Bleacher Report - Articles by The Dead Guy SEC

A (somewhat) level-headed look at Mike Bianco, Ole Miss baseball

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:42:00 -0400

As Game Three of the Oxford Super Regional came to a end Sunday afternoon, the floodgates opened on the message boards, text messages, and the blogosphere.

I was as frustrated as anyone, but after a few Fat Tires, some yard work, and a good night’s sleep, I can pen my thoughts with a clear head, instead of one fresh from the heat of the moment.

Nothing said here should cheapen what Virginia did last weekend or what they’ve accomplished all season.

The Cavaliers played a very solid brand of baseball and gutted out two win-or-go-home games to punch their ticket to Omaha. They’re a very solid team top to bottom.

This is an indictment of the way the Rebels played. Certain things jump out at you after the series this weekend.

The painful aspect of the weekend was how poorly the Rebels fared executing mundane fundamentals. The team struggled all weekend with bunting, making the easy play (seven errors?), hitting cut off men, turning double plays, stringing hits together, etc.

The poor execution coupled with UVA’s nearly flawless Saturday and Sunday performances equated to an easy series win for the ‘Hoos.

Here’s what I’ve come up with. Feel free to dispute, agree, ignore, or patronize.

There is no excuse for not winning this Super Regional.

Against Texas in 2005, fans said, “Oh it’s Texas, they always win, and it’s our first Super Regional ever.”

Against Miami in 2006, Miami rolled into town and won. Fans said, “Oh, it’s Miami, they always win.”

Against Arizona State in Tempe in 2007, fans said, “It’s Arizona State, they always win. Plus, we’re on the road.”

None of that applied to Virginia this year. The Cavaliers had never been to a Super Regional before this weekend. They started seven freshmen/sophomores. They almost dropped baseball to a club team several years ago.

The only one of those four losses I can truly stomach is the ASU one. But given how the team lost Game One because Bianco ran Kline back out for the ninth, even that one’s tough to take.

The Miami series in 2006 was inexcusable as well. That was a mediocre Hurricanes team that had no business winning Games Two and Three in Oxford that season.

Firing Mike Bianco is not the answer—at least not yet.

The Ole Miss baseball team has experienced unparalleled success under Bianco’s direction.

The late years of Don Kessinger’s tenure paired with Pat Harrison’s very existence left a very bad situation that Bianco has turned into one of the most successful regular season programs in the country.

To dismiss that as something anyone could step in and emulate is foolish.

Yes, the four super regional losses are tough to swallow, but, quite frankly, Miami is really the only clearly inferior team that the Rebels lost to.

Above all the others, that's the Super Regional that the Bianco haters should point to.

As great as the 2005 team was, Texas was clearly better, as was Arizona State. With Bittle on the shelf, it's easy to make the argument that UVA was a better team than Ole Miss was before the weekend series.

The problem lies in Bianco’s salary, by some accounts the highest in the SEC. Yearly failures on the second biggest stage in college baseball should not be a characteristic of the highest paid coach in the league.

That said, there need to be changes, either in philosophy of existing coaches or in the actual assistants

The common thread in the four Super Regional losses is they’ve been under Mike Bianco’s watch.

The four Supers in five seasons is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but the growing grumblings of Bianco taking the Rebels as far as he can are starting to gain much more traction with another failure.

Bianco’s teams are now 0-6 in home games that would send them to Omaha. Whatever approach he is taking to loosen guys up is obviously not working.

This team—with all their antics and carefree attitude—played tight yesterday, even with an early lead.

Bianco’s typical stubbornness with starting pitchers cost the Rebels yesterday as he stuck with Nathan Baker far too long.

Baker wasn’t pitching poorly, but his painfully slow delivery plus UVA’s speed on the basepaths and Kyle Henson’s “arm” was a recipe for disaster.

UVA’s starter was pulled early because he was struggling. Bianco should’ve taken the hint and pulled Baker as well.

The small ball he tried this season doesn’t work well unless the players are skilled at sacrifice bunting.

It’s tougher than looks—keeping the head of the bat up, coming back at just the right time to deaden the ball, and placing it just right—but practice makes perfect. Something needs to improve in that skill-set or the small ball just won’t work.

They say once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a trend. It’s hard to not feel that way watching another Oxford Super Regional go the way of the visitors.

Next year’s Rebels will be another top 10 quality team and will have a legitimate shot at another Super Regional. Will it finally be the year Bianco and his Rebels break through? Or will be just another disappointment for Rebel fans?

Rebels: Is an Astonishing Win Prelude to an Outstanding Season?

The Dead Guy SEC — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:35:00 -0400

What a baseball game this afternoon! Errors, poor bunts, bloody noses, baserunning blunders—you name it and the Rebels did it, and they still walked off with an unbelievable win in Game One of the Oxford Super Regional.

Matt Smith went from near goat in the top half of the 12th to unquestioned hero in the bottom half. His fielding error was a distant memory as soon as the loudest ping of the day sounded in a jam-packed OUS. One pitch. One swing. Ball game.

The question now: Can the Rebels finish it off? They've been in this situation before—up 1-0 in an Oxford Super Regional, and have failed to advance both times. Can they finally put it all together this time?

I think this may just be the Rebels' year to make it to Omaha. This isn't the most talented Rebel team in recent memory, but there's not been a scrappier, never-say-die team to wear the red and blue. They easily could've folded up shop several times today with the miscues and UVA's pitching, but they didn't. And they won't tomorrow.

While I doubt that we'll see nine innings of Pomeranz , we will see a performance where he keeps the Rebels in the game for as long as he's out there, probably six to seven innings. It'll be up to the Rebels to generate some offense, tighten up the defense, and get their bunts down in key situations.

Virginia may be down, but they're not out. They've rallied around one-run losses all season and they aren't going to roll over now. But if the Rebels get a typical Pom start and reach double digit hits for the 20th time in 21 games tomorrow, Rosenblatt Stadium and the fine people of Omaha won't know what hit 'em next weekend.

Oxford Super Regional: Can the Third Time Be the Charm for Ole Miss?

The Dead Guy SEC — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:56:00 -0400

When the first pitch in the Oxford Super Regional is thrown this afternoon around 1:10 or so, it will mark the Rebels' fourth Super Regional in five years, which is a run of success that few teams across the country can point to.

Unfortunately, the other three have ended poorly for the Rebels. Perennial powers Texas, Miami, and Arizona State have all dispatched the Rebels with different levels of ease over the past few years, causing different levels of heartbreak for the Rebel Nation.

This year looks to be a different story. Instead of facing one of college baseball’s storied franchises, the Rebels will square off against Virginia.

The Cavaliers are a very good team, having the second best winning percentage in the country, as well as the third best ERA. Their pitching staff gave up exactly two runs in last weekend’s Irvine Regional, which is the lowest run total any team has surrendered since the format switched in 1999.

The Cavs also bat at a solid .331 clip and steal a lot of bases—104 on the season.

All that said, I like this matchup for the Rebels. The similarities between the teams, as well as the schools (posts like this are why blogs were created), are eerie. And while the Cavs have an edge in every statistical category, other than ERA, none really jumps out at you.

The Cavaliers pose a better matchup than a team that wants to come in and play 10-9 games all weekend.

Virginia’s projected starting rotation looks like this:

Freshman LH Danny Hultzen (8-1, 2.01)
Sophomore RH Robert Morey (3-0, 2.91)
Senior RH Andrew Carraway (7-1, 4.30)

Phillip Irwin gets the nod this afternoon, but after that, Bianco says the rotation is not set, on which I call shenanigans.

Anyone who honestly believes that Drew Pomeranz is not going to take the mound late Saturday morning—a game that a win would either propel the Rebels to Omaha or stave off the end of the season—is just not paying attention.

Pom’s performance Monday night was the greatest single pitching performance in Ole Miss history…no way he’s not out there Saturday with the season on the line. As expected, Scott Bittle is not pitching this weekend.

This is not the most talented team Bianco has taken to a Super Regiona—not even close. But this is the scrappiest, and the most fun group of guys he’s been around. Their camaraderie has been a key component of their success this year, and they’ll need to be extra loose this weekend as they face a very talented UVA team.

