In-Depth Analysis of Georgia’s Road to the SEC Championship

By: @LivingCrimson

A picture is worth a thousand words.

End of analysis.

The Head Ball Witch summed up the Gamecocks 35-7 win with his usual savoir faire: the Georgia offense "didn't move it very far when they were out there," Steve Spurrier said with a grin.

Mark Richt recapped the game in his best feelings voice: "First of all, the bad news is we took a whipping. The good news is we all took it together. It was a team loss.”

What he really meant to say is that even though the Bulldogs in his tenure are now 2-15 against teams that finish the season ranked (including presumably South Carolina), 10-win easy-schedule seasons and the occasional Division title are good enough. Because doggonit people like him!

Mark Richt has lost control of his seat warmer? Naw … but he has lost control of eggs and toilet paper. There is no yellow brick road for Georgia to the SEC Championship unless Florida manages to beat the Gamecocks, UGA can then pull off a win against the Gators, and the SEC East ends in a three-way tie.

According to the SEC office: "The tied team with the highest ranking in the BCS Standings following the last weekend of regular-season games shall be the divisional representative in the SEC Championship Game, unless the second of the tied teams is ranked within five-or-fewer places of the highest ranked tied team. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the SEC Championship Game."

We doubt the wind blows the Dawgs back to that side of the rainbow.

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Speaking of teams wandering lost in the BCS Oz this season, Alabama fan anthem21 with a tribute to the media’s favorite Smurfs, the Boise State Broncos: Gangnam Style.

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Bama Gymnastics Looking to Vault to Third SEC Title in Four Years

By: @LivingCrimson

After practice on Friday, Head Coach Sarah Patterson kicked off the Tide’s run in this year’s SEC Championships with a rousing declaration: “There is nothing like competing in the Southeastern Conference.”

Five of the nation's top 10 teams are from the SEC: 1. Florida, 3. Alabama, 5. Georgia, 8. LSU and 10. Arkansas. Auburn is ranked No. 15 and Kentucky is ranked No. 24. "It is the closest thing to the finals of the NCAA Championships that you can get," said Patterson, who can remember one year when five of the six teams in the NCAA finals were from the SEC.

Defending SEC, Regional and National Champions, Bama arrived at the SEC championships this weekend peaking at the right time. It is undefeated in SEC competition (6-0-0), boasting an overall 11-1-0 record (the only loss to No. 2 Oklahoma).

The Tide has never won back-to-back SEC titles. Senior Ashley Priess doesn’t dwell on what might happen, but on “mental toughness and being fierce.” She has a will-not-be-denied attitude: "We're reversing that mindset and putting that target on everyone else's back, and we're kind of coming into this meet with this revenge mindset of we want to go out there, we want to absolutely dominate the competition, team up, work together and get the job done.”

Alabama is led by the senior All-America and All-SEC duo of Ashley Priess and Geralen Stack-Eaton. Priess is a two-time SEC champion, winning the 2010 all-around and balance beam titles. Stack-Eaton won the balance beam and floor exercise titles last season, leading the Tide to the 2011 SEC team championship. Priess and Stack-Eaton were also integral to the Tide’s 2009 SEC Championship as freshmen. Alabama also returns five other gymnasts who have earned All-SEC honors, including juniors Ashley Sledge and Marissa Gutierrez and sophomores Kim Jacob, Sarah DeMeo and Diandra Milliner.

Coach Patterson has high praise for this Crimson Tide team, particularly for the seniors.

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“I don’t think there are too many classes that can say everybody

in their class is an All-American, Scholastic All-American

and they’ve won all these championships.”

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The SEC title meet begins at 4:00 p.m.ET. Live updates will be available from the SEC Digital Network.

Roll Tide, Ladies!

(P.S. – #StatueforSarah video from ESPNU Campus Connection reporter Kassidy Hill)

Video courtesy of www.gymnastike.org

Video courtesy of www.gymnastike.org

All feedback is appreciated. Comments on this article can be posted to LivingCrimson on Twitter or Facebook.

North Carolina gets NCAA sanctions, promptly blames the SEC

By: @LivingCrimson

After the debacle of UNC coaches working as insiders for agents, academic fraud, and players taking gift-ola and free trips to sunny destinations, the NCAA sanctioned North Carolina this week. Surprise, surprise. Included in the punishment is a one year postseason ban, reduced scholarships for three years and brand new zeroes in the win columns for 2008 and 2009.

So, of course, guilty-as-sin defensive back Duenta Williams ran to the nearest reporter with a laptop and spilled the remorse beans? Not quite. College Football Talk has some pithy quotes from Williams in essence saying the Tar Heels are angelic children preyed upon by money-grubbers -- enabled by the S-E-C.

