Random Thoughts - Tuesday January 29

Shut them up, part one
The past tense version, for the Lady Vols absolutely getting it done down the stretch last night in beating Duke at Cameron Indoor. In an uneven game in a hostile environment, with the Crazies in full effect, the Lady Vols did what they do best down the stretch (and so did Candace Parker), and #2 Tennessee escaped #9 Duke by three points. No more questions for Pat Summitt, and hopefully no more talk of cancelling the series (because when you look in the paper and see UConn at 1 and the Lady Vols at 2, you shake your head that they won't play and pray for early April). But that's another notch in the belt.


Shut them up, part two
The present tense version, as the #7 men are in Tuscaloosa tonight and preparing to face a white out at Coleman Coliseum, in front of another national ESPN audience (9:00 PM EST). Bruce Pearl brings up a very valid point - the Vols have actually played better at Rupp Arena than in Tuscaloosa in our generation. Alabama is off to a slow start in the SEC, but got their first win by busting Auburn last week, and they are talented and you'll recognize the names (Richard Hendrix, Mykal Riley, Alonzo Gee).

And since we have no problem disliking Alabama around here, the Vols might as well carry it forward and silence T-Town with a win tonight. Make no mistake: with Florida graduated and UK down, it's the top ten Vols who carry the biggest bullseye in the SEC, night in, night out. Tennessee is going to catch the very best game from the opposition every time out, especially on the road. UT handled that very well at South Carolina and took out their UK frustrations by destroying Georgia. Let's not give Alabama anything else to cheer about.

This is the important precursor to what could end up as the most important weekend of the regular season: the Vols are 4-1 in the SEC and need a win tonight to keep pace with, yes, Florida in the SEC East. If the Vols escape Coleman, they'll have a date with (currently) undefeated (in the SEC) Mississippi State in Starkville on Saturday night, and then another late night ESPN showdown with the baby Gators next Tuesday in Knoxville (where a pair of tickets are currently going for triple digits on ebay). The Vols could put themselves in the front of the division and conference race - but they've got to win tonight first.


Shut them up, part three
The future tense version, for the WWE. Here's a great example of great theoretical planning, poor real life results: they keep John Cena's true injury status closely guarded, and actually pull off a total, 100% shocker in Sunday's Royal Rumble by having Cena appear as the 30th and final entrant. Pulling this off with absolutely no whispers of it in the internet age is a feat to be recognized. Very well done.

Here's the problem: even though you bring Cena back, it doesn't mean true wrestling fans have forgotten how much they hate him in the four month interim. So when you bring up back and have him win the Rumble, it's a nice story...but not if you're expecting thunderous applause and the "CENA! CENA! CENA!" chants that haven't been in the majority since 2006. Instead, on Raw last night, you're getting "CENA SUCKS!" - and you don't shut up the fans, you listen to them.

And it's an even worse story when your current champion is...Randy Orton, your most promising heel on Raw. Who's drawing actual heat in a match against Jeff Hardy. Randy Orton is on the cusp of arriving as the new superheel that the federation desperately needs.

Except now, now you've got him against Cena. And while fans hate Orton in exactly the way WWE wants them to, they hate Cena with such a passion that it overrides the former. And the WWE doesn't want them to hate Cena - they want them to love him, they want them to go see his new movie when it comes out later this year.

So now, because we hate Cena so much, we'll actually be forced to cheer for Orton...which we won't have much of a problem doing really (or at least I won't) because he's been so effective at being a heel the right way. I respect him. I hate Cena. Bad decision, and extremely poor timing. It seems like the WWE is great at dropping jaws, but terrible at keeping them on the floor. You got our pants down with Cena's shocking early return...and in the process, you just blew two of the best things you had going for you. Now Orton's not the superheel, and Cena's return is busted. I see what you were thinking, but it's not going to work.

What is going to work is the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out, featuring Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, JBL, Jeff Hardy and Umaga. That's good stuff. Let's hope Orton beats Cena so we don't have to deal with anymore of this crap at WrestleMania. There are also reports today that, in the midst of the writer's strike, NBC is considering picking up Monday Night Raw. And in an unrelated but equally surreal idea, WWE is rumored to be contacting Britney Spears for a WrestleMania appearance. Even odds on whether she or Mike Tyson '98 is the most unpredictable WrestleMania experience.


And finally...
Hey, you know that guy who's led the majors in wins, strikeouts and ERA for the last five seasons? ESPN is reporting that he's getting ready to be pitching in New York...for the Mets. Great. We'll take Tom Glavine off your hands, so you can replace his spot in the rotation with Johan Santana. Just great.

Here's a lightning rod for you...

We celebrate 300 posts with...women's basketball?

The Lady Vols head to Duke on Monday night, for their third visit to Cameron Indoor and the Crazies, who are on full display for the women as well in games like this one. Last year the Lady Dukies came into Thompson-Boling and fought off the Lady Vols and Bruce Pearl's painted man chest, and got the W.

So the article from today's News-Sentinel says it all, but Pat Summitt is asking/warning the Cameron Crazies to lay off Alexis Hornbuckle, under threat that the Lady Vols will cancel the series. Two years ago at Duke, the Crazies chanted "Wal-Mart!" at Hornbuckle and waved plastic Wal-Mart bags, in reference to Hornbuckle's shoplifting incident at the world's largest retailer. Hornbuckle responded with a terrible game.

If you read the comments with the article on govols.com, this isn't one of those middle ground issues. Some people are giving Summitt the customary pat on the back and congratulating her for "being above something like this". Everyone else is saying what a terrible idea this was to begin with. When the natives are restless, you don't pour fuel on the fire.

If I was as crazy about Duke as I am about Tennessee, and I read this article this morning and heard the opposing coach say that, I'm going for blood on Monday night. I'm going to find a way to go directly at Summitt. I'm going to be even louder and even more personal. This isn't a discussion about the ethics of the Cameron Crazies - this is a statement about what's going to happen now on Monday night. Pat Summmitt didn't make this better, she just made it much worse.

Now, there's a remedy, of course - winning. If the Lady Vols come into what would've already been a hostile environment, and now even more so, and they get the W, all the talk doesn't matter. And Summitt will be free to cancel the series - although let's say this, sometimes I wonder if it doesn't seem to the outside world that Summitt and the Lady Vols are playing bigger than the game itself. Didn't like something UConn did, canceled the series. Even though it was the very best thing women's basketball had going. Even though ESPN GameDay was going to show up in Knoxville for it this season. Now we don't like something Duke might do, and we threat to cancel another incredibly important series. Pat Summitt has won seven national championships, more games than anyone else, and has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know. But even she's not bigger than the sport itself, and no matter how much she and Geno can't get along...and no matter how personal the Crazies can be...her actions in "defending" the Lady Vols and threatening to cancel series are hurting women's college basketball.

(It's funny when people here in southwest Virginia talk about Summitt, because they have an incredible respect for her...but they also mention that they'd be too afraid of her to dislike her.)

I wonder if Duke felt disrespected when Bruce Pearl stole the show at their game last season? And if they did, they took the right course of action: they beat the Lady Vols. And even though everyone only wanted to talk about Pearl the next day, the win was still more important.

The Crazies won't have singular attention Monday night, because they're the Crazies and this is what they do. And sure, they have a level of premeditation that few other schools possess. But Vol fans at Thompson-Boling can be personal off the cuff as well. Earlier this month, they chanted "USA! USA!" at Vanderbilt's AJ Ogilvy (who comes from the land down under)...which made me laugh, but still didn't feel right. And I've never heard a better combination of simplicity and effectiveness than the "NO-AH'S UG-LY! (clap clap clapclapclap)" chant they unleashed on Joakim last season. This is simply what a student section in major college basketball does. You can say it's not right or it crosses the line, but that's not going to change it.

Threatening the Crazies to tone it down or else is a terrible idea. You've just made it worse, and now you'd better win. It's going to be louder and probably more personal, and even more so if you lose. And even if the Duke coaching staff and administration asks the Crazies to tone it down, it comes across like the Lady Vols are the ones who can't handle it, or the only ones special enough to get a pass - which will again make it easier to say that Summitt and the Lady Vols are acting bigger than the game itself, and hurting women's college basketball. If you don't like it, shut them up by beating them. Period. That's the first and best course of action...and hopefully, that's the one the Lady Vols will unleash Monday night, no matter what the crowd is - or isn't - saying.

Strong to the Finish

It's three days later, and the loss to UK is still crawling in me. The Vols haven't had a chance to put some new and better memories in front of us since - that'll come against Georgia tomorrow night at TBA. And the SEC season is still quite young, and the Vols are sitting pretty well at 3-1. If anything, Tuesday's loss at Rupp is making it easy for me to use my third and final Sunday off for the 07-08 year on the United Methodist calendar, and take it on March 2, when the Vols will host UK at high noon. That's one for the SEC Championship, one for the SEC Basketball Tournament, and one for UT vs. UK in Knoxville, if you're scoring at home.

