The Tennessee “Surge”

Bill Connelly says what I keep saying (although he says it better):

… Then, as the calendar flipped to November, the Vols won four in a row to somewhat miraculously attain bowl eligibility. I’ve mentioned before that late-season heat rather reliably carries over to the next season (as long as the team doesn’t consist of all seniors) … but what if the heat was mostly a mirage?

Tennessee Offense (September): 25.0 Adj. PPG
Tennessee Offense (October): 25.3 Adj. PPG
Tennessee Offense (November): 28.4 Adj. PPG

The offense improved a bit as Tyler Bray got his bearings, but this was far from a surge. You see, Tennessee played about the easiest November schedule that you are allowed to play and remain in the SEC. Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Kentucky were the three worst teams in the conference not named Tennessee, and Memphis was almost the worst team in the country. That the Vols won those games was more a sign that they simply hadn’t fallen apart instead of a serious hint at program momentum…

If Janzen Jackson, UT’s best defender, doesn’t come back, along with the existing problems in the front seven, this is a defense that looks a little on the thin side to me.  Couple that with my feeling that Tyler Bray still has a lot to prove about himself, and I have a hard time believing the Vols have a realistic shot at contending for the SEC East title in 2011.

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“We’re training for football.”

Coach Tereshinski would tell you what Georgia’s strength and conditioning program is up to now, but then he’d have to kill you.

Thursday morning buffet

Make sure your boxers are covered before proceeding.

• The ACC’s got some serious catching up to do with the SEC on the recruiting front.
• John Pennington says if you want a hint of what’s in store for Florida’s offense this year, check out the 2001 Patriots.
• You tell me – which set of arguments do you find more convincing?
• kleph corrects an error in his graph about Georgia’s defensive third down conversion percentage and sees both good news and bad news in the change.
• Auburn spent about $150,000 on those championship rings.  (Insert punchline of your choice here.)
• For some reason, Gordon Gee found it necessary to apologize to the Little Sisters of the Poor.
• More flailing about from your friends at the NCAA.
• Pastor refers to Auburn’s Tigerettes as “hoe-stesses”.  Nice.

US Airways, you got some ‘splaining to do.

Six days before Deshon Marman was arrested for showing a little too much of his boxer shorts, this gentleman was allowed to fly the friendly skies without incident.

"So if they're not exposing their private parts, they're allowed to fly."

Reportedly, he’s a frequent flyer.  If there’s a trial, I hope somebody calls him as a witness.

Caption contest: help a blogga out.

Jason Kirk’s a good guy, so I’m sure you’ll want to help him with this request.  (Even if he wasn’t, you’d probably want to pitch in anyway, right?)

The incredible shrinking rosters of the SEC East

What is going on here?  We’ve already heard how short-handed Tennessee is expected to be this season.  Now it turns out that Florida will be in a similar boat.

… Florida will have only 73 scholarship players on its roster when preseason camp opens in August — 12 below the NCAA allotment of 85. And that’s if there is no further attrition between now and then.

College football coaches like to talk about what an inexact science recruiting is — that even with great scouting, a 25-man recruiting class is considered a success if 15 to 17 of the signees go on to become starters or see significant playing time.

That’s about where the Gators will be in 2011. What’s knocked down UF’s overall scholarship number is what could be considered severe attrition in the senior class.

Florida will have only eight scholarship seniors this fall — John Brantley, Jeff Demps, William Green, Jaye Howard, Moses Jenkins, Chris Rainey, Deonte Thompson and James Wilson.

And the Gators only have 15 juniors on the roster, to boot.

Now this is a more talented team than Tennessee, no question, but you have to wonder what a few key injuries would do to their chances to compete for the East title.