News Bot
News Bot
The Sunday Blog had a wonderful bye weekend that included family and football and a trip to Disney’s ESPN Zone to see the last part of LSU’s seal-clubbing of Auburn.
It’s funny how Robbie Andreu and I both said the same thing after the Florida-Auburn game — “LSU is going to kill Auburn next week.” You could see a huge difference in the talent levels between the two teams.
It’s time for World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Week and while there may not be as much on the line as in some years it’s still Florida-Georgia. Which means my goal is to mention World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party as many times as possible.
THE NOT-READY-FOR-PRIME-TIME
COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS
1. LSU (8-0): Flip-flopped the top two after that impressive performance by Les Miles’ team.
2. Alabama (8-0): The Tide seems to struggle early, then wake up against mediocre teams.
3. Oklahoma State (7-0): Suddenly, the only unbeaten team in the state.
4. Stanford (7-0): The Cardinal put Washington in its place Saturday night.
5. Clemson (8-0): Has anyone started the Sammy Watkins for Heisman campaign?
6. Boise State (7-0): Not totally surprised Air Force gave the Broncos fits.
7. Arkansas (6-1): You wonder about a team that falls behind 17-0 to Ole Miss.
8. Oregon (6-1): Ducks working their way back up the polls.
9. Kansas State (7-0): Who would have thought the Wildcats would be in the top 10?
10. Oklahoma (6-1): Real stunner that changes everything about the rest of ther season.
11. Wisconsin (6-1): Another surprising loss although not mind-blowing.
12. Virginia Tech (7-1): Looking like a rematch with Clemson for ACC title.
13. Nebraska (6-1): Cornhuskers enjoying life in the Big 10ish.
14. Michigan State (6-1): Color me impressed by Sparty’s performance.
15. Texas A&M (5-2): This just in — Aggies still joining SEC.
16. Houston (7-0): Which BCS team will end up hiring Kevin Sumlin?
17. South Carolina (6-1): Gonna be a tough road ahead without Marcus Lattimore.
18. Michigan (6-1): Wolverines need to finish strong.
19. Penn State (7-1): Quietly, Joe Paterno putting together a surprising season.
20. Southern Miss (6-1): Larry Fedora doing another solid job.
21. Cincinnati (6-1): Only loss for the Bearcats was to Tennessee.
22. Texas Tech (5-2): Where did that come from?
23. Georgia (5-2): It’s make or break time for the Bulldogs.
24. Southern Cal (6-1): The idiot-savant has his team playing well.
25. Wake Forest (5-2): Struggled with Duke which almost knocked then out of the poll.
THE SEC FOUR-PACK
1. On thing about being the defending national champs is that the players may leave but the target does not. You get everyone’s best effort and Auburn found that out Saturday in Death Valley. The 45-10 loss was the worst by a defending champ since FSU clobbered Miami 38-3 in 1984. One good thing — Auburn fans know all about Atlanta and they’re probably heading for the Chik-fil-A Bowl.
2. Houston Nutt’s frustrations boiled over after Saturday’s loss to Arkansas. He walked into his press conference and said to Neal McReady, who writes for Rivals.com, “Played harder than 49-10, right, Neal? … Wasn’t no 49-10.” I gave Ole Miss a lot more credit. I picked Arky 42-10. That’s 10 straight SEC losses for Nutt at Ole Miss. The key play in the game was Dennis Johnson’s 52-yard TD run on third-and-14 with the ‘Backs down 17-0. Changed the whole game.
3. Could Tennessee go oh-for-the-SEC? The Vols are now 0-4 and its next two games are against South Carolina and Arkansas. Tennessee closes with Vandy and Kentucky and Vanderbilt may be the better team right now. The Vols have lost their SEC games by a combined 128-48. They had no first downs in the second half against Alabama. Things are not good in Knoxville.
4. The Commodores are inching towards a bowl bid nobody thought possible before the season. At 4-3, Vandy needs to win two games against these five opponents — Arkansas, at Florida, Kentucky, at Tennessee, at Wake Forest. Difficult but not impossible. James Franklin gave Jordan Rodgers his first start on Saturday and it paid off. You may have heard of his brother. He’s my fantasy league quarterback.
Source: GatorSports.com - Dooley's Desk