In the crucial final minutes of Tuesday's game, it seemed like the Vols were playing too much 1 on 1 and didn't get much of anything resembling a good shot, something Bruce Pearl echoed in some of his postgame comments. Some of that credit belongs to Kentucky, who it seems like is more and more buying into Billy Gillespie's defensive system.

And yet it's the Vols who, at times, look like the Kentucky of old, Pitino's Kentucky, with the press and the five guys on the floor who can all hurt you. Bruce Pearl is building a monster that's not quite finished yet, but the Vols had played better and better with greater and greater talent over the last three seasons.

And so this is again why it's so frustrating that at the end of Tuesday's game, the Vols failed to get it done. Even some of Ramar Smith's shots that went in really weren't good shots - it looked like the work of a bunch of highly talented individuals trying to get it done themselves, instead of meshing as a team.

The Vols are capable of putting their best five out there (which at the end of games right now has been Ramar, Lofton, JaJuan, Tyler and Chism) and executing - witness Xavier and especially the final offensive possessions against Ole Miss. And I think everyone really thinks we haven't seen the Vols' best ball yet, not just from Lofton's cold touch, but an all around dominating performance. Even the 20 point win over Vanderbilt didn't feel like all this team was capable of.

Under Pearl, you have to believe you'll ultimately see it. And the moral of the story in college basketball, where no one goes undefeated, is that you lose in January so you don't have to lose in March - that the Vols have to, between now and then, figure out how to play together and play their best at the end of games, instead of relying on themselves and/or taking ill advised shots (see Tyler Smith's 3). Between now and March, the Vols are clearly the most talented team in the SEC, and should have every opportunity to win the conference and to win it outright for the first time in more than two decades. Pearl talked often in the offseason about how his first two teams here played as good as they possibly could until a certain point, and then they just hit the ceiling and couldn't play any better. You saw this with the 06 team when they peaked by beating Florida in Gainesville, then arguably didn't play well the rest of the season against Arkansas, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Winthrop and Wichita State (a run they went 2-4 on to close the season). The 07 team got hot late, finally started winning on the road and beat UK and Florida in Knoxville, but still lost to LSU in Atlanta and blew the Sweet 16 against Ohio State.

So can the 08 Vols ascend to something more, and keep playing better and better? The Vols are talented enough to play with anyone in the country on any night, and if Pearl can reign in some of the individualism and get the best offense working on the floor in the last five minutes, the Vols should still be in great shape. Losing hurts, losing to UK always hurts more, but the Vols should be able to learn from their mistakes on Tuesday, and take it out on Georgia starting tomorrow night. Keep getting better, keep going forward, strong to the finish.

By the way, props to Donte' Stallworth for representing the Vols in his pre-Super Bowl press conference today. I'm still pulling for the Giants though.

Good grief, miss a free throw will ya?

I mean, come on. This is why I hate UK so much. So very, very much. @#$%.

Random Thoughts - Tuesday January 22

Bring on the snow!

Yep, we're still starting with Tennessee Football
With the NFL Draft deadline behind us and recruiting ahead, and with the Vols having finalized their new offensive coaching staff - Dave Clawson got a semi-standing ovation at Thompson-Boling over the weekend, and Fulmer got the most positive reception I've heard for him in over a year - we can finally start looking ahead with some realistic idea of what things are going to look like in 2008. Which would begin, roughly, with something like this:

OFFENSE
QB Jonathan Crompton
RB Arian Foster - Montario Hardesty - Lennon Creer
WR Lucas Taylor - Josh Briscoe - Denarius Moore
WR Austin Rogers - Quentin Hancock - Gerald Jones
TE Jeff Cottam
TE Luke Stocker - Brandon Warren
OT Chris Scott
OT Ramone Johnson
OG Anthony Parker - Jacques McClendon
OG Ramon Foster - Vladimir Richard
C Josh McNeil

DEFENSE
DE Robert Ayers
DE Ben Martin - Wes Brown
DT Demonte' Bolden
DT Dan Williams
LB Rico McCoy
LB Ellix Wilson - Nevin McKenzie - Savion Frazier
LB Adam Myers-White - Chris Donald - Dorian Davis
CB Brent Vinson - Ricardo Kemp
CB DeAngelo Willingham - Marsalous Johnson - Dennis Rogan
FS Antonio Wardlow
SS Eric Berry - Demetrice Morley

SPECIAL TEAMS
K Daniel Lincoln
P Britton Colquitt
KR Dennis Rogan

Questions? Jonathan Crompton will actually be the most experienced new starting quarterback the Vols have had going into the season since Jerry Colquitt in 1994 - so you haven't seen a whole lot and the Vols didn't win either of the two games he played in in 2006, but what you have seen is more than what you're used to, and Crompton has plenty of upside to be excited about. Perhaps the better news is that, while we'll see how much of the production of guys like Lucas Taylor was a result of Cutcliffe/Trooper, that's really the only personnel question. The RBs, WRs, and OL are all battle tested and good to begin with. And I promise you, if Brandon Warren gets in, he's a weapon.

So the biggest offensive question really isn't Crompton, it's Clawson. And that's an unanswerable question until the fall and the on field result. But boy, we'll have fun trying to solve it between now and then, I'm sure.

Defensively, it's a mixed bag. The line play was questionable at best last year, though it did improve as the year went on. So you get the middle back in Bolden and Williams, who I'm comfortable with. I like what I've heard about Ben Martin's potential, and I love Robert Ayers' motor (go back and watch film of the Arkansas game - no one up front got more contact on McFadden than Ayers). The ability to get to the quarterback will once again be front and center in making an average defense good.

It's hard to type "making a good defense great" without Jerod Mayo - and not just because of his talent alone, but because where exactly are we going to replace him? Rico McCoy is solid. Ellix Wilson will pass. Who's the third linebacker? I mean, look at that list up there - the most attractive option to me is Nevin McKenzie, who's playing at safety weight right now. For all the other young guys, a golden opportunity awaits...but who can replace Mayo and Ryan Karl, who both struggled early, but came on later and made huge differences? This is the largest question mark going in.

A question mark of a different sort will be finding the names and placements of the four best bodies in the secondary. We know Eric Berry will be somewhere. We know Demetrice Morley will be back. And there's a wealth of young experience at corner from this season. It'll be up to the coaching staff to figure out which four make up the best combination - but this could be a nasty secondary. Throw in Dennis Rogan's work on special teams and the return of both kickers...and I like it. See how much easier this is when you win the bowl game?

So it's these guys against this:

2008 SCHEDULE
08/30 - vs UAB
09/06 - at UCLA
09/13 - off week
09/20 - vs Florida
09/27 - at Auburn
10/04 - vs Northern Illinois
10/11 - at Georgia
10/18 - vs Mississippi State
10/25 - vs Alabama
11/01 - at South Carolina
11/08 - vs Wyoming
11/15 - off week
11/22 - at Vanderbilt
11/29 - vs Kentucky

Kids, today's word is "top heavy".

In the first half of the schedule, the Vols will play three Top 15 teams, plus travel to UCLA. Florida and Georgia will probably both be in the Top 5. The turnaround from Florida to Jordan-Hare will be brutal. And for Dave Clawson's offense, it'll be minimal talking and maximum walking early, which will either be the best or the worst thing that could happen to him.

However, the schedule takes a nose dive in November, with both Vandy and Kentucky down in 2008. I hope that when this time of year actually roles around, we can complain about how boring it is instead of worrying who we're going to lose to next.

It's way too early for predictions here, but I will say that once again, Tennessee is one of those select elite programs that's capable of winning every game they play. That's been true here for almost 20 years, and will continue to be true in 2008. And it'll also be true that the SEC will once again be the gauntlet, which could field as many as seven teams in the preseason Top 25.

Speaking of which, CollegeFootballNews.com has their 2008 Pre-Preseason Rankings up, which finds the Vols at a healthy #12 (and Ohio State at #1, because apparently they enjoy getting email). Hey, only seven and a half months between now and then.

Ah, but the good part about that these days is this...


Let the streets of Lexington run blue with the blood of the UK faithful!
I hate Kentucky Basketball.

I hate them. And I always forget exactly how much until right around this time each year, when it comes time for the orange and the blue to be together under one roof. So we're thankful for Bruce Pearl for making things competitive (2-2 the last two seasons), and we're excited about the fact that the Vols are 16-1, 3-0 in the SEC, and ranked #3 for the first time in school history.

Beating Kentucky anytime is great. Beating them in Rupp has happened twice in my lifetime (1999, and under Pearl in 2006). Last year sans-Lofton, the Vols were run out of the building in a 19 point loss, the worst in the Pearl administration. And Kentucky - though they're 7-9 - is supposed to be coming around. They're healthy, they beat Vanderbilt before anyone else and they were right there in two tough road tests at Starkville and Gainesville.

But look, okay...that idea that we're touting Kentucky as being "a team that was competitive on the road in the SEC" should show you what we're dealing with this season. Kentucky hasn't been "Kentucky" at all this season, though tonight they could take a step in that direction. But not only are the Vols favored, tonight they've got a rare opportunity to do something I've never seen.