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“What happened at Carolina is child’s play compared to what happens at the SEC,” ex-UNC defensive back Duenta Williams, who was suspended four games in 2010 for his role in the scandal, told the Charlotte Observer. “The SEC pays for players. I’m not afraid to say it, but the NCAA doesn’t go after them.”

“It’s a broken system,” said Williams of the NCAA and the game of college football. “College football is a business, and the people who run college football are only interested in money and using the players as product to make money.”

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Hmm, nothing about the players at UNC embracing every handout they could find. But then personal accountability is so passé these days.

By the way, according to Rivals North Carolina native Williams was officially recruited by only two SEC schools: South Carolina and Tennessee. He was recognized by scouting services as one of the five best "skill" athletes in the nation coming out of high school. If the SEC was really doing what Williams claims, why didn’t one of its schools snap him up with their nefarious ability to pay players? It’s not like he would have found a conscience and turned down the money.

Williams was first team All-ACC and remains undrafted in the NFL.

More Bama updates on Twitter at @LivingCrimson.

Skynet is running the BCS computers

By: @LivingCrimson

A look at the science fiction of the Big 12 strength of schedule in the BCS computers. It’s also “Hate Auburn” week in Alabama, one of fifty-two we enjoy each year, so forgive us if we go afield.

The latest BCS standings have been released and the SEC  West  muscled  to  the  top: #1 LSU, #2 Alabama, and #3 Arkansas. Entirely deserved considering the Tigers, the Tide and the Hogs are a combined 31-2 this season, with the only losses coming from within this group.

But look below the top three and something foul is afoot in the computers. Any person would reasonably conclude the Big 12 SOS is inflated after five defeats in seven attempts at the national title (unlike the SEC with a perfect seven wins in seven attempts). The current BCS says, “Not so fast, my friend.” The other conferences say, “Awww, Corso it.”

Only artificial intelligence bent on destroying all football humanity as we know it could continue to plague us with SO MUCH Big 12 in 2011 BCS rankings.

Ergo, Oklahoma State (10-1) is only ranked #6 by the humans but elevated to #2 by the HAL 9000’s. Ditto Oklahoma (8-2) tapped out at #10/#11, yet it’s #6 in the databases. Kansas State (9-2) is #15 with the Daves and all the way up at #5 with the Joshuas. Baylor (7-3) at #20 with the people is #13 with the machines. And last but never forgotten, Texas (6-4) wouldn’t even be ranked by animals, yet is #20 in the Matrix.

That’s a Big 12 boost in rank by an average SIX PLACES. All other conferences including the SEC are almost uniformly adjusted downward in the computers.

Oklahoma State has never played in a BCS bowl. Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma has been thumped three out of four times in the National Championship Game yet keeps “earning” the benefit of the doubt in the “algorithms”. And the BCS computers would have us believe one of these teams is worthy of advancing to the title game if two SEC teams at the top of the stack should fall before December 4th.

Looks like we’re dealing with the Mother of all binary b*tches.

 

Or it’s all Auburn’s fault, take your pick. It’s a proven misconception that any reek in college football can always be traced back to Auburn. Let’s turn our eyes to the manure meisters of the Plains, who just  happen  to  run Apple.  Which just happens to control computers.  Who just happen to dictate one-third of the official BCS polls. Coincidence? We think not. How else can 7-4 Auburn be ranked #24!

Bama updates on Twitter @LivingCrimson

Even if Arkansas beats LSU, Bama not automatically in the SEC Championship Game

I stand corrected on the original post. Scroll down for an update.

On social media sites, there is a huge amount of chatter regarding what happens if Arkansas beats LSU on November 25. The story-line is as follows: “In the case of a three-way tie for the SEC West, the highest ranked team in the BCS goes to the SEC Championship Game.”

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for my fellow Tide faithful, but this is only partially correct.  Here are the procedures for resolving two- and three-team ties in the two SEC Divisions:

Two-team tie-breaker procedure

1. Head-to-head competition between the two tied teams.
2. Records of the tied teams within the division.
3. Records against the team within the division with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) Conference record and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken from first to last.
4. Complete record vs. all non-divisional opponents.
5. Complete record vs. all common non-divisional teams if there be any.
6. Record vs. common non-divisional opponent (if there be any) with the best overall Conference (divisional and non-divisional) record and proceeding through other common non-divisional teams based on their order of finish within their division.
7. The tied team with the highest ranking in the Bowl Championship Series Standings following the last weekend of regular-season games shall be the divisional representative in the SEC Championship Game.

