FALLOUT

I feel bad as a semi-regular blogger that I have not commented on everything going on around college football till now. I try to concentrate on things that would effect Auburn so let us start there. Obviously things did not go well for Auburn in the mythical national championship game. I watched the game till Trent Richardson broke into the clear in the second quarter and had the channel changed before he got to the end zone. So I missed the surprising Texas rally and then the nauseating celebration. Of course there are constant reminders everywhere in the state of Alabama. I mean if Auburn won a national championship I would not wear or decorate my car any different. Unfortunately most of the people around here get their Bama sweatshirt, pants and cap on and then they proceed to put half a dozen car magnets on their car along with two to four flags posted on the windows (in subfreezing weather). WE GOT IT, YOU LIKE BAMA AND THEY HAVE A GOOD TEAM. Congrats but good night you look ridiculous.

The rest of the SEC continues to fall apart just like it seems to do just about every time Bama gets good. Heck all the usual suspects around the country seem to be falling apart or hitting a small dip and thus benefiting the Tide. Acid Reign at Track'em does a great job taking you through the SEC. I will point you to that article and point out that if you were grading the SEC like stocks you would see that former heavyweights LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia are ALL trending down. The only team in the SEC "big six" trending up is Auburn but they hit rock bottom in 2008 and still have a long way to go. They are also a "shaky buy" as well. That of course leaves Bama alone at the top. Even with their losses on defense they should be awesome again next year.

Among the rest of the SEC only Arkansas appears to be trending up but they are still not close to Bama talent-wise and as soon as Mallett leaves they will be back down. Miss St like Auburn is trending up but has a long way to go. Ole Miss looks to fall off the map after losing nearly 100% of their offensive production. The rest of the East does not look any better. So, wow I can't wait till the 2010 season ...

That should wrap up Bama and the current outlook. Now let us move on to Lane Kiffin. Kiffin, of course, always came off as an arrogant condescending jerk but I did enjoy that directed toward Bama and Florida. However his persona and the things he did after get got to Knoxville should have been flashing warning signs to the Vol faithful. Check this link out. UNBELIEVABLE. All I can say is that if someone had done this at Auburn I would have had a fit and hated him till his final day. From that viewpoint this was a good thing for UT.

The bad thing is obviously leaving the school high and dry (and then also poaching their recruits) just three weeks before signing day. Most kids will not sign with a school that does not have a coach. It appears right now that the Vols will bring in David Cutcliffe to steady the ship. I think that is their best backup plan however I think they once again messed up on their first choice. I think Auburn, Tennessee, Notre Dame, etc... have all missed out on the best candidate. I think TCU's Gary Patterson is the best available coach. He is not a sexy pick but the guy is a proven winner and not just a "flavor of the month" like Lane Kiffin or Brian Kelly. However the guy is obviously waiting for someone that will make him their first choice and not their consolation prize. It sure seems like he would fit in at UT and in the SEC. However just like with Auburn it appears UT does not want a candidate that would bring his entire staff and that puts Patterson out of it. Cutcliffe should calm things down and is a good coach. The Vols just better start planning and not mess up the next hire. Unlike a lot of Auburn fans I think a strong UT program is a good thing for us.

My parting shot has to be toward that smarmy puke Lane Kiffin and his ridiculous comments about Tennessee. I am referring to all of his comments about how UT cannot recruit without USC posters, videos and cheers everywhere and about how "out of touch" and tough it is to recruit at UT and so on. HEY LANE WHERE DID THE BEST QUARTERBACK IN THE NFL GO TO SCHOOL? Yeh having the best QB in the NFL as an alum is no recruiting help at all. There is no way they should stick to posters of him around the football complex. Also how are your boys Leinart and Bush doing in the NFL? Let's see one of them has been sitting the bench for two years while another is just now starting to do something after being basically a third down scat back for the last few years. Another thing Lane, what is USC's average attendance for football games compared to UT's? Wow that is a big difference. Yeh no recruit would ever want to play at the biggest on-campus stadium in the country outside of Michigan.

Not to mention annual prime-time games against Bama, Georgia and Florida probably would not interest recruits. Yeh those classic USC battles against Oregon St, UCLA and California are much bigger. Here is hoping the NCAA finally does the right thing and crushes USC and Lane Kiffin falls on his arrogant-while-having-done-absolutely-nothing face.