Outside of Florida and Alabama it has been a season of disappointing results and underachievement for most of the SEC.  So I decided to rank the top 5 disappointments in the Southeastern Conference.

#5) South Carolina

The Gamecocks edge out Tennessee here because, other than the unenlightened national experts, no one who follows SEC football expected much from the Vols this year.  With Ainge, McCoy and David Cutcliffe leaving the team it was a train wreck waiting to happen.  South Carolina on the other hand presented Steve Spurrier with the best defense he has had since his years at Florida.  All the team needed was some offensive production - something Spurrier has always been a master of.  Despite three years in the system, Chris Smelley has not progressed to where he should.  In his second year Garcia looks more like a true freshman than a redshirt freshman.

The offensive development of South Carolina has been woefully inadequate and the blame for that can only lie with the coaches.  Whether it’s the fault of Spurrier or Spurrier’s choice of assistant coaches, the offensive line is still subpar, the special teams look undisciplined and the quarterbacks, an area you would think Spurrier would be the master of, seem lost and confused.  The lone bright spot this season has been new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson but if he continues to perform this well will he be in Columbia for long?

#4) Mississippi State

I’ll admit that I wasn’t surprised with the Bulldogs record although I didn’t expect as many blowout losses given Croom’s defensive emphasis.  I was SHOCKED to see Croom shown the door so soon after their first bowl game in 7 years and winning the SEC coach of the year.  Then again, I forgot to factor in the modern day fan’s sense of irrational entitlement combined with the instant success that Houston Nutt had in Oxford this year.  And while I hate to say it . . . I’m sure Croom being black didn’t help buy him any time either.  Mississippi is deep south folks and anyone who has been there knows there is a deep cultural racism present in the state.  I look at it like this, if you are black and you WIN it’s no big deal but if you LOSE . . . it’s an issue. 

That being said, I don’t know if a white coach who had only one winning season in five years would have fared much better but I think he might have eeked out a 6th season based on the previous year’s accomplishment and the dreadful state of the program when he arrived.  I just don’t think Croom was willing to put up with the constant harassment and jeers from angry Bulldog fans for another full season.  It probably wasn’t productive for his players or the program.  I never thought Croom was an SEC caliber coach and felt MSU hired him strictly for public relations purposes, expecting him to fail.  Croom was an honorable man and a good hire to restore credibility to the program.  However he didn’t have the recruiting ability nor brilliant mind to win at a second tier school like MSU in the nation’s toughest football conference.  Unfortunately for MSU I don’t see their next hire being that much better and will likely hover around .500 for the foreseeable future or until the league loses some of its top coaching talent.

#3) LSU

Sure, LSU lost a number of quality players to the NFL but they also returned a huge number of pro prospects who failed to both play to their potential and exhibit any leadership on the field.  Without Bo Pelini the defense looked lost and lethargic.  Forced to play a redshirt freshman quarterback for much of the season, LSU threw half as many touchdowns to the other team on interception returns (7) as to his own teammates (14).  The trenches that LSU was supposed to dominate turned out to be contested in far too many contests.  The Tigers came up short in all phases of the game.  The offense didn’t perform, the defense didn’t perform and the special team performance was underwhelming at best. (more…)

People who have read my work have noted that I have been very generous toward Dan Mullen lately - for clarification, the “offensive coordinator” Dan Mullen, not the QB coach Dan Mullen. After all, he had already done so much with Meyer’s offenses before; four or five games hardly seemed like just cause for a firing. Adjustments, though, were called for.

Now, even I am left questioning BOTH sides of Dan Mullen. Consider a number of concerning snippets.

First off, the kid gloves are coming off for the Gators. Tennessee is 0-3 in conference games. Ole Miss did not have a conference win all last season. Arkansas might have the same problems, conference or no conference.

And now, undefeated LSU comes to town. And a coordinator getting flak for predictable play calling will face Les Miles, one of the most unpredictable coaches in college football. I felt that this was going to be one of the most dangerous games for the Gators heading into this season, and I still maintain that perspective now.
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In the media there are a wide variety of reporters covering stories. Many are impartial and take their responsibility very seriously. Some are “homers” who are little more than media “shills” or PR men for a specific organization. There are other who do not have scruples, see the people they write about as vehicles to their own success without any sense of sympathy or carry around a degree of bitterness or a “hidden” agenda. It’s becoming clear so far that Mr. Joseph Goodman tends to fall in that last group although we cannot specifically ascertain whether he does so out of hate, callous indifference or ruthless ambition.

The story goes that Joseph Goodman is the beat writer for the Miami Herald for the University of Florida.  Some of Mr. Goodman’s previous work includes writing about the interview with Chris Rainey which eventually led to an investigation of the Lakeland High School by the FHSAA for possibly accepting gifts and/or money from school boosters (High School Boosters, only his high school eligibility was in question).  While one cannot criticize the Herald for bringing this information to light.  The timing of it and the interview is suspicious as the interview with intern Brian Costa occurred 3-4 weeks before it was released and it was released just days before the 5A Championship Game.  Lakeland High was the favorite and the defending champions.  Coincidentally the team Lakeland had beaten the previous two years and would rematch AGAIN was none other than the interviewer Brian Costas alma mater . . . St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale.
 
