SEC Weekend Wrap Up

The last week of the regular season in our beloved conference has come to an end, resulting in the Tennessee Vols and LSU Tigers squaring off in Atlanta for the title next weekend.

The Porch did alright on the season, ending with another solid week at 6-2. A 58-17 record is respectable picking the winner in college football. The lines, yet again, proved to be much more difficult on the week 5-3, and a brutal season at 25-19.

If anything, I hope this proves to all the potential gamblers out there that it simply doesn't pay to bet against the house. In the win-loss column, I picked as many upsets as I missed, so it worked out to a wash in the end.

Let's see how "Rivalry Week" broke down in the season finales:

-Coach "O" is done after blowing a 14-0 fourth quarter lead and ending up 0-8 in SEC play after the 17-14 loss to the Wool dogs. That kind of record in a coach's 3rd season is not what the rebels wanted, and the big wigs in Oxford put him out of his misery early Saturday morning.

Rumor has it that Coach O's family was packing up this week (for real) and his resume went out to several places on Wednesday. He was told that he must win the Egg Bowl to keep his job, and that should show you how much confidence Oy-Oy had in his team.

The Rebels dominated the ground game, 204-81, and was very lopsided in their time of possession. The turnovers and penalties were a push, so the only thing left to explain the collapse is the hidden yardage of special teams and the intangibles that Ole Miss has lacked for the last half decade.

Sly is looking to garner an Independence Bowl bid, while Ole Miss will look to some up and coming coordinators, or the coaching carousel in the Big 12, to find O's replacement.

-This LSU team is just so disappointing. The squad that showed up the first seven weeks was very different than the one we saw the last two in the lackluster win over Ole Miss and on Friday with the 50-48 loss to Arkansas.

The stat lines are a little inflated from the overtimes, but 385 rushing yards is a lot to give up (even to Arkansas), no matter how many OTs the game lasted.

Matt Flynn was just awful, and the touted LSU defense was gashed and bullied all day until LSU just didn't have anything left in their 2-point conversion try.

Les Miles will likely take the Michigan job only a couple of days after the SEC Championship game (regardless of the outcome), while the Arkansas hierarchy might just be dumb enough to bring Houston Nutt back because of the win. I know many, many Hog fans who hope they don't have to suffer another guaranteed two or three years of mediocrity because of one upset win. Whoooooo Pig!

-Actor Christopher Walken was heard saying, "Kentucky never scared me," as the Vols outlasted Kentucky in triple OT, 52-50. The stats were one big wash, as it came down to just one play in the final overtime. The Vols let a 17 point halftime lead slip through their fingers, and almost gave Fat Phil an M.I. before they finally sealed the deal.

Phil Fulmer continues to get it done when he must. Vol fans will have to deal with at least several more years of ups and downs on Rocky Top as Fatty will likely get another contract extension. I still think John Chavis will have to be sacrificed to appease the heathen Vol nation for early season embarrassments on defense, and that won't make too many people sad.

-I really thought Clemson would lay a whoopin' on the Gamecocks, but Spurrier's squad put up a big fight as it came down to a 35 yard Clemson field goal as time expired for Tommy Bowden to get another win in the rivalry, 23-21. The rushing yards were probably the big difference in the game for Clemson, 214-80, that just wore out the Carolina defense for the final drive of the game.

Carolina will likely go bowling anyway, as Clemson slinks back into the obscurity of the ACC and might have to play Auburn in the Peach Bowl (I refuse to call it the "Chik-Fil-A" Bowl) after BC loses the rematch to VT.

-Despite my admiration and respect for Vanderbilt coach, Bobby Johnson, the Vanderbilt stink just doesn't wash off very easily no matter how hard one may try. In BJ's defense, the November schedule was rather brutal, and Wake wasn't the ideal opponent to play to wrap up their first bowl appearance in ages.