We've been here before. In 2001, the Vols started the season 16-1, 3-0 in the SEC and were ranked #4 nationally (sound familiar?). Kentucky was unranked and struggling at the time. And when we went to Rupp, I was looking not just for the W, but for blood.

Instead, the Cats won by 10 and jump started their season, and that began the most painful sports stretch in my young lifetime - the Vols went from 16-1 to 18-9, and ultimately were bounced from the Dance in the first round - and we haven't been back to such heights since.

So here we are today, and the circumstances are incredibly similar except for the two head coaches. And I'm willing to bet that that makes all the difference. So under Pearl, again tonight, I don't want just the win. I want blood. I want violence. I want something to make my childhood of watching Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and the rest of them dunk on everyone in an orange jersey, and listening to a throng of blue faithful drown out the home crowd in Thompson-Boling...I want something to make that a little bit better. I want to be the ones who put the dagger in Kentucky's season. And we're good enough to do it.

I'll take 50-49 or 100-99. But I want something definitive. I've never seen Tennessee do what it's capable of doing to Kentucky tonight. And there's no one I'd rather see them do it to. So in a little less than three hours, when the ball goes up at 9:00 on ESPN from Rupp Arena, Tennessee has their greatest chance this season (so far) to cement themselves in the hearts and minds of the orange faithful. If we win tonight, there will have been more impressive looking resume wins. But there won't have been any more satisfying. We almost never win at Rupp. We never dominate. Now is the time.

By the way, you can also read an excellent article about Tyler Smith, his dad, and Bruce Pearl in the latest ESPN The Magazine (not available for free online except to Insider subscribers at ESPN.com). And that article ends with "Admit it, a Vols title run would be the feel-good story of the season."

One thing at a time.


Do you care about the Super Bowl?
It's an interesting question. If you like football at all, you do simply because the Patriots are 18-0 and history is on the line. But for the casual fan, can you get behind this New York/New England drama?

It's not a natural rivalry like Yanks/Sox or even Celtics/Knicks. The Jets are New England's big rival up there, not the Giants. But even if it doesn't have the national draw, you have to tune in. And maybe the Super Bowl will really deliver, before the game and in the game itself, for the first time since John Elway beat Brett Favre.

At least you know the Giants have a chance, based on Week 17. SI's Dr. Z is already picking the G-Men. And with Eli involved, Vol fans like me can once again invoke the name of Manning in an attempt to take down the Patriots. Which would be unfair to Donte' Stallworth...if Gibril Wilson wasn't playing for the Giants.

More on this later...cause God knows we've got time.


Blood on the streets of Lexington, panic on the streets of Boston...
Well, less so now that the Celtics have gotten it back together, but that stretch where the C's went from 29-3 to 30-6 was uncomfortable. Still, Boston now sits at 33-6 and comfortably ahead of everyone else in the standings.

What's good to see too is, outside of a string of unfortunate injuries, the rest of the NBA is generally playing competitive basketball. And what I mean by that is, Detroit and Boston appear on a collision course for an enjoyable, epic old school Eastern Conference Finals and LeBronBron is still interesting in the East...and out West, you might have the most competitive playoffs of all time.

Right now, if the playoffs started today, here's how it would look out West:

1. Phoenix
2. New Orleans
3. LA Lakers
4. Dallas
5. Portland
6. San Antonio
7. Denver
8. Golden State

This means that Utah and Houston, both playing above .500 ball, are home. And the difference between Phoenix and Golden State? Five games.

In the East, Boston and Detroit are clearly on top of the world. But if the playoffs started today, two sub .500 teams would be in. So the top of the East is better, if not best. But the rest of it still has a ways to go. Still, all of this makes for exciting, interesting basketball.

It's also getting close to All-Star time - voting closed on Sunday, starters are announced Thursday, and we already got the good news today that both Gerald Green and Dwight Howard are going to return to the Slam Dunk contest (flashbacks here). So these are my picks for the 08 All Star starters:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
G Jason Kidd, Nets
G Paul Pierce, Celtics
F LeBron James, Cavs
F Kevin Garnett, Celtics
C Dwight Howard, Magic

WESTERN CONFERENCE
G Steve Nash, Suns
G Kobe Bryant, Lakers
F Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
F Carlos Boozer, Jazz
C Yao Ming, Rockets

Also, you can check out a good catch-up piece from ESPN.com's NBA writers roundtable as we approach the halfway point.


Picking a winner in the Royal Rumble
So Sunday, you've got Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy for the Raw belt, and Edge vs. Rey Mysterio for the SmackDown belt. This year's rules mean that the winner of the Rumble goes to WrestleMania to take on that brand's champion, while the #1 contender at WrestleMania from the other brand will be determined at No Way Out next month in a six-man Elimination Chamber match.

So here's basic wrestling logic: what's a bigger draw, an Elimination Chamber match from Raw, or SmackDown? And since there's a reason all the big talent is on Raw, that's the bigger draw, which means someone from SmackDown is winning the Rumble, in my mind. And since the only two real WrestleMania headliner options are Batista and Undertaker, and Taker becomes twice the draw at WrestleMania because he's never lost there, I'll take Edge vs. Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship in two months at 'Mania. Which means - for the second year in a row - I'll take Undertaker to win the Royal Rumble. As much as it pains me. We're still heavy on the Shawn Michaels bandwagon, but I'd probably rather see him in the chamber anyway, which on possibility alone threatens to get my money next month, before WrestleMania takes it for sure.

Oh, and as a wild card Rumble pick...watch out for Ric Flair. WOOOOOOOOOO!

This is so stupid, I have to post it

Anyone who questions the journalistic integrity of this blog can now clearly see that I post the good and the bad, and in this case, the incredibly ridiculous, when it comes to Tennessee Athletics.

News-Sentinel 10:13 AM: Gerald Jones and Ahmad Paige arrested for marijuana possession, with recruit on official visit in car.

Come to Tennessee: we've got weed.

Random Thoughts - Saturday January 12

A big day in sports...some thoughts on what's going on:

Dave Clawson as Tennessee's new Offensive Coordinator
I'm in Virginia, so I didn't get to see the press conference this morning, but in listening to the audio, I think you can hear a couple of things in Phillip Fulmer's voice - that he's glad, despite 2007 being a good year, to be on towards 2008 and not be dealing with the week to week job security stresses of the fall. I believe that Fulmer believes that 2008 can also be a good year for the Vols, and I believe that as well.

I also believe that Dave Clawson not only looks like Jimmy from Bull Durham, he also sounds a little like him. I'm not opposed to the FCS hire and think Clawson deserves every opportunity to succeed here, right now and in the future. That being said, it'll be a tough road very quickly for Clawson - his merits will be determined on the field; for all Bruce Pearl's charm, you really fell in love with him because he beat Texas and beat Florida in his first three months on the job - and the Vols' 08 schedule brings a very challenging September with a trip to UCLA, the Florida Gators (who Clawson and the Vol offense may be able to exploit defensively still), and then a tough break from the SEC rotating schedule, which means the Vols will travel to Auburn the very next week.

"At the heart of what we do will be a physical downhill run game." - Clawson. Arian Foster, I bet you liked that. The biggest blow to the Vols was obviously losing Jerod Mayo, but the return of Ramon Foster and Anthony Parker on the offensive line is probably the biggest asset. Foster will have the opportunity to go to the NFL, but if he returns he'll have a chance to get Travis Henry's career rushing mark at Tennessee. And if Arian does go pro, like Mayo we'll wish him the best...and unlike Mayo, we'll feel okay about who steps up next, with Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer still in the stable.

"It's his offense. It's his offense to run." - Fulmer. He followed that up by saying that he himself is the one who will ultimately be accountable, but really, everyone is accountable and we all knew that already.

Latrell Scott - who says that Clawson is easily the best coach he's ever worked for - comes over from Richmond's staff and will become the new wide receivers coach. I love the fact that you can hear that nervous excitement in Scott's voice, and that one of the first things he mentions is making the wide receivers more physical. Stan Drayton from Florida lines in as the RB coach, and Fulmer is still looking for that all important tight ends coach. Allow me to say, however, that if everything comes through with Brandon Warren, the potential for that position will increase dramatically.

Clawson sounds confident and Fulmer sounds confident in him, and I like all of these things. Of course, this is all talk, and again, as charming as The Bruce was in his first press conference, he said right off the bat that several men had walked through those doors and said a lot of nice things and not gotten the job done, and no matter what he said if he didn't get the job done someone else would be walking through those doors in a few years. Talk is cheap and free. The experience is good today, but true experience yields true result.

Arian's decision and the continuing progress of Warren and Demetrice Morley will bleed into recruiting, and we'll go from there. Already, you can appreciate the SEC East title and the positive aftertaste of the Outback Bowl even more, because all of these events get a slightly more positive spin, and the mouth starts watering a little bit more for 2008. I'd project that this year's Orange & White Game will be the most interesting in a long time, both for another clear look at Jonathan Crompton and the continued progression of these still-young wide receivers, and for your first look at Clawson's offense.

