More know thy opponent.

A couple of ESPN.com freebies for your viewing pleasure:

• Team Preview:  Florida
• Team Preview:  LSU

Pretty honest evaluations – skeptical about Florida’s defense and impressed with LSU’s returning talent.  That’s about right in my book.

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Know hope.

According to this article, the scuttlebutt is that the SEC will re-up with CBS and ESPN for its football broadcast rights.

… Despite owning the BCS rights since the 2006-07 season, Fox has not been able to assemble a regular-season college football package. With the Big Ten, Big 12 and now, apparently, the Southeastern Conference signing long-term deals with other networks, it’s not likely that Fox will have a regular-season package when it begins negotiating a new BCS contract. The SEC is expected to renew with CBS and ESPN.

That’s good.

Keep in mind that the mother of all negotiations is on the horizon.

Swofford has said that the BCS will look for another four-year deal so that its contract will end at the same time as the Rose Bowl’s contract with ABC in 2014.

Random morning nuggets

Just a few things worth a slight mention as the sun comes up:

• Preseason magazines aren’t showing the love to Tennessee and Vandy.
• Some pretty good information on television revenues from football and men’s basketball at West Virginia in this article.
• Uga VI liked hockey.  In Savannah.  Who knew?
• I’m sorry, but anyone compiling a list of the ten most disliked programs of the past 25 years that can’t place the Spurrier of the mid-’90s any higher than seventh needs to go back and do some more research.
• Fifty bucks a year gets you this:  Planned features include having Spurrier miked up while playing a round of golf… I wonder if he switches the microphone off when he goes into the woods.

Cookin’ With Beano: UGA VI – ESPN Video

Beano Cook rambles as only Beano Cook can about the history of the Georgia mascot.

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more about “Cookin’ With Beano: UGA VI – ESPN Video“, posted with vodpod

A dish best served cold.

From Chris Low’s SEC blog at ESPN.com:

… The other edge Urban Meyer’s club has is revenge. Meyer’s eyes narrowed and his jaw stiffened at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., when he was asked about the Bulldogs’ team dance party in the Florida end zone last November in Jacksonville, igniting a 42-30 Georgia win.

Revenge?  But that would make all these people wrong.

My 100, 2008 edition

I enjoyed the hell out of coming up with a list of 100 things I was looking forward to last season, so I thought I’d go through the exercise again for this year.

So, again, in no particular order, here are 100 things I’ll hope to enjoy about 2008.  (Feel free to pile on in the comments section.)

