’s national championship teams and UF hasn’t been the same since he left.

Mark Fox, UGA’s new coach, seems like a decent enough hire. He took over Nevada’s program when LSU head coach Trent Johnson left for Stanford. It’s certainly not a “wow” hire like the Bama and UK hires, but he appears to be a solid coach. If he can recruit/win in the SEC remains to be seen though.

* Then there’s this: College Football Network’s rankings of the SEC football coaches.

The Right Reverend Nutt comes in at #3, which seems a bit high to me. Not sure how he’s ranked ahead of Mark Richt. It must be tied to UGA’s disappointing (in relation to expectations) season last year while Nutt walked into a gold mine in Oxford. Whatever the situation is, it’s nice to see the positive press.

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.

Slow news day in Georgia

Now that he's committed to Georgia, Mark Deas has thrown away his Florida Gator underwear. Sounds like a non-event, right? Well it got its own story on RedAndBlack.com, complete with this future Pulitzer winning headline: "Football recruit trashes undies after committing to Georgia".

I guess we should just be grateful he didn't pull a Bobbie Massie and drop his Gator drawers before sliding on his UGA ones.

Monday Lunch-Break Thoughts

What an awesome, awesome weekend to be a Rebel and be in Oxford. The weather was absolutely perfect, Double Decker Fest was fantastic (as usual), and oh yeah, by the way, we took 2 out of 3 from Georgia in baseball.

The atmosphere wasn't lost on the Georgia players either. Both slugger Rich Puythress and head Coach Dave Perno had rave reviews of the stadium and the "experience":

“It's the best environment I've been around,” Georgia slugger Rich Poythress said. “I've been to LSU. I've been a lot of places, and it's the best environment, other than Omaha, that I've seen in college baseball."

"It's not just the environment,” UGA head coach Dave Perno said. “It's the stadium. They've got everything. It's done right. It's the best we've been in, not just the environment and being tough to play in, but just the looks, the aesthetics. Everything's done right and I tip my hat to Mike and Ole Miss and their athletic department. They've done a great job."

* While we were partying in Oxford, our #2-ranked tennis team was partying on the Plains, celebrating its 2009 SEC Tournament title to go along with its regular season title. That's two in a row for Coach Billy Chadwick and his boys.

* That's not to forget that our Rebels were well represented in the NFL draft this year. The 4 Rebels drafted tied for 4th most in the conference. Alabama also had 4 players selected, and Georgia and LSU each had 6. But it was South Carolina that led the conference with 7 draft picks this year, stealing the lead with Ryan Succop's announcement as Mr. Irrelevant. Just further proof that you can't win in this league without a competent QB, regardless of who you surround them with.

A big Dead Guy congratulations go out to: Michael Oher (#23 Baltimore), Peria Jerry (#24 Atlanta), Mike Wallace (#84 Pittsburgh), and Jamarca Sanford (#231 Minnesota). As well as Ashlee Palmer closed the season, I suspect he'll wind up somewhere as a free agent as well.

Only one team failed to land anyone in the draft. It was the second straight year that moou achieved this milestone. But hey, at least they're bringing back the Dawg Pound Rock next year. In its first incarnation, the DPR just came across as thuggish. Doing it next year, when they'll be fortunate to win 5 games, will just come across as a combination of sad and comical.

* A big thank you also to Ed Orgeron for stocking us up with the talent that he did. While I refuse to believe he'll ever be a competent head coach - unlike this article - I appreciate the hard work and effort he put it during his time in Oxford. I can't say I wish him luck though.

And I love message board comments. They're the greatest...

mikesean865 writes:

hands down we have the best coaching staff in college football, maybe ever assembled. Who would have thought last fall that by this spring we would be the envy of football fans across the country as far as coaching staff goes. they are all trembling in their little boots right now because they know what awaits them for the next ten years. two national championships minimum, 4 sec championships minimum. Write it down i said it. FEAR THE KIFF!!!

SEC Football as Tom Hanks movies

So I'm a few New Belgium Mighty Arrows into the Final Four games Saturday night and start thumbing through the guide during a commercial break when I stumbled across three Tom Hanks movies on at the same time. While the beer certainly didn't live up the standards set by its Fat Tire brethren, it did help inspire this ridiculous post.

So, here they are, without further ado, all 12 SEC football teams as Tom Hanks movies. Got better suggestions? Leave ‘em in the comments.

Alabama: Turner & Hooch
Detective Scott Turner is a straight laced, no frills kind of detective. Nick Saban is a no-nonsense, no frills kind of coach – never a hair out of place in his feathery bangs. Between his owner dying and pairing up with Turner, Hooch was a mess. He drooled everywhere, tore things up, and basically a lost cause. Between the Bear dying and before hiring Saban, Alabama was much the same way. Sure they would do well every now and then, but they had to cheat to do it. They bought a national title in the early 90s, then suffered through several ignominious years before hiring Saban.

Arkansas: Catch Me If You Can
In his early days, Frank Abagnale imitated an airline pilot, a teacher’s assistant, a doctor, and an attorney. When things took a turn for the worse, he’d disappear in the night and move on to his next gig. Finally, after getting busted, he aligned himself with Hanks’ Carl Hanratty and began improving national fraud defense. Bobby Petrino is currently at his 12th coaching spot since entering the business in 1983. He’s been the head coach of 3 different teams in the last 5 years and has flirted with several others. He seems to have found a niche in Fayetteville though and the Hogs have a chance to be much improved from last season.