The Cavs are streaking now, winners of eight straight games.

For the first time in a Super Regional, there is no reason to be intimidated by the team name on the front of the jersey. The Cavaliers are playing in their first Super Regional in school history. And despite their win streak, they’re still the team that finished sixth in the ACC.

That’s not to undermine what the ‘Hoos have accomplished this year, but to emphasize the fact that this UVA team can be beat.

The time has come for the Rebels to make it back to Omaha. And this might just be the team to do it.

Auburn, Arkansas Among Projected Most Improved

The Dead Guy SEC — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:04:00 -0400

In today’s Sporting News Today, Matt Hayes and Dave Curtis each answer the question “Which teams are on the rise?” Matt Hayes offers nothing of interest for SEC fans, citing UCLA, SMU, Colorado, Oklahoma State, and North Carolina State.

Dave Curtis though offers plenty of fodder for bloggers across the SEC West.

Let’s start with his pick of Arkansas. Here’s how he views it:

Arkansas +4
2008: 5-7, 2009: 9-4
Here’s why: Where Bobby Petrino goes, wins follow. He’ll be this season’s example of the second-year bump enjoyed at the highest level by Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer, among others. If Ryan Mallett can quit breaking fingers, he’s the best quarterback in the SEC West. Four wins seem a given in the nonconference (Missouri State, Eastern Michigan, Troy, and Texas A&M in Dallas). And the defense will tackle well enough to manage a 4-4 SEC record and a win in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

I happen to agree with him that the Hogs will be much improved. Say what you want to about Bobby Petrino - and I have - but the man wins games. If Ryan Mallett stays healthy and out of trouble, the Arkansas offense should be very solid.

I do take issue with a few of his assumptions though. When Chris Low ranked Jevan Snead the third best player in the SEC, many felt that was too high as he’d only produced for one season, and in all honesty, it wasn’t even until the second half of the season that it all clicked for him.

That said, how can you possibly rate Mallett the best QB in the division? He hasn’t started a game since 2007 when he completed 43.3 percent of his passes and compiled a 7/5 TD/INT ratio. Snead may not have proved it over a extended period of time (yet), but he a better track record than Mallett.

Arkansas’ defense should be better as it returns 79.4 percent of its tackles from last year, but a 4-4 record in conference is certainly no given. Home games against mittippi tate and Auburn seem gimmes and a home tilt with South Carolina is certainly winnable.

The road slate is brutal with trips to Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, and LSU and a home game against UGA. Right now, I’d hardly count any of those as wins.

And lastly, the comparison of Petrino to Stoops, Tressel, and Meyer is pointless as they all won national championships in their second years at their current employers. Arkansas is not winning a national title this season.

That said, I can see Arkansas winning nine games before anything he says about Auburn comes to fruition.

Auburn +3
2008: 5-7, 2009: 8-5
Here’s why: Don’t expect another tumultuous season on The Plains. The new coaching staff, with its limousines on recruiting trips and Big Cat Weekend for unofficial visits, has at least unified the program. Tommy Tuberville’s recruits will keep this defense strong, and by midseason, new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will turn one of Auburn’s quarterbacks into a proficient passer.

So, just so I'm 100 percent clear here, Gene Chizik won five games in two seasons at Iowa State and now, apparently magically, he’s going to win eight in a single season? Right...

I will concede that Auburn’s defense should be solid. Tuberville recruited good players on that side of the ball and Chizik’s reputation was built on his accomplishments as a defensive coordinator.

But the spread offense failed miserably last year. What makes anyone think that it will work this year with much of the same key personnel? Particularly work well enough to win eight games?

When you I look at their schedule, I can’t find eight wins anywhere. Home games against Louisiana Tech, mittippi tate, Testacle Tech Ball State, and Furman are most likely gimme wins, but that’s only four. Squeezing three or four more wins (depending on how Curtis sees their bowl game going) out of West Virginia, @Tennessee, @Arkansas, @LSU, Ole Miss, @UGA, and Alabama is not going to be easy for this team.

The Curious Case of Scott Bittle

The Dead Guy SEC — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:46:00 -0400

As the excitement and sheer awe has subsided after Drew Pomeranz's performance Monday night, the Rebels have gotten down to business in preparations for a very good UVA team.

The Cavaliers will roll into town this weekend with a ridiculous 3.19 team ERA and a lofty 46-12-1 record.

One of the biggest rumors circulating now is that ace righty Scott Bittle will be available to pitch this weekend against the 'Hoos. Some are very optimistic about it, others not so much.

Count me in the "not so much" group, more specifically the "No Chance in Hell he Pitches" group.

Bittle hasn't pitched in a live game since April 26th when he won the series-clinching game against Georgia.

Friday's opening game against UVA will be 40 days since he last pitched. How effective do you really think it would be dropping him into a relief role in a high-pressure Super Regional environment in front of 10,000+ fans?

I tried as hard as any Rebel fan to will Bittle back from his arm troubles, but it's just not going to happen...at least not this weekend.

Playing long toss during practice is a completely different animal than toeing the rubber on a mound. Bittle relies so much on his breaking stuff that it's unreasonable to think that he'll pitch this weekend.

There's a good chance he'll be on the 25-man roster if for no other reason than to give the 'Hoos staff and players the illusion that they might have to face him.

Even so, I'll be shocked if he even gets up to throw in the pen.

Ole Miss-Western Kentucky: Drew Pomeranz Produces Clutch Pitching

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:42:00 -0400

Drew Pomeranz firmly entrenched himself in Ole Miss lore with as clutch of a pitching performance as you'll ever see, and, more than likely, the greatest pitching performance in Ole Miss history.

Coming back on just two days rest, Pom pitched a complete game, tying a school record with 16 Ks and giving up just two hits and an unearned run.

How the first hit he gave up was not ruled an error, I'll never know, and, yet, I won't care.

When Pom came back out in the ninth, my first thought was of game one in the Tempe Super Regional a couple of years ago, when Bianco left Kline in an inning that was too long.

Pom had just gone seven innings a couple of nights ago. How much gas could he have left? The answer is now obvious: a lot.

I'll give a big tip of the Dead Guy cap to Western Kentucky, though, who tried their best to wreck another Oxford Regional. They just ran out of gas tonight after five games in four days. Their 2-4 hitters are better than a lot of SEC teams, but they were just outmatched tonight against Pom.

The Continuing Indictment of Mike Bianco Continues to Continue

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:24:00 -0400

Before we get into this, let’s get one thing straight. Neither I nor any level-headed Rebel is calling for Bianco’s head. The "MessageBoardIdiots" doing so are just that. He’s taken a moribund Rebel baseball program and built into a national power and people who gloss over that fact are missing the point.

That said, last night’s debacle was certainly more fodder for the faction of Rebel fans who think Bianco should move on. Why was Goforth lifted? Why was he replaced with our closer when we were up six with two innings to go? Why was our last remaining serviceable starter utilized at the end of the game?

In all honesty, I don’t see how the Rebs bounce back to win tonight. It was as frustrating a loss as the game one Super Regional loss to Arizona State, and the Rebs were trounced in game two of that one. Both teams will be deep into their rotations, but this year’s version of Rebels is not equipped to win a slugfest. If the arms are tired tonight and serving up BP for nine innings, that greatly favors the Hilltoppers.

The flipside is that this is the scrappiest Rebel team in recent memory. They’ve scratched their way back to win some games this season that seemed hopeless at times. They’ll need their gutsiest performance of the year to shake off the sting of last night’s game. You could literally feel the air sucked out of the stadium when Wade Gaynor tied it up with his three-run shot in the eighth. You could also feel the HR coming in the top of the ninth. It was just a matter of who was going to hit it.

Would the game have been different if Gofoth stayed in for the eighth and Morgan came in for the ninth? Who knows?

The bottom line is this, Mike Bianco is a fantastic ambassador for the university. He turned an also-ran sport into a national powerhouse that competes on a national level year after year. He is an elite recruiter. He has stocked the Rebel rosters with more talent top to bottom than any other coach in Ole Miss history. He is not an elite game day coach. Last night’s late-inning changes confirmed that.

