SB Nation - Tennessee Volunteers

Talking Points: Attendance at Neyland Stadium fell below 100,000

Joel — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:35:52 -0000

We Tennessee fans failed to crack the six figure mark in attendance at Neyland Stadium for the first time since 1995. Thoughts?
This bit from Clay Travis made me laugh out loud:

4. Why did Mark Ingram's father being in prison get four billion times more coverage than every other parent that wasn't in prison?

I just don't get it.

Why is this story angle so compelling? So compelling, in fact, that Ingram's dad has gotten more attention than every other parent, including Ingram's own mother, who isn't in prison.

To confirm this fact, I did a highly scientific search. I went to Google and typed in "mark ingram's father" as my search query.

I got 4,180 results.

Then I typed in "mark ingram's mother," and I can't even make this up, Google asked me if I meant to type in, "mark ingram's father."

Mike Hamilton says that the recent negative publicity (thanks, NYT!) hasn't seemed to affect the all-important boosters, which is good. Hamilton also makes the most detailed comment on the independence of the hostess program to date:

They have both academic and, in this case, some athletic responsibility. The individuals chosen are chosen by folks outside of athletics. They're policed by folks outside of athletics, and I think in this case this is an isolated incident that much was made of, that has been, frankly, misconstrued and sensationalized way beyond what it was.

Aaron Douglas was named to the Sporting News Freshman All-America team. Dude graded out at 96% this year and had only three penalties all year, the fewest of any on a line that included four seniors. Woo for three more years with this guy.

Not only did Matt Simms sign with the Vols yesterday, so did wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins.

The Lady Vols got new uniforms with their names on the backs (it's for fans, not the team, says Pat Summitt) and christened them well with a 30 point victory over Louisville.

Non-Conference Opponents Update #2

BoilerTMill — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:36:23 -0000

More photos » by David Smith - AP

We should still be undefeated when West Virginia comes to Mackey Arena.(AP Photo/David Smith)

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With most of the country plugging away through finals there isn't a huge update this week. Only a handful of schools are even playing games. Games like last night's 60+ point drubbing that Texas handed out to Texas-Pan American hardly qualify as games anyway. There is not a top 25 matchup until this weekend, but there are some big ones that could allow Purdue to move up. In the meantime, here is what all of our non-conference opponents have been up to since our last update.

Overall out schedule looks much tougher on paper than it did last year. That will only help with seeding. Yes wins over Tennessee and Wake Forest (as opposed to losses to Oklahoma and Duke) look better, but we're getting small boosts from out other opponents as well. Remember, Eastern Michigan, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Detroit were among the worst teams in Division 1 last year. South Dakota State and SIU-Edwardsville may be our worst opponents, but they are better than them. Every little bit helps.

Cal State Northridge (4-5, 0-0 Big West) - The Matadors have only played once since last Monday's update, and that was an 89-82 loss at Denver. They do have their first home game in two weeks tonight when they host Drexel. Tuesday they have a chance for a major conference win when they travel to Colorado.

South Dakota State (4-7, 1-1 Summit) - SDSU has been busy since last Monday. They grabbed a non-division 1 win over Southwest State (Minnesota) before dropping games at Nevada and at home against Cal Poly. This is a program that is still going through some growing pains with the move up to Division 1. Keep your eyes peeled next Wednesday night when they have a very interesting game in the Barn against Minnesota.

St. Joseph's (3-6, 0-0 Atlantic 10) - The Hawks continue to be in freefall after the 3-0 start. Losses to Villanova and at Minnesota were brutal. St. Joseph's played no defense at all in giving up 97 points to both teams. The 97-89 loss to Villanova was in a tough Big 5 game and would have been a nice comparison to see how well we matched up with the Wildcats. The Hawks are off until Sunday when they face Lehigh.

Tennessee (8-1, 0-0 SEC) - We continue to be the only blemish on the Volunteers' record. Tennessee notched a neutral court win over Middle Tennessee State in Nashville over the weekend then outlasted a pesky Wyoming team last night. The Cowboys trailed by one at the half before Tennessee pulled away for a 19 point win. The Volunteers will continue an impressive non-conference schedule Saturday when they visit USC in Los Angeles.

Central Michigan (4-5, 0-0 MAC) - Somehow, this didn't make it into Defend That, Digger, but the Chips grabbed a win over a Big East team this weekend. They completed the trip by winning 59-56 at South Florida on Sunday. Digger would argue that the Bulls aren't really in the Big East since they are at the bottom, but screw him. This is a step forward for the Chippewas as they look to improve greatly in MAC play. Their next game is Saturday at fellow opponent South Dakota State.

Wake Forest (6-2, 0-0 ACC) - Wake has had just one game since the last update, but it was an easy 90-50 win over Elon College. They head out on the road tonight by going to a dangerous UNC-Wilmington team that has already upset Penn State this year. The Seahawks will certainly be motivated to face an ACC foe in their gym. Credit to the Demon Deacons for not being afraid to play there, either.