Auburn: Apollo 13
Before takeoff, everyone was excited about Apollo 13’s mission to the moon. Last season was supposed to be a good one for Auburn. A new high-flying offense was in place, the defense returned 6 of its starting back 7, and the Tigers were ranked as high as #10 in the preseason. Needless to say, much-like the ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission, Auburn’s season encountered problem after problem. There was bickering amongst staff before finally crashing roughly back to earth at the end. The major difference being that Jim Lovell was congratulated for his leadership in the “successful failure” that was Apollo 13; Tommy Tuberville was inexplicably shown the door.

Florida: Sleepless in Seattle
After Sam Baldwin's wife died, he looked lost and clueless, and didn't know who to turn to. He packs up and moves out west and begins dating a girl that his son can't stand. He finally meets the one he's meant to be with at the end and live happily ever after. After Spurrier left Florida, the Gators looked lost and clueless, seeking solace in the arms of Ron Zook, who the Gator Nation hated from the beginning. Now, they've found Urban Meyer and have won 2 titles in 3 years and will be favored to win it all next year.

Georgia: Bonfire of the Vanities
Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities is a fantastic novel that was a bestseller and huge success. Unfortunately, despite a All-Star cast with Hanks, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Melanie Griffith, etc., the movie version pretty much sucked. When you read about Georgia’s team, the star power was obvious – Stafford, Moreno, Green, etc. Expectations were very high, including a preseason #1 ranking. Then, much like BotV, when you watched it on TV, you realize it’s a little disappointing on screen.

Kentucky: Saving Private Ryan
The beginning of Saving Private Ryan – the storming of the beaches at Normandy – is absolutely phenomenal. It’s beautifully crafted cinematography at its peak. Once the movie settles in though, it’s really not that different from every other war movie ever filmed. There’s a little bit of a twist at the end of the movie to tie it all together. The last two seasons, Kentucky has started out as well as possible: 5-0 and 4-0. Once the seasons settled in, the ‘Cats were average at best, finishing only 7-5 and 6-5. The bowl victories were nice surprises to wrap up the seasons.

LSU: The Man with One Red Shoe
Richard Drew is just an average joe who - due to circumstances beyond his control - looks goofy as he wears mismatched shoes on a flight. He is identified as a CIA target, and though he remains completely oblivious to everything around him, it all works out for him in the end. Les Miles always looks goofy wearing the world's largest hat and was certainly an average joe at Oklahoma State - 28-21 overall, 16-16 in the Big 12. And things have certainly worked out well for Miles so far, despite a seemingly oblivious approach to coaching.

Mississippi State: You’ve Got Mail
While I'm not a fan of either Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, I know a cheap knock off when I see one. The producers of You've Got Mail were trying to cash in on the chemistry that Hanks and Meg Ryan had in Sleepless in Seattle, but the result just wasn't as good. Same thing in Starkville. Hoping to recreate some of the recent magic in Gainesville, the Bulldogs hired away Dan Mullen from Meyer's staff, and while the results have yet to be seen, it's hard to imagine the end result being anything less than a poor attempt at recreating UF's offense.

Ole Miss: That Thing You Do!
Mr. White takes a group of talented musicians with no experience outside the town of Erie, PA, and molds them into the No. 1 rock band in the country. Houston Nutt, stepped into Oxford and took a group of talented kids who had never been shown "how to win" and recorded a 9-4 season and a Cotton Bowl victory. The major difference being that The Wonders broke up at the end of the movie, while Nutt seems to have the Rebels in place to continue their success.

South Carolina: Volunteers
Lawrence Whatley Bourne III had it all. He was a spoiled rich kid leading a pampered life until he had to join the Peace Corps to escape his creditors. Steve Spurrier had it all. He’d won a National championship as the coach of his alma mater, had the Gators as one of the top programs in the entire country, and a fun punching bag in Phil Fulmer. He got greedy, left for the NFL, and when that didn’t work out, sought refuge in Columbia where – so far – has done more to tarnish his legacy than build upon it.

Tennessee: The Terminal
What? You were expecting Volunteers? Think about it… Viktor Navorski can’t go back to whence he came as a war broke out. So he’s stuck in a foreign land, has trouble communicating with people, garners strange looks from people, and eventually makes some important friends in the airport. That’s pretty much the Lane Kiffin experience. He can’t go back to the NFL because he angered Al Davis, he’s become a one-man sideshow that it’s hard not to stop and stare at, he's found it very difficult to communicate with his peers, but he did surround himself with a knowledgeable staff.

Vanderbilt: Big
All Josh Baskin wanted to be was big. He couldn’t get the girl or ride the roller coaster, so Zoltar granted him his wish. He grew up, moved to New York and got to play with the big boys, before wishing to be a boy again. After years of wishing they were big, the Commodores finally broke through last year with their first bowl appearance since 1982. Unfortunately, like Josh Baskin’s appearance as an adult, Vandy’s was a ruse and one that won’t last, but one that made for good tv while it did.