Three or more-team procedure

1. (Once the tie has been reduced to two teams, go to the two-team tie-breaker format.)
2. Combined head-to-head record among the tied teams.
3. Record of the tied teams within the division.
4. Records against the team within the division with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) Conference record and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken from first to last.
5. Complete record vs. non-division teams.
6. Complete record vs. all common non-divisional teams.
7. Record vs. common non-divisional team with the best overall Conference (divisional and non-divisional) record and proceeding through other common non-divisional teams based on their order of finish within their division.
8. The tied team with the highest ranking in the Bowl Championship Series Standings following the last weekend of regular-season games shall be the divisional representative in the SEC Championship Game, unless the second of the tied teams is ranked within five-or-fewer places of the highest ranked tied team. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the SEC Championship Game.

Note the emphasized text from Rule #8 of the three team SEC Tiebreaker procedure. If Alabama, LSU and Arkansas are all tied, the highest ranked team in the BCS is not automatically selected to play in the Championship Game. If Arkansas beats LSU and the loss sends them five or fewer spots below Alabama in the BCS rankings, LSU goes to Atlanta instead of Alabama by way of its victory over the Tide in Tuscaloosa on Nov 5.

Alabama is currently ranked No. 3 in the BCS standings. If Arkansas beats LSU, Alabama would move up to No. 2 behind Oklahoma State. The loss to Arkansas would have to put LSU at No. 7 or lower in order for Alabama to go to Atlanta. Arkansas would also move up in the standings, perhaps as high as No.5 or No. 4, and Alabama would own the tiebreaker based on its victory in September.

But it is unlikely that LSU would fall as far as No. 7 or lower unless the Razorbacks absolutely destroy the Bayou Bengals two weeks from now.

A better scenario for Alabama reaching the BCS Championship Game in New Orleans would be to have Oklahoma knock off Oklahoma State. This would likely have Alabama facing LSU in a rematch of the Showdown in T-Town, a scenario that would provoke outrage in fans of every other conference not named the SEC.

UPDATE: In the comments, Donnie points out that LSU would have to fall below Arkansas in the BCS standings for Alabama to go to Atlanta. Alabama owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Razorbacks and would go to the Championship Game if Arkansas beats LSU.

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Alabama vs. LSU vs. the Zebras

The Alabama vs. LSU series has been one of the most intensely contested rivalries in the SEC over the last several years. With few exceptions over the last decade, the games have been close and hard fought.

These are the types of games in which a handful of plays can make a big difference in determining the final outcome. One more first down here; a stop on a key third down there. A critical turnover on this play and a blown assignment on that one.

And there’s always the “bad call.” That one play that the losing team points to and complains that the officials either made the wrong call or made a no-call when one was clearly warranted. There are two glaring moments in recent Alabama – LSU meetings that come to mind.

The first was the 2004 game in Baton Rouge. LSU Defensive Back Corey Webster was shown shoving Alabama Wide Receiver Keith Brown to the turf in the endzone, picking off Spence Pennington’s attempted TD pass and racing out of danger. There was no flag on the play. At the time, Alabama had the momentum and would have likely made it a different contest than the final score indicated.

Skip forward to the 3:30 mark in the video below.

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The second was the 2009 game in Tuscaloosa, where many Bama fans feel the fighting corndogs got their just desserts. Patrick Peterson appeared to step in front of a Greg McElroy to Julio Jones pass for the INT. There was no immediate ruling on the play, but the replay official reviewed it and referee Tom Ritter explained that the ruling on the field—incomplete pass—stood as called.

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The Southeastern Conference officiating crews have received absolutely withering criticism over the years. There have been a number of notably horrible calls made by officials, and every team in the league has been either the benefactor or the victim. And doesn’t it always seem as if the worst calls come in the most important games? Doesn’t it also always seem as if those calls are argued about for years afterwards?

Through nine weeks of the 2011 season, there have been a total of 57 SEC games played in which video replay was in use. As the graphic below shows, there have been 69 stoppages of play to allow for review of a call made on the field. There have been 25 plays overturned, or about 36% of the total.

Courtesy, Southeastern Conference             

There are three things to take away from this post. First: bad calls are part of the game. The officials are human and they are going to make occasional mistakes. Second: while the bad call is always a probability, instant replay has at least reduced the odds of a bad call standing up to review. The third and final takeaway: If you make some of the other key plays in the game, you aren’t whining about the bad call. In both the 2004 and 2009 games, there were other plays that were just as important as the ones recorded here. The loser didn’t make them. The winner did.

Extra point: The same crew that called the 2009 game is expected in Tuscaloosa for this year’s Armageddon.