Buffalo (5-3, 0-0 MAC) - The Bulls have won their last two games in a pair of regional rivalry contests. They knocked off Niagara 86-80 on the road before beating non-D1 Buffalo State 93-65. They don't play again until Tuesday, when they face an enigmatic Wisconsin-Green Bay team that has upset Wisconsin, but got drilled by Oakland. That game is at Green Bay.

Valparaiso (4-5, 0-1 Horizon) - The Crusaders snapped a two game losing streak by thrashing Toledo at home 81-49 on Saturday. They have a non-Division 1 game against Concordia (Wisconsin). This Saturday night before trips to IPFW and Akron.

Alabama (6-3, 0-0 SEC) - The Crimson Tide should be able to recover tonight with a r elatively easy home game against Samford tonight. I still think this is an NCAA caliber team. None of the three losses are horrible (Cornell is a very good team) and they can rack up a lot of wins in SEC play. The Michigan and Baylor wins have the potential for plenty of mileage as well. They also get another shot at a ranked team Saturday when they host a very hot Kansas State team.

Ball State (3-4, 0-0 MAC) - The Cardinals have split a pair of games since we saw them last. They got some in-state bragging rights with a 68-63 win at Indiana State, but they dropped a game at Tennessee Tech 86-81 in overtime. Remember, this team is still coming out from under a pretty hefty scandal a few years ago. I'll have more on them later this week as we get ready to face them at Conseco. As an added note, I have been approved for a press pass for the Wooden Tradition, so I will likely be running a CoverItLive from inside Conseco on Saturday.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (2-8) - The Cougars continue to struggle with their provisional division status. They recently lost a pair of games in the Nashville area to Middle Tennessee State and Lipscomb. They are playing a lot of road game for paychecks this season as a division one independent. They have 15 road games scheduled. Most of their home games are against fellow independent teams.

West Virginia (7-0, 0-0 Big East) - West Virginia grabbed a pair of relatively easy wins over Duquesne and Coppin State to stay undefeated. Each win was by at least 26 points. They face a potentially tricky road game at Cleveland State this weekend, but they have only really been tested by Texas A&M in the 76 Classic so far. Before coming to Purdue they do have a tricky slate of Mississippi, Seton Hall, and Marquette.

Talking Points: Vols winning with defense this season

Joel — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:25:54 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Yes, I've used that picture two times in a row. I like it.

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The Vols held Wyoming to five field goals and 17 points in the second half last night. Generally, UT's defense has been very good this year, with the Vols ranking second in the SEC in scoring defense, field-goal defense, and 3-point defense. So who triggered the turnaround last night? Assistant coach Jason Shay, whom Bruce Pearl credited with the observation that the Cowboys couldn't beat Tennessee in a half court game.

Mike Griffith said in his live blog of last night's game that an NBA scout was not too impressed with Tennessee's players.

Expect a good game for Swiperboy Saturday when the Vols travel to Los Angeles, 20 minutes from Woolridge's home (which must be a mile, if L.A. traffic myths are to be believed), to take on Southern Cal.

Congrats once again to Eric Berry, who now has the distinction of being the first two-time consensus All-American at UT since 1970.

Bray on the way. Much-heralded QB recruit Tyler Bray will be in Knoxville by the end of the week ($?).

Shifting or sifting? Bad news on UT commits Risean Broussard (DT), Pat Harris (DT), and Jose Jose (OL). Broussard is headed to prep school, Harris has academic work to finish before signing, and Jose is headed to South Florida to be abused (or not) by Jim Leavitt instead.

Trivia question of the day, which current or former Vol has the record for most rebounds in a game since ~~1986~~ 1996? Wayne Chism, Charles Hathaway, Ron Slay, Tyler Smith, or Vincent Yarbrough? Answer below before following the link for the answer.

Poll

Which Tennessee basketball player holds the record for most rebounds in a game since 1996?

Cowboys can't keep up with Volunteers

The Road — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:42:48 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

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Final - 12.15.2009	1	2	Total
Wyoming Cowboys	41	17	58
Tennessee Volunteers	42	35	77

Complete Coverage >

For 15 minutes it looked as if the Wyoming Cowboys were on their way to a stunning upset over the #8 Tennessee Volunteers. Wyoming started with a 7-0 lead before Tennessee came back to tie the game but the Cowboys kept fighting and surged to a 35-25 with 5:30 remaining in the first half. The Vols clawed their way back and took a 42-41 lead at halftime.

Coach Bruce Pearl gave his team one heck of a pep talk as they came storming out of the gates to start the second half. They turned the pressure up on defense and outscored Wyoming 35-17 in the second half en route to a 77-58 victory. Tennessee improved to 8-1 on the season while Wyoming drops back to .500 and now sits at 5-5.

The Cowboys are typically a terrible three point shooting team but they actually had some success early on from long range. Afam Muojeke and Ryan Dermody both hit two treys early and they 4 for 7 early on. That early success probably hurt the Pokes as they continued to shoot from long range and missed their last 12 attempts finishing 4 for 21 for the game.

Ball control was issue all night for Wyoming with 16 turnovers in the first half and 29 for the game. Afam Muojeke just needed three more rebounds for a triple double: 15 points 7 rebounds and 10 turnovers. Muojeke shot 4 for 15 from the field and was 2 for 11 on three pointers.