Tuesday Things

The Dead Guy SEC — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:23:00 -0400

Chris Low rates Greg Hardy the 9th best player in the SEC. He sums up the essence of Greg Hardy in his first two sentences: “ Let's be honest here. Hardy has at times been a bit of an enigma.” When Hardy is healthy and properly focused and motivated, there are few offensive linemen who can match up with him one on one. He’s too quick and too good a slasher. With Peria Jerry gone, Hardy will be key to drawing double teams to let Patrick Trahan and others make plays in space.

My guess is that Jevan Snead ranks No. 3 in the conference behind Eric Berry and Tim Tebow. Or at least that’s how I’d rank them. Off the top of my head, in random order, Brandon Spikes, Rolando McClain, AJ Green, and Julio Jones will also be in the top 10. Who am I missing?

The one thing Dan Mullen really had going for him so far this spring was he seemed to be the only rookie coach in the conference not making a spectacle of himself. Gene Chizik and his limos were all over the media and blogosphere. Lane Kiffin…well, that one speaks for itself. But Mullen seemed to just be going about his business. Until now.

Mullen used his recent stop at the Vestavia Country Club on his Bulldog Club tours to take jabs at Chizik and Kiffin. That’s most likely harmless as neither will be able to extract a painful revenge this season. Auburn and Mississippi State set modern football back 50 years with their heinous 3-2 game last year and Auburn won’t be blowing anyone out this season. And the bulldogs don’t face Tennessee in 2009, so no vengeance there.

Then Mullen decided to take a page out of the official “moou handbook for pandering to fans” and refer to Ole Miss by another name.

Go ahead, ask the New Hampshire native if he's already been introduced to his new school's rivalry with Ole Miss.

"The team up north?" he said. "We call them the team up north. I don't like to cuss by using the word that you just used."

That’s all fine and well. He needs to save up his profanities for when the season starts. This year’s Egg Bowl score may not be much different than the glorious 45-0 trouncing last year. I have a feeling that Mr. Mullen will be making up for lost profanities by the time the 4th quarter runs down to 0:00 this year.

The All-SEC Baseball teams were announced and a big Dead Guy congratulations go out to first-teamer Jordan Henry and second-teamers Drew Pomeranz and Scott Bittle. Honestly, the Rebels weren’t as well represented as they should’ve been. Leaving Jake Morgan off is ridiculous. His numbers were fantastic – seven saves and a 1.29 ERA – but his emergence let us move Bittle to the starting rotation which turned our conference season around. David Brandt views it this way:

But really, as hokey as it may sound, this team hasn't been about individual honors. Almost every Ole Miss play(er) has good stats, but very few of them (except guys like Henry and Bittle) made you look at the numbers and immediately crown them All-SEC.

But hey, at least Alabama landed five guys on the first team alone.

This is from last week, but somehow I missed it: Tommy Tuberville will talk SEC Football on BusterSports.com in 2009. In addition to radio appearances and podcast, he’ll interact directly with SEC fans through chat rooms, message boards, and call in questions.

After being tarred and feathered and run out of Auburn, it will probably be nice to take a year off and merely talk about the conference he coached in for nearly a decade and a half.

After one of the worst years in recent memory, SEC basketball continues to improve itself for the 2009-10 season. With an influx of new coaches, including John Calipari, the league is set to return to relevance next season and prominence the year after that.

Calipari’s signing of John Wall to Kentucky will land the ‘Cats in the top 10 preseason. As the “basketball face” of the league, UK’s recent struggles under Billy Gilispie marred not only the school’s reputation, but also the conference’s as a whole. While I’m certainly not a Calipari fan, there’s no denying his impact.

Monday Morning Munchies

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:19:00 -0400

I missed a busy week last week in my travels, but hopefully I can catch up here.

* After a pathetic showing in Oxford two series ago, the men’s baseball team rebounded and did what they needed to do against Arkansas in Fayetteville, clinching a share of the SEC overall championship.

Congratulations are certainly in order for shaking off a rocky start to the season and rebounding to win the toughest conference in America.

The 20-10 record is fantastic, obviously, but how nice would it have been to handle business against Mississippi State one weekend earlier?

Now, the Rebels tangle with previous No. 1 UGA on Wednesday in Hoover. The ‘Dawgs have been in a tailspin though since they were handled in Oxford last month.

Hopefully that continues. More on that later this week. It sucks Scott Bittle won't be making the trip.

* So much for the snub providing the tennis team the motivation they needed to finally get over the hump…2009 became yet another earlier than expected exit from the tournament for Billy Chadwick’s netters.

It was certainly a season to remember, but it ended sooner than many thought it should.

* It’s been a busy week for the men’s hoops team as well. It was announced this week that Nick Williams, a fantastic freshman guard for Indiana University last year is transferring to Ole Miss.

He’ll sit out 2009-10 and be eligible to play as a sophomore in 2010-11. He's a big strong guard that will almost certainly get better with a year of going against one of the best backcourts in the conference in practice.

* The Rebels will also be returning to Puerto Rico this year, playing in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic. It won’t take long for the Rebels to find out how good they are: The field includes Boston University, Dayton, George Mason, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, and Villanova.

* The Dagger takes a stab at ranking the SEC basketball coaches, and offers many of the same opinions I did a couple of months back.

The difference is that every school has their coaches in place now, so allow me to express my opinions about the new guys.

It’s hard to argue with the hires made by Alabama and Kentucky. While both made big splashes with their hires, Kentucky landed the biggest catch, luring John Calipari from Memphis.

I do have to disagree with the “Superelite” tag applied to Calipari. Coaches like Tom Izzo and Roy Williams are “Superelite."

They’ve consistently won in the highest level of college basketball and have the banners hanging above their heads to prove it. Calipari is certainly elite, but until he wins in a Big6 conference consistently and cuts down the nets in early April, he’s not “Superelite."

Anthony Grant was primed to take over for Billy Donovan during his momentary lapse of reason a couple of years ago when he actually signed with the Orlando Magic.

Now, he’s finally getting his crack at the SEC and it’s hard to see him not succeeding. He was an integral part of Florida’s national championship teams and UF hasn’t been the same since he left.

Mark Fox, UGA’s new coach, seems like a decent enough hire. He took over Nevada’s program when LSU head coach Trent Johnson left for Stanford. It’s certainly not a “wow” hire like the Bama and UK hires, but he appears to be a solid coach. If he can recruit/win in the SEC remains to be seen though.

* Then there’s this: College Football Network’s rankings of the SEC football coaches.

The Right Rev. Nutt comes in at No. 3, which seems a bit high to me. Not sure how he’s ranked ahead of Mark Richt.

It must be tied to UGA’s disappointing (in relation to expectations) season last year while Nutt walked into a gold mine in Oxford. Whatever the situation is, it’s nice to see the positive press.

Tuesday Tidbits: Preseason Sugar Bowl Picks And the 'Tiger Prowl'

The Dead Guy SEC — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:03:00 -0400

• It’s as though we’ve landed in some kind of bizarro world. College Football News offers the following Sugar Bowl projection: West Virginia vs. Ole Miss. I’m just waiting for Kevin, Gene, Feldman, and Vargas to show up.

Assuming the SEC champion is No. 1 and off to the national championship, the Sugar Bowl will get the first choice of teams and it'll most certainly take the second best SEC team. Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, Georgia or even Florida; throw a dart and you might have the right SEC representative. Boise State might be the call if the Fiesta doesn't have an interest, but geographically is makes more sense for the Broncos to go to Glendale and the Big East champion, possibly West Virginia, to go to New Orleans. The Mountaineers stunned Georgia the last time they were in the Sugar, played in Atlanta in 2006.

• Shiny-headed blowhard Paul Finebaum has high praise for Gene Chizik’s "Tiger Prowl." While Finebaum admits it was a gimmick, it seems he’s putting way too much stock in it.

There was another important aspect to Tiger Prowl as well—stoking the home fires. In politics, you garner votes by exciting your base. You toss them red meat and hear them roar. The Auburn fan base was spitting fire last week. However, I think the most important message of the week was that Auburn is going to make Alabama fight for every acre of real estate in the state.

