Tag: Florida

The SEC is a megachurch, a denomination, and a religion

It’s nighttime in Death Valley. The War Eagle Flies. We’re running through the T. We’re chomping. We’re asking how ‘bout them Dawgs. We’re clanging, pig sooein’, rammer jammerin’, Ole miss by damn’. We’re a 12th Man, the ZOU in MIZ, a Commodore, and a Wildcat. There’s even 2001 or maybe a Sandstorm. Our churches aren’t small. They are megachurches, holding a screaming congregation that will bury you with noise. They’ve even been allowed some in-game communion wine to add to their palates during services now. It should make Saturday church a little louder. When they win with a God-given upset, they jump over railings, get stuck in hedges, surf goalposts through crowded streets and toilet paper trees. When they lose,

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The SEC needs a nine-game conference schedule

Beyond the transfers, the head coaches, the stadium reductions and the backhanders to recruits, the NCAA can change something else that would really take the sport a step forward: The schedules. The ACC and SEC play 8 in-conference games and 4 non-conference games, while the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big XII all play nine. Gus Malzahn and Nick Saban both expressed a preference for nine games. In fact, Nick Saban has been lobbying for it since 2012, while Gus Malzahn last year admitted he’s had a Damascus experience on scheduling (probably because Auburn’s is so arduous year after year): “Nine I think is best for us moving forward to make the schedules more equal across the conference.” Kirby Smart of

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The most Twitter-melting SEC moments before Twitter

I read a riveting tweet to Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples which read: “What would be the most Twitter-melting CFB moments before Twitter was around?’ In other words, moments in college football history prior to March 2007, when Twitter exploded on the scene at South by Southwest (March 2007) I added a few things, which included the B.S. call against Miami in the National Championship Game of 2003 (NCBS), any of the FSU-Miami ‘Wide Rights’ (#WDR) and ‘Wide Lefts’ (#WDL), the Convicts vs Catholics (#ConvictCath), and – of course – Vince Young (#VY) running the ball in against USC in the 2006 National Championship Game (#VYvsUSC). I also wanted ALL of Barry Sanders’ highlights from the 1988 season (#Barry) because he

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Will Kelly Bryant stay after Missouri’s punishment?

The biggest question stemming from the NCAA’s recent announcement that Missouri would be banned from the 2019 postseason is: Will Kelly Bryant stay with the Tigers? The bylaws allow him to transfer without penalty, so he could take off and start at one of Missouri’s SEC rivals immediately. Although Missouri is in a powerhouse division with Georgia and a revamped Florida, the arrival of Bryant signalled to Missouri programs that the team was on the up-and-up – maybe towards a New Year’s Six Bowl Game. However, with the rules of a postseason ban, the only non-regular season game the transfer from Clemson will see will be on his TV. Sources are saying that Bryant will stay, but unless Bryant makes

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Why EVERY SEC team will win its bowl game

I love the bowl time of year. I get to ignore politics for a few hours and sit and balance a beer on my belly and watch college football. This is a beautiful time to be a SEC fan. We get to generally see a National Champion, and we get to celebrate by haunting others with our war cry: “SEC! SEC! SEC!”. I was going to go for a long, weaving preview of every bowl, but I realised that this (might) suffice. So here we go – Why EVERY SEC will win its bowl game. Why Vanderbilt (-4)will beat Baylor: Vanderbilt can stop someone, Baylor can’t. Vanderbilt’s got one of the most underrated running backs in college football in Ke’Shawn Vaughn,

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National Signing Day: It’s an Alabama and Georgia World

Stop if you’ve heard this before about recruiting: It’s an Alabama and Georgia world, and everyone else just lives in it. Every time there was a tweet from the two schools’ Twitter during the National Signing Day flurry, there was another four or five-star recruit that wanted to play for Nick Saban or Kirby Smart. Everywhere you looked, the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs were in everyone’s thoughts, and it seemed a rarity when a player decided to go elsewhere. Alabama pulled in five-star RB Trey Sanders, OT Evan Neal, and DE Antonio Alfano, while Georgia celebrated the signings of five stars OC Clay Webb, DE Jermaine Johnson, CB DJ Daniel, while DE Nolan Smith, LB Nakobe Dean, DT Travon Walker,

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Between the Devil and the Ball: The reign of Urban Meyer

Football loves winners. Sure, there are the celebrated losers (Charlie Weis in his time in Kansas), but we care more about the trophies, the Heismans, and the winners. After all, schools build their cathedrals because they like winning and let rich people know that they like winning, and will do anything for that. The rich people then put in their money for winning, and coaches are hired. Hopefully, the coaches win, and statues are created in their image, and the congregations bow down. Urban Meyer was a skilled high priest. He won three of them. The first two were at Florida, a program that was still recovering a little from Steve Spurrier’s departure. He took home two National Championships, three SEC Championships,

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SEC players going in their junior years for NFL Draft 2019

Right, this time of the year is a sad one, because we say goodbye to our greatest SEC playmakers, wishing that they would have one more year in college to make us smile. Some are seniors, but what the SEC Blog is focussing on is the juniors, who have decided to forgo their senior year, in an effort to make cash instead of being exploited for it (!). We don’t expect Alabama to have any declarations because they’ve got two big play-off games coming up (potentially), but otherwise… Alabama: Arkansas: Auburn: Jarrett Stidham (QB) Florida: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (DB) Georgia: Kentucky: LSU: Greedy Williams (CB) Mississippi State: Missouri: Ole Miss: AJ Brown (WR), DK Metcalf (WR) South Carolina: Deebo Samuel (WR) Tennessee:

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Georgia – Alabama SEC Championship Game Preview

How are you not excited? The 2018 SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama will pit two of the biggest – if not the biggest – players in the SEC. It’s a rematch of the 2018 National Championship Game – the greatest game of the season last year. It’s a rematch of mentor vs mentee. It’s trying to stay perfect vs the battle for the fourth play-off spot. It’s Georgia versus Alabama. Georgia is a 13-point underdog, and that’s not really surprising. A lot of people think Vegas is being kind. THE SEASON SO FAR This season, Alabama has been perfect. The Crimson Tide are 12-0 , and they’ve made it look easy, beating every team by a margin of 35.2 points per

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Iron, Egg, Bourbon and Hate: SEC Rivalry Week Preview

Of all the rivalries in the SEC, the best name for a rivalry is the Georgia – Georgia Tech game: “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate”. Nothing comes close. However, there are some badass hatred flowing through the SEC. Alabama and Auburn despise each other. Ole Miss and Mississippi State may be on a par with that….maybe worse. There’s no love lost between Clemson and South Carolina or Florida and Florida State. Tennessee – Vanderbilt always seems to pit the ‘Public School Hillbillies’ and the ‘Private School snobs’, and Louisville and Kentucky certainly aren’t fond of each other, even though the ‘Governor’s Cup’ makes it sound like a place where the fans drink sweet tea before the game, not ludicrous amounts of bourbon.

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