Longhorns Will Muschamp to Florida, Georgia or LSU?

The talk of Mack Brown moving into the athletic director’s office by 2011 stopped. So did the speculation that head coach-designate Will Muschamp would then take over on the Texas sidelines. It’s not going to happen soon, which may be a good thing. Brown, 58, with a contract through 2016, has won 25 of his last 27 games. He’s beaten rival Oklahoma in four of the last five meetings. The recruiting pipeline delivers prime talent. Plus, no one knows how much Brown really wants to be an AD. TV could be a more interesting option. Expect considerable hand-wringing from Texas fans about keeping Muschamp. Remember Tennessee’s off-season pursuit? Concern is justified. Three prime coaching spots could come open by December - Florida (where Urban Meyer’s health remains a question), Georgia (Muschamp’s alma mater) and LSU (where Muschamp was once defensive coordinator). Each would be attractive. – Dallas Morning News

Texas may still look for conference move

Don’t be so ready to dismiss talk of texas leaving the Big 12. Last week’s flare-up about Texas and Big Ten expansion came and went with predictable results: Too far, too cold, too neutral. All good points, too. But if you think Texas is content to be buckled up with the Big 12 for another 50 years or 20 or 10 or five, you don’t know Texas. First, let’s discuss economics, at least as well as even I understand them. In the 2008-09 academic year, Texas far and away led the nation in athletic revenue with $138.4 million. Ohio State was No. 2, nearly $19 million behind. Of the top 10 revenue producers, five were from the SEC (Florida, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Auburn) and four came from the Big Ten (Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin). Texas represented the Big 12 all by its lonesome. – Dallas Morning News

Les Miles: SEC offers best path to national championship

Instead of looking strictly at the competitive nature of the conference, LSU coach Les Miles said he sees the opportunity the toughness of the league affords. “If you come out and win your division, that puts you in the (SEC) championship game and that’s a clear path to the national championship,” he said. “What a great, clear path that is.” While Auburn fans, citing the Tigers’ unbeaten 2004 season, may argue with that line of thinking, the SEC has been well-represented in the national championship chase and the BCS title game in recent seasons. Miles said the depth of talent in the league should give the SEC a chance to have another national champion in 2010. – Mobile Press-Register

Beginning of the End for Les Miles at LSU

There is no need to recant chapter and verse all that went wrong Saturday in what was easily the dumbest and most inept coaching performance (from someone not named Mike Shula) I’ve ever seen in the SEC. Even Miles’ dog would probably admit that his master makes Bozo the Clown look intelligent. The issue really is no longer whether Miles can outrun his colossal blunder. The question is whether LSU administrators and fans will concede that this program has fallen and can’t get up. Miles is a misfit. And Saturday proved that once again. The people I really feel sorry for are the LSU fans… However, Saban hasn’t lost a regular-season game in two years while Saturday marked the eighth regular-season loss for Miles since the national title in 2007. Miles is 7-8 in regular-season SEC play. Saban is 15-0 during this stretch. Now Miles had made the LSU nation look simply idiotic. This is a man who makes $4 million a year and he can’t figure out the basic fundamentals of football. Duh!.. For some time, I thought Miles would high tail it for Michigan when the administration there came to the same conclusion as everyone else — Rich Rodriguez is an absolute disaster. Other than being a Michigan man, would Miles really be an upgrade? Supporters of Miles point to his record. Even this year, his first two losses were against the top two teams in the nation. Yet, Saturday’s 25-23 loss to Ole Miss was unconscionable. Against a coach, Houston Nutt, who continually made his own dubious decisions (for awhile, it really looked like a casting call for the sequel to “Dumb and Dumber”), the LSU players nearly found a way to pull out a miraculous victory. However, it all came apart with a coach on the sidelines who wore his favorite deer in the headlights look. – Mobile Press-Register