Wake was up comfortably 31-3 in the middle of the third quarter before Vandy scored two late TDs to make the final a more respectable 31-17 loss. Vanderbilt's 16 yards rushing didn't help anything, and Bobby J. will look to next season to try and shore up that elusive 6-win season.

-SIX STRAIGHT LOSSES IN THE IRON BOWL. Do you think the Bama program will survive? The Tide faithful are disappointed after not being able to buy a bowl game and a victory over Auburn by reeling in St. Nick from the pro ranks. Alabama fans need to buy themselves some patience, and learn that this is the modern era of college football; SEC and National Championships don't roll around every other year anymore, and Coach Saban's scheme takes time to recruit personnel and "coach 'em up."

In this edition of the Iron Bowl, the stat line was pretty close with Auburn slightly ahead in total yards, most notably in rushing yards (165-112). The Tigers have the momentum in the series, and Tuberville will likely cash out Auburn's gratitude into a $4.1 million contract, which should make Ears' agent very, very happy (as he manages the affairs of both Tuberville and Saban).

The hatred will only heat up in the rivalry with a comparable coaching contract, hotly contested recruiting, and the number "6" hanging everywhere to abuse the spirits of Bama fans for another 364 days.

Relax. Y'all still have 12 national championships, right? Keeping living in the past, it's much better than the reality of the present..........WAR EAGLE!!!!

Championship Weekend Games of Interest:

Watch: LSU-Tennessee, Oklahoma-Mizzou, Army-Navy.

Tevo: Hee-Haw.

Don't Buy The Hype: All the other games that will be thrown your way and advertised as "good football."

SEC Weekend Wrap Up

Looks like The Bunkhouse is back in the saddle with a 50 win season now in the bag. It was a solid weekend across the board (4-2, 52-15 season) with only one true SEC upset. The spread was the most kind this weekend as only LSU failed me on the line (5-1, 20-16 season).

Let's see how it went:

-Tim Tebow probably put a pretty solid string around the Heisman with another the good statistical performance in the 59-20 romp over Florida Atlantic. 338 yards passing and four total touchdowns put Tebow in a class by himself on the season, and the coverage of his 20th rushing TD this author thinking the sophomore has won the heart of the media, and it's all over but the coronation.

If Tebow scores only twice, and the Gators beat Florida State next weekend, it's a stone cold lock. As for me, it will mark my 9th straight year predicting the Heisman winner after week 4 of the season. When Timmy takes it home, it will be the first time in the ten years I have been predicting that the winner will have actually been the best player in the country.

-Kentucky started off hot, but the Bulldogs stayed calm and kept hacking away until the rushing attack and time of possession took over (184 yards rushing, only 99 passing yards) and pulled away for the 24-13 win.

The Cats are looking to do the Bulldogs a favor next week if they can knock off the Vols, while Dawgs turn their attention to "Pure Old Fashioned Hate" on Thanksgiving Day.

-The Mississippi State Bulldogs pulled an air attack out of their rear end, with 421 yards, though the yards ended up being as hollow as Houston Nutts' tenure at Arkansas.

The Hawgs rolled over State on the ground and garnered an early lead that they never relinquished as Nutt gets one more win in "The Rock," 45-31. Houston will await his regular season finale in Baton Rouge next weekend before looking for new work.

The Razorbacks are going bowling (7-4), but I don't know who will be the coach when that rolls around.

-Vanderbilt was whippin' the Vols in Knoxville for 3 3/4 quarters until the Vol air attack produced 16 4th quarter points, including a field goal to take the lead 25-24 with 2:49 left in the game.

The 'Dores had one last chance to get the win with a 49 yard field goal attempt, but it bounced off the upright with only 30 second to go.

I'll still be looking for Vandy to go bowling with a win over Wake Forest next week, as the Vols will go to Lexington to try to punch their ticket to Atlanta with a win.

-When I looked at the stats for the UL-Monroe/Bama game, I didn't have to look very closely to see the "game changing" stat...4 Tide turnovers.