To me, this is exactly like John McCain choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate last year. Sure it got the fan base rowdy for a while, but once the novelty wore off, it was a gimmick with little to no substance.

I somehow doubt Nick Saban is overly concerned about Chizik and his limo rides.

• The Quad, the New York Times' college sports blog, has started its annual countdown of the best teams in America No. 120-No. 1.

Western Kentucky brings up the rear for a second straight year.

While it’ll be early July before any of our SEC brethren show up, it’ll be fairly quickly when UAB and Memphis show up.

And then there’s the other half of the non-conference schedule—Northern Arizona and SELA—which won’t show up at all, as they’re both 1AA.

So we’ve got that going for us.

Bracky Brett Working Overtime at Mississippi State

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:58:00 -0400

Is there a worse job in the SEC right now than that of Bracky Brett, Mississippi State athletic department compliance director?

Apparently Dan Mullen and Rick Stansbury are engaging in some kind of NCAA shenanigans contest. Mullen landed what many thought would be the death blow, bringing The Walking NCAA Violation on campus to help coach the Bulldog coaching staff.

But now, just weeks after sorting through that mess, Stansbury is not to be outdone, landing big-man Renardo Sidney, whose background is so shady that even USC head coach Tim Floyd backed off of him after he had committed. And yes, the same Tim Floyd who brought in O.J. Mayo through his World Wide Wes connections.

Brett isn't even sure he'll be able to play:

"We realize by simply signing him doesn't mean the process is over. We know there's a lot of questions to be answered. Any issues related to his amateurism or extra benefits will be part of our discussions with all parties in the very near future. By all parties, I mean the prospect, his family, the NCAA, the Southeastern Conference and everyone here at Mississippi State. We're not going to compromise the integrity of our institution. It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks. Or months."

This coming from the school that admitted Dontae' Jones.

Not worth the trouble

The Dead Guy SEC — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:03:00 -0400

Jamar Hornsby's case was delayed until Mid-August. Houston Nutt wouldn't comment if Hornsby would still practice with the team while his case was in limbo.

It's shameful that we even offered and signed this kid. Call me callous, but the credit card theft crosses a line of decent humanity from which there is absolutely no return. It wasn't his first run-in with the law in Gainesville either, just his most publicized.

And don't feed me the canned "everybody deserves a second chance" line. Hornsby has blown more chances than anyone deserves. The fact that he was recruited at all with his criminal background is a harsh glimpse into the "win-at-all-costs" of major D1 football.

Replacing Jamarca Sanford will not be easy, but Hornsby is not the answer. 2009 has too much potential for greatness to jeopardize it only nefarious characters such as Hornsby.

Men's Tennis Team Screwed Over

The Dead Guy SEC — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:26:00 -0400

24-2, ranked No. 2 in the country? Check
Undefeated SEC Champions? Check
SEC Tournament Champions? Check
Lead the country in attendance? Check
Hosting an eighth straight regional? Che… Wait, what? No really? What?

What an absolute disgrace. There is no logical or rational explanation for how this happened. None whatsoever. These guys absolutely earned the right to make any team in the country, other than No. 1 Virginia, travel to Oxford to try and take them down.

Instead, the NCAA packs them up and ships them out to the home of our archrivals. Then they’ll most likely tangle with Texas A&M on their home court in the Sweet 16. The current NCAA spin is travel concerns, but with some of the distances other teams are travelling, that rings hollow.

LSU is an incomprehensible 10-11 this year, including a sparkling 4-7 in SEC play, so they obviously earned the right to host, much more so than the Rebels did. Joining LSU as SEC hosts are Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Florida, all of whom got their ass kicked to a varying degree of severity by the Rebels this year.

The Rebels have already beaten LSU twice this year (5-2 and 4-2), so they shouldn’t have to mess with them a second time.

From OleMissSports.com, Pete Boone had this to say:

"There's no words that can express the boneheadedness of this decision," Boone said. "The NCAA wants to cut down on travel, and I understand that, but to do this to the No. 2 team in the country doesn't make any sense whatsoever. ... We're certainly going to be on the phone in the morning with the NCAA trying to find out what the hell happened."

Head coach Billy Chadwick was a bit more diplomatic, but you gotta figure he’s pissed:

"If you're trying to grow the sport, it seems very odd that the place leading the nation in attendance that's also the second best team in the nation doesn't host."

Two positives can come out of this. The first will be kicking LSU’s ass in front of their home crowd. That’s always fun, regardless of the sport. Secondly, if this doesn’t put a chip the size of Lane Kiffin’s ego on the team’s shoulder, nothing will.

And while I'm not sure how effective it will be, the guys at Red Cup Rebellion have posted some applicable contact information for the selection committee. While it won't change this decision, and if Pete Boone calls something boneheaded, then by golly it's boneheaded. It should serve as a good outlet for creative writing and venting.

Download a full bracket here

Rebels in the 2010 NFL Draft

The Dead Guy SEC — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:47:00 -0400

With the 2009 NFL draft now just a blip in history, it’s obviously time to get mock drafts together for 2010. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports offers his here, and projects Jevan Snead as the No.1 pick next year and lists Greg Hardy as No. 8. He says this about Snead:

An early look to next year's draft shows a class that could be quarterback heavy. My top guy, as always, is a quarterback. It's not who you think. It's not Oklahoma's Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy of Texas or even Florida's Tim Tebow.

It's Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead. Entering his junior year, this transfer from Texas has everything
I love in a quarterback. He has good size at 6-3, a rocket for an arm and sees the field.

He transferred from Texas because of McCoy. But I think come next April he will be the first pick in the draft. Snead, if he gives up his senior year, is next year's Matt Stafford.

Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated offers his here. He ventures to project the order of the draft and has Hardy going 18th to the Seahawks and Snead going 25th to the 49ers.

With a chance the NFL rookie salary cap comes to fruition in the 2011 season, I wouldn’t be surprised to Snead come out early, particularly if he plays like he did in the final six games of last season. The three consecutive throws he made to McCluster, Summers, and Wallace against LSU were as good as any throws any Rebel QB has made in a long, long time, including Eli.

With 2009 being the first draft the Rebels have ever had two players drafted in the first round, accomplishing it two years in a row would be a big statement for the program, particularly with the sad W/L record compiled in the EOr era. Nutt and his staff have done a good job replacing the outgoing talent, and while it remains to be seen whether it blossoms on the field, prospects are certainly high.

And if Snead is indeed gone after next season, here's hoping he goes out with an SEC title game appearance on his resume.

Monday Lunch Break Thoughts

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:14:00 -0400

What an awesome, awesome weekend to be a rebel and be in Oxford. The weather was absolutely perfect, Double Decker Fest was fantastic (as usual), and oh yeah, by the way, we took two out of three from Georgia in baseball.

The atmosphere wasn't lost on the Georgia players, either. Both slugger Rich Puythress and head Coach Dave Perno had rave reviews of the stadium and the "experience":

“It's the best environment I've been around,” Georgia slugger Rich Poythress said. “I've been to LSU. I've been a lot of places, and it's the best environment, other than Omaha, that I've seen in college baseball."

"It's not just the environment,” UGA head coach Dave Perno said. “It's the stadium. They've got everything. It's done right. It's the best we've been in, not just the environment and being tough to play in, but just the looks, the aesthetics. Everything's done right and I tip my hat to Mike and Ole Miss and their athletic department. They've done a great job."

*While we were partying in Oxford, our No. 2 ranked tennis team was partying on the Plains, celebrating its 2009 SEC Tournament title to go along with its regular season title. That's two in a row for Coach Billy Chadwick and his boys.

*That's not to forget that our rebels were well represented in the NFL draft this year. The four rebels drafted tied for fourth most in the conference. Alabama also had four players selected, and Georgia and LSU each had six. But it was South Carolina that led the conference with seven draft picks this year, stealing the lead with Ryan Succop's announcement as Mr. Irrelevant. This is just further proof that you can't win in this league without a competent QB, regardless of who you surround them with.