I believe this is a good day for Tennessee Football.


SEC Basketball today
If you're into circling games and making time on your calendar to watch them, then here in about an hour you're going to want to check out Vanderbilt at Kentucky. Or at least put it on as the last channel watched, so you can flip there after you've had your Brett Favre fix. Vanderbilt is undefeated, off to the best start in school history at 16-0, and ranked #12 with a chance to jump into the Top 10 if they can win today. And of course, their next game comes Thursday night in Knoxville with an ESPN audience. You want them to win today.

But it's not blind Kentucky hatred involved - I'm also really interested to see if UK can get up off the deck and compete. The SEC season is usually what really counts, but with everybody and their brother saying how down the conference as a whole is this year, Kentucky really needs to blow the doors off to even think about March after their horrid start. Winning today at home would be a huge lift - if they lose right away at home, even against a good team like Vandy, I think you have to question if Billy G can keep this thing together for the rest of this season. And you never know what you're going to see - the Gators are young, but they're 14-2 and just came from behind on the road to beat Alabama earlier this week. There's still hope for Kentucky as well. So while I want Vandy to win so they come into Knoxville unbeaten, I think this game will be very telling on both sides.

The Commodores won their SEC opener by beating South Carolina, but they were pushed, 80-73. And so while you can check out Vandy/Kentucky on a national CBS telecast today at 1:30, you'll get the Vols in an NFL Playoff-free environment, tonight at 8:00 on Fox Sports South. You can also catch the game on the ESPN Full Court package, which is in the midst of a free preview weekend, so Vol fans far and wide can check this one out tonight.

South Carolina isn't projected to go dancing, but no team in recent memory has had Tennessee's number like the Gamecocks, especially in Columbia. Aside from busting Tennessee out of the 2006 SEC Tournament on Friday, South Carolina is 5-2 this decade against the Vols in Columbia. And they should be 7-0; Tennessee came back from down 9 with a minute to play in 2002, sent it to overtime with a Terrence Woods three at the buzzer, and won in overtime. In Bruce Pearl's first season, the Vols went unconscious from three in the second half and again rallied from a double digit hole to win by seven. But every other year, the Gamecocks have gotten it done, and usually with inferior talent. And it's usually not even close - last year the Vols laid an absolute egg in Columbia coming off the home win against Kentucky in an 81-64 loss. Buzz Peterson lost all four of his games in Columbia by a combined 54 points.

SEC wins are precious even in a "down year" for the conference, and if the Vols want to remain in that national elite conversation and seriously consider a #1 seed come March, these are games you simply have to win. And it's really too early to even be talking about #1 seeds; the Vols need to win the SEC, something they haven't done since 2000. Carolina will bring solid guard play to the floor tonight, including the returning Brandis Raley-Ross, who is a sick 30 of 46 from three this season, the best shooting percentage in the nation. This could easily be a trap game for the Vols, coming off the emotional high of the SEC opener and busting Ole Miss' unbeaten season in dramatic fashion in Knoxville, and with the marquee week next week, hosting Vanderbilt and Ohio State and then traveling to Rupp in a six day span Thursday-Tuesday. Good teams don't let this one get away. Great teams win this one. We know we're talented and we know we play our butts off. But tonight may be one of those character opportunities. We'll see what we've got.


NFL Divisional Playoffs
I wish they'd quit calling this "the best weekend in football", because that's just a slap in the face to the first Saturday in October all across college football, which in 2007 featured unranked Illinois upsetting #5 Wisconsin, the Red River Shootout, Clemson and Virginia Tech, Stanford's epic 41 piont underdog win at Southern Cal, Missouri scoring 200 points on Nebraska, Florida and LSU playing an absolute classic under the lights, and oh yeah, Tennessee beating Georgia like a dog. I'm just saying.

But it is an enjoyable weekend, and even with the Titans home and carrying around that sense of "we're as good as we can be right now" - which I'm sure will lead to greater frustration in the offseason when the team neglects to address that issue - I'm still wildly interested in these playoffs. All of the divisional matchups are interesting and nationally relevant, from the Favre/Holmgren saga in Green Bay, to the unbeaten Pats, to the Tony Romo/Jessica Simpson fun in Dallas against Eli and the Giants, to oh yeah, the defending Super Bowl Champions.

And I think you have a chance for a really special end to this run as well. Bill Simmons made the good point last week that it's been ten years since we've seen a great Super Bowl that everyone cared about, when Denver and Green Bay played. Lots of great games were unattractive matchups (Rams/Titans, Rams/Patriots), and even attractive matchups didn't pan out - like last year, when we were all still catching our breath from the AFC Championship Game when the Colts beat the Bears.

So in these playoffs, it's not even that you need New England vs. Dallas to draw the fans. Any combination of New England/Indianapolis vs. Dallas/Green Bay/NY Giants would do. And my apologies to Seattle, because I do like you, I just don't think much of anyone else does. No apologies to San Diego or Jacksonville, because I hate you. Sorry, John Henderson.

Actually, that New England vs. Dallas matchup is the one thing I absolutely don't want to see. I'd take Jacksonville vs. Seattle a million times before I wanted to see Pats/Cowboys, simply because I loathe both of those teams. The Cowboys I hate more than anyone else in the NFL, and the Patriots I hate this year because, well, they're the Patriots and they cheated. So in my fantasy scenario, they win tonight only so Peyton can head north next week and play dream killer, then Peyton busts up the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Because I really don't want two weeks of Manning Bowl hype, and I really don't want to cheer against Brett Favre, which is what I'd do if it was Colts/Packers. But man, any of those would still be really fun.

Still though, methinks Vanderbilt at Kentucky is going to win the remote wars.

EDIT: Wonder of wonders, the NFL Playoff games don't start til 4:30. So this way, you can watch Vandy/UK, then watch Favre, then the Vols - cause really, who cares about the Patriots anyway?

Jimmy Dykes on the Vols

From tonight's Auburn/Arkansas game on ESPN, with Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes calling the game, two separate exchanges between the two about the Vols, TiVoed for full clarity:

(talking about the importance of guard play on the road in the SEC):

Dykes: You know, that's why I think Ole Miss, Andy Kennedy's squad, will be right there come March, because he's got a stud freshman point guard, Chris Warren...they gave Tennessee all they wanted in that building last night, there's not many teams right now that can go into Thompson-Boling and play those cats to a two point game. That showed me a lot about Ole Miss...and continued to tell me that Tennessee, they are going to be one of the last ones standing.

Nessler: If you think this (Auburn/Arkansas) is a Thursday Night Showcase, be with us next Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena: Vandy at Tennessee.


(talking about big upcoming SEC games):

Nessler: ...and circle that baby (Vanderbilt at Tennessee)...that's a week from tonight, and Vandy might still be undefeated, and Tennessee who knows, we'll see this weekend...but how crazy will it be between the Commodores and the Volunteers?

Dykes: They don't like each other very much.

Nessler: No, they don't like each other very much at all.

Dykes: And when there's a lot on the line, they really don't like each other. We're gonna have a high powered Vanderbilt offense, with guys like Shan Foster shooting from the perimeter, and guys like AJ Ogilvy, one of the more underrated freshmen in the country, taking on a plethora of guys that play harder, night in and night out, than anyone else in college basketball right now. That's the Tennessee Volunteers.

Nessler: You throw Memphis in the mix, though they're not in the SEC...but the state's doing pretty well.

Dykes: I think...you know, Memphis and North Carolina, are right there behind Tennessee in that out-effort you every possession.

Yep - Bruce has got them drinking heavily from the orange well in a little under three years. That's what we like to see.

Tennessee Football: 2007 Final Thoughts & Updated 50 Best Vol Games List

One final dart on the football board before we go full speed ahead with basketball later tonight...

As we close the book on the 2007 Vols and move ahead towards recruiting, coaching changes and transfer quarterbacks from Michigan, this has definitely been a unique season in Knoxville and all of college football. So instead of writing more about that, here are some of the in-the-moment pieces written on this blog throughout the season, which are interesting to go back and read just for the sense of highs and lows that we all went through. Despite the lows and the four losses, the Vols finish with a championship and a January 1 bowl win, and yet again, that makes for a good season for me. Thanks to the Vols for making fall both interesting and good.

2007 Tennessee Football on SESB
09/02 - From the hip: Cal/Vols
09/15 - The Worst Loss of My Lifetime
10/01 - The Crossroads of Tennessee Football
10/07 - A New Day
10/20 - In the Moment: Tennessee/Alabama Postgame
10/28 - Because only God knows what'll happen next
11/07 - How to kill a hog...
11/18 - That's why they're Vanderbilt
11/25 - The Champions of the Eastern Division

Also, we're again updating the 50 Best Vol Games (1989-2007) feature, with a ton of inclusions from the 2007 season. You can once again find the original features about these games (in depth on the Top 15 games) from August-December of 2006 in the blog archives.