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JASON LIVES: Missouri Board of Curators authorizes conference shopping

Strongest indication yet that Mizzou will become SEC’s 14th team
We told you last month that this story had the staying power of Jason Voorhees.
In another story from the Kansas City Star’s Mike DeArmond (whose coverage of this story has been the most accurate from the start),  The University of Missouri Board of Curators has authorized Chancellor Brady Deaton to explore conference membership opportunities.
Quashing any rumors that the Board was divided over the issue, DeArmond reports that the vote was unanimous. While interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas has been preaching unity and telling reporters that Missouri would remain a member of the conference, Mizzou is telling the world that it’s looking out for the interests of the University.

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“The Board of Curators delegates to Chancellor Deaton the authority to take any and all actions necessary to fully explore options for conference affiliation and contracts related thereto which best serve the interests of the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Missouri system,” Erdman said

Deaton then announced he had resigned his position as chairman of the Big 12 board of directors to “avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest” and “in order to focus more fully on MU’s best interests.”

Deaton said he will work with other MU officials “to expeditiously examine what may be the best conference affiliation for our university.”

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At issue is a proposal to have the nine remaining Big 12 schools agree to a deal in which all first- and second-tier media revenues would be committed to the league for equal distribution. This would include all revenues from the league’s television contracts with ABC/ESPN (first tier) and Fox Sports (second tier). Texas’ Longhorn Network is a third tier and would not be included. The deal would last for six years, whether the institutions are members of the Big 12, or not. The deal was contingent upon each remaining Big 12 school to agree to the measure and with yesterday’s vote, Missouri told the Big 12 that they were having none of it.
Multiple independent sources in Birmingham and around the league have told IBCR that Missouri could be accepted by the SEC as early as Friday, but that a more likely case was a decision next week. If Missouri applies, they will be accepted. Missouri has not formally applied for membership, nor has the league offered a formal invitation to the school, but the school and league officials have discussed the move in enough detail to allow the Missouri Board of Curators to “feel good” about last night’s decision.
Jason lives, y’all!
UPDATE: The Birmingham News’ Jon Solomon reports that there were no discussions of scheduling in a 14-team league when SEC Athletic Directors met Wednesday.
"We can't talk about it," Florida Athletics Director Jeremy Foley said after the ADs met for about four hours at the SEC office. "We're talking about A&M."
Said Mississippi State Athletics Director Scott Stricklin: "We didn't talk any 14-team schedules. It was all focused on the 13-team model."
Jason lives, but he’s stalking his next victim, or something.

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Bama makes a statement with 38-14 win over Arkansas

Make no mistake about it—Arkansas is about as good of a team as there is in the SEC. They are loaded with talent from one end of the roster to the other. They are physical, well coached and came into Tuscaloosa full of confidence and poise.

But make no mistake about this, either—Alabama’s physical, brutal and otherwise cruel dismemberment of the Razorbacks was a statement.

“We are Hungry,” says the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Arkansas’ first quarter drive to tie the game at 7-7 was an impressive display of offensive speed, talent and coaching. Petrino’s Hogs had the Alabama defense on its heels and when CBS went to the commercial break, you almost got the sense that this was going to be a competitive slugfest. But as CBS’ Gary Danielson put it, Bama’s defense adjusted to the speed of the game played by Arkansas and the rout was on.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Razorbacks drop only one more SEC West contest—and that would be to LSU—but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them win out.

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What should divisions look like with a 14-team SEC? Easy…

Today, the Kansas City Star cited reliable sources in a report that Missouri had an offer on the table to join the SEC, and that the SEC was willing to wait on the final fate of the Big 12 conference. The boards of regents at Oklahoma and Texas have both voted to explore options, and of course all of this comes in the wake of Texas A&M’s formal secession from the Big 12 and acceptance into the SEC (barring court action blocking the move).

Later reports from USA Today’s Campus Corner had the SEC denying that it had made an offer to Missouri, but the sense is that the “denial” is plausible because, while the SEC probably has a wink-nudge offer to Mizzou, no way is Slive & Co. going to allow themselves to be portrayed as hunting on posted ground.

A&M looks to be all but a done deal and Mizzou might well be the dance partner, bringing the SEC to a 14-program conference with two, seven-member divisions.

The math of having an even number of conference participants makes scheduling a relatively easy thing to do. Scheduling equitably with 13 members is doable, but it wouldn’t be easy and it would leave some division members missing out on one game that they’d probably like to play.

There’s a good deal of chatter on how the two new conference members would fit into the league’s divisional system. Some folks think having two programs from west of the Mississippi all but guarantees that Auburn is pushed into the SEC East and both of the former Big 12 schools join the west. There’s also talk of rearranging some of the programs from the East and West to bring more balance. All of that is much too complicated and would likely end some storied conference rivalries.

