The never-ending story in the SEC, and I don't mean Rocky Top

At the end of the 1998 season, I was fortunate to cover my first national championship, which turned out to be Tennessee vs. Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. I had seen the Seminoles play a couple of times before (including the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame), but it was my first experience with the Volunteers.
After Tennessee won, and I struggled to get Al Gore to answer a question, I left Sun Devil Stadium with two things on my mind:
1) If I never hear the song "Rocky Top" again, that would be fine with me (talk about overkill).
2) How much job security does a national title provide?
If you believe some of the speculation coming out of Knoxville, the answer is apparently about a decade. The vultures are clearly circling both there and Auburn, even though Phillip Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville have been incredibly successful.
Last time I checked, both had been named national coach of the year. Tennessee was in the SEC Championship game last year and Auburn has won six straight against Alabama, right?
I jokingly suggested here once before that the programs may just want to trade coaches, but what the probably need the most are new offensive coordinators.
Nevertheless, fickle fans calling for their coaches' heads might want to take a peek at the rest of the league and realize how tough it really is.
They should then be careful what they wish for.
In many ways Alabama was incredibly fortunate to land Nick Saban, who is already a huge source of angst for both schools - after years of filling the void caused by the Crimson Tide's struggles. He's beating up on them in recruiting and in just his second year has the Crimson Tide at No. 2.
That, in turn, reminds me of Charlie McClendon. LSU's all-time winningest coach, with 137 victories, was fired in part because he couldn't beat Paul W. "Bear" Bryant, who won six national championships at Alabama.
It prompted Auburn's Shug Jordan to say: "You go by that and they'll have to fire us all."
It isn't fair to compare Saban to Bryant yet, but there's no denying Saban already has the competition concerned about the future, and the Tide's two biggest rivals reeling.
"In football and life, you've got to keep proving yourself," McClendon said. "If you're looking back, you're in trouble."

Some new, and some old

Most of you will notice the new look to the blog. I just felt like jazzing it up a little, especially since I seem to be attracting more hits of late. Hope you enjoy it, and please feel free to provide feedback (there's also some fun stuff near the bottom). FYI, the blue is a tribute to my alma mater, the University of New Hampshire.

That reminds me of something that pertains, in a way, to one of my books. Last week for my day job with the Tuscaloosa News I did a blog on whether a team from the Big Ten or Pac-10 should be viewed differently in the title chase because their conferences don't have a championship game.

What got me going on it was an online interview I did with a college football/sports journalism legend, Dan Jenkins, for a story I did on if Alabama is a legit contender (Note, I wrote the story before Alabama beat Kentucky. Here's the link if interested: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20081004/NEWS/810030213). Dan made the point, and I think it's a good one.

Anyway, here's the blog entry:

During a recent national television show about college football, one of the network’s experts was asked if in the unlikely event Texas, Alabama and Penn State were to all finish undefeated which would likely get the snub for the BCS championship game?
The answer given was incorrect, Alabama, because the person didn’t consider that the Crimson Tide would have to beat Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn and then win the SEC Championship game to finish undefeated. Granted, Joe Paterno would get some sympathy votes, but there’s almost no way that the Nittany Lions can leapfrog either Texas or Alabama in the BCS standings.
Here’s a better question, when are the voters going to wise up about the Big Ten and the Pac-10 and stop voting those conferences up?
“What we have entered into is a stupid BCS setup where the Big Ten and Pac-10 have an unfair advantage,” said Dan Jenkins, legendary sports writer and current historian for the National Football Foundation. “No conference playoff. Beat two good teams and sleepwalk past the infirm and go to the title game. The shame is that more sportswriters aren’t screaming about it. Loudly and consistently.”
Consider me a convert, especially this year.
Penn State’s lone Top 25 victory is against No. 22 Illinois (Sept. 27) – the same team that just lost at home to Minnesota. Still to go are at No. 12 Ohio State on Oct. 25, and No. 20 Michigan State on Nov. 22.
Meanwhile, Southern California could soon be a factor again if at least two of the top three undefeated teams lose. The only ranked team the Trojans will see is No. 25 Cal on Nov. 8
Compare that with the SEC, where Alabama has the clearest road to the national championship:
1) Obviously, it needs to keep winning.
2) If LSU loses to Georgia next week, the Tide could conceivably lose twiceand still land in the SEC title game. Otherwise, Alabama at LSU will essentially be a playoff game.
3) Win the SEC Championship.
Meanwhile, in the East the Nov. 1 meeting between Florida and Georgia has all the makings of being the deciding game in that division.
Something similar is going on in the Big XII, and if the teams keep knocking each other off like last weekend one loss will still likely mean a shot at the title.
“When you lose two games, you’ve really lost your right to considered a BCS champion in my opinion,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “To even be where we were was pretty wild. Just to have a two-loss team play in the game was pretty odd.
“I thought after LSU won our league I didn’t think we were going to get in (the BCS), period.”
Imagine for a moment that Alabama is undefeated heading into the SEC Championship, but falls to a two-loss team? Then what?
Never mind for now, the BCS has caused enough headaches for one day.

So what was the reaction to the blog? Well, not surprisingly I was called a homer and an idiot by some Big Ten fans, which caused me to laugh. Not only did they not know I've written a book about controversial national championships, but I'm originally a Big Ten guy from Minnesota.

The Third Saturday in October

It's mid-to-late October, which to me means three things:
1) I'm probably fighting the flu (which I am);
2) Hockey season as started (which I love);
and 3) Tennessee week.

This year, it also means I'm done with all the preliminary work on the Tennessee version of the handbook series that will be coming out in 2009. With a little bit of luck, I'll finish Ohio State around Nov. 1, leaving only Oklahoma and Texas to go until the season updates. Considering I may have another project in the works (which I'm keeping a secret for now), the sooner I get them done the better.

1996 Texas

Well, I'll hopefully be announcing finishing all the prelim work on another handbook over the weekend. This time, it's Tennessee, which is great because then I can go back and try and finish Ohio State. That will leave me just Oklahoma, and, yes, Texas.

Here, Texas begins to celebrate after upsetting No. 3 Nebraska in the first Big 12 Championship game, 37-27. The outcome propelled Florida into the national championship game, a rematch with Florida State at the Sugar Bowl. Courtesy of the Big 12 Conference.

Finished another one

I'm a little behind schedule, but thankfully finished all the preliminary work on the Georgia handbook, which will be updated in January or February and hit stores in time for next season. Fittingly, I also got to finally attend a game at Sanford Stadium, in one of my favorite college towns, Athens, but the bad news for Bulldogs fans was that it was for the Alabama game.

I made sure to purchase a "blackout" shirt on my way out of town because it might be a while before Georgia has another one. Besides, it's now a really cool collector's item.

Today I start working on Tennessee, and I'll be heading up to Knoxville in a couple of weeks. That will leave Oklahoma and Texas, and I have to finish Ohio State.

Things appear to be going very well with "100 Things" sales, and the feedback continues to be terrific. I'm doing a little more plugging on radio shows, etc., and a number of T-town bars and restaurants have autographed posters I hope they'll start putting up.

For those of you who wonder what my day job is like, you may want to check out the following story. Yes, I'm crazy. http://www.tidesports.com/article/20081010/NEWS/810090214