The updated list following the 2007 season:
50. 1993 - Tennessee 38 - Georgia 6
49. 2006 - Tennessee 31 - Air Force 30
48. 2000 - Tennessee 17 - South Carolina 14
47. 1989 - Tennessee 31 - Arkansas 27 (Cotton Bowl)
46. 2007 - Tennessee 34 - Arkansas 13
45. 1997 - Tennessee 17 - Vanderbilt 10
44. 2001 - Tennessee 35 - Alabama 24
43. 2007 - Tennessee 27 - South Carolina 24 (OT)
42. 1999 - Tennessee 21 - Alabama 7
41. 1999 - Tennessee 38 - Notre Dame 14
40. 1997 - Tennessee 38 - Georgia 13
39. 2001 - Tennessee 28 - Notre Dame 18
38. 1999 - Tennessee 37 - Georgia 20
37. 1996 - Tennessee 35 - UCLA 20
36. 2001 - Tennessee 38 - Kentucky 35
35. 2001 - Tennessee 26 - LSU 18
34. 1989 - Tennessee 24 - UCLA 6
33. 2006 - Tennessee 35 - California 18
32. 1989 - Tennessee 21 - Auburn 14
31. 1991 - Tennessee 30 - Auburn 21
30. 2004 - Tennessee 38 - Texas A&M 7 (Cotton Bowl)
29. 2003 - Tennessee 24 - Florida 10
28. 2001 - Tennessee 45 - Michigan 17 (Citrus Bowl)
27. 1995 - Tennessee 30 - Georgia 27
26. 1992 - Tennessee 34 - Georgia 31
25. 1990 - Tennessee 45 - Florida 3
24. 1998 - Tennessee 35 - Alabama 18
23. 2007 - Tennessee 35 - Georgia 14
22. 1998 - Tennessee 22 - Georgia 3
21. 1998 - Tennessee 34 - Syracuse 33
20. 2003 - Tennessee 10 - Miami 6
19. 2006 - Tennessee 51 - Georgia 33
18. 1990 - Tennessee 23 - Virginia 22 (Sugar Bowl)
17. 2002 - Tennessee 41 - Arkansas 38 (6OT)
16. 2003 - Tennessee 51 - Alabama 43 (5OT)
15. 2005 - Tennessee 30 - LSU 27 (OT)
14. 2007 - Tennessee 52 - Kentucky 50 (4OT)
13. 1995 - Tennessee 20 - Ohio State 14 (Citrus Bowl)
12. 2004 - Tennessee 19 - Georgia 14
11. 1998 - Tennessee 24 - Mississippi State 14 (SEC Championship)
10. 1992 - Tennessee 31 - Florida 14
09. 2004 - Tennessee 30 - Florida 28
08. 2001 - Tennessee 34 - Florida 32
07. 1997 - Tennessee 30 - Auburn 29 (SEC Championship)
06. 1996 - Tennessee 20 - Alabama 13
05. 1998 - Tennessee 28 - Arkansas 24
04. 1991 - Tennessee 35 - Notre Dame 34
03. 1995 - Tennessee 41 - Alabama 14
02. 1998 - Tennessee 20 - Florida 17 (OT)
01. 1998 - Tennessee 23 - Florida State 16 (National Championship)

SESB College Football Final Top 25

Live from Knoxville once again, in waiting for tonight's SEC basketball opener between the #8 Vols and unbeaten #15 Ole Miss...

48 hours removed from LSU's BCS Championship win over Ohio State, here's one final comprehensive look at the 2007 college football season, where we may not have all been happy, but we all got our money's worth. The final AP and Coaches polls both have LSU/Georgia ranked first and second, and both have the Vols at #12. However, I think the fatal flaw of the polls - looking at only the recent part instead of the total whole - is exposed even more at the end of the season. So in ranking my final Top 25 for the 2007 season, we're putting less emphasis on who's playing hot at the end of the season, and a greater effort towards the total picture, as it should be. So here it is, the SESB Final Top 25 for an enjoyable college football season:

25. Virginia
For a team that was called lucky all season, the Cavs were really a few plays away from being good at the end of the year. Their late losses to Virginia Tech and the narrow defeat in the Gator Bowl against Texas Tech still aren't enough to leave them out of the final Top 25. The Cavs finish 9-4 and are still young enough to think about 2008 in a positive light, and even though they didn't get the bowl win or score the big upset to win the division, there should be much rejoicing in Charlottesville over this 2007 season.

24. Penn State
A fary cry, perhaps, from their lofty championship expectations, but the Nittany Lions under JoePa still found a way to win consistently, and picked up another bowl win over Texas A&M in the Alamo. The Big 10 is down and that's reflected here, as the Nittany Lions were essentially the 4th best team in the league.

23. BYU
11-2, Mountain West Champions, and got a key bowl win with the blocked field goal over UCLA, who had beaten them previously in the regular season. It may be unfair, but Hawaii's performance in the Sugar Bowl undid much of what Boise State was able to do for mid-majors last year. The Cougars are the cream of the crop among mid-majors and always have been, and they deserve to be in the final Top 25...it's just that the nation at large, especially after the 17-16 Las Vegas Bowl win, would question their ability to beat anyone ranked in front of them on this list.

22. Illinois
Again, I'm not alone on the Big 10 hating. The Illini had a good regular season and did beat Ohio State and Wisconsin, but did not deserve to be in the BCS and it showed against the Trojans. Their win over Ohio State doesn't look nearly as impressive now either. Still, the Illini are young and no one thought they'd be cracking this list back in August, so it's still a solid year for the Zookers, who beat Penn State, Wisconsin and the Buckeyes this season. If Juice and Mendenhall are around and healthy in 2008, this team can win the Big 10.

21. Texas Tech
Once again, if you're putting together a preseason Top 25 for 2008, you'd better make sure you include these guys. The Red Raiders will always be there with their offense, hovering around 8-10 wins, and picked up the big January 1 bowl win to cap off their season this year. They knocked Sam Bradford out of the Oklahoma game and picked up that key upset, and with weapons returning, including all-world WR Michael Crabtree, the '08 expectations will get jacked up, and we'll have to see if the boys in Lubbock can live up to them. Still year in, year out one of the most fun teams to watch in the free world in any sport.

20. Cincinnati
Is this the second best team in the Big East? You almost have to believe that after watching South Florida get trounced by an undermanned Oregon squad in the Sun Bowl, while the Bearcats got their 10th win by beating Southern Miss. This was a big year for Cincy - while Louisville, Rutgers, and even South Florida fell by the wayside throughout the year, the Bearcats consistently rose to the moment and deserve a Top 20 ranking.

19. Hawaii
Well...like we said, what Boise did for good, Hawaii made for evil in getting trounced by Georgia. But while the Warriors played with fire all year in several close games and comebacks, they still won 12 games and the WAC, and should be rewarded and mentioned in the final rankings. June Jones may have realized he's reached the ceiling on the islands in jumping to SMU...but still, you can't really complain about a 12-0 year.

18. Clemson
Another year of almosts for Tommy Bowden's squad, who gave away a division title at home to Boston College, then lost in overtime to Auburn to close out the year in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Still, the Tigers are in process of establishing themselves as an annual force in the new ACC. They'll just need the division title somewhere along the way to back it up.

17. Tennessee
Here's the best evidence that this is a totally rational poll, because I'm ranking the Vols lower than everyone else has them at the end of the year. The Vols are 10-4 with three brutal losses (all to bowl teams, but all looking much worse now than they did at the time), a heartbreaker in the SEC Championship to the eventual National Champion...but did pick up 10 wins, blasted those whiners from Georgia, and won the SEC Eastern Division before capping it off with an Outback Bowl victory. Tennessee had a good season.

16. Florida
...but even I know it's ridiculous to rank them above Florida. The Gators, however, aside from beating the Vols 59-20...where are the other marquee victories? Kentucky, Florida State and South Carolina were nice wins...but the Gators also lost to Auburn, LSU in a heartbreaker, got run over by Georgia and then gave a similar defensive effort in losing to Michigan. So it's hard to say what it feels like to be a Gator fan right now. Hey, we'll take the East title, you keep the Heisman Trophy.

15. Auburn
Hey, both 9-4, and Auburn beat them in Gainesville. Enough said. War Eagle recovered well from a rough start in losing to South Florida and a game Mississippi State team, in beating Florida and also playing LSU to the wire. Georgia jumped them in the second half, but still Auburn got yet another Iron Bowl win and installed some of that new offense in beating Clemson. Nothing is ever enough in the SEC, but Auburn had a solid year and will, as is the staple crop of SEC football, look for more in 2008.

14. Michigan
Guess who else beat Florida? I struggled with the placing for Michigan more than anyone, because yeah, those first two weeks in September were brutal and the Big 10 is down. However, I also think health was a factor in some of their other losses, and if I rank 9-4 Auburn above Florida because they beat them head to head, I have to do the same thing with Michigan.

