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.

Wednesday Afternoon Delights

* How big is the SEC's new TV deal with ESPN? Blair Kerkhoff sums it up nicely with this line:

Think about that. Vanderbilt will take home more network TV football money this season than Texas.

* The guys at Red and Black threw together a list of the most hateable coaches in the SEC. It's a fairly entertaining read, and it's hard to argue with the top 3. I can't say I agree with them all though.

First off, Spurrier is highly overrated at #4. Unless you're still harboring a grudge in Athens or Knxoville, Spurrier is a disinterested shell of his former self who strikes fear into no one.

Secondly, Mark Richt is overrated as well at #5. There's no way he's more hateable than Les Miles or Bobby Petrino, who may be the most underrated checking in at #7.

Our own Houston Dale Nutt checks in at #8 with this commentary:

Houston Nutt is, well ... on the edge of crazy. We don't particularly have a grudge, but he's coached at two different SEC schools, and, well, kind of orazy.

So, hey, somebody must hate him.

I wonder who could hate Houston?

* The Orlando Sentinel has a chart up tracking the revenue of every D1A football school from 2007-08. Although the totals include all sports, truthfully on football and basketball matter financially at the majority of the schools on the list. Considering this list covers Orgeron's last year, it's no surprise to see Ole Miss ranked so low and 11th in the SEC. I know most think EOr was fired when he "sensed a lull" in the 2007 Egg Bowl, but truthfully, he was fired when about 15,000 people showed up for the Northwestern State game that year.

Florida obviously topped the SEC, but I was surprised to see Auburn #2...

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.