A big Dead Guy congratulations go out to Michael Oher (No. 23 Baltimore), Peria Jerry (No. 24 Atlanta), Mike Wallace (No. 84 Pittsburgh), and Jamarca Sanford (No. 231 Minnesota), as well as Ashlee Palmer, who closed the season, and I suspect he'll wind up somewhere as a free agent.

Only one team failed to land anyone in the draft. It was the second straight year that moou achieved this milestone. But hey, at least they're bringing back the Dawg Pound Rock next year. In its first incarnation, the DPR just came across as thuggish. Doing it next year (when they'll be fortunate to win five games), will just come across as sad and comical.

*A big thank you also to Ed Orgeron for stocking us up with the talent that he did. While I refuse to believe he'll ever be a competent head coach (unlike this article) I appreciate the hard work and effort he put it during his time in Oxford. I can't say I wish him luck, though.

And I love message board comments. They're the greatest...

mikesean865 writes:

hands down we have the best coaching staff in college football, maybe ever assembled. Who would have thought last fall that by this spring we would be the envy of football fans across the country as far as coaching staff goes. they are all trembling in their little boots right now because they know what awaits them for the next ten years. two national championships minimum, 4 sec championships minimum. Write it down i said it. FEAR THE KIFF!!!

Ole Miss Hater Doug Shows' Mother a Hamster, Father Reeked of Elderberries

The Dead Guy SEC — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:14:00 -0400

One of the joys of discussing sports is the infamous "(fill in the blank) hates us" argument.

Mention Doyle Jackson’s name around Ole Miss Rebel fans and hairs bristle, fists clench, and teeth grit. As far as Rebel Nation is concerned, he’s cost us two games against the Tide, and that's a series in which wins have been ridiculously hard to come by.

Today, I’d like to point out another "Rebel Hater" that SEC basketball fans will be familiar with: Doug Shows.

Now, a little background on this topic before we delve into the facts.

Shows was my favorite official when I was in school, back in the mid-to-late '90s. I don’t have the exact records for that time period, but it seemed like we won every time he was on the court with us.

But these days, I hope I don’t see him run out of the portal. And I didn’t know how justified my apprehension was until I looked at the actual math.

Let’s break it down by recent “eras” in Ole Miss basketball. I’ll call them our Ascension to Relevance (ATR, from '96-'97 to '01-'02), the Barnes After Dukes Era (BAD, from '02-'03 to '05-'06), and the Andy Kennedy Era (AKE, from '06-'07 to '08-'09). Note that each era is defined by the success of the team, not a fixed number of years.

The numbers speak for themselves. You can toss out the Shows numbers in the BAD Era, as everyone kicked our ass in the “hold the ball for 30 seconds and jack up a three” offense that we ran then.

It’s the dismal numbers now compared to the ATR Era that strike me as interesting.

In the late Evans era and the early Barnes years, Shows was a beautiful sight on the court. We won 90 percent of the SEC games he officiated, including a 73-69 victory over eventual national champion Kentucky in January 1997, Pitino's final year in Lexington.

Home or away, it didn't matter. If Shows was there, we won.

We're winning again; sure, it's at a modest pace, but with a program with as dismal a history as we have, you take what you can get. I mean, while Andy Kennedy’s 23-25 SEC record is nothing spectacular, it’s certainly a major improvement from the aforementioned BAD Era.

What’s puzzling is that AK Era teams are winning only 20 percent of the SEC games Shows officiates, while even Barnes won 30.8 percent of like contests.

On the other hand, under AK, the Rebels have won 55.2 percent of SEC games not officiated by Shows.

And it's not that we just lose when Shows shows up: We lose badly. In AK’s three years, his Rebels have lost 13 SEC games by 10-plus points, and Shows has been on the floor for seven of them. He also was the lead official in the 32-point drubbing we took in The Pit against New Mexico this year.

So what does this all mean? While I can't really put my finger on anything in particular, I have a theory.

Shows is certainly no Curtis Shaw, who would call a foul over a shunning face. Nor is he Teddy Valentine, who practices the "no blood, no foul" mantra on the court.

These deductions leave us one conclusion, and one conclusion only: Doug Shows is pure, unadulterated evil that must be banished forever from any gym the Ole Miss Rebels are going to play in.

It is my belief that Shows is directly responsible for the knee injuries to Trevor Gaskins, Eneil Polynice, and Chris Warren; the Cincy cabbie incident; Malcolm White transferring; David Huertas jumping ship to play pro ball next year; and possibly the daytime fireworks show.

In conclusion, though, I'll say that even with our departures, the Rebels have a chance to be very good next year.

Still, maybe next year's season ticket packages should come with a chance to donate funds to purchase garlic, holy water, crucifixes, and sharpened stakes to help fortify Tad Smith from any more Shows appearances.

While I can't imagine the Rebels will face the same amount of adversity they did this past season, as long as Shows in on the prowl, nobody is safe.

As always, a big tip o' the hat to StatSheet for the ridiculous researchability.

Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm

The Dead Guy SEC — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:40:00 -0400

Okay, so I've missed quite a bit of excitement in the last week or so, but between family obligations and business travel, it has tough to sit down long enough to form an intelligible post. I'm back in time to head to Oxford tonight for the Wilco show at The Lyric. So please bear with me as I allow my stream of consciousness to flow.

* The biggest news of the last week is the hand-slapping Andy Kennedy received on Monday. For those detractors or those who just don't know any better, AK pleading guilty Monday does not mean he is pleading guilty to slapping the cab driver. What it does mean though - obviously - is that he was not exonerated of all charges as he originally forecast the day after the incident.

AK's missteps in Cincinnati were just part of a tumultuous season of Rebel basketball that saw highs—Terrico White's play, home win over UK, road win over moou—and late-Barnes era lows—the drubbing by USM in Biloxi was absolutely inexcusable. In a season in which the SEC West—and overall title—was there for the taking, we suffered through an unbelievable rash of injuries, and now two major contributors left the program.

David leaving is not a surprise. There have rumblings of that for months now. I don't think that his departure is as big a deal as many do. He was going to be the odd man out of the starting lineup next season anyway. It's Malcolm White's departure that hurts significantly more. The fact that he'll be wearing white pant and purple britches just adds insult to injury. He'll sit out next year, but will be a 13/7 guy for the Tigers in 2010-11.

* While I unfortunately couldn't make it, from all accounts the Grove Bowl went about as well as anyone could've hoped. Snead was sharp, the OL looked solid, our WRs played well, and the first-team defense didn't look lost without Peria Jerry and Jamarca Sanford. Now we just need to teach Enrique Davis the appropriate faces to make at police officers and teach Jerell Powe to shut the hell up

David Huertas is a Pirate, Mike Leach Intrigued

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:16:00 -0400

All the rumors surrounding David Huertas came to fruition today as he's officially left the team, joining the Quebradillas Pirates. It's yet another blow to the most snake-bitten team I've ever seen.

Coupled with Malcolm White's unexpected departure, this is a real hit to the depth of the team as Huertas was going to be a real candidate for SEC sixth Man of the Year playing behind Terrico White and Chris Warren next season.

I really don't know what to say about David's departure. It's certainly not as a big a loss for us as Malcolm's departure as we have proven depth at his position. He was certainly an enigma as he put together some of the best and worst games I've seen in my 15 years of attending Ole Miss basketball games.

He's one of the most openly emotional players to wear the red and blue in recent years and honestly believes he's fouled on every shot he takes. His size along the perimeter will certainly be missed.

While I'm certainly not attempting to state this as fact, I wonder if left the team as he knew he'd be coming off the bench next year. He and AK have always had something of a tense relationship as is obvious to anyone who sits on the east side of Tad Smith. While each party downplays it in the media, you have to wonder how strained it was.

Another side of me wants to believe him when he says that he just wants to play basketball and be near his family. He's been in school four years and won a national championship. Next year's team would certainly be the most talented Ole Miss team he would've been on, but another national title was certainly not in the future.

Regardless, I wish him well. Like so much of Ole Miss athletics, he was beautiful at times and remarkably frustrating at others.

