Don’t cry for me, Columbia.

You know how every preseason the media likes to judge South Carolina’s chances on how smug Spurrier is?  Yeah, well…

Steve Spurrier: "We thought we were going to be pretty good."

— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) October 28, 2014

Maybe it’s time to find a new tell.

Great turnover margin plus field position management

… makes an offense one efficient mofo.

UGA's off is leading FBS teams w/the fewest yards gained per point scored (lower is better for this stat) at 10.07 #efficiency #Dawgs #CFB

— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) October 28, 2014

Envy and jealousy, we’ll always have Emmert edition

Charlie Pierce, ladies and gentlemen.

And now it will fall to the NCAA, God help us, to parcel out blame and responsibility and punishment. At this point, of course, the NCAA is little more than a walking conflict of interest, and an absurd one, at that. The NCAA would not exist if players were not paid under the table. The NCAA would not exist if so many of its “member institutions” weren’t playing ethical mumblety-peg with their academic integrity to keep the players eligible and the money flowing everywhere except into the pockets of the people doing all the real work. There is absolutely no way this will end well. There is absolutely no way this will not end hilariously, however.

Ain’t that the truth.

Now they love ’em in Montana.

Welcome the latest pundit’s kiss for the Dawgs.

Which of the current Top 10 teams most closely resembles the past 6 national champions? It's … Georgia? http://t.co/9NAX4FwJbW

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 28, 2014

The question mark at the end there is a nice touch.

Thanks for the Gurley praise, but we’d rather have a decision.

Weiszer neatly bottles up what we’re all seeing from the NCAA right now.

“From the facts that we know today, publicly, Georgia’s behavior has been commendable,” Emmert said in an interview with the Associated Press Monday. “They, apparently, saw something that concerned them, and they dealt with it directly and their athletic department seems to have handled that very, very appropriately based on what we know today.”

Georgia had yet to hear from the NCAA as of Monday night on the reinstatement request for Gurley, who has missed two games while serving an indefinite suspension.

Given how many things Emmert’s gotten wrong, I’m not sure his back patting is of much comfort, either.

**************************************************************************

UPDATE:  Oh, and Georgia’s on the mother – for Gurley.

“He can’t catch it for them.”

Florida is on its sixth wide receivers coach in six years.  Think that might be a reason the Gators’ passing game blows?

When in doubt, there’s always the weather.

Gotta love Coach Richt.  He’ll never give up on WLOCP issues like the weather.

… Nice to practice in heat today to be more like the weather in Jax, forecast is for mid 70’s at gametime. Normally we practice in cold then go down and play in heat, so this is good for us this year to get in the heat.

Average October temperatures in Athens, Georgia:  from 77°F to 69°F over the course of the month.

Average October temperatures in Jacksonville, Florida:  from 83°F to 76°F over the course of the month

Yeah, that arctic weather in Athens is a total bitch.  It’s a good thing the strength and conditioning program has stepped up.

A not so defensive defense

Damian Swann is grateful, y’all.

Senior cornerback Damian Swann is a symbol of that turnaround. He struggled last year, and as the veteran cornerstone of the unit, that was a big reason it struggled. But this year, he has three interceptions and two sacks, and last week, he was named SEC defensive player of the week.

Asked how gratifying it is, Swann answered: “Very.”

Then he credited his own hard work, but also Pruitt, for moving him around so much on defense — blitzing from the star position, or playing deep at safety, covering tight ends as well as receivers.

“I’ve received the coaching to put me in those spots, to help me as a player fundamentally,” Swann said. “And that’s what it was all about, getting back to the fundamentals of the game, being able to go out there and play fast. I give a lot of credit to Coach Pruitt with allowing me to play those different spots and do those different things, not being out there on an island all day trying to cover.”

So is Leonard Floyd.

“It’s way more fun because I can trust them,” Floyd said. “Last year, we’d get to third down, I’d be focused on, ‘I hope the secondary can cover everybody.’ But now I’ve got total confidence in them.”

Trust begets confidence.  Confidence begets results.

After just seven games, Georgia has already forced more turnovers than last year. Georgia has recovered seven fumbles this year and intercepted 10 passes. Last year, it was eight fumble recoveries and seven interceptions.

As Cory Brinson puts it,

… The defense has gained more game experience, they’re understanding situational football better, and their coach is gaining confidence in them. Want to know how confident he is in them? Just look at the amount of movement going on pre-snap in the defensive secondary. We are rolling down guys as the QB looks away and changing the picture as often as possible. It is really the mark of a good defense when you’re able to add in all those other elements that make you an elite defense. We’re not at that level, yet… but we’re playing like it.

I remember thinking after that 2011 game against Mississippi State – the one when Cornelius Washington went nuts and totally dominated – that it was the first time in several years when I looked forward to the defense stepping on the field.  They sustained that for a while, but eventually lost their mojo.  I’m crossing my fingers a little, still, but it seems like they’re on the road to getting it back.

Who knows what Condoleezza Rice will be thinking?

When you don’t have computers making decisions, what’s the next move?  Why, marketing, of course.

That being said, I’m pretty sure Condi’s not voting like this:

Five of those six computer formulas that fed into the BCS standings have merged into the College Football Computer Composite and provide a look at how an entity free of the human element would seed the Playoff — and the entirety of the FBS, for that matter.

This week the CFCC would have an all-SEC four-team playoff of 1 seed Mississippi State, 2 seed Alabama, 3 seed Auburn and 4 seed Mississippi.

Mumme Poll, Week 9

This, of course, is the week we see the selection committee’s first work.  It’ll be interesting to see how it matches up with this week’s Mumme Poll results.

Rank	Team	Votes
1	Mississippi State	73
2	Florida State	71
3	Alabama	70
4	Auburn	66
5	Oregon	63
6	Georgia	59
7	Mississippi	51
8	TCU	46
9	Michigan State	29
10	Kansas State	20
11	Notre Dame	16
12	Arizona	5
12	Ohio State	5
14	Baylor	4
15	LSU	2
15	Arizona State	2
17	Oklahoma	1
17	Marshall	1