13. Arizona State
Here come the three lossers...and yeah, the Sun Devils didn't play well defensively in the Holiday Bowl against Texas. But still, their only losses were to USC, Oregon and Texas. This was a good team that never crossed that threshold of being great, but they won all the games they were supposed to. National perception will put them much lower after the Texas game, but 10-3 is 10-3.

12. Texas
I was not a believer, at all, in these guys until the Holiday Bowl. However, I have been a big believer in Jamaal Charles all year, and the rest of the Longhorn offense caught up for the bowl game. They looked incredibly terrible in their losses, but still had plenty of firepower left in the tank and will have those same guns back for another run in 2008. Texas isn't going anywhere on the national landscape.

11. Boston College
Among the teams who were once ranked #2 in the nation, BC actually had some talent and ability and ended up being more consistent than any of them in the long haul. The Eagles won their division in the ACC and could've slid into the BCS if they'd played better against Virginia Tech in the second half, still rebounded to beat Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl, and finish 11-3 with another title in Boston.

10. Oregon
Alright, look, health is a factor...and I believe that had Dennis Dixon not gotten hurt, this team is playing for the National Championship. They beat Southern Cal at full strength, which I've heard exactly no one mention over the last seven days. This doesn't even mention the blowout in Ann Arbor. The late slide without Dixon obviously hurt them, but then they exploded in the Sun Bowl with 56 points. It has to hurt, thinking about what could've been, but still the Ducks at full strength are a top ten team in 2007.

9. Virginia Tech
This makes two years in a row that VT has had a good regular season - and in this case, an ACC Championship - and two years in a row that quarterback play got them beat in their bowl game. Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor appear to be only good enough to get VT to the big games, but not good enough to win them. It would help, of course, if they didn't throw pick six interceptions. Still, while the bowl game is currently leaving a bad taste in Hokie mouths, VT responded well in an impossible situation to win the ACC. Well done.

8. Kansas
The Jayhawks got a first place vote in the final AP poll, and got arguably the biggest win in Kansas football history in the Orange Bowl. You kept waiting for them to lose in 2007, and they never did until they were supposed to, the loner against Missouri. Which is why, by the way, I know they're 12-1, but you can't rank them in front of...

7. Missouri
...who had a great Cotton Bowl performance, a great regular season, and everyone is already pumping them up for 2008. National perception is that Mizzou is a top five team, and so is Kansas, but yet again, you can't rank them in front of...

6. Oklahoma
...who, despite being the biggest BCS disappointment, beat Missouri. Twice. You cannot rank Missouri in front of OU with any sort of integrity. I would've voted the Sooners - who yes, were upset by Colorado, but lost their only other regular season game because Sam Bradford got hurt - in ahead of LSU to play the Buckeyes for the National Championship, and fully expected them to rout the interim West Virginia Mountaineers. Instead, they got blown out. Puzzling. Still, Big 12 Champions.

5. Ohio State
If you're Jim Tressell...what do you say to your kids now? All those speeches about getting to the big one and losing making you better...you just used them last year, and they were only good enough to get you back to the big one...to lose again. Big, big props to the ESPN GameDay crew after the title game - none of whom have previous SEC ties - for giving the conference massive respect, and especially Chris Fowler, for bringing up the obvious point that no wonder the Big 10 doesn't want a playoff, because a team like Ohio State can run through the conferences and then either take their chances in the BCS or hope they don't run into an SEC team. The Buckeyes still deserve to finish in the top five with an 11-2 finish and a Big 10 title. But this program, this university, is bruised.

4. Southern Cal
Let's see if I can get through these next two without my head exploding. "Southern Cal is the best team in the country!" They lost to Stanford as a 41 point favorite. They weren't better than Oregon when Dennis Dixon was playing. And their dominant Rose Bowl victory was against...Illinois. Of the Big 10. Who did these guys beat all year? The win at Arizona State was good stuff...but other than that, who? Nebraska? California? Illilnois? These are not the notches in the belt of a team that deserves to play for it all, or even be in the conversation. Stop drinking from the USC well.

3. Georgia
The only reason this argument is better is because Georgia plays in the SEC...which, by the way, THEY DIDN'T EVEN WIN THEIR DIVISION IN. Remember Tennessee? 35-14? If you don't win your division, you lose your argument. Period, the end, hope you enjoyed playing Hawaii. Now Georgia's president is on his high horse arguing for an eight team playoff, because his beloved Bulldogs got the shaft in his mind. Where was he on this argument last year, when Florida was making it - with integrity, after the Gators had already edged out Michigan to get in the title game? This way to the children's table...

2. West Virginia
West Virginia is the second best team in the country. The Mountaineers did lose at South Florida, and did choke it away to Pittsburgh. But beating Oklahoma 48-28 is a better quality win than any of the other contenders - Georgia, USC, Ohio State, Kansas, anybody - can claim, by far. And they did it with an interim head coach. If they quit fumbling, they'd be 13-0 and National Champions.

1. LSU
The best team in the best conference in college football is once again the best team in college football. People, including me, have said that LSU wasn't really that good, but yet again the strength of the SEC bears itself out in bowl season and in the BCS, with two more blowout wins and another National Championship. More proof that if you can win your division in the SEC, you can win in Atlanta, and if you can win in Atlanta, you can beat anybody. And really, no matter how they might've struggled to win against the SEC like everyone else here, their only losses were in triple overtime games. LSU deserves this, and you can't make a logical argument for anyone else right now. Congratulations to the Tigers, congratulations to the SEC.

BCS National Championship - Live Thoughts

Final Thoughts
SEC! SEC! SEC!

Fourth Quarter Thoughts 2
It feels like we're grinding towards the inevitable, and I don't even get that sentence finished before Boeckman throws another interception on 3rd and 15. Familiar scene, a crucial 4th quarter interception against the LSU defense. Three Buckeye turnovers on the night.

It seems that we had the makings of something special tonight, but a couple of LSU plays squashed that. Chevis Jackson made two great plays after getting stiff armed by Chris Wells, one breakup of a long bomb when it was 10-10, the blocked field goal, and then his interception when it was 17-10 on the next drive helped keep Ohio State at distance early. I might think about giving him the MVP award.

Laurinaitis does well with 18 tackles, but it's not enough - and because it's now mandatory to call all jump passes "The Tim Tebow Pass", that's exactly what Matt Flynn does for the slow dagger, 38-17. Hang on, Sloopy.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts
Flipping during commercials and stoppages, I thought Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga as the main event on a night when you had the Raw Roulette and it's your first live Raw in three weeks was a really weak way to go, even when you put it in a cage. But just watching during commercials, that was a sensational match with a hot crowd and a highlight ending, with Hardy going backwards off the top of the cage (with Randy Orton on the outside) in a Whisper in the Wind move onto Umaga for the pinfall victory. Good, good stuff.

Ohio State is threatening to give us good stuff in the title game still. Putting my thoughts down "on paper" throughout this game makes it easier for me to see why all these NFL analysts on ESPN, who have to say something to fill the 300 hours per week the Worldwide Leader gives to its cash cow, seem to change their minds weekly and say things like "Cincinnati is the best team in the AFC!" one week and things like "Cincinnati is the biggest disappointment in football!" the next. We've been all over the place tonight, and this game could end up as the centerpiece ending to our roller coaster year.

Todd Boeckman is making the necessary throws in the holes in the LSU defense to move the chains, and Wells has found more room on his last couple of carries. There's still 12:00+ to play, so no need for Boeckman to get needy and try to overly test the secondary just yet. I wonder if Tressell is thinking about kicking a field goal this time around...probably not now that Boeckman is sacked and a kick would now be 50+ yards.

They're burning valuable time outs...and there's Ali Highsmith making me look good, with attempted murder on Boeckman and an LSU fumble recovery that sets up the Tiger offense to finish the job.

We interrupt this live blog...
The News-Sentinel is now reporting that Jerod Mayo is turning pro. Curse words.

Third Quarter Thoughts
Right about now, Fox needs to run one of those graphics that shows Chris Wells' first five or six carries, and then his last five. It's like LSU just snapped their fingers and decided they'd seen enough of him.

When we went to Tempe in January 1999, I just remember thinking that it was impossible for us to lose, because I didn't want to fathom what it would be like to get that close and then lose. And I still am firmly committed to the idea that the loss to LSU in the 2001 SEC Championship Game is the worst in 117 years of Tennessee Football history, because it's the same premise.

So what's it like to be an Ohio State fan? Two straight years of being #1 in football and then getting run out of the building in the national championship game (which LSU threatens to do)...and when you've got Greg Oden on your basketball team, you once again get to the title game, and once again get run out of the building. By the SEC. Remember this Sports Illustrated cover from March? I bet they believe in jinxes in Columbus.

Hester's got 74 yards rushing...you know, I am feeling a little bit better about that whole SEC Championship Game thing the more I watch LSU just methodically take Ohio State apart. And don't tell me it's because Matt Flynn is playing. Anything, at this point, is better than Florida winning another National Championship of any kind. This will make five straight SEC National Championships in the three NCAA cash cows (football, mens & womens basketball)...