David Huertas is a Pirate, Mike Leach intrigued

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:16:00 -0400

All the rumors surrounding David Huertas came to fruition today as he's officially left Ole Miss, joining the Quebradillas Pirates.

It's yet another blow to the most snake-bitten team I've ever seen.

Coupled with Malcolm White's unexpected departure, this is a real hit to the depth of the team as Huertas was going to be a real candidate for SEC Sixth Man of the Year Award, playing behind Terrico White and Chris Warren next season.

I really don't know what to say about Huertas' departure. We have proven depth at the guard position, so he's not as a big a loss for us as someone like White was.

Huertas was certainly an enigma, putting together some of the best and worst games I've seen in my 15 years of attending Ole Miss basketball games. He's one of the most openly emotional players we've had in recent years and honestly believes he's fouled on every shot he takes.

His size along the perimeter will be missed.

While I'm certainly not attempting to state this as fact, I wonder if he left the team because he knew he'd be coming off the bench next year.

He and coach Andy Kennedy (pictured at the top) have always had something of a tense relationship, which was obvious to anyone sitting on the east side of Tad Smith.

While each party downplays it in the media, you have to wonder how strained it was.

Another side of me wants to believe him when he says that he just wants to play basketball and be near his family. Huerta's been in school four years and already won a National Championship.

Next year's team would certainly be the most talented he would've been on, but another Ole Miss National Title is no longer in his future.

Regardless, I wish him well. Like so much of Ole Miss athletics, he was beautiful at times and remarkably frustrating at others.

You Can Never Go Home Again, But I Guess You Can Shop There

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:25:00 -0400

After finally succumbing to the withdrawal pains inflicted by years of not breaking some sort of NCAA rule, Jackie Sherrill, the man that they call "Kang," made a trip back to Starkville over the weekend.

And though it appeared on multiple occasions that he interacted with players—which everyone knows is a violation of NCAA bylaw 11.7.2, limiting schools to one head coach, nine assistants, and two graduate assistants working with players—both he and Mullen swear it didn't happen.

In his usual post-practice meeting with reporters, Mullen smiled and laughed when asked if Sherrill's presence violated the limitations on coaches.

"No, because he was coaching me," Mullen said. "I don't think there's any limitation of coaches that can coach your coaches."

Asked if he was sure that Sherrill did not interact with players, Mullen was emphatic.

"No, I was coaching the players," Mullen said. "He was sitting there telling me what to tell them."

...

Reached on his cell phone later as he was returning to his Germantown, Tenn., home, Sherrill said he "wasn't coaching them. I was trying to coach the coaches how to coach them."

Good to see he's never strayed from the "Deny 'til you die" philosophy that landed multiple schools on NCAA probation under his watch. It also makes me wonder if Mullen is so unqualified for a head coaching position that he has to solicit the advice from a person who compiled a mediocre 75-75-2 overall record and a 43-59-1 SEC record.

As a bonus, every message board certainly has their share of idiots, but some are just more quotable than others:

After all these years of trying to get Sherrill they still have not given up. Who made up this story about Sherrill? They should be added to the lawsuit! JWS has endured enough false accusations. He has never cheated. You can't prove one instance where he ever cheated. JWS and Croom are among the top five most ethical coaches the SEC has seen in the last 20 years. JWS was the most winningest coach for MSU that I can remember.

I'll leave it up to you to form your own opinions about that.

Jackie Sherrill Questioned Again

The Dead Guy SEC — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:25:00 -0400

After finally succumbing to the withdrawal pains inflicted by years of not breaking some sort of NCAA rule, the man they call "Kang" made a trip back to Starkville over the weekend.

"In his usual post-practice meeting with reporters, Mullen smiled and laughed when asked if Sherrill's presence violated the limitations on coaches.

"'No, because he was coaching me,' Mullen said. 'I don't think there's any limitation of coaches that can coach your coaches.'

"Asked if he was sure that Sherrill did not interact with players, Mullen was emphatic.

"'No, I was coaching the players,' Mullen said. 'He was sitting there telling me what to tell them.'"

...

"Reached on his cell phone later as he was returning to his Germantown, Tenn., home, Sherrill said he 'wasn't coaching them. I was trying to coach the coaches how to coach them.'"

As a bonus, every message board certainly has their share of idiots, but some are just more quotable than others:

"After all these years of trying to get Sherrill they still have not given up. Who made up this story about Sherrill? They should be added to the lawsuit! JWS has endured enough false accusations. He has never cheated. You can't prove one instance where he ever cheated. JWS and Croom are among the top five most ethical coaches the SEC has seen in the last 20 years. JWS was the most winningest coach for MSU that I can remember."

I'll leave it up to you to form your own opinions about that.

SEC Football as Tom Hanks Movies

The Dead Guy SEC — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:06:00 -0400

A few New Belgium Mighty Arrows into the Final Four games Saturday night, I start thumbing through the TV guide during a commercial break when I stumbled across three Tom Hanks movies on at the same time. While the beer certainly didn't live up the standards set by its Fat Tire brethren, it did help inspire this ridiculous post.

So, without further ado, here are all 12 SEC football teams as Tom Hanks movies. Got better suggestions? Leave ‘em in the comments.

Alabama—Turner & Hooch

Detective Scott Turner is a straight-laced, no frills kind of detective. Nick Saban is a no-nonsense, no frills kind of coach—never a hair out of place in his feathery bangs.

Between his owner dying and pairing up with Turner, Hooch was a mess. He drooled everywhere, tore things up, and basically a lost cause. Between the Bear dying and before hiring Saban, Alabama was much the same way.

Sure they would do well every now and then, but they had to cheat to do it. They bought a national title in the early 1990s, then suffered through several ignominious years before hiring Saban.

Arkansas—Catch Me If You Can

In his early days, Frank Abagnale imitated an airline pilot, a teacher’s assistant, a doctor, and an attorney. When things took a turn for the worse, he’d disappear in the night and move on to his next gig. Finally, after getting busted, he aligned himself with Hanks’ Carl Hanratty and began improving national fraud defense.

Bobby Petrino is currently at his 12th coaching spot since entering the business in 1983. He’s been the head coach of three different teams in the last five years and has flirted with several others. He seems to have found a niche in Fayetteville though, and the Hogs have a chance to be much improved from last season.

Auburn—Apollo 13

Before takeoff, everyone was excited about Apollo 13’s mission to the moon. Last season was supposed to be a good one for Auburn. A new high-flying offense was in place, the defense returned six of its starting back seven, and the Tigers were ranked as high as No. 10 in the preseason.

Needless to say, much-like the ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission, Auburn’s season encountered problem after problem. There was bickering amongst staff before finally crashing roughly back to earth at the end.

The major difference being that Jim Lovell was congratulated for his leadership in the “successful failure” that was Apollo 13; Tommy Tuberville was inexplicably shown the door.

Florida—Sleepless in Seattle

After Sam Baldwin's wife died, he looked lost and clueless, and didn't know who to turn to. He packs up and moves out west and begins dating a girl that his son can't stand. In the end, Baldwin finally meets the one he's meant to be with at the end and live happily ever after.

After Spurrier left Florida, the Gators looked lost and clueless, seeking solace in the arms of Ron Zook, who the Gator Nation hated from the beginning. Now, they've found Urban Meyer, won two titles in three years, and will be favored to win it all next year.

Georgia—Bonfire of the Vanities

Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities is a fantastic novel that was a bestseller and huge success. Unfortunately, despite a all-star cast with Hanks, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Melanie Griffith, etc., the movie version pretty much sucked.

When you read about Georgia’s team, the star power was obvious—Stafford, Moreno, Green, etc. Expectations were very high, including a preseason No. 1 ranking. Then, much like BotV, when you watched it on TV, you realized it’s a little disappointing on screen.

Kentucky—Saving Private Ryan

The beginning of Saving Private Ryan—the storming of the beaches at Normandy—is absolutely phenomenal. It’s beautifully crafted cinematography at its peak. Once the movie settles in though, it’s really not that different from every other war movie ever filmed.

