Decline of the West

Dean Legge’s polemic about unsavory recruiting practices in the SEC West – and the NCAA’s feeble attempt to keep up with them – is a bit of an eye opener.

I repeat: Every school in the SEC West has been on probation in the last ten years except Auburn and Ole Miss.

That’s Cam Newton’s Auburn and Ole Miss – the program whose head coach tweeted: “If you have facts about a violation, send it to compliance@olemiss.edu. If not, please do not slander these young men or insult their family”

There’s plenty more where that came from.

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Shoe, meet other foot.

Sure do like the tone of this paragraph in Chris Low’s review of Florida’s 2013 schedule:

Gut-check time: It’s the date that jumps out there for all Florida players, coaches and fans — Nov. 2. The annual showdown with Georgia in Jacksonville might as well be circled in blood this season. Georgia has won the past two in the series, and that’s after Florida dominated this rivalry for much of the past two decades. The Gators had won 18 of 21 prior to losing the past two. Florida also hasn’t played in the SEC championship game since 2009, and losing a third straight to Georgia would make getting back to Atlanta a long shot.

It wasn’t too long ago when all the angst was on the red and black side.  If Georgia can pull off a third straight win in Jax, there will be some serious sphincter tightening going on in Gainesville.

Mark Richt may not have won a national title, but if he’s truly able to recast this series as a balanced rivalry, that’s a helluva legacy in my book.

“These guys need a hobby.”

Dennis Farina reacts to a preview of the new Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network.

Wednesday morning buffet

Come grab a plate.

• “[Georgia]  Tech ran the ball 81% of the time, so that merits the majority of our attention, but they also averaged 9.37 yards per pass. Only Georgia was better.”
• If the rumors are true, it looks like Les Miles should be happier with the bridge schedules coming up in 2014 and 2015.
• In case you’re interested, here’s the list of the top 15 players in EA Sports ‘NCAA Football 2014′.  Aaron Murray made it.
• If ever there was a story made for Bleacher Report, this is it.
• Sanford Stadium makes #2 on Athlon‘s ranking of SEC stadiums.
• Georgia’s offseason prep is focused on the first two games.
• Coach O on academics:  “He M-F’d me all over the place,” says DeMars. “He made me feel like a bad person for going to class.”
• Per Steele, Georgia returns the second highest percentage of offensive yardage in the SEC, behind only Ole Miss.

Spurrier may have to come up with a new UT spelling joke.

I guess this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, given SOD’s need to attend to proper shower etiquette, but academically speaking, Tennessee’s football program is in a world of hurt.

The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rates on Tuesday, and Tennessee’s single-year APR of 909 in 2011-12 dropped the Vols’ multiyear score to 924.

Beginning next year, teams whose APR multiyear score dips below 930 or a two-year average of 940 will face possible postseason bans. The NCAA approved raising the minimum threshold from 900 two years ago.

This has truly been a joint effort.

The Vols’ current four-year APR score encompasses the end of Phillip Fulmer’s tenure as coach, Lane Kiffin’s one season at Tennessee and the first two seasons under Derek Dooley. A total of 33 players from the last four signing classes either transferred, left the program for academic, disciplinary or personal reasons or never made it to campus. After the single-year APR jumped from 928 (2008-09) and 921 (2009-10) to 934 in 2010-11, it again dropped significantly.

To escape the academic bowl ban, UT’s next APR score needs to wind up somewhere north of 950.  Given that the best the Vols have done is 934, that seems a tall order.  So we’re looking at a potential situation where Tennessee gets that magical sixth win for the first time in a while, but still can’t go bowling.  Gee, maybe I ought to put up a reader poll to see whether the schadenfreude would be greater for the Urnge to have another losing season, or to get shut down over grades.  Nah, I’m not that cruel… at least publicly.