Five Top 10 SEC Teams for First Time in History: Can They Keep It Going?

Lee Henderson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:45:10 -0400

For about 75 years now, the fans of the SEC have been claiming that their football conference is better than any other. I don't believe that any football conference is the best every year, but it looks like this is another season of SEC dominance—at least the AP Poll thinks so.

For the first time in the history of the Associated Press poll, one conference has five of the top 10 teams. That feat belongs to the SEC.

Georgia dropped a spot for the second week in a row after winning a close game against South Carolina but still narrowly hangs to the No. 3 spot.

The team right on their heels is the Florida Gators. The Florida Gators were off this week but had a good showing against Miami last week. The Gators trail the Georgia Bulldogs by just 23 points in the rankings.

It should be no surprise to see LSU in the top 10 once again. The Tigers aren't getting the hype that Georgia and Florida are, but they are hanging around like usual.

The newcomer to the Top 10 this week is the Alabama Crimson Tide. After Alabama's win over Clemson, the Tide have now gotten off to a 3-0 start.

Finally there is Auburn, who is hanging on at No. 10. Should Auburn still be ranked No. 10? I don't think so. I don't consider barely beating Mississippi State equivalent to barely beating South Carolina, but both Auburn and Georgia moved the same number of spots in the same direction.

Having five teams in the top 10 of the AP is a nice feather in the cap of the SEC, but it likely won't stay that way once the SEC teams start knocking each other off. But could the SEC at least have five schools in the top 10 for two weeks in a row? Let's take a look.

Alabama at Arkansas

After the way these two teams have started, you would think this would be an easy win for Alabama. But I don't think I'll be convinced Alabama is good until they at least look formidable against Georgia the following week. Arkansas also gives Alabama a tough game annually, so this game could be a close one, but Alabama wins it.

LSU at Auburn

This is exactly what I'm talking about. The SEC teams will start playing each other, and one will have to lose. Is there a possible scenario where they both stay in the top 10? Maybe if Auburn wins, then Auburn moves up and LSU only drops to No. 10, but that's wishful thinking—not only because LSU would probably drop farther, but also because Auburn probably isn't going to win.

Georgia at Arizona State

This was shaping up to be a nice matchup between two ranked teams, but then Arizona State went and lost to UNLV. Arizona State still has a small chance but Georgia probably pulls away late.

Florida at Tennessee

Again, the start that these two teams have had may suggest one thing, but the result of this game will probably be different. There is rarely a blowout game between Florida and Tennessee, and since they already have one loss Tennessee could be playing for their season this week. Florida wins a close game.

Alabama, Georgia, and Florida should all win this week, but the LSU and Auburn game throws a wrench into the plans. The SEC's only chance of five teams in the top 10 is if LSU loses but only drops to No. 10.

Or hey, maybe teams 10-25 could all lose, Vanderbilt could upset Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt could move up 16 spots to number 10.

Okay, maybe not all things are possible.

The best thing about the SEC is good games week in and week out. These five teams alone have eight games against each other within the course of the next 11 weeks. Here is the schedule.

This Week

LSU at Auburn

Sept. 27

Alabama at Georgia

Oct. 11

LSU at Florida

Oct. 25

Georgia at LSU

Nov. 1

Florida at Georgia

Nov. 8

Alabama at LSU

Nov. 15

Georgia at Auburn

Nov. 29

Auburn at Alabama

Jeff or Matt: Which Hardy Boy Is Better?

Lee Henderson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:21:12 -0400

Once upon a time the Hardy Boys were a tag team taking on the likes of Edge & Christian and the Dudley Boys in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. At the time everybody thought the Hardy Boys were destined to be the next version of the Rockers. Jeff Hardy was going to become a superstar liked Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy was going to end up working at a Chick-fil-a like Marty Jannety.

It is now almost 10 years since the first TLC match and Matt Hardy has proved to be the better Hardy.

Let's break it down a little bit. More than any sport being good at wrestling is a subjective opinion. In other sports it's pretty cut and dry for the most part who is good and who isn't. But in wrestling different fans are going to have different opinions of wrestlers because of the different styles of wrestling.

Obviously some fans love Jeff Hardy's death-defying moves but I prefer Matt Hardy's wrestling better than Jeff Hardy's high flying moves. What can Jeff Hardy do other than jump off stuff? Jeff Hardy has the swanton bomb, the Whisper in the Wind, and the clothesline off the barricade but when he's doing anything else wrestling related he's pretty mediocre.

Matt Hardy has a much better ground based game, which is what I prefer.

When the Hardys were a tag team Matt Hardy always played the face in peril then Jeff Hardy would get the hot tag and clean house. Most people would consider this a compliment to Jeff Hardy because being the wrestler that got the hot tag means you're the bigger star. But in a way it's also a compliment to Matt Hardy that he was a good enough wrestler that the WWE trusted him to wrestle the majority of the match.

Of course actual wrestling ability is only one part of wrestling. It's also important for a professional wrestler to be able to cut interviews. I find Matt Hardy's interviews to be pretty inconsistent. Sometimes they are good but sometimes, even after 10+ years of experience he trips over lines.

But Matt Hardy is still 10 times better than Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy has no charisma at all and after 10+ years of experience hasn't even cut one REALLY GOOD promo.

More than any other sport pro wrestling is built on memorable moments. There have been some great memorable moments in on other sports but most of the time athletes in other sports are just trying to win the game. In pro wrestling its not about winning matches, it's about providing the fan with memorable moments.

Since Jeff and Matt Hardy went their separate ways Matt Hardy has more memorable moments than Jeff Hardy. Matt Hardy had a great run with his Version One gimmick, even garnering him a win over the Undertaker. Matt Hardy had a great feud with Rey Mysterio over the Cruiserweight Title. That feud was by far the most important the Cruiserweight Title has ever been in the WWE, maybe more important than it was in WCW too.

Then there was last year when Matt Hardy and MVP had a year long feud that never got old. That sort of thing rarely happens. It looks like Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels are headed that way this year. So that tells you the kind of wrestler you have to be to have a year long feud.

What has Jeff Hardy done as a singles competitor that is memorable? I don't want to sound like I hate Jeff Hardy or anything. I like Jeff Hardy. He's entertaining. He has good matches week in and week out, but it takes more than that to have really memorable moments. The only really memorable moment that Jeff Hardy has as a singles wrestler is his Ladder Match with the Undertaker.

Last month Matt Hardy received the ECW Title, making Matt Hardy the first Heavyweight Champion of the two. It might only be the ECW title, and Jeff Hardy might still win one of the two more important Heavyweight Titles, but I think it speaks volumes about Matt Hardy's consistency, wrestling and promos, and his commitment to wrestling and the WWE that he was the first one of the two given a Heavyweight Title.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Lee Henderson

Five Top 10 SEC Teams for First Time in History: Can They Keep It Going?

Jeff or Matt: Which Hardy Boy Is Better?