There’s a little bit of a twist at the end of the movie to tie it all together. The last two seasons, Kentucky has started out as well as possible: 5-0 and 4-0. Once the seasons settled in, the ‘Cats were average at best, finishing only 7-5 and 6-5. The bowl victories were nice surprises to wrap up the seasons.

LSU—The Man with One Red Shoe

Richard Drew is just an average joe who—due to circumstances beyond his control—looks goofy as he wears mismatched shoes on a flight. He is identified as a CIA target, and though he remains completely oblivious to everything around him, it all works out for him in the end.

Les Miles always looks goofy wearing the world's largest hat and was certainly an average joe at Oklahoma State—28-21 overall, 16-16 in the Big 12. And things have certainly worked out well for Miles so far, despite a seemingly oblivious approach to coaching.

Mississippi State—You’ve Got Mail

While I'm not a fan of either Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, I know a cheap knock-off when I see one. The producers of You've Got Mail were trying to cash in on the chemistry that Hanks and Meg Ryan had in Sleepless in Seattle, but the result just wasn't as good.

Same thing in Starkville. Hoping to recreate some of the recent magic in Gainesville, the Bulldogs hired away Dan Mullen from Meyer's staff. While the results have yet to be seen, it's hard to imagine the end result being anything less than a poor attempt at recreating UF's offense.

Ole Miss—That Thing You Do!

Mr. White takes a group of talented musicians with no experience outside the town of Erie, PA, and molds them into the No. 1 rock band in the country.

Houston Nutt, stepped into Oxford and took a group of talented kids who had never been shown "how to win" and recorded a 9-4 season and a Cotton Bowl victory. The major difference is that The Wonders broke up at the end of the movie; Nutt seems to have the Rebels in place to continue their success.

South Carolina—Volunteers

Lawrence Whatley Bourne III had it all. He was a spoiled rich kid leading a pampered life until he had to join the Peace Corps to escape his creditors.

Steve Spurrier had it all. He’d won a national championship as the coach of his alma mater, had the Gators as one of the top programs in the entire country, and a fun punching bag in Phil Fulmer.

He got greedy, left for the NFL, and when that didn’t work out, sought refuge in Columbia where—so far—has done more to tarnish his legacy than build upon it.

Tennessee—The Terminal

What? You were expecting Volunteers? Think about it...Viktor Navorski can’t go back to whence he came as a war broke out. So he’s stuck in a foreign land, has trouble communicating with people, garners strange looks from people, and eventually makes some important friends in the airport.

That’s pretty much the Lane Kiffin experience. He can’t go back to the NFL because he angered Al Davis, he’s become a one-man sideshow that it’s hard not to stop and stare at, and he's found it very difficult to communicate with his peers. But, he did surround himself with a knowledgeable staff.

Vanderbilt—Big

All Josh Baskin wanted to be was big. He couldn’t get the girl or ride the roller coaster, so Zoltar granted him his wish. He grew up, moved to New York and got to play with the big boys, before wishing to be a boy again.

After years of wishing they were big, the Commodores finally broke through last year with their first bowl appearance since 1982. Unfortunately, like Josh Baskin’s appearance as an adult, Vandy’s was a ruse and one that won’t last, but one that made for good TV while it did.

Recognitions Flowing in for Rebels

The Dead Guy SEC — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:34:00 -0400

While Spring Football and the baseball team are dominating the headlines out of Oxford, there's positive news coming out of the non-Big Three sports as well.

* Our men's tennis team is currently ranked No. 2 and leads the country in average attendance by a large margin

* Senior Rebel netter Bram Ten Berge was named the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year

* Lauren Grill, a junior 3B for the softball team was named SEC player of the Week last week. She was first team All-America last season

* And most have heard by now that Scott Bittle was SEC Pitcher of the Week for his dominating performance against a hapless Kentucky team Sunday afternoon.

Bruce Feldman Likes the Rebels...A lot

The Dead Guy SEC — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:07:00 -0400

Bruce Feldman has the Rebels pretty high on a list that we've never even been considered for: Teams most likely to win the BCS Title.

He lists the Rebels at No. 4 and offers this explanation:

Ole Miss: This may look crazy, but keep reading. The Rebels are fearless. They won at both Florida and LSU last season. They have a budding star at quarterback in Jevan Snead, some terrific receivers, and potentially the best D-line in the country.

They also have the luxury of playing the softest nonconference schedule in the country, with two games against FCS teams, UAB, and a Memphis team they beat every year. Better still, they get Alabama and LSU at home. Can the Rebs handle success and expectations now? We'll see. A Thursday night trip to South Carolina appears to be the toughest road game.

It's certainly nice to be on this list, but the inclusion of Notre Dame at the bottom really throws it off. Sure the Irish are projected to be better, particularly against that schedule, but 10th most likely to win the BCS Title? That would imply Fat Charlie beating a good team, something he's done only once in his tenure in South Bend. They could feasibly be 10-2 or 9-3 at the end of the season, but that's certainly not going to get them in the BCS title game against Florida. It would likely earn them an SEC whoopin' in the Sugar Bowl, hopefully by the Rebs.

2009 SEC Football Schedule Breakdown

The Dead Guy SEC — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:10:00 -0400

College Football News breaks down the composite SEC football schedule for the upcoming season here, listing the top 10 conference games and top 10 non-conference games.

The upcoming throwdown with Northern Arizona is conspicuously absent.

Their top 10 conference games look like this:

1. Florida vs. Georgia, Oct. 31
2. Florida at LSU, Oct. 10
3. LSU at Alabama, Nov. 7
4. Alabama at Ole Miss, Oct. 10
5. LSU at Ole Miss, Nov. 21
6. Tennessee at Florida, Sept. 19
7. LSU at Georgia, Oct. 3
8. Alabama at Auburn, Nov. 28
9. Georgia at Tennessee, Oct. 10
10. Auburn at LSU, Oct. 24

We've got two of the top five, with visits from the Tide and Bayou Bengals, both of whom present real opportunities for ESPN's College Gameday to pop its Grove cherry and get down here for a broadcast.

As an aside, I know that I, like many people across this region, am looking forward to the 70+ points that Florida head coach Urban Meyer is going to hang on Tennessee's new head coach, Lane Kiffin.

But I don't know that that qualifies the UT/UF game as a top 10 conference game, and it's certainly not better than the three games listed directly below it.

Needless to say, the SEC does not have a top 10 non-conference game. If they listed all 48 out-of-conference games for the SEC, I'd venture to guess we wouldn't have one in the top 30.

It's a complete embarrassment.

CFN also breaks down our chances here, giving us a best-case scenario record of 10-2 and a realistic record of 9-3.

We'll delve into that more on this site as the season approaches, but it's a nice change to get some credit from the pundits.

Kennedy Named Finalist For Clair Bee National Coach Of The Year

The Dead Guy SEC — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:05:00 -0400

According to a release by the school, Andy Kennedy is one of four finalists for the Clair Bee National Coach of the Year Award. In other news, there is something called the Clair Bee National Coach of the Year Award.

The award itself...

honors a Division I men’s basketball coach who through his actions on and off the court, makes an outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball. The criteria for this award involves actions that inspire, motivate, coach and educate their teams to achieve their fullest potential and demonstrate outstanding character.

I don't believe the charges Kennedy faces in Cincinnati are going to stick. That whole situation reeks of inconsistencies. But the fact is that he faces charges. That's hardly making an "outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball."

On the court, there's no argument. AK did a phenomenal job holding together a young team setback after setback. The fact that we even challenged for an NIT spot is remarkable considering all that happened.

The other three finalists are Missouri’s Mike Anderson, Radford’s Brad Greenberg, and Trent Johnson of LSU. Last season’s winner was Bob McKillop of Davidson.

And how's this for validating the award? The selection committee for the award is composed of Dan Beebe (Big 12 Commissioner), Jay Bilas (ESPN talking head), Dave Gavitt (founder of the Big East), Bob Hammel (sportswriter), Bob Knight (media whore), Pat Knight (son of a media whore), Billy Packer (ancient curmudgeon hellbent on sucking all the fun out of college basketball), Dean Smith (former UNC head coach), and Dick Vitale (somebody kill me now).

