We’ve given a damn about the Heisman and the Maxwell trophies for a very few seasons — 1994 (Alabama WR/KR/RB/QB David Palmer), 1999 (Alabama RB Shaun Alexander) and 2009 (Alabama RB Mark Ingram). Only last season was a Tide player able to get to the foulest of the foul who decide which very young man is considered the best of major amateur football athletics. We’d say that Alexander should have won both, while Ingram should have been left off until this season, but that’s not here or there.
What matters is that Monday, the organization that gives out the Maxwell Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award — the Maxwell Football Club — just about admits that the top athlete will be an offensive player, restricting the Bednarik Award to only defensive players. Those in the college football blogosphere know that the keepers of the Heisman are right bastards when it comes to use of the name, so they discuss the Maxwell Award in its place.
In the last season, though, the Maxwell winner was Colt McCoy, the senior quarterback for Texas who got knocked out of the game by Huffman High School product Marcell Dareus. The Bednarik Award went to a guy who simply played on a team that — sniff, sniff — just wasn’t good enough, Ndamukong Suh.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937 and is named in honor of sportswriter Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell. The Chuck Bednarik Award has been presented to the nation’s top defensive player since 1995. Mr. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame 69′ and the NFL Hall of Fame 67′.
Colt McCoy of the University of Texas was the recipient of the 73rd Maxwell Award and Ndamukong Suh from the University of Nebraska was awarded the 15th Chuck Bednarik Award for their outstanding performances during the 2008 season. The two men were selected by the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions respectively in this April’s NFL Draft.
So, yeah.
Anyway, this year, the SEC/Clemson watch list looks thusly:
MAXWELL
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
Greg McElroy, QB, Alabama
Stephen Garcia, QB, South Carolina
Kyle Parker, QB, Clemson
John Brantley, QB, Florida
Jeff Demps, RB, Florida
Randall Cobb, WR, Kentucky
Washaun Ealey, RB, Georgia
A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
BEDNARIK
Marcell Dareus, DE, Alabama
Dont’a Hightower, LB, Alabama
Mark Barron, S, Alabama
Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina
DeAndre McDaniel, S, Clemson
Ahmad Black, S, Florida
Josh Byrnes, LB, Auburn
Justin Houston, LB, Georgia
Pernell McPhee, DE, Mississippi State
Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
Kelvin Sheppard, LB, LSU
Jerrell Powe, DT, Ole Miss
Sure, most people have their team’s schedule written down, posted up and all that, you you need to keep up with what the competition’s doing, as well. Here’s your 2010 SEC football helmet schedule, which is always a fine thing to have on hand.
See you at the Tide-Gamecocks game at Williams-Brice. It’ll be the first time Alabama’s been in Columbia since the blowout in 2005. For a larger version of the sked, click below.
Before Auburn kicked off the third and final day of SEC Media Days, the media got together and voted for the preseason SEC standings and who they thought would win it all. Predictability, FTW.
SEC Champion
Alabama
SEC East Champion
Florida
SEC West Champion
Alabama
SEC East
1. Florida, 1030 (153)
2. Georgia, 791 (15)
3. South Carolina, 790 (8)
4. Kentucky, 462
5. Tennessee, 450
6. Vanderbilt, 194 (1)
SEC West
1. Alabama, 1034 (157)
2. Arkansas, 726 (6)
3. Auburn, 691 (10)
4. LSU, 653 (1)
5. Mississippi State, 320
6. Ole Miss, 293 (3)
Hey, Carolina — the sportswriters think y’all just might be second in the East. That could mean a halfway decent bowl game to get beat in. Sure beats losing to Connecticut at Legion Field. Maybe the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Short trip. In other news, it looks bad for LSU and Ole Miss, particularly for Tiger head coach Les Miles. It took Phil Fulmer about 10 years to go from hero to goat. Miles is going to make the journey from raising the crystal football to being canned in record time if what’s listed above really happens. As far as the Right Reverend goes, Ole Miss fans can be a little more tolerant, though being the dark horse one preseason to bottom-dweller the next isn’t what they’d call progress.
SEC Media Days. The three days of fun and games in the Wynfrey Hotel at the Galleria in Birmingham (or specifically, the white-flight haven of Hoover). Usually when it’s the day that Alabama is on the slate, the lobbies fill with fans, old and young, waiting to meet and get memorabilia signed by the head coach and the three payers chosen to appear. With the Tide slated for the opening spot on Wednesday — the national champion Tide — the atmosphere was bananas. The Chick-fil-A ran out of chicken. This was REAL, son.
And if you don’t think the horde of beat writers (and more than a few national writers, and the TV and radio types) showing up were on edge enough with a rabid, human crimson tide waiting for them, the SEC dropped the ball on the Internet. All day long, there were lamentations about the lack of wifi, and when it came, it was spotty. There was much gnashing of teeth and hitting of refresh.