Bama dominated the statistics, but the turnovers and time of possession were in heavy favor of UL-Monroe and they were able to stave off two drives in the wanning minutes of the game to pull off the upset in T-town.

Brother Saban "ain't gonna let this one stand," so I would imagine the recruiting trail and the practice field are gonna get heated up pretty well headed into the Iron Bowl. Bama needs a win to get bowl eligible (only 5 wins vs. D-I opponents) while the Tigers have had a week off to prepare.

A question remains: Are the Tuberville rumors going to distract from the game as A&M and Arkansas are looking to pull "Ears" off The Plains whether or not he racks up a sixth straight win over the Tide?

We have a great week of football coming up to make up for this abysmal weekend, whose highlight was the "torporific" Ohio State- Michigan snoozer.

Week 13 Games of Interest:

Watch: Texas at Texas A&M, Tennessee at Kentucky, Alabama at Auburn

Tevo: Arkansas at LSU, Florida State at Florida, Clemson at South Carolina

Don't Buy The Hype: Missouri at Kansas (although it will be a good, high-scoring game, the teams are complete non-events despite their high rankings).

SEC Weekend Wrap Up

I was pretty sure a weekend like this would happen at some point this season, but I was surprised at how poorly I faired yesterday in SEC play.

Fulmer, Croom, and the Blackout in Athens made sure three of the brothers had bad football days on Saturday, and The Bunkhouse took a total beat down with the predictions. A 2-4 record was just abysmal for the weekend picking the winner (48-13 season) and 1-5 against the spread (15-15).

A weekend like this is a good example to those potential gamblers out there who would have lost their shirt in a gambling weekend full of "locks." Let's see how it happened.

-Bama out-rushed and out-passed Sly Croom's Bulldog's, but two HUGE turnovers were literally the difference in the ball game. J.P. Wilson's pick with 4 second left in the first half was the difference in a 12-3 half time lead for Bama and a 10-9 State advantage after the pass was returned 103 yards for a touchdown.

Coach Saban's rebuilding exercise for next season will include NOT losing games like this, while Sylvester is sure to garner Coach of The Year awards and a contract extension as the Mississippi State Bulldogs go bowling for the first time since 2000.

-Georgia's 45-20 win proved that the Bulldog's have a good and complete team that is going to be good for a while, and showed the world that this Auburn team needs an offense in the worst way. The game is not worth breaking down, Georgia just flat beat the Tigers to a pulp.

Truth be told, not because of this weekend's loss but because of how the A&M question is starting to fester down in Auburn, Tubbs taking a hike to College Station wouldn't be the worst thing to ever happen. Personally, I'd like him to stay, but I think losses like this and big question marks at QB next year, might have "Ears" looking for a rebuilding honeymoon with a new team and less pressure.

Take it easy, Tubbs!

-Although the Razorbacks out-gained the Vols in total yards, the scoreboard was heavily in favor of Fulmer's squad, 34-13, and that's all that matters.

Coach Nutt will likely be looking at Baylor next year to start their rebuilding effort afresh, while Fat Phil may be doing enough to garner yet another contract extension after being on the hot seat in the middle of a sub-par season if they win out.

-If you look at the stat line in the Vandy-Kentucky game, you would think Vandy won the game walking away. BUT, this is Vanderbilt, and the decades and decades of bowlessness leaves a stench that is not easily washed off.

Kentucky edges the 'dores 27-20 in Nashville, and it's starting to look like the Wake Forest game is their only chance at bowl eligibility. The Wildcats square-off against Georgia and Tennessee in their next two games, so their winning ways could be over in 2007.

-Even though the Gators have three losses already, Tim Tebow needs to be in the middle of the Heisman talk, especially after his 7 touchdown performance in Columbia last night.

Tebow posted 304 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, and 120 yards and five touchdowns rushing. Those are video game numbers, folks!

