So if he’d have just traded the jersey for some hookers…

Friend of the blog Bryant Denny has the same reaction to the one-game penalty imposed by the NCAA on the Miami players caught up in the Nevin Shapiro scandal that I have.

What a load of crap.

It’s a sign!

It’s all coming together, Dawgnation… Bill Goldberg is getting back in the ring.

Does Nike design Pro Combat gear for wrasslers?

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If you’re looking for a straw to grasp today…

Chris Petersen pays respect.

Petersen says Georgia is "bigger and faster" than Boise State, and than Boise State normally sees.

— Bronco Beat (@IDS_BroncoBeat) August 30, 2011

Of course, that could simply be his version of Dooley complimenting Directional A&M’s long snapper as being the finest in the country.

It’s all over but the shouting.

Personally speaking, I think Spencer ought to retire the Fulmer Cup (or at least rename it in Chizik’s honor) after this go ’round.  Nobody’s gonna touch that score… I hope.

… Barring Georgia’s entire team going out and getting one count of disorderly conduct each from the pesky hand of the Athens PD, this is over. (And Georgia’s saving all their disorderly conduct for their defensive downs against Boise on Saturday night! Wocka Grantham wocka!)

I bet McGarity stays up late tonight.

New depth chart announced.

Weiszer has the details.

Ten Dream Teamers appear, although not Ray Drew.  Damned scooters.

Malcome’s not there, which means he’s still banged up.

What’s scary:  seeing the backup o-linemen in print.

What’s not:  the depth at tight end (it looks like Jay Rome is headed for a redshirt).

Thoughts?

Not your regular SEC preseason predictions

Since I’m already on record as saying that I have no clue what to expect about Georgia’s performance this season, that makes it kind of hard to put together an SEC 2011 season projection as I usually have.

But I’m not giving up here.  Instead, I’m taking a different approach.  Rather than give you my predicted records, I’ll list the schools in the order they finished in the conference last year, look at areas of potential improvement and decline and assess in what direction I expect each to go by comparison to 2010.

In other words, pure seat of the pants BS.

Let’s hope this works.

SEC WEST

AUBURN (14-0, 8-0)

• Pros:  Continuity on coaching staff; Gus Malzahn; upgraded recruiting
• Cons:  Ted Roof; loss of best offensive and defensive players in the conference; least experienced team in the SEC; much tougher schedule than 2010’s
• Outlook:  No way to go but down here.  The question is how much.  If Chizik wins more than eight, he’s doing a helluva job.

ARKANSAS (10-3, 6-2)

• Pros:  Continuity on coaching staff; Bobby Petrino; maturity on defense; superb receiver corps depth
• Cons:  Special teams; new quarterback; Knile Davis injury; Alabama and LSU road games
• Outlook:  They’ll win 10 again, I think, because Tyler Wilson likely works out well.  But the defense being a notch below Alabama’s and LSU’s may mean that’s the ceiling.

LSU (11-2, 6-2)

• Pros:  Tons of recruiting talent; John Chavis’ defense should rival Saban’s as conference’s best
• Cons:  Offseason problems; quarterback situation unsettled; tough schedule
• Outlook:  More than a few pundits have picked the Tigers as their top team in the country, but I’m having a hard time seeing that because of the quarterback situation and the schedule.  Besides, don’t Miles’ teams always lose two games?

ALABAMA (10-3, 5-3)

• Pros:  Stocked, talent-wise; deep, experienced defense; offensive line; Trent Richardson; coaching staff
• Cons:  Unsettled at quarterback; uncertain who game-breaking wide receiver is
• Outlook:  It’s easy to forget the Tide finished fourth in the West last year.  That shouldn’t happen in 2011.  This team appears to have fewer flaws than any other team in the SEC.  ‘Bama will go as far as its offense will take it.

MISSISSIPPI STATE (9-4, 4-4)

• Pros:  Dan Mullen; decent quality skill position players; schedule has South Carolina, Alabama and LSU at home
• Cons:  Departure of Manny Diaz; defensive front seven losses; overall talent level not as high as top-tier SEC West squads
• Outlook:  Mullen did a fantastic job last year squeezing every drop he could out of his team.  Hard to see them equaling last year’s nine wins in 2011.

MISSISSIPPI (4-8, 1-7)

• Pros:  Experienced backfield and offensive line; return of David Lee as Nutt’s offensive coordinator
• Cons:  Inexperience at quarterback; secondary; SEC West schedule
• Outlook:  They won’t be worse than they were last year, but it’s hard to see that they’ll significantly improve, either.