But, when the time came, Tide coach Nick Saban stepped to the podium. He pretty much kept it straight, but began getting a little wound up when talking about agents and college football. Mind you, the Bama program has been pretty open with allowing scouts look at film and practices, but Saban seems to be getting ready to shut the door on all NFL types. Then, pimps.
| Saban on rogue agents |
As for the rest, it went pretty much as usual.
| Alabama head coach Nick Saban |
| Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy |
| Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower |
| Alabama running back Mark Ingram |
The next crew up was Mississippi State. Coach Dan Mullen seems to sincerely believe that his Bulldogs are going to be competitive in the SEC West this year, which simply seems bizarre. To the best of our knowledge, the last time MSU was good was when former coach Jackie Sherrill was breaking all sorts of rules. Mullen also defended the spread option, which Saban previously said was not good prep for a quarterback going to the next level.
| Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen |
| Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf |
Third up was SEC East champion Florida. We would say the SEC blew its stash on the first day, but that would be an understatement. Of the first four teams, two are the best in the conference with the best two, most intimidating coaches in the conference. Good job with scheduling. Anyway, Gators coach Urban Meyer addressed agents as well, saying that they keep tight security to keep agent types out, and the only place you’d find one on campus is behind a bush. And he seemed to be indulging in a little schadenfreude when asked about Southern Cal getting nailed with probation shortly after Lane Kiffin taking over.
| Florida head coach Urban Meyer |
| Florida safety Ahmad Black |
| Florida center Mike Pouncey |
Last up was Kentucky and its fearsome twosome, coach Joker Phillips and athlete Randall Cobb. See, Cobb is probably the only player on the Wildcats’ roster that you can name, for the reason that he’s on the field damn near every play in yet another position. For any team playing Kentucky, it pretty much boils down to containing Cobb. Phillips said it himself that Cobb will be all over the field again this season. He also said assistant Tee Martin knows Facebook and former coach Rich Brooks tweets his daily golf score. Riveting.
| Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips |
| Kentucky athlete Randall Cobb |
Some people in the South Carolina political discussion are so ignorant as to come up with polemics whenever government spends one dollar of taxpayer money. However, we believe that certain things that don’t immediately deliver a return on investment are worth investing in. Consider among those the Palmetto State’s historic sites.
In the South, the past is never really past. We love our history. We love our ancestors. We don’t necessarily like the government putting its hand in what’s happening, but corporations aren’t exactly lining up to thoroughly bankroll historic sites. That’s where the government comes in.
Right now, money for work at the Fort Moultrie visitors’ center on Sullivan’s Island is being held up by U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky. The former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers has hurled a wild pitch. The whole idea is under some misbegotten concept of fiscal responsibility.
The action comes as a result of Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning’s decision to block key legislation that would have extended several critical priorities for middle class families. That legislation covered tax credits for COBRA health coverage, unemployment insurance for 400,000 people, as well as the short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund. The Fund supports all surface transportation programs for the nation -– highways, bridges, transit and safety inspections, as well as efforts to encourage seat belt use and to fight distracted and impaired driving.
“As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.”
Let’s put this out there, though. Would the Sons of the American Revolution endorse this action? Would the Sons of Confederate Veterans? It’s a fairly good assumption that most members of both fraternal organizations. despite their conservative ideological beliefs, would be against it. That’s because preserving our nation’s history, and making it available to the American public, is one of the things that the Federal government should be doing.
It’s just a shame that it took a post by the S.C. New Democrats on Indigo Journal to bring this to our attention. This is not an ideological or a partisan issue. We’re desperately seeking S.C. Republicans that will take up the banner for our state’s historical sites.
With the departure of Mike Leach from the coaching job at Texas Tech, there’s rampant speculation at where he could end up. After all, he did become the most successful coach in the history of Red Raider football, and his unorthodox offense revolutionized the Big XII into one of the most pass-happy leagues in college football. However, many teams looking for a new skipper have already locked down their replacements.
There is one school that could be in need of a new coach very soon — Kentucky. Following the Wildcats’ loss in the Music City Bowl to Clemson, coach Rich Brooks said he was 80 percent sure that he would not return for next season, though he’s taking a week to think about it. That would provide an opening at another BCS conference school for Leach, and the mid-level expectations would be on par for what he encountered upon taking over the job in Lubbock.
The Cap’n isn’t a stranger to Lexington, either. As offensive coordinator under Hal Mumme, Leach brought his inventive style to the Southeastern Conference and helped make Tim Couch an NFL first-rounder. The 1998 season, which ended in a trip to the Outback Bowl, gave Kentucky its first winning season since 1989.