A much easier solution (and therefore the one that will likely be the first option rejected) would be to simply rename the two divisions, keep the existing members in place and split the two new programs between the former East and West Divisions. Like this, for example:

Former SEC West	Former SEC East
Alabama	Florida
Arkansas	Georgia
Auburn	Kentucky
LSU	South Carolina
Miss State	Tennessee
Missouri	Texas A&M
Ole Miss	Vanderbilt

In order to maintain the eight-game SEC schedule that requires each team to play each of its divisional opponents, one of the two rotating interdivisional games would have to be dropped, and each member school plays two opponents from the other division, rather than three (a recent schedule tweak following the addition of the 12th regular season game). One of the two interdivisional opponents is designated a divisional rival, while the other rotates on a home-away basis.

Alabama keeps its Iron Bowl rivalry with Auburn and neither team faces the prospect of having to play back-to-back should both be in the SEC Championship Game. Tennessee and Alabama also keep their storied rivalry, as do Auburn and Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, Georgia and Florida, and so on. Texas A&M and Missouri would almost certainly choose one another as their interdivisional rival, and you’re all set for an eight game schedule with 14 teams in the SEC.

Told ya that would be easy. Check, please?

Exit Question: Can Mike Slive avoid the disaster of division names that Jim Delany came up with?

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SEC Roundup: Week 2 and where is Auburn’s defense?

Alabama 27, Penn State 11. Methodical. Businesslike. Precise. No one should have any problems coming up with adjectives to describe the dismantling of the Penn State Nittany Lions by the Alabama Crimson Tide. Bama appears to have settled on AJ McCarron as the lead dog in the QB race, as the Mobile native threw 19 of 31 for 163 yards, one TD and no picks. Trent Richardson smashed the PSU defense for 111 yards on 26 carries and Alabama had this one on cruise control by midway in the third quarter. This was supposed to be a tune-up test for Bama and it played out exactly so. The offensive line seems to have gelled into a cohesive unit and the defense is just plain nasty. Next up is a visit from North Texas, a Sun Belt Conference team that dropped a 43-28 contest against Houston.

Arkansas 52, New Mexico 3. How did New Mexico prevent the shutout? Arguably the worst team in FBS, the Lobos stood absolutely no chance of drawing any significant bloodshed from the Razorbacks, whose Tyler Wilson polished his technique and went 18 of 26 passing for 259 yards, one TD pass and one TD run. Petrino’s offensive machine rolled up 632 yards and scored 50+ points for the second week in a row. While Missouri State plus New Mexico equals about one half of an SEC East team, Arkansas’ offense is going to be a difficult challenge for defenses throughout the league. Next up is Troy, 43-19 losers to Clemson.

Auburn 41, Mississippi State 34. The SEC’s Cardiac Kids were up to their old tricks yesterday, pulling out an improbable win against Mississippi State on the game’s last play. Bulldog QB Chris Relf got upended trying to punch in the tying TD with no timeouts and :08 showing on the clock. But Auburn’s defensive play during the game provided that opportunity. The 2009 and 2010 Tigers set school records for most points allowed, and they are on pace to break it again in 2011. Teams are gashing the Chizik/Roof defense and sustaining long scoring drives. Sooner or later, one has to wonder when the Tigers run into a defense capable of preventing Auburn from simply outscoring the opponent. Next up for the Cardiac Kids is a trip to Clemson, a team that Auburn needed overtime to beat in 2010. Mississippi State hosts LSU in Starkville on Thursday night.

Florida 39, UAB 0. UAB’s football program is a mess and yesterday’s game showed it in stark, high-contrast colors. The team was without three key starters—all out due to sports hernias. That’s an injury typically caused by a  poor strength & conditioning regimen. The Gators ran past, through and over the Blazers and dispatched them easily. UAB just needs to put its money in basketball and forget about that new stadium. Florida’s next opponent is Derek Dooley’s Tennessee Volunteers, a decent and improving SEC East foe that defeated Cincinnati 45-23. Should be a fun one to watch.

Georgia 42, South Carolina 45. Did the temperature on UGA Coach Mark Richt’s seat kick it up a notch? The conventional wisdom going into Saturday’s slugfest was that Richt wouldn’t survive to see the sidelines in 2012 if he started 0-2. There were plenty of mistakes on the field for both Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks and Richt’s Bulldogs, but this game was going to be won by whoever had the ball last. Richt obviously didn’t do anything to cool the hotseat, but it’s hard to fault the coach for that effort yesterday. His team left it on the field and that’s the best a coach can ask for. This game puts South Carolina in a key advantage in the SEC East race and sets UGA back several steps. While a loss to Spurrier might not end his career, not making it to Atlanta for a shot at the title might. Georgia plays Coastal Carolina at home next Saturday while South Carolina gets Navy. Oh, by the way…  Navy is undefeated, scoring 40 points each in wins against Delaware and Western Kentucky.