The game itself was at arm's length after the first quarter, so the 51-31 Gator victory isn't worth discussing past that little stat.

-LSU covered the spread in their 58-10 spanking of Louisiana Tech. End of story.

Week 12 Games of Interest: It's a TERRIBLE football weekend!

Watch: Kentucky at Georgia, Ohio State at Michigan

Tevo: Vanderbilt at Tennessee, Texas Tech at Oklahoma

Don't Buy The Hype: Boston College at Clemson

SEC Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was probably the most "normal" of all weekends in college football this season. The Bunkhouse did nicely picking the winner this weekend at 6-1 (46-9), but once again the odds makers would have earned their cash as I bat above .500 at only 4-3 (14-10) against the spread.

Boston College was exposed, and the favored teams pretty much handled business. Let's see how the SEC contributed to the normalcy campaign in week 10.

-I really thought Vanderbilt would give the Gators something on which to chew, but.....NOPE!

The Gators dominated everything but time of possession in the 49-22 romp in The Swamp.
Vandy still needs a win to get bowl bound, and the road isn't getting any easier.

-Auburn pulled the offensive starters after getting up 21-3 in the early second quarter, and the Tiger back ups tacked on another 14 to end the game at 35-3. Nothing statistically impressive to talk about in this game, but the Plainsmen may have a new back up QB because of an impressive performance from sophomore, Blake Fields.

-I just wasn't paying attention to Troy's season when I made the pick for UGA to cover the 16 1/2 point spread. Troy is good, and they've proved it so far when playing the big boys.

The Trojans won the total yardage battle 488-465, and time of possession. They ended up -1 in turnovers with 4 to Georgia's 3, but this Moreno guy (whom I had not heard of before last week)
decided he would go for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 44-34 win.

Georgia put into overdrive in the 2nd quarter and kept the Trojans at arms length the rest of the day, and Georgia will try to get some respect for their top 10 ranking when the host Auburn next week.

-Tennessee won walking away, 59-7, but there's an interesting stat line that should concern all Volunteer fans: 234 rushing yards were posted on the Vol defense by Louisiana-Lafayette.

Our next break down will tell you why that number is important.

-The Gamecocks have done so well this year against teams who like to run the ball, and I thought their defense would be fine against the Razorback runners.....WRONG.

In a very clean game (no turnovers, very few penalties) the offenses went "ape" on 'The Hill' with the Spurrier air attack posting 364 yards (489 total) and 36 points. If you gave me those stats alone on Friday, I would have told you the Gamecocks would win a turnoverless ball game with 36 points.....NOT SO FAST, my friend.

Although Darren McHeisman might be over-hyped ;) he still ran for 321 yards while Felix Jones went for another 166 en route to 542 rushing yards in the 48-36 Panzer Blitzkrieg rolling over the very Polish-looking SC defense.

This Razorback rushing attack punished Tennessee in Fayetteville a year ago. They draw them again this year in Neyland Stadium, but the Vol defense looks much, much worse than a year ago. The Razorback defense isn't so hot either, but this is the message that should be sent going into Nov. 10th:

Vol fans, be afraid. Be very afraid.

-I told you the Rebels wouldn't cover, and they didn't in their 38-31 win over Northwestern State. Yes, there really is a school named Northwestern State.

Ole Miss got tooled in total yards, 499-387. Maybe the Rebels were putting in "the strings" a little earlier after leading 17-0, but NWSU didn't give up and ended up with a chance to win with less than a minute to go.

Ole Miss, you're pathetic.

-Here we go, Bama fans. Let's breakdown the loss and begin the healing process, and let me begin with this: You should have NEVER been in the game in the first place.

Florida and Auburn are the only teams that have gone toe-to-toe with LSU all season. Had the Bayou Bengals lost, it would not have been because J.P. Wilson is a stud and the Bama defense was stout. Here's why I say that.....