...er, too soon, perhaps - that's why Matt Flynn isn't the difference, because he too just fell victim to the "stop trying to make plays" bug and gives Ohio State the ball post-INT in great field position. (To Flynn's credit, the play looks more like miscommunication on second glance)

But Ohio State gets blown up on 3rd and 1, and now it's 4th and 4. But you have to go for it here now, down 21 with under 2:00 to play in the 3rd. You have to go.

Touchdown! Way to keep us interested!

LSU 31 - OHIO STATE 17

Second Half Kickoff
Remember the guy from Bull Durham who ran the Bible Study and no one knew what to get him for his wedding? Jimmy? I think he might be moonlighting as the next offensive coordinator for the University of Tennessee.

Speaking of movies, apparently if you want movie themes on iTunes, your best bet is the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. So during the break I picked up Robin Hood, then also found that awesome song from the beginning of The Hunt for Red October (the one that's not the Russian national anthem).

Excuse me while I throwup on myself and the keyboard as they show highlights from the SEC Championship Game...

Back on Raw, where JBL isn't quite back in what we'd call "wrestling shape" just yet...

Here's what LSU does - they're efficient, they can run and pass, and even though they don't extend the lead on the opening drive of the second half, they take 4:30 off the clock and continue to lean on the Ohio State defense. And now, as soon as I finish typing that, they're going to lean somemore on them, because the Buckeyes roughed the punter. The OSU blocker looked like he was aiming for the punter's knee instead of his foot. Uh oh.

John Adams (I think) wrote several weeks ago that the roughing the punter call in the Vanderbilt game was one of the ten biggest plays of Tennessee's season, and I couldn't agree more. This one tonight may not be the biggest play of the game, but if LSU goes on and scores - even a field goal - it may be the one that finished Ohio State off.

Jacob Hester listens to Elvis before games and is related to Terry Bradshaw. Thanks, Chris Myers.

And if you were looking for a microcosm of how things have gone since it was 10-0 Buckeyes, it was that Early Doucet touchdown, where he shedded two tackles at the five yard line like he was playing Virginia Tech's defense again. Wait, did I say that out loud?

LSU 31 - OHIO STATE 10

Halftime
I still think that those wire cams look like Johnny 5 from Short Circuit.

I'm also curious as to what exactly you'd have to say to Jim Tressell to get him to change his facial expression. Maybe if someone went up to him and told him they'd just shot his dog. Or that his wife was going on The Moment of Truth. Or the way this is going, that he's going to play another SEC team next January.

Instead of asking for a great game, I guess we should be happy it's remotely competitive at halftime, with the Tigers up 24-10. But at this point, with the Buckeyes especially fragile, I think one more score would do it. Then again, we'll see - in 30 minutes we've gone from comparing Boeckman with the other BCS champion quarterbacks, to thinking we had a great game on our hands (and we still might), to going back to the easy joke of Ohio State vs. the SEC. We'll see.

I'm trying to get to the bathroom, but so far I've been stalled by the first two commercials I've seen - one for a local VA car dealer who promises a free Virginia Tech poster with every new car (score!), and one for US Cellular about a sales rep helping a man read his mail, which would make me (really) want to switch to them because I'm soft like that...but once again, no service in Ceres. Then I just realized that I don't have the awesome theme from Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves on my iPod, so that's one good thing The Best Damn Band in the Land has done for me and my life. And now, for real, we're taking a bathroom and Mountain Dew break, in that order.

Second Quarter Thoughts 3
Todd Boeckman, are you alright? I think they made Chevis Jackson mad. Looks like Boeckman's going on the list with Erik Ainge instead of the championship company - quarterbacks who are really great when they play within themselves, but can give the game away when they try and do otherwise. Throw. It. Away.

3rd and goal at the 1...gee, I wonder if Crazy Les will go for it if they don't make it.

During the timeout here in Virginia, AT&T wants to organize your family of five for $99.99 apiece. Because five expensive cell phone devices are the answer.

LSU 24 - OHIO STATE 10

You know what I think would be an interesting rule change? That in situations like this, 3rd/4th and 1, you say that if you don't get in on first effort, you don't get in. It would be much more dramatic...because then Hester would have to wait another play to score, and LT still wouldn't be in yesterday.

Second Quarter Thoughts 2
I'm telling you kids, we've got signs of a real ballgame here. The first audible "ooh!" moment of the night came when Chris Wells put first team All-SEC Chevis Jackson on his back at full speed with his right hand on his second lengthy run of the night. And while methinks it's a bit premature to be comparing him to Archie Griffin - don't you already have Eddie George on site? - he's manned up, bigtime, in the first 18 minutes of this one. 7 carries, 118 yards as I type.

And then I was about to physically come up out of my seat, but then Chevis Jackson made up for his earlier embarassment by just barely breaking up a surefire touchdown. Craig Steltz is another solid football player, and hopefully he can stay in this game.

Did Anakin Skywalker shoot separate scenes (...three times fast) to be in that commercial with Serena Williams? The better question is, will we go see his movie simply because it's got Anakin and Sam @!#$%&# Jackson in it?

Blocked field goal...see, you don't want a game with 8 turnovers and a bunch of mistakes. That's not good drama, that's sloopy football. Right now, you've got good drama. If Ohio State keeps pace and both teams keep playing well, we'll keep getting what we're looking for.

Shots of Ohio State fans in the crowd show most of them wearing an expression of total anxiety and fear, as they keep flashing back to the last time they played an SEC team, and the time before that, and the time before that...like they're waiting for it to go wrong. This zone blitz business has, so far, produced nothing but 12 LSU first downs in the first 20+ minutes, and an already important time of possession advantage, which Fox just handily backed up for me. Charles Davis' line about the Ohio State player who's been in two JuCo national championships and last year's BCS title game in the last three years and lost all three of them makes me tilt just a smidge more towards the Buckeyes...but really, anytime they show one of the bands, I'm instantly for the other team.

So just now, in a span of about three heartbeats, I went from pro-Ohio State, to pro-LSU, back to pro-Ohio State as Flynn put one up there and LaFell pulled it down, and now it's 17 straight for the Tigers and Ohio State better make sure it doesn't get any worse before halftime.

LSU 17 - OHIO STATE 10

Second Quarter Thoughts
As both Fulmer and Cutcliffe have been defending "the Tennessee Offense" the last couple of days, one thing they've mentioned is that both teams playing tonight run variations of that offense instead of the spread or something else more fancy. Take that for what you will, and also get a grain of salt with word from the News-Sentinel that Fulmer interviewed Univ. of Richmond head coach Dave Clawson for the vacant offensive coordinator job today. And just remember, everything you're saying about Richmond, you've already said about Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Hey, they scored more points on Appy State than Michigan did.

OHIO STATE 10 - LSU 10

The mark of truly great teams is their ability to counterpunch. LSU just did. Now it's Ohio State's turn. If you listen closely, you can hear the LSU kids spelling.

First Quarter Thoughts 3
Holy crap, there's fire on the Eliminator! I think Hogan is a few short years away from having to remain in that leaned forward on-the-mic position at all times when his back is no longer able to support his massive pythons and upper body strength.

Meanwhile, LSU kicks a field goal.

OHIO STATE 10 - LSU 3

Back to Gladiators...do they still have that music? The theme song? Because if that's gone, I'm instantly against this show. My aunt and uncle have some channel that shows old Nickelodeon shows, including GUTS and that show where kids had to put together that thing in the shrine of the silver monkey. I would pay for this channel.

Okay, okay...

Oh man, the Raw Roulette! And Ric Flair to open the show!

Okay, really...slightly more entertaining than all that are the LSU players trying to pull an Ohio State player out the pile by his legs on a loose ball after a muffed punt. It would appear that the Tigers have survived the first quarter when they could've been down worse - if both teams settle in, we should get the good football we were looking for.

First Quarter Thoughts 2
OHIO STATE 10 - LSU 0
Total Yards six minutes in: Ohio State 133, LSU -14.

Webb's comment reminds me about American Gladiators, and I realize very quickly about the limits of my attention span, because despite my love for college football, I'm instantly captivated by Gladiators and it threatens to overrun the commercial breaks. A sixty second opening thought on the new Gladiators: the music, microphones on the gladiators and multiple camera editing are huge boosts. This is why The Contender is the most enjoyable boxing on television today. I will definitely have to click back to try and catch The Hulkster, because this is where the power lies. Brother. We might also check out some commercial break Monday Night Raw once Gladiators goes off the air. My Dad just stopped reading.

Really though, Gladiators on Mondays at 8:00 is an excellent lead in for the WWE, though I doubt you'll see NBC advertising Raw or suggesting that you change the channel to USA at 9:00. But still, with no Heroes and no Jack Bauer for the foreseeable future, Gladiators hits the spot.

Also, remember the American Gladiators video game on Nintendo back in the day? And how impossible it was? Also impossible in real life - those rings over the pool. I'd be dead after about two swings. I'd much rather play Assault or Joust.