Whether Kentucky is willing to take the risk of PR fallout, and the potential headaches for the administration, of hiring Leach, is unknown. Also, the buccaneer might not be interested. He’s a strange cat. But watching that guy swing his sword in the SEC East would be a lot of fun.
UPDATE: And, after being apprised of what we’d forgotten — Joker Phillips being named head-coach-in-waiting at UK — that effectively rules out Leach there. Still, he is a swashbuckler. We wouldn’t put it past him.
One of the under reported stories every year in major college football is the amount of free crap football players get when they go to a bowl game. Some is useless. For instance, we got a free watch from the SEC and a free pin for covering the 2004 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Frankly, the catered Georgia Dome food, free bags of Golden Flake and Dr. Pepper out the wazzou was better than what the conference gave sportswriters.
The following is what SEC teams will be getting this year.
Music City Bowl
Kentucky: RCA high-def camcorder, Fossil watch, Majestic fleece pullover, New Era cap, Ogio Metro laptop pack
Independence Bowl
Georgia: Sony gift suite, Timely Watch Co. watch, New Era cap, football
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Tennessee: $250 Best Buy gift card, Fossil watch, Russell Athletic knit cap, Russell Athletic travel bag, football, Chick-fil-A gift card
Outback Bowl
Auburn: Best Buy gift card, Pro-Swiss watch, Jostens ring, hat, Outback Steakhouse gift card
Capital One Bowl
LSU: Party at Best Buy ($420 limit), Timely Watch Co. watch
Sugar Bowl
Florida: Sony, Apple, Trek, Garmin and Weber gift suite, Timely Watch Co. watch, New Era cap, Ogio Politan laptop pack, Lane recliner
Papajohns.com Bowl
South Carolina: RCA high-def mini-camcorder, Oakley Surf Pack backpack
Cotton Bowl
Ole Miss: Unknown
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas: Westinghouse 19-inch LCD HDTV/computer monitor, Fossil watch, Nike training shoes/sport sandals/sunglasses, football
BCS National Championship Game
Alabama: Sony gift suite with Trek and Garmin, Fossil watch, New Era 59Fifty cap, Ogio Politan laptop pack
There are 34 bowl games this year, and we’re picking every damn one of them (probably with 60-70 percent success). You can follow the progress or join up and do battle with us through ESPN College Bowl Mania. We’re in “The League” and “The War Against Tebow.” TWAT (jokes!) is the brainchild of decamped S.C. blogger and good time Johnny, Micah Snead, so go there. But beware — Snead’s dad is a total ringer and will probably take the title by 20 points.
Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Fresno State v. Wyoming
Dec. 19, 8 p.m., ESPN
Central Florida v. Rutgers
Dec. 20, 8:30 a.m., ESPN
Southern Miss v. Middle Tennessee State
Dec. 22, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Oregon State v. No. 14 BYU
Dec. 23, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 23 Utah v. California
Dec. 24, 8 p.m., ESPN
Nevada v. Southern Methodist
Dec. 26, 1 p.m., ESPN
Marshall v. Ohio
Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 17 Pitt v. North Carolina
Dec. 26, 8 p.m., ESPN
Boston College v. No. 24 Southern Cal
Dec. 27, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Kentucky v. Clemson
Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Texas A&M v. Georgia
Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
UCLA v. Temple
Dec. 29, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 Miami v. No. 25 Wisconsin
Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bowling Green v. Idaho
Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Arizona v. No. 22 Nebraska
Dec. 31, Noon, ESPN
Houston v. Air Force
Dec. 31, 2 p.m., CBS
Oklahoma v. No. 21 Stanford
Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Navy v. Missouri
Dec. 31, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Minnesota v. Iowa State
Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 11 Virginia Tech v. Tennessee
Jan. 1, 11 a.m., ESPN
Northwestern v. Auburn
Jan. 1, 1 p.m., CBS
No. 16 West Virginia v. Florida State
Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Penn State v. No. 12 LSU
Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m., ABC
No. 8 Ohio State v. No. 7 Oregon
Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m., Fox
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati
Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2
South Florida v. Northern Illinois
Jan. 2, 2 p.m., ESPN
South Carolina v. Connecticut
Jan. 2, 2 p.m., Fox
No. 19 Oklahoma State v. Ole Miss
Jan. 2, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Arkansas v. East Carolina
Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN
Michigan State v. Texas Tech
Jan. 4, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU
Jan. 5, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 10 Iowa v. No. 9 Georgia Tech
Jan. 6, 7 p.m., Fox
No. 25 Central Michigan v. Troy
Jan. 7, 8 p.m., ABC
No. 2 Texas v. No. 1 Alabama
Here we go. With the conference championship games over, and only Army-Navy left on Dec. 12, bowl bids are going out hot and heavy. There are some things that were expected, some surprises and — oh man — Clemson totally got jobbed.