Total Yards: LSU 475 Bama 254

Passing: LSU 388 Bama 234 (Wilson- 14 of 40)

Rushing: LSU 87 Bama 20.........20, and that's all. 6 sacks will do that.

Penalties: LSU 14-130 Bama 2-15

Turnovers: LSU 3 Bama 2

T.O.P: LSU 33:17 Bama 26:43


LSU shot themselves in the foot all day long, and still found a way to win 41-34. Give credit to the Tide for staying with them, but LSU just has the ball bouncing their way this season. They'll have a chance to run the table and hold on to the No.2 spot and beat the crap out of a very lackadaisical Buckeye team should the status quo go unchanged.

Bama gears up for Mississippi State and Auburn here late in the season, and will have the chance to break the five game losing streak to the"cow town " that Coach Saban was hired to end.


Week 11 Games of Interest

Watch: Arkansas at Tennessee, Auburn at Georgia, Kansas at Oklahoma State (if you like offense)

Tevo: Kentucky at Vanderbilt, Alabama at Mississippi State

Don't Buy the Hype: USC at Cal, Louisville at West Virginia, Michigan at Wisconsin

SEC Weekend Wrap Up

Another beating for those bucking the odds, as the SEC delivers one more strange and exciting weekend in 2007. I didn't feel too confident about these picks, or the lines, and the outcomes proved that as I have my worst week to date: 2-4 against the spread, 3-3 picking the winner.
11-7 (lines) and 40-8 (winner) respectively on the year now.

I am seriously thinking the boys in Vegas just added 7 points to whatever line they originally concluded. There's not much other explanation for Auburn by 17, Florida by 8 1/2, and I truly believe the bookies liked Carolina to win, but the "7 point rule" swung the line for the Vols.

In case you didn't know, the house bets on the teams NOT to cover the lines. The "7-points" really helped the bookies cash out in week 9 of the college football season, let's take a look at why.

-The Razorbacks handled the Florida International Panthers in style this week, padding the offensive stats, with 439 total yards (249 rushing). In typical Razorback fashion, the defense wasn't statistically impressive (281 yards allowed) against a very inept offense in the 58-10 route.

Coach Nutt will match "offensive wits" with the Ole' Ball Coach next week. We'll see if the soft part of the schedule allowed for some improvement for the Hogs.

-Auburn kept the Rebels at bay all night in a fairly unimpressive win, 17-3 on the Plains. According to the stat line, the Tigers should have stomped the Rebels worse than the Razorbacks did Fla. Int., as Auburn dominated total yards, rushing yards, passing yards, and time of possession by nearly double across the board.

Auburn has one more tune up game (Tennessee Tech) and a bye week before diving headlong into the Georgia and Bama rivalries, while the Rebels may end up the lone SEC team not to be bowl eligible this season.

-Georgia just flat beat up the Gators, in game where Mark Richt out-coached Urban Meyer in the Cocktail Party. The Bulldogs dominated the critical overall stats, but the 188 yard, 3 TD performance from this Moreno kid was probably the biggest difference.

The pressure on Tebow was something LSU and now Georgia noticed from the Auburn game, and it has derailed the high-flying Gator offense in their three loses.

Florida looses control of their own destiny, and the Bulldogs may be heating up at the end of the year, just like in 2006. The East is wildly wide open for the last month of the regular season. It should be exciting.

-I really thought the Kentucky spread offense would be a terrible match up for the Bulldogs, especially when considering the 31 points West Virginia's spread hung on them in the opening 17 minutes last week.....NOT so fast, my friend.

Rushing yards, 200 of them, and turnovers, 6 of them, helped the Wool Dawgs roar past #14 Kentucky, 31-14 in Lexington.

Ole Sly may be on the cusp of bowl eligibility with 5 wins already. The clock is well past midnight on the Wildcats Cinderella season, but they have some big games left to try and fit their foot back in the glass slipper. They'll need some help though.