I count Dean Smith and possibly—possibly—Jay Bilas as people's whose opinions I would value from a national perspective.

That said, our basketball program could use a shot of good news, even it is a silly as this award.

Memphis' Next Basketball Coach: Sean Miller

The Dead Guy SEC — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:51:00 -0400

For those of us in who reside in the Memphis area, it's been an adventuresome last few days. The local media has been camped outside and hovering over John Calipari's house as he made the blatantly obvious choice to leave the Tiger program for the Big Blue Nation in Lexington. Despite the vitriol that's being spewed by many fans today, the choice is a no-brainer: Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina, Indiana, and Kansas are college basketball royalty; Memphis isn't.

The list of coaches being batted around by Memphis fans is impressive, but I just wonder why any of them would come to Memphis. Here's a breakdown as I see it.

Mike Anderson, Mizzou: Already off the market. Signed a nice extension with Mizzou

Tim Floyd, USC: His Southern connections would've made him the best choice, but it appears he's taking over for former Ole Miss assistant Russ Pennell at Arizona

Bruce Pearl, Tennessee: Now it starts getting interesting. Sure, the Memphis job would be a step up in profile from Tennessee, but there was a genuine disdain between Calipari and Pearl. Pearl is working to build a Vols program, and quite frankly, unless something crazy happens and John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Xavier Henry are Tigers next season, Memphis is going to be significantly worse next season than they were last. I don't see the appeal to Pearl unless it's strictly about the cash.

Rick Pitino, Louisville: Now it starts to get delusional. The rumor is that Pitino would be hired, coach a few seasons, and then retire and Memphis would promote his son to be the coach. Pitino is not going anywhere. If he left this year, it would be viewed as running from Calipari, who he will now get to face yearly. Also, part of his success there would always be viewed as partially attributable to Calipari's doing there, and neither Pitino nor Pearl want that.

Bobby Knight, ESPN: There aren't even words to describe this. This is the dumbest idea since an mid-afternoon fireworks show. Not gonna happen.

That brings us to the non-"WOW" candidates Memphis AD RC Johnson has promised. Xavier's Sean Miller and our very own Andy Kennedy.

Sean Miller seems to be the right choice here. He's at a non-BCS school and has been a very good coach at Xavier in his tenure there, going 120-47. His Musketeers actually beat the Tigers early in the 2008-09 season. He's been to the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 the last two seasons and appears to be a young coaching star.

Which brings us to AK. From an unbiased point of view, why would Memphis want to hire a coach which pending legal issues and one that has failed to reach the NCAA tournament in four seasons as a head coach. I'll grant you that the legal issues are more than likely bogus and that he's done a very good job in all four seasons as a head coach, but is that really the profile of a coach that Memphis wants to replace Calipari with?

This may be a harsh lesson in reality for Memphis fans. While their program is certainly one of the best in the country, it's very tough to win consistently at a non-BCS school like Calipari has the last several seasons. If Memphis fans remember, Calipari didn't start putting up the gaudy numbers they've become accustomed to until CUSA was gutted by the Big East and the other legitimate basketball teams left. Calipari is a tough act to follow and 2009-10 will be a rebuilding season with Tyreke Evans declaring and a handful of other players joining Cal in Lexington, which is a trash move by Calipari, but that's another story.

Regardless of who is hired, the program will take a step back from the national spotlight. While Pitino and Pearl would both be very visible, high-profile leaders of the program, neither one is going to take the job. I just hope that Tiger fans will welcome Sean Miller. He's a very good coach who will win at Memphis if given the chance. While he may not be a high-profile as Calipari is - and who is - he'll be a very good fit, and that's what the Tigers need.

The Shot That Just Won't Go Away

The Dead Guy SEC — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:47:00 -0400

It's been more than 11 years, but the final images of the Ole Miss/Valpo game from March 13th, 1998, are still seared into my mind.

Hell, it's got its own Wikipedia page.

I've yet to watch a single replay of the play they call "Pacer".

As soon as I see a March Madness promo with Jamie Sykes lined up on the baseline, I change the channel and grab a beer or two. To this day, I insist that Bryce Drew write a check to Ole Miss for upwards of one million dollars, as he was a lottery pick in the NBA draft based almost entirely on that shot.

And it pops up in seemingly "safe" places when you least expect it. In last night's fantastic game between Pitt and Villanova, the Wildcats ran a play very similar to that which resulted in a tough leaner from six feet by Scottie Reynolds.

As the play was unfolding, I began to have flashbacks to Ansu missing free throws, Keith fumbling the ball out of bounds, and a flailing Buck trying to stay with Bryce Drew.

Reynolds scored with what was determined to be 0.5 seconds left on the clock. As the officials huddle to make sure the time was correct, Verne Lundquist said that play reminded him of the one "Valpo ran a few years back." Sigh...

There have been other buzzer beaters since, but none as perfectly drawn up and executed as that one. That 1997-98 team was the most talented team we've fielded in many years, even deeper and better than the 2000-01 team that lost in the Sweet 16. They just faltered at the end of the season, and are now immortalized as the victims of one of the most memorable finishes in Tournament history.

Even with Malcolm White leaving the basketball team, next year's team is more talented than either top to bottom.

There's some work to be done, particularly now in the post, but the pieces are in place for a fun couple of years of hoops in Oxford.

The shot that just won't go away

The Dead Guy SEC — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:47:00 -0400

It's been more than 11 years, but the final images of the Ole Miss/Valpo game from March 13th, 1998, are seared into my mind. Hell, it's got its own Wikipedia page.

I've yet to watch a single replay of the play they call "Pacer." As soon as I see a March Madness promo with Jamie Sykes lined up on the baseline, I change the channel and grab a beer or two. To this day, I insist that Bryce Drew write a check to Ole Miss for upwards of $1M as he was a lottery pick in the NBA draft based almost entirely on that shot.

And it pops up in seemingly "safe" places when you least expect it. In last night's fantastic game between Pitt and Villanova, the Wildcats ran a play very similar to that which resulted in a tough leaner from six feet by Scottie Reynolds.

As the play was unfolding, I began to have flashbacks to Ansu missing free throws, Keith fumbling the ball out of bounds, and a flailing Buck trying to stay with Bryce Drew. Reynolds scored with what was determined to be .5 seconds left on the clock. As the officials huddle to make sure the time was correct, Verne Lundquist said that play reminded him of the one "Valpo ran a few years back." Sigh...

There have been other buzzer-beaters since, but none as perfectly drawn up and executed as that one. That 1997-98 team was the most talented team we've fielded in many years, even deeper and better than the 2000-01 team that lost in the Sweet 16. They just faltered at the end of the season, and are now immortalized as the victims of one of the most memorable finishes in Tournament history.

Even with Malcolm White leaving the basketball team, next year's team is more talented than either top to bottom. There's some work to be done, particularly now in the post, but the pieces are in place for a fun couple of years of hoops in Oxford.

Billy Gillispie out at Kentucky—Billy Donovan In?

The Dead Guy SEC — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:13:00 -0400

Well, it's official now. The quest to successfully lure Billy Donovan or John Calipari is officially on. Something tells me UK will get the job done this time, after failing miserably two seasons ago.

The wild card in all this is Anthony Grant. He would certainly take over the Florida program if Donovan left, but I'm surprised he's not getting more consideration for the Kentucky job. He's young, energetic, and has been a part of highly successful SEC teams in the recent past.

***UPDATE:***

It appears the Wildcats have fired a coach that didn't get them to the NCAA Tournament this year to hire a coach that didn't get his team to the NCAA Tournament for two years running.

Per news reports, Kentucky has their man in Billy Donovan. Of course, we'll have to wait and see what happens. Donovan agreed to leave Florida to coach the Magic a few years back, before backing out and coming back to Florida.

***UPDATE No. 2***

Now there's this, stating that Billy Donovan is expected to release a statement today saying he is NOT a candidate for the Kentucky job. This would certainly be good news in Tuscaloosa, as it would greatly increase the chance that Anthony Grant leaves VCU for the vacant Tide position.

Looks like Kentucky fans picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

It's not just the fans in Lexington that are crazy. This is absolutely despicable behavior.