Was Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss the beginning of the end of the Les Miles era at LSU? Time will tell, but most Tiger fans would not be sad if LSU called a press conference today to announce the firing of Miles. Supporters of the head coach will point to his 50 wins in 5 seasons. They will also talk about his winning record against top ten teams and his 4-and-0 mark in bowl games. Don’t forget his last batch of recruits was arguably the top class in the country. But LSU fans are more concerned about the games that LSU should have won, then the ones they actually “achieved victory” as Miles would say. Saturday’s gut wrenching defeat made Tiger fans quickly recall the losses that could have been victories; Tennessee in 2005, Auburn in 2006, Kentucky in 2007, and Alabama in 2008. The fourth quarter is when you when you win or lose games. In the Fighting Tigers last five losses they’ve been outscored 36 to 10 in the fourth quarter. That could be a sign the coaching staff is not making the proper adjustments or correct calls in crunch time. Despite the fans furor over Saturday’s devastating loss, Miles is not in jeopardy of losing his job. But the same can’t be said for some of his assistants on the offensive side of the ball. The Tigers came into the 2009 campaign with three offensive players, who potentially could be drafted in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. But they enter the final game of the regular season, ranked 106th in the country in total offense and 100th in pass offense. – AM 870

LSU’s Les Miles has never lost a Saturday night home game

LSU football coach Les Miles has never lost a game on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. He is 21-0 going into this Saturday night’s mega matchup between No. 1 Florida (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) and No. 4 LSU (5-0, 3-0 SEC) at 7 on CBS. LSU has won its last 32 Saturday night games at home. The last loss was on Nov. 16, 2002, when Alabama defeated the Tigers 31-0. Miles did lose his first night game in Tiger Stadium. It was on Sept. 26, 2005, when Tennessee overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit and beat LSU in overtime 30-27. That game was scheduled for Saturday, but it was moved to Monday night because of Hurricane Rita. – Shreveport Times

Recession Proof SEC Just Keeps Rolling

While many businesses are struggling through the recession, one nonprofit organization seems recession-proof: The Southeastern Conference. That’s right, the league with 12 of the most prominent universities in the South is awash in cash, as illustrated by these nuggets gleaned from the SEC’s Form 990 for the year ending Aug. 31, 2008 filed with the IRS: The SEC generated $161.6 million in revenue, up 8 percent from 2007. More than $135 million of that revenue was distributed to the 12 SEC schools (Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt), with each school receiving between $10.7 and $11.7 million. Interestingly, this was significantly less than the $154.2 million that the Big Ten passed on to its member schools for the year ending June 30, 2008. Each of the 11 Big Ten schools received at least $14.0 million. But keep in mind that these figures are before the SEC signed its new 15-year, $3-billion TV deals with ESPN and CBS. – Naples News

Experts Agree: No One Better than SEC

There’s no question the SEC is the best conference in college football, and it’s not just because it spends 365 days a year telling everyone it is. This does not excuse some SEC schools from historically scheduling weak teams in non-conference play. It doesn’t mean the SEC isn’t prone to attack when it talks about defense, and then Georgia beats Arkansas 52-41 the week after it beat South Carolina 41-37. Yet when Boise State beats Fresno State 51-34, well, that’s just one of those crazy “WAC” games. But the bottom line is always the bottom line, and theSEC has won three straight BCS national titles and four since 2003. You never will witness more intensity and athleticism than was on display last December in Atlanta when Florida outlasted Alabama for the SEC title and the right to play for the national championship. You’re simply the best, SEC-just quit talking about it. – LA Times

Early losses by Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have knocked the Big 12 from atop the perch, making the SEC the nation’s toughest conference by default. I say this because we really don’t know how good the SEC is until the conference schedule begins. \With the exception of Alabama’s victory against Virginia Tech, none of the SEC’s heavyweights (Florida, LSU, Ole Miss) has been tested. Until then, we won’t know if it deserves to have four teams ranked in the top 10. The Big 12 may very well recover once the Sooners’ Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Sam Bradford, regains his health and if the Cowboys shake off an embarrassing loss to Houston. But for now, the SEC sits in a class of its own. – Sun Sentinel