Recently Goodman has been the author of such innocent quotes (on his Gator Clause Blog) as:

 

– Florida spent $1,097,300 on recruiting in 2002 and $655,000 on recruiting in 1996, according to the report. Of the nation’s top 10 biggest spenders, five are members of the Southeastern Conference: Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Georgia and Arkansas. . . . Thoughts are welcomed on this subject, people. Is it absurd that schools spend so much money recruiting football and basketball players? Is it justifiable? Should the NCAA make a spending cap? Did I mention that Florida is the No.1-ranked party school in the country?
 
– Gator Clause pulled the report from the Alachua County public records this afternoon. Maurkice Pouncey was issued the citation on Sunday, July 20 at 9 p.m. near 3500 NW 8th Ave. Just four days before Maurkice’s 19th birthday. What a killjoy, right?
 
– Torrey Davis wasn’t at practice today, wasn’t on the roster and appears to be academically ineligible. Florida coach Urban Meyer said on Monday after practice that there is no timetable for Davis’ return.
It seems like just yesterday that everybody (except me) was writing about how hard Davis worked to get into Florida, and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, right. (more…)

Because 10 is the number of a perfect score, the Biblical commandments, the base of our number system, and the fingers on our hands, here are ten tips that will help the Gators reach the NIT finals for the first time in program history:

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Wish the hoops team luck, men. They’re going to need it.

Arizona State has a slight edge over Florida on paper. But Donovan has proven himself the master of the postseason over the last 4 years, earmarked by 3 SEC championships, 2 national titles, and now an NIT quarterfinals berth (Mind you, with a completely different team.)

So how can Florida get the W and the trip to NY?

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This just in: FSU has responded to its academic cheating scandal by trying to police itself. Measures include reducing scholarships in all sports, firing guilty staffers, and requiring all AD administrators and non-administrators to attend a four-hour class in “responsible decision-making” There is even talk of a number of guilty students suffering a loss or reduction in their eligibility.

Don’t get me wrong, my inner Gator gets a demented pleasure out of seeing Free Shoes U. suffer for its crimes, but I’m concerned that what the school is doing vacillates between noble and disturbing. A big reason: the way Noles athletics is structured within the university.

Florida State’s athletic department is considered a division of the school itself and gets money from the university’s coffers. But it’s structure, while widespread, is not universal; UF’s University Athletic Association is considered a private business and generates its own revenue. While this may seem trite, a self-disciplinary policy would have vastly different effects depending on the school receiving sanctions.

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Dear Florida basketball players,

Congratulations.

You’ve stayed resilient and pulled out wins in four of your first five SEC games. You’ve improved to 17-3 - without five NBA rookies and a pro on a Greek team. People were not expecting you to make the strides in growth that you did.

But now, a whole new challenge awaits you. It’s called February.

Your scheduling gets a whole lot tougher, starting now with Vanderbilt. You’ll get tired as games drag on and on, with no rest seemingly in sight. The long hours spent traveling around the Southeast will take their toll. In short, basketball starts becoming boring.

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We’re going to be putting college football in general, and usually the SEC in particular, on notice Colbert-style weekly. or barring that, semi-weekly, throughout the season. Without further ado:

Galoshes McGillicuddy Says…

There’s no doubt in my mind that this fun-loving little dude belongs on a sideline somewhere. Just imagine the fun he (and we) would have. Orson mind-melded with Galoshes to rat out Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, and I’m pretty sure he’s behind this nonsense over at the Ramblin’ Racket:

So, it seems Notre Dame’s starting quarterback is none other than Demetrius Jones. This was posted by Notre Dame blog Robot Charlie, with the text:

One of the best things about being on campus.Yes, that’s guaranteed.

Obviously, this is not from a source which I would call perfect or reliable. When Robot Charlie posted this, they were of course asked “why [they’d] post it if Charlie Weis wanted it kept a secret.” (Apparently for credibility.) He then took down the post in order to maintain secrecy, but didn’t count on RSS readers maintaining the post. Does me posting this break some sort of bloggers’ code of ethics? Haha no such thing; if it means I’m a jerk, so be it.It will most likely mean nothing that I posted this, since blogs indeed DO have no credibility, and this will no doubt not affect GT’s preparation. But all the same, I do hope someone with GT football reads this. I repeat:

Notre Dame’s starting quarterback September 1st against Georgia Tech will be Demetrius Jones.

Notre Dame’s starting QB will be Demetrius Jones.

Demetrius Jones will start for Notre Dame on September 1st.

Then, just for fun, he adds:

Notre Dame is the most overrated team in college football, and if it weren’t for Ralph Friedgen and Mark Mangino, Charlie Weis would also be the fattest coach in the NCAA. Go Jackets! Kick some Irish ass!

I’m down with that, but I’m picking Notre Dame to win. Since they invariably let me down last year whenever I picked them, I expect them to do the same again in ‘07.

I also invoked the spirit of Galoshes when I asked (rhetorically) at FanHouse:

But riddle me this, Galoshes McGillicuddy, how is it that the #2 team in the country only manages 17 first half points on an MSU offense which went 3-and-out (punt), 3 plays for 3 yards (INT), 9 plays for a turnover on downs, 4 plays and punt, 2 plays and INT, 4 plays for 16 yards (INT), and 1 play and INT? You read that correctly. The Dogs punted twice and turned the ball over 5 times in the first half for 60 total yards of offense. The Tigers had seven possessions with which to work, most of them starting with excellent field position, and it still took a 4th and 1 effort at the goal line with 4 seconds remaining to make it 17-0 going into halftime.

And that leads us right into…
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