“Forget the current system. Blow it up.”

Dell McGee bans Georgia from recruiting his kids.  Right or wrong about that, one his players backs away from Georgia and commits to Clemmins.  And two other high school coaches think the problem with recruiting is that schools are offering too many kids (the MAC is the worst offender?).

Maybe I’m crazy, but the more I read this kind of stuff, the more I think this proposal makes sense.

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Opening day can’t get here soon enough.

Andre Sexton, Oklahoma State linebacker, has taken it upon himself to be a one man source of bulletin board material for Georgia’s opener.

Two years later, Andre Sexton remembers the famous hedges at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. He remembers the “G” on the Bulldogs’ helmets, the huge crowd, and the excitement of opening a college football season knowing much of the country was watching.

Most of all, though, he remembers the fear.

Back before the Oklahoma State Cowboys had grown accustomed to attention — before their coach became a YouTube sensation and their national ranking vaulted into the Top 10 — Sexton and his teammates didn’t know how to handle it. So they allowed themselves to be intimidated.

But with another season-opening date against Georgia a little more than a month away, the Cowboys can’t wait to show how much they’ve changed.

“Now we know,” said Sexton, a senior OSU linebacker, “Georgia’s the one that has to be scared. Not us.”

Damn, son, I’m not sure I would have said that.

Kiffin watch: on to Plan E.

Hmm… maybe Nick Lamaison is that intimidating a player.

Bret Bielema’s false bravado

Bret Bielema thinks that when it comes to scheduling a quality non-conference opponent, Wisconsin is too pretty for its own good.

Bret Bielema believes one of the factors preventing the University of Wisconsin from playing a marquee nonconference opponent during the regular season is the Badgers’ home record. Bielema reminded reporters Monday during the first day of the Big Ten Conference preseason football meetings that UW is a combined 30-3 at home over the last five seasons.

“That really becomes evident when we try to schedule nonconference opponents and we try to go after a certain caliber of opponents,” Bielema, 28-11 in three seasons as UW’s head coach, said of the Badgers’ home record since 2004. “In the beginning they start to get intrigued and they are interested in coming.

“But when we start to talk about home-and-home . . . all of a sudden it’s not as good a deal as they thought.”

So exactly which schools outside the Big Ten has Wisconsin built that intimidating record against?  Here’s a list of the non-conference opponents UW has hosted in the past five seasons:  Central Florida, UNLV, Bowling Green, Temple, Bowling Green, Western Illinois, San Diego State, Buffalo, Washington State, The Citadel, Northern Illinois, Akron, Marshall and Cal Poly.  The record against that murderers’ row (only one BCS-conference school)?  14-0.

I am curious which schools Bielema is referring to as being scared off.  All I know is that were I the head coach or athletic director at a competent BCS-conference school, Wisky’s last home effort against a non-conference opponent wouldn’t exactly have me running for the hills.

By the way, it’s not totally on point, but Steele ranks Wisconsin’s home winning percentage for the decade as only 33rd best in the nation over that time.

Steele’s preseason strength of schedule rankings

He’s posted them over at the Orlando Sentinel’s college football blog.  I prefer his methodology to that of the NCAA’s, which merely ranks opponents according to their won-loss records for the prior season.  As Steele notes,

… in my toughest schedule ranking LSU, which was 8-5 last year and is a Top 10 team, is graded by their 2009 power rating and not last year’s 8-5 record. Using the NCAA method a team like Utah that was 13-0 last year but has just 12 returning starters is graded as a much tougher opponent due to last year’s record. Also a IAA (or FCS) team with a winning record from last year is graded to be a much tougher opponent than a team such as Illinois which was 5-7 last year, but is a team I think will be in a Jan bowl. Also Michigan is a legitimate bowl squad this year but you only get credit for playing a weak 3-9 team using last year’s record.

Anyway, here’s how the SEC schools show in his rankings:

• South Carolina – 1
• Mississippi State – 4
• Arkansas – 6
• Georgia – 7
• Tennessee – 9
• Auburn – 15
• LSU – 21
• Vanderbilt – 23
• Florida  – 34
• Kentucky – 52
• Alabama – 68
• Mississippi – 77

Mississippi is getting a lot of slack for its schedule – not without reason, mind you – but it looks like if Alabama can get past its opener with Virginia Tech, Saban’s crew should have some pretty smooth sailing too.

On the other hand, all three of the new coaches seem to have choppy waters to handle.  As do Spurrier and Petrino.

It’s all worth factoring into your assessments of how the conference season will play out in 2009.

Wednesday morning buffet

Line up, grab a plate… you know the drill.

• It sounds like Mark Richt’s been getting in touch with his inner couch potato this summer.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
• Chris at Smart Football ponders life, football and the South.  I’m not sure I agree with everything in his post (in fact, I know I don’t), but it’s definitely an intriguing read.
• It’s hard to argue with this guy.
• “You have to spend money to make money. Nowhere is that adage more relevant than in Tennessee football recruiting.” Did I miss something about Fulmer’s last four years?
• Gene Chizik, gone but not forgotten at Iowa State.  Hope he never needs a reference from his former charges there.
• “Scheduling has been the biggest knock on the nonautomatic-qualifying conferences. Either the nonconference schedule is so difficult that it can’t get what has become a mandatory undefeated season for BCS bowl participation…” Pardon me, but isn’t that the whole freakin’ point in the first place?
• Methinks Sam Bradford doth protest too much.