LSU 49, Northwestern State, 3. Northwestern what State? Demons coach Bradley Dale was an assistant for four years under Les Miles and actually pulled within four points when a Field Goal clanged in to make the score 7-3. It was all Bayou Bengals from there and it was 28-3 at halftime. Miles cleared the bench and I think even the waterboy got a key block on a fourth quarter first down play. LSU travels to Mississippi State for a key SEC West matchup on Thursday night.

Ole Miss 42, Southern Illinois 24. Don’t let this score fool you into thinking that Houston Nutt has Ole Miss’ problems solved. The visiting Salukis turned the ball over four times but made a gallant run at the Rebel Bears early in the third quarter, scoring on two long TD drives and closing to 35-24. The only reasons this didn’t turn into an 0-2 start were a porous Southern Illinois defense and the turnovers. Ole Miss is still a dumpster fire under the right reverend, but anyone can win with such gifts given at home. Ole Miss travels to Vanderbilt next Saturday and the SEC opener could determine who the conference doormat will be in 2011.

Tennessee 45, Cincinnati 23. Tennessee is an improving football program in Coach Derek Dooley’s second season. The Bearcats were no slouch of a football team, returning the Big East’s best passer, best tailback and leading all-purpose yards athlete. They expected to score early and often and Tennessee all but shut them down after starting a footrace with the Bearcats. The two teams traded touchdown drives twice and the game was tied 14-14 until took the lead for good in the second quarter. Cincy could manage only another nine points and the Vol defense made key adjustments. That’s what well coached teams do and Dooley is starting to show why his doubters may have sold him short. Tennessee travels to the Swamp to take on Florida next Saturday.

Vanderbilt 24, UConn 21. Vanderbilt has a winning streak. Vanderbilt is 2-0. Vanderbilt channeled its inner Auburn and came back from 21-14 down to beat the Connecticut Huskies 24-21 and Coach James Franklin has those crazy Commodore fans thinking they might challenge for the SEC East. Vandy’s first teamers have always been able to play competitively with anyone in the league. Depth has always been their achilles heel and it’s always affected their confidence. But Franklin seems to have erased the confidence gap and has his team playing to win. Vandy hasn’t won two straight football games since 2008, but with a visit from Ole Miss next week, they have a real shot at going 3-0 and with other winnable games on the schedule, the ‘dores might start thinking of holiday travel plans.

I know, right?

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Updated Preseason Top 25: Comparing the Coaches, AP and Phil Steele

By @LivingCrimson

Many people don’t pay attention to preseason polls, considering them useless until real football has been played on the field. We’ll hazard a guess that those naysayers may be from conferences other than the SEC. To paraphrase Coach Bear Bryant, “What the heck’s the matter with you people? Don't y'all take your football seriously?” Here in the warm, friendly South, we enjoy seeing our teams dominating the polls like they whoop up on opposing teams on the gridiron.

So without further ado … oh wait, a little ado. Just a humble reminder why SEC teams are the best of friends with preseason polls: the SEC is undefeated in national championship games in the modern BCS era (7-0), and five different SEC teams have won the last five national titles.

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Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is a record that may never be broken.

[The SEC's five straight national championships] is in that same category.

– Mike Slive, SEC Commissioner

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The SEC finished 2010 with ONE-HALF its 12 teams in the final Top 25 of both the Coaches Poll and AP Poll. Seven SEC teams go into the 2011 season ranked in the consensus preseason polls; eight SEC teams are ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll and AP Poll.

Now back to our regularly scheduled excuses from naysayers. How accurate are preseason polls, anyway? Phil Steele was the most accurate preseason predictions 2000-2009 -- usually naming the right teams if not always in the correct order -- and is here used as the measuring stick against the Coaches Poll and AP Poll. For a complete preseason rankings comparison see College Football Poll, or for the just the major polls see ESPN.

Phil Steele’s Top 25 preseason poll gives great details on each team with a two-page in-depth breakdown of projected starters, schedule, stats and recent history. However, Steele’s poll is published in June and is not as up-to-date on recent transfers, injuries, etc. (he does update players lost on his website). (Click on Phil Steele team names below to review the 2-page PDF on each team.)

The Coaches Poll counts as one-third of the final BCS standings (an explanation is here), so its preseason Top 25 lays the framework for the entire season. The football rankings are compiled by the USA TODAY Board of Coaches made up of 59 head coaches at Division I FBS institutions. All coaches are members of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

The Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll rankings are compiled by polling 60 sportswriters (older version here) across the nation. Each first place vote is given 25 points, each second place vote 24 points, down to 1 point for a 25th place vote. Ballots of the voting members in the AP Poll are made public. The AP Poll is no longer used in calculating BCS standings.

