SEC Presason preview: Can Hugh Freeze turn around Ole Miss?

In the days of Eli Manning it might have been a truism to talk about the Rebels and say: “Ole Miss by damn!”, but last season, there was only one ‘damn’ to describe this team: Damn awful. But can they improve and at least break their SEC losing streak – and give hope to Rebels fans who haven’t had a decent team since 2009? LAST SEASON Ole Miss went 2-10 last year under Houston Nutt, who was summarily given his marching orders a month before the season ended – a move that sparked some outrage. And it was no bad thing. The Rebels didn’t lose many close heartbreakers – they were generally laughers (bar BYU (loss by 1) and Arkansas,

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SEC Preseason Preview: Will Vanderbilt continue moving on up?

A lot of people are very excited about the Vanderbilt Commodores this year. After all, they’ve been making a lot of noise on the recruiting front lately, and James Franklin put together a team that doesn’t just give up – hence why they lost four desperately close games (one in overtime), and this could be a season when Vandy puts together a winning regular season record for the first time in a decade. People are saying that they could upset South Carolina on the first game of the season… Anyway… LAST YEAR Vanderbilt fans may have celebrated going bowling, but really, it could have been so much more than that if they hadn’t broken their fans’ hearts over and over

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SEC Prediction: Will Arkansas ‘Hog’ The SEC West?

Between Bobby Petrino and Houston Nutt, the Arkansas Razorbacks have put together winning seasons for seven years out of the last 10, including a pretty wonderful 11-2 run in 2011. This year, many people are expecting nothing to change except the fact that Bobby Petrino’s out (penalized for his philandering ways), and beloved John L. Smith’s in with a 10-month contract. If Arkansas is half as a good as Smith is as a soundbite, they might make a run for the title! In fact, the AP and USA Today like the Hogs so much that they have a Top 10 ranking to start the 2012 season. But can they be better than that, or will the John L. Smith roadshow fall by

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SEC Prediction: Is Tennessee A Dark Horse for the SEC East this year?

If you haven’t heard, Derek Dooley’s out of his job as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. When? About December, 2012. We jest, but you get the point: Mr Dooley’s under huge pressure to get the 2012 right at Neyland Stadium after two years of debacle, and our thought is this: Shouldn’t we be thinking of the Vols as a dark horse for the division, rather than an also ran? LAST SEASON As awful as people who like you to think Tennessee was last year, we’d like to put this out there: The Vols were also hellish unlucky with injuries. They lost their best wide receiver Justin Hunter in their third  game of the season against Florida. Their QB, Tyler

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SEC Schedule: Top 10 In-Conference Games You MUST watch this season

Every year the SEC dominates other schools in bowl games (unless you’re Michigan State, but less said about that the better) quite simply because they have the most difficult conference. EVERY game is a bowl game,  a potential National Championship Game, or a big-time match-up. If you don’t believe us, ask CBS why – every year without fail – they always screen Florida vs Tennessee, even though both sides weren’t going to compete last year, and could possibly be put down as ‘afterthoughts’ for the last couple, at least. Anyway, here’s our Top 10 games (IN-CONFERENCE) on the SEC schedule. And there should be no surprises who’s going to be No.1…. 1) Alabama vs LSU (Nov 3) Night game. LSU

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SEC Preseason Preview: Can Missouri Roar In The East?

Here’s a quick tip for you: Missouri will scare the heck out of the SEC East – especially when they play teams at night in Farot Field. Remember: This is a team that’s beaten No.1s in the past on home turf (Ohio State and Oklahoma in a monster night games in front of a rabid, unforgiving crowd) and really, really wants the chance to do more damage in the future. I spoke to a buddy at Georgia about his team’s chances and he said: “We’re scared. Missouri aren’t going to take any prisoners and our guys certainly picked a time to get thrown off the team and eat hash brownies”. I think we could echo that. But anyway, this is

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Defensive back returns for Kentucky

Safety Dakotah Tyler has returned to the Kentucky football team, the school said in a press release. Tyler, who can also play on special teams, didn’t play on the 2011-2 side because of ‘personal reasons’, the release said, and no further reason was given. In his 2010 season, the school noted, Tyler had 13 tackles, one pass break-up, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble, and he had one start. BOTTOM LINE: The news is great for Kentucky, who need all the help they can get if they are to emerge from the SEC East basement. Tyler’s return is great for the school, who have additional talent in seniors Martavius Neloms and Mikie Benton, and sophomores Ashely Lowery and Glenn Faulkner all coming back.

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Recruiting: Auburn adds four-star DE Tashawn Bower

Auburn has added defensive end Tashawn Bower, according to reports. The three-star weakside defensive end from New Jersey opted for Auburn on Tuesday. He said on his Twitter feed: “Just committed to auburn #wareagle“. In another tweet, he asked the media to stop nagging him for an interview: “Dear media please stop calling my phone #it‘s dying”. He’s thought of as the 8th best defensive end in New Jersey, and had a number of offers, including SEC schools Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Ole Miss. In fact, there weren’t a lot of schools in the country that didn’t chase him.  

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Recruiting: Alabama picks up QB from Georgia

It seems that if you’re a four and five-star recruit, you are either heading to Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor, or Los Angeles these days. Parker McLeod, the highly sought-after quarterback from Walton High School in Georgia, decided that he wanted to go to Tuscaloosa to play his football in 2013 – and so committed to Nick Saban and his Crimson company on Friday. “Alabama was my dream school all along,” McLeod told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I got a firm offer from them on Wednesday and I committed on the spot. They wanted me to wait a little bit, or until Friday, until I went public with it.” Saban had earlier whiffed on quarterbacks Anthony Jennings and Johnathan McCrary, who went to Vanderbilt.

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Recruiting: Alabama adds four-star recruit

Nick Saban added his 15th commitment of the season when Texan cornerback Maurice Smith committed to play for Alabama, Al.com has reported. According to the report, Smith announced the decision via press release. He said: “Maurice Smith II (Fort Bend Sugarland Dulles c/o 2013) has researched, evaluated, and visited and has reached his decision to commit to University of Alabama and play for Nick Saban’s defense.” He added: “I knew this would be one of the biggest decisions in my life, and at 16 it seemed almost too big, and a lot of pressure. But someone told me that I would know when it was right. It just felt right, with no pressure, or expectation, it is just right for

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