October 6, 2008 · 7:12 AM

Random bits and pieces

  • Did you know that 2008 marks the first time that Notre Dame has started off a season – any season – 4-1 but isn’t ranked?
  • In spite of that, Dennis Dodd thinks Notre Dame has a better chance of getting to a BCS bowl right now than Vanderbilt does of getting to any bowl.  Call him the anti-Mandel on that one.
  • Check out this little tidbit from ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel:  “… one assistant coach who has seen the Razorbacks up close last year and this year said they are not playing nearly as hard for Bobby Petrino as they did for Houston Nutt.” I bet the folks in Fayetteville will want to check out Maisel’s phone records after seeing that.
  • And from that same ESPN piece we learn that there are 18 bowl teams from last year that currently have a losing record.  Ouch.
  • Joe at Coaches Hot Seat Blog speculates there’s nothing going on with Tuberville, Franklin and the Auburn offense that can’t be figured out at Cracker Barrel.
  • When dumbasses support the head coach, sometimes it isn’t pretty.

5 Comments

Filed under College Football

5 responses to “Random bits and pieces”

  1. D.N. Nation
    October 6, 2008 at 9:07 AM

    Dodd:

    Six victories and it’s in, somewhere, playing in the bowl-laden SEC. But that’s the point. Vandy hasn’t been to a bowl in 25 years, even when the bar was set ridiculously low. Instead of celebrating a fresh, new team in the top 25, I’m looking for something to go wrong. Instead of assuming those six victories, I’m looking at a remaining schedule that includes games against Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Wake Forest. I still can’t convince myself the ‘Dores will play in their first bowl since 1982.

    Yeah, they do play Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Wake Forest (by the way, the Deacs lost to Navy at home, so I don’t know why that’s such an impossible task). They also play Miss. State and Duke. Vandy’s been rolling with smoke and mirrors, yes, but they should beat those two to get to 7 wins. Should.

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  2. tidefanintn
    October 6, 2008 at 10:47 AM

    The SEC gets ten bowl bids this season. Arkansas and Miss State are almost guaranteed to miss the boat and USC, UT, and Ole Miss aren’t locks, so six wins will be enough to get a bid. They have seven chances to get that win, and three of those chances are Duke, Miss State, and Tennessee. Vandy gets a bid, even if it’s the Papajohns.com Bowl.

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  3. NM
    October 6, 2008 at 12:39 PM

    I’m not surprised by Maisel’s source — would YOU play as hard as for Petrino as for Nutt? One coach is a confirmed jerk who is too busy prepping his resume to learn your name… the other is a confirmed crazy person who (I imagine) spends most of practice and halftime screaming incoherently in your face, then laughing at the end about how much fun everyone’s having.

    “Come on guys, let’s play harder so Coach P can get another million out of Iowa next year!” isn’t much of a rallying cry…

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  4. mykiesee
    October 6, 2008 at 2:50 PM

    Off topic but I’ve been trying to figure this out for a while and it’s driving my wife completely nuts for some reason.

    I’ve noticed many players wearing bands above their elbows and below their knees but they don’t look like the type of bands that would absorb sweat to keep the arms, hands, legs (?) dry. Anyone know why the players are wearing these? Just for looks?

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  5. tidefanintn
    October 7, 2008 at 9:53 AM

    Mykiesee: my understanding (which is less than medical or scientific) is that they supposedly apply pressure to the tendons there which helps prevent injury. My guess is it’s as effective as magnetic bracelets and Breathe-Right strips.

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