1. Munson’s first glum note about Georgia’s upcoming season.
2. Nick Saban’s return to Baton Rouge.
3. Ohio State at Southern Cal.
4. A. J. Green’s first acrobatic catch.
5. Mitch Mustain’s mom cheering on her son during garbage time.
6. Percy Harvin playing against anyone but Georgia.
7. Clouds in front of the sun, with a little breeze, during an early afternoon game in September.
8. Blair Walsh’s first kick under pressure.
9. Noel Devine against Auburn.
10. Urban Meyer throwing his headset in disgust during the WLOCP.  Again.
11. Houston Nutt returning to Fayetteville.
12. Gus Malzahn returning to Fayetteville.
13. Moreno’s first spin move of the season.
14. The improved Florida pass defense.
15. Spurrier’s announcement that Garcia has been reinstated to the team.
16. The Army-Navy game.  Just like every year.
17. Cracking the first cold beer at the first tailgate of the year.  Ahhhhh.
18. Ray Maualuga, badass.
19. Uga VII’s triumphant introduction.
20. Finding out whether Paul Johnson’s offense will really work in the ACC.
21. The dulcet tones of Uncle Verne.
22. Not seeing David Cutcliffe calling plays for Tennessee this year.
23. Seeing David Cutcliffe lose ten games coaching Duke.
24. Figuring out whether more passes get thrown when SMU plays Texas Tech or Tulsa.
25. Rennie Curran.
26. The buildup to the WLOCP.
27. The WLOCP.
28. The SEC renewing its broadcast contract with CBS.
29. The losing coach’s presser after the Michigan-Notre Dame game.
30. The end of the “Georgia hasn’t traveled outside of the South” talk after the Georgia-Arizona State game.
31. The beginning of the “Florida hasn’t traveled outside of the South” talk after the Georgia-Arizona State game.
32. Fried chicken.
33. Kirk Herbstreit’s contortions of logic in explaining which schools deserve to play in the BCS title game.
34. A strategically located Porta-Potty with a short line in Jacksonville.  (Trust me, some things deserve to be on this list every year.)
35. The pregame flight of the Auburn eagle.
36. Every moment of silence from Michael Adams.
37. Any regular season neutral site game.
38. Georgia Tech freezing its collective ass off on a blue turf in Idaho in December.  Please, God.
39. Tennessee playing four of its SEC East rivals after each has had a bye week.  (Not to mention Norm Chow having all summer to prepare for UT.)
40. The depth of Georgia’s defensive line rotations.
41. Seeing how Big Ten defenses deal with Michigan’s offense.
42. The Tuberville-Petrino postgame handshake.
43. Finding out if Will “Boom MF-er” Muschamp lives up to the hype at Texas.
44. Rick Neuheisel vs. Pete Carroll.
45. The dulcet tones of Uncle Ron.
46. Caleb King’s first big run.
47. Seeing if FSU and Miami really are just one year away.
48. Spurrier throwing his visor after the first QB screwup of the season.
49. Tim Tebow addressing the UN.   Just kidding.  I think.
50. Thursday, August 28.
51. Casey Dick, starting quarterback.
52. Referring to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”.
53. Sylvester Croom trying for back to back winning seasons.
54. Seeing if Mike Leach has a competent defense at Texas Tech.
55. The vote by vote breakdown of the last regular season coaches’ poll.
56. My favorite meteor game of the year, every year: Tennessee-Florida.
57. Sam Bradford’s completion percentage.
58. Matt Stafford’s growth as a quarterback and leader.
59. Trindon Holliday with an open field.
60. The first “Loran, whatayagot?” of the year.
61. Virginia Tech winning the ACC scoring 14 points per game.
62. Highway 129 being four-laned all the way from I-85 to Athens.
63. Filler programming on the Big Ten Network.
64. Rudy Carpenter versus the Georgia pass rush.
65. Seeing if Jim Grobe can outcoach Tommy Bowden enough.
66. Waiting to see if any school pulls off the Appy State/Stanford-level upset.
67. The beginning of the Bo Pelini era at Nebraska.
68. It’s likely to be a slaughter, but Southern Cal in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 30th.
69. Jevon Snead.
70. MoMass’ first 50+ yard reception.
71. Life after Soulja Boy.
72. Life after Ryan Perrilloux.
73. Seeing if Logan Gray is as fast as I think he is.
74. The new! improved! tougher than ever! Auburn offense.
75. Mark Richt’s next motivational move.
76. T. Boone Pickens’ next financial move.
77. High definition TV.
78. The correlation between Emmanuel Moody’s fumbles and Tim Tebow’s carries.
79. A successful Knowshon Moreno halfback TD pass.
80. Seeing who gets more hype:  Jimmy Clausen or Terrelle Pryor.
81. Traditions, no matter how dumb or strange they may seem to outsiders.
82. A perfect fall day at kickoff time.
83. Rivalry-inspired farking.
84. Hoping that Munson gets one more shot at a signature call.
85. All the Dawg and Gator flags, decals and (occasionally obscene) messages on cars and trucks heading to Jacksonville.
86. Knowing there’s something to watch on Thursday nights.
87. The Auburn-Alabama rivalry, and all that that entails.
88. Finding out if Larry Fedora makes Southern Mississippi fans forget about Jeff Bower.
89. The end of the West Virginia vs. Rich Rodriguez litigation.
90. Ben Jones, starting center.
91. Kentucky relying on its defense.
92. Speculation as to whether Tim Tebow makes it through the season.
93. Speculation as to whether Bobby Petrino makes it through the season.
94. The first sideline encroachment penalty called.
95. EIAR, B!
96. Jorvorskie Lane, human bowling ball.
97. Regression towards the mean, as it applies to Tennessee’s close calls in 2007.
98. Watching South Carolina’s linebackers try to cover Georgia’s running backs on screen passes.
99. The Notre Dame Bowl Eligibility Watch – may it come down to the last game of the season.
100. Finding out how much of a difference that schedule really makes.