 

Phil Steele Top 25 6/23/11	Coaches Poll Top 25 8/4/11	AP Top 25 8/20/11
1. Alabama	1. Oklahoma	1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma	2. Alabama	2. Alabama
3. Boise State	3. Oregon	3. Oregon
4. Oregon	4. LSU	4. LSU
5. Virginia Tech	5. Florida State	5. Boise State
6. Notre Dame	6. Stanford	6. Florida State
7. LSU	7. Boise State	7. Stanford
8. Texas A&M	8. Oklahoma State	8. Texas A&M
9. Georgia	9. Texas A&M	9. Oklahoma State
10. Florida State	10. Wisconsin	10. Nebraska
11. TCU	11. Nebraska	11. Wisconsin
12. Nebraska	12. South Carolina	12. South Carolina
13. Arkansas	13. Virginia Tech	13. Virginia Tech
14. South Carolina	14. Arkansas	14. TCU
15. Ohio State	15. TCU	15. Arkansas
16. Stanford	16. Ohio State	16. Notre Dame
17. USC	17. Michigan State	17. Michigan State
18. Texas	18. Notre Dame	18. Ohio State
19. Oklahoma State	19. Auburn	19. Georgia
20. Southern Miss	20. Mississippi State	20. Mississippi State
21. Houston	21. Missouri	21. Missouri
22. Arizona State	22. Georgia	22. Florida
23. Wisconsin	23. Florida	23. Auburn
24. Penn State	24. Texas	24. West Virginia
25. USF	25. Penn State	25. USC

Auburn, Florida, Michigan State, Mississippi State, and Missouri are the teams included in the Coaches Poll and AP, and missing from Phil Steele’s Top 25.

USC is serving an NCAA bowl ban and is not eligible to receive votes in the Coaches Poll.

Arizona State, Houston, Southern Miss, USF are the teams included in Steele’s list and not included in the Top 25 of the Coaches Poll. However, Arizona State did receive enough votes to be ranked #26, Houston would be #37, USF would be #38, and Southern Miss would be #42.

West Virginia is included in the AP Poll and not included in Phil Steele’s list or the Coaches Poll. Similar to the Coaches Poll, Arizona State, Houston, Southern Miss and USF are included in Phil Steele but not included in the AP Poll. Arizona State received enough votes to be ranked #28, Southern Miss #31 and Houston #36. Penn State is included in both the Coaches Poll and Phil Steele but missing from the AP Poll, although it received enough votes to be ranked #27.

For those truly interested in preseason polls, a new surfeit of information can be found in Phil Steele’s newest AP Top 10 Projection Results. And for us SEC diehards, a visual reminder why our fanbases are so excited every year when September finally arrives.

Let the real poll mania begin. Only two weekends until football!  S-E-C!

TaylorGang4Evr -- Jul 8, 2011

On Twitter @LivingCrimson

SEC Expansion: The New World of College Sports

The SEC is the equivalent of the Super Bowl, the World Series and the NBA Finals all rolled into one conference in college sports.

In the “Big Four” sports -- football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball – the SEC has won half of the national titles since 2005-2006: five in football, three in baseball, two in men's basketball and two in women's basketball. Six SEC schools won those 12 titles – no other conference won more than three in those four sports combined over the past six years.1

The SEC has also won national championships in the last six years in women’s gymnastics (five), men’s indoor track & field (three), women’s indoor track & field (one), women’s outdoor track & field (one), men’s swimming and diving (three), women’s swimming and diving (three), men’s tennis (two), women’s tennis (one), women’s bowling (one), rifle (one), and equestrian (all six-not yet official NCAA). Only softball and women’s volleyball titles have eluded the SEC.2

So, why would the SEC consider expansion when it is already the supreme conference in sports achievement? The SEC did not fire the first shot in recent conference paradigm shifts.

The Pac-12 strove for revenue supremacy with its 2010 conference expansion, TV contract deals and talk of a Super 16 conference. The Big Ten followed with its own conference expansion and TV deals for conference championship games. The Big 12 received help from ESPN and Fox to sweeten its revenue deals and save its conference.3 The Big East is also expanding and with TCU grabs a larger market share in advance of its upcoming TV contract negotiations – and already leads in basketball revenue. Larry Scott, the Pac-12 Commissioner, and Jim Delany, the Big Ten Commissioner, continue to hint at further expansion. Scott has even talked of expanding the Pac-12’s market to the Pacific Rim/Asian markets.

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The SEC cannot remain in expansion isolationism

-- standing on its current strength --

and not expect continued encroachment by other conferences

on the monetary value of its sports.

