Mark Bradley’s “… and, a pony” moment

Yeah, like this is gonna happen.

Looking at those SEC East schedules

Maybe it’s worth trying to gauge how much whining Steve Spurrier’s going to be doing at SEC Media Days in a couple of months.  Here’s what the seven conference schedules for this season are:

FLORIDA
Sept. 8: at Texas A&M
Sept. 15: at Tennessee
Sept. 22: KENTUCKY
Oct. 6: LSU
Oct. 13: at Vanderbilt
Oct. 20: SOUTH CAROLINA
Oct. 27: vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)
Nov. 3: MISSOURI

GEORGIA
Sept. 8: at Missouri
Sept. 22: VANDERBILT
Sept. 29: TENNESSEE
Oct. 6: at South Carolina
Oct. 20: at Kentucky
Oct. 27: vs. Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 3: OLE MISS
Nov. 10: at Auburn

KENTUCKY
Sept. 22: at Florida
Sept. 29: SOUTH CAROLINA
Oct. 6: MISSISSIPPI STATE
Oct. 13: at Arkansas
Oct. 20: GEORGIA
Oct. 27: at Missouri
Nov. 3: VANDERBILT
Nov. 24: at Tennessee

MISSOURI
Sept. 8: GEORGIA
Sept. 22: at South Carolina
Oct. 6: VANDERBILT
Oct. 13: ALABAMA
Oct. 27: KENTUCKY
Nov. 3: at Florida
Nov. 10: at Tennessee
Nov. 24: at Texas A&M

SOUTH CAROLINA
Aug. 30: at Vanderbilt
Sept. 22: MISSOURI
Sept. 29: at Kentucky
Oct. 6: GEORGIA
Oct. 13: at LSU
Oct. 20: at Florida
Oct. 27: TENNESSEE
Nov. 10: ARKANSAS

TENNESSEE
Sept. 15: FLORIDA
Sept. 29: at Georgia
Oct. 13: at Mississippi State
Oct. 20: ALABAMA
Oct. 27: at South Carolina
Nov. 10: MISSOURI
Nov. 17: at Vanderbilt
Nov. 24: KENTUCKY

VANDERBILT
Aug. 30: SOUTH CAROLINA
Sept. 22: at Georgia
Oct. 6: at Missouri
Oct. 13: FLORIDA
Oct. 20: AUBURN
Nov. 3: at Kentucky
Nov. 10: at Ole Miss
Nov. 17: TENNESSEE

COMMENTS

• Georgia isn’t the only team in the East to dodge the Alabama-Arkansas-LSU trifecta.  Vanderbilt does, too.  And you can argue that Vandy actually gets a bigger break on its West match-ups than Georgia, even though they’re against the same teams, because it gets the weaker of the two on the road.
• If you think that Vanderbilt has truly emerged as a credible program under Franklin, then that opener in Nashville is a dangerous game for South Carolina.  The ‘Cocks defense overpowered Vanderbilt last year, but this hasn’t been an easy game for Spurrier over the past few seasons.  Should South Carolina lose, it’ll really have to scramble to stay in the East race.
• And that’s in part because Carolina is looking at a tough October:  Georgia, at LSU, at Florida and Tennessee.
• It’s also in part because South Carolina is the only team in the East to draw two of the big three from the West.
• Florida’s October isn’t as brutal as last year’s, but it’s no walk in the park:  LSU, at Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Georgia.
• Neither Cocktail Party participant comes in off a bye week.
• It’s hard to tell how early the division gets wrapped up because three teams (Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt) play three conference games in November and two schools (Florida and South Carolina) only play once that month.  Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, that one game is against Arkansas.
• Missouri’s season finale will be just like old times.
• At least nobody in the East has to travel to Tuscaloosa.
• Do I think the Vols will win more than one game on that slate, provided they stay healthy?  Sure.  But I’m having a hard time seeing where it’ll be a bunch more.
• Where’s the win on Kentucky’s schedule?

Bottom line:  I’d rank Georgia’s schedule, along with Vandy’s, as the easiest in the division and South Carolina’s as the toughest.  So, yeah, expect some pithy comments from the OBC about the hand he’s been dealt.

Friday morning buffet

You’re about to make it through another working week, so grab a plate and settle in.

• I’m thinking it may soon be time to nominate “SEC – Year of the quarterback” as this year’s big meme.
• Speaking of memes, Derek Dooley grabs top honors on Mike Huguenin’s hot seat list.
• So it’s probably not going to sit too well with the fan base when SOD wishes for a vacation from recruiting to spend more time with the family.
• This isn’t a bad idea, as far as new bowl games go.
• Here’s a round-up of spring game attendance figures.  Georgia looks pretty good there.
• Nebraska’s president isn’t giving up on that true plus-one game after the bowls, which I think is still a legitimate outcome, simply as a default.  That makes Kevin Scarbinsky blow a gasket.
• Here’s Year2’s list of shoulds and shouldn’ts in the new world of playoff field selection.  Based on track record, I’d be surprised if the coaches are willing to walk away from their place in the scheme of things.  Which means… this!

Suddenly, it dawns on the ugly girl why she didn’t get asked to the dance.

Seven schools are having pressers today announcing conference realignment moves.  One of those schools isn’t New Mexico State.  So the light bulbs are finally going on over the heads of the NMSU president and athletic director.

… The changes in conference alignments that began several years ago and continue today are unprecedented in college sports. This is truly a new day when the sports, primarily football, are ruled by the potential for TV coverage. We all understand that. Now we are beginning to better comprehend just how far-reaching this new reality can be. Of course, New Mexico State University has no major media market to bring to the table. Without that market our “value” as a conference member appears to be less than other schools with less successful programs but that are located in areas with a greater population…

Well, duh.  There is something particularly sad about that “Now we are beginning to better comprehend just how far-reaching this new reality can be” observation.  The signs have been all around on that for… oh, say, forever.  They’re just now figuring that out?  Why do these two think there’s been all that antitrust screaming about the BCS?  Or did they both miss a meeting?

And as for “less successful programs”, NMSU football hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2002.  In the nine years since, it’s won a grand total of 28 games.  So much for value (nice touch with the scare quotes, by the way), Aggies fans.

I swear, you’d like to be sympathetic, but people this clueless don’t deserve to run a program on the D-1 level.

Name that caption, who peed in your cornflakes edition

Two not-so-happy campers:

(Dale Zanine/US Presswire)

Oh, and I’m taking “we blame Bobo” off the table here.  Other than that, have at it in the comments.