Alright...

Jacob Hester is a football player. He's the new Mike Alstott, or Ryan Brewer. I finally got around to watching my TiVoed 1991 Sugar Bowl between the Vols and Virginia, and whenever someone asks why the Vols don't run like they used to, the answer is because we don't have a Greg Amsler anymore. We haven't since Will Bartholomew graduated.

If they both wore a helmet, could you tell the difference between Matt Flynn and Les Miles?

First Quarter Thoughts
Wells' run is the longest touchdown run in BCS Championship history. Ted Ginn is on the sideline, inexplicably wearing a Chicago White Sox hat, and telling Wells not to hurt himself celebrating.

A third down snap sailing over Matt Flynn's head instantly makes everyone who bet on LSU realize they bet on Matt Flynn against Ohio State's defense. However, your BCS Championship quarterbacks have included Tee Martin, Josh Heupel, "The Molecular Biology Major" Craig Krenzel (thanks to wiki for the spelling, Brent Musberger for the memories), Matt Mauck (he's no Matt Flynn!), and let's not forget - Chris Leak. Wiki also tells me that Krenzel is now employed on the Ohio State Radio Network. Apparently, that's what a degree in molecular biology at THE Ohio State University is worth.

It's unclear at this point which list Todd Boeckman will end up on - the former with Krenzel, or the latter with Chris Weinke, Ken Dorsey, Matt Leinart and Vince Young. What is clear is that Ohio State is up 10-0 less than six minutes into the game, and who thinks Flynn and the LSU offense are capable of making up much more of a hole against the Buckeye defense?

Opening Drive - 8:23 PM
Getting some repressed angst about LSU out that I had to stuff after the loss in Atlanta: among the major football institutions in the SEC, no group of people get more fired up about less going on than LSU fans. If that reads like a compliment, it's really not.

LSU has the worst pregame band routine among the top SEC schools, and it's quite possible that they have the worst of all 12. They have the worst cheers, because all they want to do is spell. And their fans go nuts for this stuff, because they don't know what else to do. The Pride of the Southland ran the circle drill, literally, around the Golden Band from Tigerland at the SEC Championship.

I was getting ready to type how huge it was for Ohio State to get that first first down on 3rd down, then Chris Wells took it to the house. Any thoughts that Ohio State is slower than LSU just got put to rest, especially when it's Wells vs. Craig Steltz. Don't buy the home field advantage at a neutral site. And again, maybe LSU will explode like the Gators did last year, but I just watched them play, and they're not as dominant or even as good as they've been made out to be.

OHIO STATE 7 - LSU 0

Ohio State's band is better than LSU's, but they're also overrated. Because last time I checked, all they want to do is play "Hang on Sloopy." I had to wikipedia that real fast to make sure it was spelled right - and it was - and come to find out that it's not only "the official rock song of The Ohio State University", it's the official rock song of the entire state of Ohio. Wow. Thanks, wikipedia.

National Anthem - 8:06 PM
How many people can we fit on the field around the giant American flag?

Blackledge, Herbstreit and Corso all going with the Buckeyes - Corso doing so against his preseason pick of LSU to win it all. Interesting.

Let's talk about Fox Sports for a moment. Well first, let's talk about Fox in general. This new reality show they have coming up, The Moment of Truth, where they strap people into a lie detector and then ask them questions that could compromise their marital and familial integrity, makes me cringe for a number of reasons. I would imagine this show would be far too uncomfortable to watch - like Michael Scott's best moments on The Office, where it crosses the line from funny to awkward to unbearable - but for people that will watch it, what exactly are you getting out of it? Watching peoples marriages and lives come under fire - and that's not to say they weren't under fire to begin with to even agree to go on a show like this - isn't entertainment. But apparently Fox and the rest of the country thinks it is.

Back to Fox Sports - who has the "interesting" team of Eddie George, Urban Meyer and Jimmy Johnson on their pregame show (career record against the Vols: 2-3. Thanks, Urban.) - on their congratulatory ad for some guy who won a new truck with five plasma screens, a grill and a 360 in the tailgate, they said twice that they still had a truck and tickets up for grabs for "Glendale in February." Which means, they've got tickets for the Super Bowl. Why can't they say "Super Bowl"? Have television contracts or exclusive advertising rights gotten this absurd?

Even if I'm not a fan of Urban Meyer by default, and have gone back to disliking Eddie George ever since he retired, I do enjoy Thom Brennaman and UT's own Charles Davis calling this game. These guys need a job doing regular college football with ABC/ESPN or CBS - one of whom needs to get this BCS contract back from Fox Sports. Not that Fox has done a terrible job with it at all, it's just wrong that a network that shows zero college football during the regular season gets the exclusive non-Rose Bowl BCS contract.

Brennaman just called James Laurinaitis the best linebacker in the country. We'll see if he's the best linebacker on the field (Ali Highsmith) tonight.

Pregame - 7:19 PM
Much like last year, I'm conflicted as to who (whom?) to cheer for. An LSU win makes the SEC 7-2 in the bowl season and gives more evidence that everyone else is playing for second. But while an Ohio State win would make the Big 10 2-1 in their three big showdowns with the SEC this January - guess who won theirs? - I might be more okay with that feeling than I am going through another offseason where one of your SEC rivals has the crystal football, and you know you could've beaten them.

What I'd really like to see is a good football game. Since I missed the Southern Cal/Texas game after the 2005 season, I haven't watched a compelling one of these since the Miami/Ohio State game following 2002. The most recent World Series, NBA Finals, and Super Bowls haven't been that spectacular either. Tonight you've got two teams in the forefront of the nation's conscience, who are close enough in talent and yes, speed, that we should see a very good football game. I hope.

But while both teams are national names and good television draws, the date here on the heels of Wild Card Weekend means that, for the second year in a row, LSU vs. Ohio State was a second segment story on all the major sports shows today. Which is ridiculous - college football's National Championship should always, always, always be the lead story on the day of the game. This game could've been played on January 1-4 and we wouldn't have had this problem. But anything on the heels of the NFL Playoffs makes it second fiddle. Fix this.

There are more and more reports about conference commissioners considering (three times fast) a plus-one format, which would essentially be a Final Four. This is better, but still not perfect - and as soon as someone tells me what's categorically wrong with an eight team playoff involving six conference champions and two at-large teams, I'll get off my soapbox. You won't see any changes until 2010 anyway under the current contracts. But as things move forward, at least it still seems like stuff's getting better - the BCS will celebrate 10 years next season, which makes it easier and easier to forget what it was like before them and the Bowl Alliance, when January was a crapshoot and the whole thing was left up to the pollsters. At least now you have a guaranteed 1 vs. 2 game - we just can't seem to agree on who that should be. At the end of the day though, in this year, I still feel like they got it right under the current system - these are the two teams that had to be in New Orleans. Hopefully, they'll deliver on that tonight.

Here's my pick going in...

MONDAY, JANUARY 7
BCS National Championship - New Orleans, LA
#1 Ohio State vs. #2 LSU - 8:00 PM - FOX
It happened last year, it'll happen this year - the nation at large will spend a week looking forward to and then breaking down the NFL Wild Card playoffs, and then Monday will roll around and everyone will say "oh yeah, the National Championship!" Whoever's running this show needs to move this game back before the playoffs start, which was the advantage Southern Cal/Texas had. College football is better and you and I know this, but to the nation at large you don't screw around or go head to head with the NFL. But as screwed up as the system is, you'd expect nothing less really.

We're all picking LSU, right? Ohio State has never won a bowl game against an SEC team, you remember Florida running circles around them last year, LSU has been hyped since August, Les Miles is a hero and a gentleman, we're all on board here right?

Here's a fun stat:

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
1998: Tennessee UPSETS Florida State
1999: Florida State beats Virginia Tech
2000: Oklahoma UPSETS Florida State
2001: Miami beats Nebraska
2002: Ohio State UPSETS Miami
2003: LSU UPSETS Oklahoma
2004: Southern Cal UPSETS Oklahoma (yes, OU was favored)
2005: Texas UPSETS Southern Cal
2006: Florida UPSETS Ohio State

That's underdogs 7 - favorites 2.

And I just saw LSU...and I wasn't that impressed. They're a good football team, and you have to be to be SEC Champions. If Glenn Dorsey is close to 100% they're a much better football team. They've got good players at every position. But when you watch them - and watch their defense since October - you don't feel like you're watching the National Champions.

And yeah, you can make that argument about Florida last year. I'm sure, if people had been blogging in 1998, they'd have made it about the Vols then. But on the other side will be a hungry and angry Ohio State team, who's going to play the disrespect card. This is a good program with a good coach, who's probably tired of losing in championship games. They haven't been carrying the banner all year, this was supposed to be a rebuilding situation. Instead, they've put themselves in position to make it happen. I like where Ohio State is coming in, I don't like where LSU is...and I just feel right about this one.
Will's Pick: Ohio State 24 - LSU 23