SEC Power Poll and Picks

I'm late with my polls this week, and don't feel like putting together a top 25. Sue me. Here they are:

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Louisiana State
4. Mississippi
5. Arkansas
6. South Carolina
7. Tennessee
8. Georgia
9. Mississippi State
10. Kentucky
11. Vanderbilt
12. Auburn

Pickz

Mississippi 27
Auburn 13

Georgia 10
Florida 28

Eastern Michigan 7
Arkansas 55

Mississippi State 26
Kentucky 17

Georgia Tech 31
Vanderbilt 7

South Carolina 23
Tennessee 16

Tulane 15
Louisiana State 33

Hilarious

Well, that sucked

I posted a fanshot over at Track Em Tigers about how I felt about that debacle. I'm not surprised that LSU beat Auburn, nor am I surprised that they won by double digits. What was surprising to me was how easy we made it for them and how many of the mistakes from last week were not corrected. Another false start on 4th-and-1 (although, I think he may have been drawn off by the defender), more inability to move the ball through the air, and of course, absolutely futile special teams play. That's all I'll write on the subject for now. Auburn is going to be #12 in my SEC power poll whenever I get that up because I honestly believe Vanderbilt would beat us right now.

And now, for something completely different, here's one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time, Phoenix's "Love Like a Sunset" (Parts 1 and 2 combined). Sorry that the audio is so staticky, but it's the only non-live version I could find on Youtube that had both parts combined. Particularly part 2 (which starts at about 5:30 of the video below) is gorgeous. I hope you enjoy as much as I do:

Week 8 SEC Predictions

Is Arkansas winning at Ole Miss an upset? If so, that's the only one I'm picking. If Vandy had any semblance of an offense, I'd pick them for the upset because this is the type of game Bobby Johnson has won at Vandy. Instead, I'll just say South Carolina wins sluggishly as they begin their yearly season-ending slide.

Arkansas 34
Mississippi 20

Tennessee 10
Alabama 27

Louisiana-Monroe 17
Kentucky 31

Vanderbilt 6
South Carolina 17

Auburn 20
Louisiana State 24

Florida 45
Mississippi State 17

The most thought-out and gayest proposal of all-time

(Not that there's anything wrong with that)



First of all, I can't imagine proposing to a girl after dating her for a single year. Second of all, how can she say no if he went to all this trouble? She's screwed if she really doesn't want to. Do they finish the number if she says no? Do they have an alternate song and dance? Inquiring minds!

Good historical news for Auburn

Auburn and LSU started playing every year in 1992, when Arkansas and South Carolina joined the SEC and forced the league into divisions; Auburn and LSU were both put in the Western division. Since that date, Auburn has had three new head coaches (not counting the interim Bill Oliver games), and all three head coaches started their Auburn careers in an odd-numbered year: Bowden (1993), Tuberville (1999) and Chizik (2009). Every odd-numbered year, Auburn plays LSU in Baton Rouge. You would think that this would be a sure loss for each coach, but you'd be surprised.

1993: Auburn 34 Louisiana State 10

Auburn travels to Baton Rouge and beats LSU in Tiger Stadium for the first time since FDR was president (1939). It was Auburn's third game of the season and helped propel the Tigers to an 11-0 season. While LSU wasn't nearly the power it is today, this still marked an important victory in Terry Bowden's first season at Auburn.

1999: Auburn 41 Louisiana State 7

The cigar game. Tommy Tuberville's first Auburn squad came into this game off of back-to-back seven point wins over noted walkovers Appalachian State and Idaho. LSU was also 2-0 with a close win over San Jose State and an emphatic 52-0 stomping of North Texas. Auburn's resounding victory started an eight-game losing streak for the Purple Tigers, which led to Gerry DiNardo's dismissal as head coach. The 1999 game also gave us this:



Now, I'm not trying to predict a 50-point win in Baton Rouge this weekend. I'm just pointing out that the last two first-year head coaches Auburn has had traveled to Baton Rouge in their first season, and both found great success. Here's hoping history repeats itself on Saturday night; it certainly would help repair some of the pain caused by losing to Kentucky!

Week 8 Top 25 and SEC Power Poll

Here they are. You'll notice the nosedive Auburn took out of my top 25 and out of the top half of the Power Poll. Losing to Kentucky will do that to you. After giving it some thought, though, I'm not quite as upset with the loss as I was immediately after Chris Todd's 4th-and-11 pass fell to the turf. This is a rebuilding season; we started 5-0 and everything was awesome, but we just need to get back in the mind frame that we're building for the future. Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe in Nick Saban's first season in Tuscaloosa. The next season they ascended to #1 in November. I'm not saying to expect Auburn to get so good so fast, but the difference between 2009's and 2010's teams should be huge. We just have to stick it out for the team this season.

Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Cincinnati
5. Boise State
6. Miami
7. Southern California
8. Texas Christian
9. Iowa
10. Oregon
11. West Virginia
12. Virginia Tech
13. Louisiana State
14. Georgia Tech
15. Houston
16. Penn State
17. Kansas
18. Brigham Young
19. Oklahoma State
20. Utah
21. Pittsburgh
22. South Carolina
23. Texas Tech
24. Arizona
25. Idaho



SEC Power Poll

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Louisiana State
4. South Carolina
5. Arkansas
6. Kentucky
7. Tennessee
8. Mississippi
9. Auburn
10. Georgia
11. Mississippi State
12. Vanderbilt

This is the only positive thing that came out of watching Auburn lose to Kentucky on ESPNU

Who knew that Steve Nash was this funny? And 50 Cent's part is awesome, too. "I smell like the vault man!"

Week 7 SEC Predictions

Here they are. Planning on writing up a recap of the Cardinals' sweep by Los Angeles and Tigers' destruction at the hands of Arkansas tomorrow. No promises, though. Here's some picks:

Georgia 24
Vanderbilt 13

Mississippi State 36
Middle Tennessee State 24

Arkansas 20
Florida 41

Alabama-Birmingham 19
Mississippi 35

Kentucky 27
Auburn 38

South Carolina 9
Alabama 27

Week 7 Top 25 and SEC Power Poll

Sorry for the lack of content lately. I've been busy drowning my sorrows over the Cardinals being swept out of the NLDS and Auburn getting beat down by Arkansas (more on that in an upcoming post). Here's my rankings:



Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Cincinnati
5. Boise State
6. Virginia Tech
7. Miami
8. Southern California
9. Texas Christian
10. Kansas
11. Iowa
12. Nebraska
13. Oregon
14. West Virginia
15. Louisiana State
16. Ohio State
17. Georgia Tech
18. Houston
19. Penn State
20. South Florida
21. Brigham Young
22. Auburn
23. South Carolina
24. Oklahoma State
25. Utah



SEC Power Poll

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Louisiana State
4. South Carolina
5. Arkansas
6. Auburn
7. Tennessee
8. Kentucky
9. Mississippi
10. Georgia
11. Mississippi State
12. Vanderbilt

Week 6 SEC Score Predictions

Currently watching the Cardinals in game 2 against the Dodgers. Gotta hold on to this one. Here's my weekend picks.

Auburn 37
Arkansas 34

Vanderbilt 24
Army 10

Georgia 23
Tennessee 10

Houston 41
Mississippi State 27

Kentucky 20
South Carolina 23

Alabama 28
Mississippi 17

Florida 21
Louisiana State 20

The MLB postseason post

It's that time of year again. Time for the leaves to turn from green to varying shades of yellow and red, time for college football to hit the halfway mark, and time for playoff baseball. Playoff baseball is so much more fun for me when the Cardinals are involved. However, this year I just don't see it happening for my beloved Redbirds. Despite having the best 1-2 pitching punch in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, and the best hitter on the planet in Albert Pujols, I'm just not convinced the supporting cast can help the club get past the Dodgers. I'd obviously love to be proven wrong, but here's my guess about the playoffs:

LDS

Dodgers in 4
Phillies in 4
Yankees in 3
Red Sox in 5

LCS

Phillies in 6
Yankees in 5

World Series

Yankees in 5



All that having been said, GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 5 Top 25 and SEC Power Rankings

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Cincinnati
5. Boise State
6. Virginia Tech
7. Miami
8. Louisiana State
9. Southern California
10. Kansas
11. Texas Christian
12. Oregon
13. Iowa
14. West Virginia
15. Georgia Tech
16. Ohio State
17. Auburn
18. Missouri
19. Houston
20. Nebraska
21. Brigham Young
22. Penn State
23. Wisconsin
24. South Florida
25. South Carolina



SEC Power rankings

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Louisiana State
4. Auburn
5. South Carolina
6. Georgia
7. Mississippi
8. Mississippi State
9. Kentucky
10. Arkansas
11. Tennessee
12. Vanderbilt

Week 5 SEC Score Predictions

Here they are. Nothing to say, really. Hopefully will have better stuff next week.

Alabama 37
Kentucky 6

Louisiana State 27
Georgia 24

Mississippi 33
Vanderbilt 17

South Carolina State 3
South Carolina 45

Texas A&M 27
Arkansas 31

Georgia Tech 25
Mississippi State 17

Auburn 31
Tennessee 22