SEC EAST

SOUTH CAROLINA (9-5, 5-3)

• Pros:  Best offensive duo in the conference in Lattimore and Jeffrey; favorable schedule; Spurrier and Johnson; deep defensive line; weak SEC East; improved recruiting
• Cons:  special teams; secondary; Stephen Garcia
• Outlook:  You can tell Spurrier can taste it.  He’s this close – meaning he’s as close as Garcia can take the ‘Cocks.  If Garcia doesn’t implode, South Carolina wins at least 10 games and the East.  (They may also surprise ‘Bama if they meet in the SECCG.)

FLORIDA (8-5, 4-4)

• Pros:  Phenomenal recruiting; skill position talent; defensive line talent; Weis replacing Addazio
• Cons:  Coaching staff/scheme overhaul; brutal October schedule; inexperienced secondary; offensive line depth
• Outlook:  Maybe Muschamp is a coaching genius.  With that schedule, he’d better be.  The scheme change on offense with the attendant personnel mismatches suggests it’s going to be tough for the Gators to improve upon last year’s win totals.

GEORGIA (6-7, 3-5)

• Pros:  Most favorable schedule in the conference; quarterback; tight end; special teams; second year in 3-4 defense
• Cons:  offensive line depth; running back depth and inexperience; wide receiver depth; team psyche
• Outlook:  Sigh.  Before the first two games are played, who the hell knows?

TENNESSEE (6-7, 3-5)

• Pros:  Good skill position talent; coaching stability
• Cons:  Inexperience and depth issues on defense; special teams
• Outlook:  The schedule is slightly kinder this season and it’s got to help that for the first time in a few years the Vols aren’t breaking in a new coaching staff, so you can make a case for seven wins.  But this team isn’t as talented as the top teams in the East (let alone the West).  Any kind of bad luck with injuries and it’s easy to see UT miss out on playing in a bowl.

KENTUCKY (6-7, 2-6)

• Pros:  schedule; experienced offensive line; Danny Trevathan
• Cons:  lack of offensive skill position players
• Outlook:  If UK becomes bowl eligible, it’ll be because of that schedule.  This just isn’t that impressive a team on paper.

VANDERBILT (2-10, 1-7)

• Pros:  new coaching staff’s energy; some talent on defense; most experienced team in the SEC
• Cons:  no offensive firepower
• Outlook:  Vandy has a deep, deep hole to dig out of this season, so deep that they could very well play better and show no improvement from last year’s win totals.  This is more than a one-year reclamation project.

Tuesday morning buffet

September 1st is just around the corner, so dig in.

• The peculiar case of Bacarri Rambo just gets curiouser and curiouser.
• Michael Elkon explores the impact of Steve Spurrier on SEC football.
• Here’s a list of the top 25 running backs in SEC history.  There’s a noticeable drop off after the first four, if you ask me.
• Paul Johnson thinks there ought to be a law that punishes college athletes for taking improper benefits, even after they’ve left college.  (In related news, Paul Johnson is an asshat.)
• A Mountain West blogger who’s never watched Georgia play (“From what I’ve read, Glenn and Jones are supposed to be pretty impressive and will anchor Georgia’s O-line.”) previews the Boise State matchup and – surprise! – picks the Broncos to win.  You gotta love the Intertubes.
• Georgia Tech was willing to move the Georgia game to this season’s opener at the Dome – if the Dawgs were willing to play at Tech in 2012.
• This will come as a complete shock to you:  “A team’s preseason ranking has a modest but statistically significant effect on its B.C.S. ranking at the end of the season, even after controlling for its quality of play as determined by computer systems. “
• Nick Saban didn’t have time for that shit with Will Muschamp’s momma.

The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.

Let it roll, baby, roll.

Texas A&M’s departure from the Big 12 Conference drew closer to reality on Monday when the university’s president, R. Bowen Loftin, sent a letter to the Big 12 board chairman, the Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton, notifying the league that the Aggies would formally withdraw — very likely on Tuesday — according to two college officials with direct knowledge of the decision.

I have a very hard time believing that the SEC is ready to commit to an unbalanced divisional arrangement, so if TAMU’s on board, that immediately begs the question about the identity of the potential 14th member.

Of course, Arkansas could always jump to the Big 12 to even out the numbers.  Riiight.