Here we are, three weeks into the season, and the SEC has three teams ranked in the top four. No other conference comes close to being as dominant or as impressive. For those sick and tired of hearing about how great the SEC is, come up with a better argument for anyone else. The SEC is the only league without an embarrassing non-conference loss this season. You can argue it does not play as tough a non-conference schedule as the others, but unlike the ACC, teams in the SEC have managed to beat their lesser foes. The Mountain West was looking good until BYU imploded and Utah lost at Oregon. The Pac-10 was looking good until USC lost to yet another unranked team (albeit one from its own conference). The Big 12 has seen top-five teams Oklahoma and Oklahoma State lose to non-BCS teams. So that leaves us once again with the SEC looking down at everyone else. – Orlando Sentinel

Tough question, sort of like asking, Which day comes after Monday? Or, How many dimes are in a dollar? College football thrives on debates, but this point is not debatable. The mighty SEC is the clear choice. The two best pieces of evidence: The conference’s champion in 2006, 2007 and 2008 won the BCS title game. And don’t forget that it has three teams in the top four: Florida, Alabama and Ole Miss. Now, if someone wants to be a contrarian, he or she will point to the Big 12, and specifically Oklahoma State’s victory over Georgia. Well, it wasn’t a fair fight. Georgia is probably the fifth- or-sixth best team in the SEC; Oklahoma State is likely No. 3 in the Big 12. And the game was played in Stillwater. – Chicago Tribune

LSU pays Tulane $700,000 to end series

The mutual agreement between LSU and Tulane to end their football series came with a sweetener: $700,000. That’s what LSU paid Tulane to forego the final six games of a 10-game home-and-home series that will end Oct. 31 in Tiger Stadium, LSU associate athletic director Verge Ausberry said Thursday. LSU also will pay Tulane $650,000 for the game this season as part of the original contract. LSU wanted to play the remaining games in Baton Rouge or end the series for more flexibility in scheduling name opponents. Tulane would not agree to playing all the games in Baton Rouge and is in the process of filling the opening with other foes. – Times-Picayune

LSU-North Carolina to Open 2010 Season in Atlanta

LSU announced today that it will open their 2010 football season in Atlanta, GA against the North Carolina Tar Heels. The game will be played on September 4 at the Georgia Dome. The contest will be televised by ESPN in what will be a prime time national broadcastcast. “This is a great opportunity for us to showcase our program on a national scale against a top program from the ACC,” LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said. “This will be an exciting way to start the season and we think this will be a great experience for our fans. A prime time national telecast means tremendous exposure for our football program and our university.” This will mark the seventh meeting between the two schools, the teams last met in 1986 when LSU posted a 30-3 win over North Carolina in Tiger Stadium. LSU leads the overall series with North Carolina, 5-1. – EyeOnTheTigers.com

What is the state of Auburn Football?

With Gene Chizik days away from his first game as Auburn’s head football coach, what is the real state of the program he inherits?… Auburn has always been in an interesting position. Geographically, it is in an advantageous location. Prospects in Georgia, Florida and Alabama are within easy driving distance of the Auburn campus. But the problem is that Auburn isn’t the No. 1 recruiting power in any of those states… For the first time in a long time, there is no conflict between the football coaching staff and the administration. No one is squeezing the football program. Chizik is going to get most of the things he asks for. From all indications, everyone is on the same page. That’s a good thing… No fans anywhere are more passionate than Auburn fans. They love their school and they love their football program. Auburn fans, some of them anyway, tend to be pessimistic. Even in good times, they worry bad times are coming. And when they are unhappy, they don’t hide it… Auburn’s facilities are not bad. But when compared to Alabama, Florida and others, they lack the wow factor. And the wow factor matters these days… Auburn’s athletic department budget of some $80 million is in the upper echelon of the SEC… Add it all up and where does Auburn’s football program stand today? In my opinion, it stands at a crossroads. For most of the past decade, Auburn has been able to look the best in the SEC and the nation in the eye. But Florida, Georgia, Alabama and LSU have flung down the gauntlet. Can everything it takes for Auburn to keep up come together? History says it can happen, but that doesn’t mean it will. Even with commitment, courage and unity, the road ahead will be treacherous. We’ll see where it leads. – AuburnUndercover.com

Next Page »