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SEC revenue from TV contracts has already been moved into third place behind the Pac-12 and Big Ten, even though SEC teams are six of the top ten schools in Division 1 FBS attendance. In men’s basketball, the SEC is third in income even though it is one of only three conferences to generate more than $10 million in revenue per school. Only two of the top ten revenue generating athletic departments are SEC schools.4,5,6,7,8

Faced with a disadvantage in revenue, the SEC must take action to bring parity to the TV contracts. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has suggested using the conference’s “look-ins” to ensure the contracts live up to expectations.9  One avenue to fuel renegotiation is by expanding to 14 schools or even 16 schools to increase market share and take advantage of built-in “expansion” payout incentives.10  But what guidelines would Slive follow to choose new schools to bring into the SEC? In his own words:

1. Academics;11
2. Geography;12
3. Market Share;13 and
4. Technology.14

Following up on the initial recommendations presented by Slive, the NCAA just this week increased the APR (academic progress rate) to 930 from the previous cutoffs of 900/925; failure to maintain will be an automatic bowl/tourney ban in football and basketball.15 Based on academic and geographical proximity to the current SEC, Big 12 and ACC teams are the most likely candidates to receive an offer from Slive.

The nearest proximity ACC and Big 12 schools that would NOT meet academic requirements:

• Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State.16

In TV market share, the SEC currently ranks last in Top-10 national TV markets, fourth in Top-20 and sixth in Top-30. The Leather Helmet Blog has an excellent, in-depth article on SEC expansion and grabbing a bigger TV market share.

Big 12 and ACC schools academically acceptable and best bets to bolster market share are:

• Duke, Texas A&M, Miami, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech. (NC State football APR would have to be improve).

Current SEC games are broadcast by ESPN, CBS, Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) (merged with NBC in January 2011) and Fox Sports Network (FSN).17 However, the SEC owns the copyright to any game broadcast. This gives it the ability to allow other networks to rebroadcast previously televised games, and games can be streamed directly to computers and hand-held devices (SEC had the second largest iPhone sports app, only behind ESPN). It also allows fans in other countries to watch games.18

NBC in the recent past had almost no presence in college football or basketball. Since the CSS merger, speculation is that NBC/CSS may develop the Versus channel as an ESPN competitor.19,20 CSS had already been rebroadcasting SEC games the day following the original broadcast. An expanded SEC would offer more games available for original broadcasts. Also consider that ESPNU became an extremely profitable channel as a direct result of SEC broadcasts. NBC/CSS could choose to lay out a big investment with the SEC, knowing it has already shown itself a proven commodity in increasing the strength of sports networks.

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"We were the major catalyst for ESPNU moving from 23 million homes to 73 million homes in one year.” – Mike Slive

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In addition to football and basketball, there is greater viewership interest in SEC baseball, softball and gymnastics thanks to recent high profile games and championship repeats – events just waiting to be broadcast by an aggressive sports outlet. More sporting events equals more revenue.

Most Big 12 and ACC schools have the sports facilities and technological skills necessary to seamlessly merge into the SEC’s broadcasting structure (and most smaller conference schools do not). Most definitely the SEC will at a minimum add pairs of schools, taking one from the West and one from the East so as to negate any shifting within the existing SEC divisions in football.

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The most likely candidates for expansion:

Texas A&M - Duke

Missouri - Virginia Tech

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Other possibilities are Clemson and Miami from the ACC, and Baylor and Oklahoma from the Big 12. But those schools are not as attractive based on consideration of all the factors. Also, Texas A&M and Missouri would theoretically not “overburden” the already ultra-competitive SEC West.

Side benefits of any schools accepting an expansion invitation to the SEC would include equitable revenue distribution, increased share of revenue distributions from the NCAA (nationally $433 million in 2009-2010)21, more revenue to allocate to capital improvements such as expanding stadiums and other sports facilities, more revenue to offset any decrease in state funding, and more revenue to support underfunded sports programs.

While the expansion process is complicated, it is not necessarily injurious to other conferences. The Big 12 can easily add smaller conference teams to maintain its 10 school conference, or expand. The ACC can raid the Big East to offset any attrition in its conference – since basketball is more the priority anyway. The Big East can easily add smaller conference teams to offset any schools lost to the ACC – since basketball is the sport that matters. The smaller conferences won’t suffer because they’re largely supported by the NCAA, and any teams that move up to larger conferences will do so with increased revenue and TV exposure.

If the SEC expands to 16 teams, it will be ahead of any other conference in revenue for many years to come. If it expands to 14 teams, observers should expect more movement within the next ten years.

Welcome to the bigger, better SEC world.

On Twitter @LivingCrimson