Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the chippiest of them all?

The Wall Street Journal asks the musical question which college football rivalry is the dirtiest of them all…

But which college-football rivalry is the dirtiest? To find out, the Count tallied how many conduct and roughness penalties have been assessed in the last five meetings of 40 rivalries. Unsportsmanlike conduct, late hits and other roughness calls counted (including offsetting ones); penalties that aren’t generally malicious did not, like roughing the kicker…

and finds that it’s the South’s Oldest Rivalry.

… The meanest matchup by this measure: Auburn-Georgia. The Deep South’s oldest rivalry, which began in 1892, has averaged 5.4 behavior-related penalties per game the past five years. Last year’s game (an Auburn comeback victory) ended with punches being thrown and two Auburn players getting ejected.

Oh, yeah, that.

(h/t Brian Cook)

Mumme Poll, Week 7

Rank	Team	Votes (Top pick)
1	LSU	132 (87)
2	Alabama	131 (34)
2	Oklahoma	131 (5)
4	Clemson	130 (1)
5	Oklahoma State	129 (3)
6	Wisconsin	125 (1)
7	Boise State	121 (1)
8	Stanford	113 (0)
9	Oregon	110 (0)
10	Arkansas	95 (0)
11	Kansas State	46 (0)
12	Michigan State	18 (0)
13	Georgia	5 (0)
13	Virginia Tech	5 (0)
13	West Virginia	5 (0)
16	Houston	4 (0)
16	Georgia Tech	4 (0)
18	South Carolina	3 (0)
18	Texas A&M	3 (0)
20	Michigan	2 (0)
21	Nebraska	1 (0)
21	Baylor	1 (0)
21	Notre Dame	1 (0)
21	Ohio State	1 (0)
21	Penn State	1 (0)
21	Texas	1 (0)
21	Auburn	1 (0)
21	Arizona State	1 (0)

COMMENTS

• I’m still not getting the love for Georgia over South Carolina, although that may sort itself out over the next three weeks.  (Those two have the most disparate results from the Coaches Poll, too.)
• I kinda like Georgia ahead of Georgia Tech, though.
• Somebody voted for Ohio State.  Wait, what?
• We’re pretty clear about the top ten teams.
• Breakdown by conference:  SEC – 6; Big 12 – 6; Big Ten – 6; ACC – 3; Pac-12 – 3; Mountain West – 1; Big East – 1; CUSA – 1; Ind. – 1.

And a public service announcement:  As you can see from the final tally, one voter left Alabama of his ballot and someone else didn’t cast a vote for Oklahoma.  We’ve looked at the ballots in question and can’t say definitively that there weren’t some positive albeit strange rationales behind the omissions.  However, it sure would have made our jobs easier if some sort of ballot explanation in each case were provided.  If you think you’re doing something clever, please let us in on your thoughts.  Going forward, you shouldn’t count on the benefit of the doubt from us as we tally the votes.

Fair is fair.

Of course this is how it’s going to go down.

… If Geathers and Williams are subject to suspensions, they will be assessed in the Florida game on Oct. 29. The Bulldogs have a bye this week. Stewart’s penalty would be assessed in Vanderbilt’s game against Army this weekend.

That’s just how the SEC rolls.

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UPDATE:  Mr. Gethers is ticked.

“I’ve played football and been around football all my life,” said Robert Geathers Sr., who played in the NFL for 13 seasons has has two other sons playing professionally, “and if you watch it you see this kid speed up while everybody else is slowing down and he’s locked in on my son’s leg. If you look closely you can see the guy give a thumbs up to the sideline and the coach telling him ‘good job.’ I was, like, ‘Wow!’ I could be sitting here today telling you how my son’s surgery went.”

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UPDATE #2:  And there you have it.

https://twitter.com/#!/marcweiszer/status/126707744785973249

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UPDATE #3:  Can’t wait for the details to leak out on this, as they inevitably will.

https://twitter.com/#!/marcweiszer/status/126709006684258304

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UPDATE #4:  And here’s the predictably official SEC statement:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Upon review of game tapes of the football game between the University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University, played in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has announced that Vanderbilt sophomore center Logan Stewart, Georgia sophomore defensive lineman Kwame Geathers and Georgia junior defensive back Shawn Williams have been suspended for the first half of their team’s next football games.

Vanderbilt hosts Army this Saturday while Georgia plays Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29.

Geathers action was in violation of NCAA Football Rule 2-32-1-a for fighting. By NCAA Football Rule 9-5-1-b, the penalty for violation of the rule in the second half includes suspension for the first half of the team’s next scheduled game.

On the same play, Stewart’s suspension is the result of a flagrant personal foul which occurred at the 13:09 mark in the fourth quarter. The action is in violation of Rule 9-1 of the NCAA Football Rule Book, which states that a flagrant personal foul offender shall be disqualified.

Williams’ suspension is the result of a flagrant personal foul which occurred at the 2:08 mark in the third quarter. The action is in violation of Rule 9-1-4 of the NCAA Football Rule Book, which reads, “No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder.”

This action is taken in accordance with Southeastern Conference Constitution, Article 4.4.2 (d), which states that a student-athlete may be suspended if it is determined that the student-athlete has committed a flagrant or unsportsmanlike act.

I blame Bobo.

One thing overlooked from last Saturday night – now how could that happen? – is that Mike Bobo called a pretty good game.

This year, the Commodores have been respectable on defense as a middle of the pack SEC team and Georgia’s showing against them resulted in the most yards Vanderbilt’s yielded defensively all season.  Georgia averaged better than six yards per play missing its top receiver and with limited carries from a still banged up Isaiah Crowell.

Just thought I’d mention that.

So, who you like in the East?

Might be a good time to take stock of things with a reader poll.

Here’s what the SEC East looks like this morning:

SEC – East	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STRK
South Carolina	4-1	147	76	6-1	227	134	W2
Georgia	4-1	146	108	5-2	226	143	W5
Florida	2-3	108	129	4-3	188	132	L3
Vanderbilt	1-3	61	95	3-3	130	130	L3
Tennessee	0-3	42	91	3-3	170	140	L2
Kentucky	0-3	20	137	2-4	78	177	L4

Here’s what each team’s remaining conference schedule looks like:

• Florida:  vs. Georgia; Vanderbilt; at South Carolina
• Georgia:  vs. Florida; Auburn; Kentucky
• Kentucky:  Mississippi State; Ole Miss; at Vanderbilt; at Georgia; Tennessee
• South Carolina:  at Tennessee; at Arkansas; Florida
• Tennessee:  at Alabama; South Carolina; at Arkansas; Vanderbilt; at Kentucky
• Vanderbilt:  Arkansas; at Florida; Kentucky; at Tennessee

And here’s your poll question.

Knock yourselves out.