BCS National Championship Game
No. 1 Alabama v. No. 2 Texas
Sugar Bowl
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati
Capital One Bowl
No. 12 LSU v. No. 13 Penn State
Cotton Bowl
Ole Miss v. No. 19 Oklahoma State
Outback Bowl
Auburn v. Northwestern
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Tennessee v. No. 11 Virginia Tech
Music City Bowl
Kentucky v. Clemson
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas v. East Carolina
Independence Bowl
Georgia v. Texas A&M
Papajohns.com Bowl
South Carolina v. Connecticut
Definitely some interesting matchups — Georgia and Texas A&M are a couple big name teams for a small bowl, so that should be good. In other bowls, the Gator Bowl gave a big, wet, sloppy kiss to Bobby Bowden by inviting Florida State and West Virginia. Travesty. Though it was technically OK, Miami and Boston College were higher up in the selection order in the ACC. Southern Cal, the over-hyped 8-4 team, is going to play the Eagles in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.
Ooh! There are other BCS games?
Fiesta Bowl
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU
Rose Bowl
No. 7 Oregon v. No. 8 Ohio State
Orange Bowl
No. 9 Georgia Tech v. No. 10 Iowa
It won’t all become final until after the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, but with Florida and Alabama locking down the BCS National Championship Game and the Sugar Bowl, everything else is good to go. There’s a glut of teams choking the middle of the standings in the conference, so it was really a crapshoot as to who went where.
Carolina might have upset Clemson to post its seventh win, but that doesn’t appear to have changed much in the bowl perspective from two weeks ago. And why’s that? The upper-level bowls wanted to take another date to the dance.
Guess which team comes out smelling like a rose? That’s right, your favorite and mine, the cheap-trick, dirty-playing team from the worst place in the lower half of Alabama not named Montgomery. Auburn got the invite to the Outback Bowl, which means the Tigers get to have fun in the seedier areas of Ybor City while trying to figure out how to beat Wisconsin. Of course, the joke’s on the Aubies, with the godawful early start of 11 a.m.
LSU, with the third-best record, got its expected trip to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl. Depending on which team is picked for an at-large bid in a BCS bowl, LSU will play either Penn State or Iowa.
The first part of the dam to break was the news given to ESPN that Ole Miss is going to the Cotton Bowl for the second straight year. What’s different for the Rebels this time, and their batshit crazy head coach, is the game will be played at Cowboys Stadium instead of the aging monument to football at the Texas state fairgrounds. Just imagine Houston Nutt, on the biggest high-definition screen anywhere, looking over JerryWorld like a Southern-fried Big Brother. Word is that Ole Miss will be facing Oklahoma State.
Hm. Who do we dislike more? It all comes down to fan bases — mountain rednecks from East Tennessee versus the biggest group of bandwagon fans in college football. You know it — it’s Tennessee v. Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Imagine the weird thoughts going through Tech. It began the season in the Georgia Dome against an SEC team, and it will end the season that way. Of course, Tennessee isn’t Alabama, so we’d imagine the Hokies would be favored.
Carolina fans were crossing fingers and praying hard for the Gamecocks to get the invitation to the Music City Bowl (what a bunch of Gaylords). But — a-ha! — foiled again by Kentucky. The gentlemen who run the bowl want to bring the Wildcats to Nashville, so that’s how it goes. It’s expected that either North Carolina or Miami will be the ACC representative in the game.
Ooh, not looking good. Next up, the Liberty Bowl, which shocked no one by taking Arkansas. It takes, ah, only a walk over the bridge to get from the Natural State to Memphis, so Razorback fans will be filling the stadium. If Houston beats East Carolina in the Conference-USA Championship Game, the bowl will be a throwback to the old Southwest Conference days.
Shreveport goes to Georgia, a quite unfortunate end to the season for the Bulldogs. Let’s face it — no team wants to go to the Independence Bowl. The only reason we saw Carolina play Missouri there a few years ago was because it was on the way to Dallas, where Alabama was taking on Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. Oh, Gamecocks. That means y’all are in…
…the Papajohns.com Bowl. Yessir, that’s my antiquated monument to Southern football! Welcome back to Birmingham, Carolina. We missed you. It’s been 30 years since you last played at Legion Field, losing to Missouri in the Hall of Fame Classic. If you recall, there used to be an upper deck over the west stands. Structural integrity can be a fickle mistress, and it was taken down several years ago. So, enjoy playing a mediocre Big East team in the cold, try not to get shot in one of the worst neighborhoods in town and for Heaven’s sake, make a trip to Milo’s. You’ll thanks us later for that last one.