-The Carolina-Tennessee contest was another statistical romp that did not carry-over onto the scoreboard. The "Cock and Fire" rolled up 501 yards of total offense to the Vols' 317. The running game and time of possession were well in the column of the Gamecocks, but 4 turnovers (3 in the first half) negated that effort in the 27-24 overtime loss for Spurrier's squad.

The Vols, surprisingly take control of their own destiny for the last month of 2007, and we'll see if they can stay on top of the East.

-What did I say about the Commodores!?! A nice win, but it fell a field goal shy of covering the Vegas spread in the 24-13 victory in Nashville. Bobby Johnson is about to be Bowl Bound (5-3), and there's not a single non-Vanderbilt fan that could be happier than your's truly. Go 'Dores!

They've got a few more big games to try and solidify Bobby J. as the best coach in Vanderbilt history, as the Dores take on Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, and a solid Wake Forest squad on their way to 'six wins?!?'


Cam's week 10 Games of Interest: Wisconsin at Ohio State, Texas A&M at Oklahoma, and LSU at Alabama.

Tevo: Arizona State at Oregon, South Carolina at Arkansas, Nebraska at Kansas.

Don't Buy The Hype: Missouri at Colorado, Texas at Oklahoma State, Florida State at Boston College.

SEC Weekend Wrap Up

Another good weekend picking on Vegas. 5-1 against the spread (9-3 season) and 5-1 picking the winner (37-5 season). The crazy upsets I've predicted this season now include South Florida over Auburn, Kentucky over Louisville, and Vanderbilt over South Carolina.

My only failures to pick the winner: Alabama over Tennessee, Auburn over Florida, South Carolina over Georgia, Kentucky over LSU, and Mississippi State over Auburn.

Now to the Nitty Gritty of this past weekend.

-Bama beating the crap out of Tennessee was a bit surprising to me. I thought Tennessee's offense would fair better, and J.P. Wilson would be typical.....not so fast, my friend.

J.P. Wilson actually became a man yesterday with the help of D.J. Hall, and I think the Vol Nation will start beating the Fulmer Firing Drum pretty hard with the 41-17 embarrassment.

-The Razorbacks rolled up 437 yards of total offense in Oxford in route to a 44-8 shalacking of Ole Miss. McFadden and Jones got back on track piling up 211 rushing yards against an inept defense. They should feel good about themselves. Really. ppppppppllllllllllllbbbbbbbbtttttttt.

-LSU wins 30-24, and Auburn covers the ridiculous 13-point spread in a great game down in the Bayou.

Brandon Cox really showed me something last night. I was proud of him and how he handled the fourth quarter adversity. Auburn just allowed the LSU offense to stay on the field too long in the second half, and their talent will score like that given the opportunity (23 second half points).

Just for the record, even though it paid off, the long pass with little time remaining was as dumb a play call and as dumb a throw as I've seen in a long time. One batted ball between hero and goat when you're already well within field goal range is pretty darn stupid.

Coach Miles has had his gutsy calls return major dividends so far this season, but more often than not in the SEC, those calls will end up losing games instead of winning them. The ball is bouncing their way in 2007, but I think LSU is officially too stupid to survive a national championship game.

-Florida's off-week seemed to help as they kept the Wildcats at arms length most of the day. That last Woodson TD pass made the score look more respectable than it was, although the Gators still covered.

Kentucky has turned back into a pumpkin, and Florida will have the chance to control their own destiny playing Georgia, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina to wrap up their conference schedule.

-How 'bout them Commodores!?! The way the Gamecocks struggled with the Tarheels last week was the precursor to this upset. Vanderbilt is disciplined and plays good defense. The upset trail is not over yet for the Commodores this season, but I'm not sure yet who it will be.

Week 9 Games of Interest:

Watch: South Carolina at Tennessee, Florida at Georgia, Boston College at Virginia Tech

Tevo: Cal at Arizona State, Ohio State at Penn State

Don't Buy The Hype: USC at Oregon, West Virgina at Rutgers