Scotty Hopson was a spark plug in the second half for the Vols and led the team with 14 points. Tyler Smith finished with 10 points and 4 assists. Tennessee shot 47% from the field but knocked down only 4 of 20 three pointers.

Horse thieves! Tennessee burgles its way to a 77-58 win over Wyoming

Joel — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:32:46 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

1 day ago: Tennessee's Bobby Maze (3) blocks the shot of Wyoming's Afam Muojeke (11) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009, in Knoxville, Tenn. Maze was called for a foul on the play. Muojeke scored 15 points in their 77-58 loss. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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The Tennessee Volunteers rode 29 turnovers to a 77-58 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys this evening at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Bruce Pearl tried to tell Vol fans that it would be a game, and although the final score really doesn't suggest that it was, Pearl was right. At least for a half. In fact, for half of the half, it wasn't just a game, it was Wyoming's game.

The Cowboys came out pistols smoking and opened up with a 7-0 lead. Tennessee spent five minutes ducking for cover, and when they finally warmed up, they began to pull away. But about eight minutes in, the Vols got stuck on a plateau that seemed to vanish into the horizon. From the 12:03 mark to the 5:47 mark, the Big Orange managed only to suck a measly two points worth of liquid out of a spent cactus. Meanwhile, the Cowboys kept joy-riding into the sunset, going from behind seven to in front by nine. Somehow, though, the Vols persisted and narrowed the gap by the half, heading into the locker room up, 42-41.

At that point, Wyoming had completely outshot and outrebounded our guys, but we'd been able to keep things even thanks to 25 points off of 16 turnovers to Wyoming's eight points off of seven. And then in the second half, Tennessee simply pulled away, putting more and more distance between themselves and the Cowboys as the game marched toward its end.

This evening's result was truly a team effort, with Scotty Hopson, Wayne Chism, and Tyler Smith getting 14, 13, and 10 points each, Bobby Maze and Brian Williams each getting 9, and Cameron Tatum and Melvin Goins each contributing 7. Smith also had six assists, two steals, and a block.

Mostly, though, it was the Vols' defense and their ability to create turnovers and capitalize on them that won them the game. The Tennessee players were equal opportunity burglars, forcing eight different guys into multiple turnovers, but they did give some extra attention to Afam Muojeke, whom they forced to give them gifts of double digits.

Tennessee is now 8-1 with two games to go before the season shifts into overdrive with a visit to Memphis on New Year's Eve.

Wyoming @ Tennessee Hoops Open Thread

Jeremy Mauss — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:45:09 -0000

Come join in and comment on the only MWC game tonight. Should be a good one and below is some info about the game.

Q&A with Rocky Top Talk

More Q&A with Cowboy Altitude
Wyoming @ Tennessee 5pm MST

Let's hear what you think. Register for a free account here on the site and leave your comments, predictions and other game day chatter below in the comments section.

Tonight's Picks

SFBE.NF — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:21:29 -0000

Gardner-Webb (+35) over Duke: Even though Gardner-Webb hasn't beaten a true DI team this season, It's tough to predict whether or not a basketball game will end with the winning team scoring 35 more points than its opponent, so we will go the safe route and pick the Runnin' Bulldogs to cover. Expect Duke to get up early and then play at a relaxed pace up to the final buzzer.
Wyoming (+24) over #8 Tennessee: I think this game will be much closer than the spread indicates. The Volunteers may score bunches of points, but Wyoming has been playing incredible team basketball, forcing 21 turnovers a game and making more free throws than any other team in the country. If the Cowboys play responsibly, Bruce Pearl will have his hands full.
UNLV (-16.5) over Southern Utah: Tre'Von Willis, Oscar Bellfield and the rest of the Running Rebels should be in for a barnburner when they face the a Thunderbird team that has dropped five straight. If Southern Utah will have any chance, it will be on the back of Davis Baker in this Mormon state rivalry.

Yesterday 2-1
Overall 21-10

Tennessee vs. Wyoming Preview

Will — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:36 -0000

We've exchanged questions about tonight's Tennessee/Wyoming matchup (7:00 PM ESPNU) with The Road, who writes for SBN's Mountain West Connection as well as Wyoming blog Cowboy Altitude, where you can find our responses to the same questions. Here's his take on the Cowboys:

#1. What players should we watch out for on Tuesday night for the Cowboys? Who is underrated?

Afam Muojeke is the leading scorer on the team with 16 points a game and was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year last year. Muojeke has missed three games earlier this season with a knee injury but should play on Tuesday. Adam Waddell leads the team with 6 rebounds a game despite coming off the bench. Freshman Desmar Jackson is probably the most underrated player: 8 pts a game in just 15 minutes playing backup PG and SG.

#2. What has been the most impressive win of the season so far?

The win last Saturday over Northern Colorado was the most complete game of the year so far for the Cowboys. They've now won three in a row and the team chemistry seems to be coming together. With an RPI of 296 Wyoming has not faced a tough schedule. The loss of Muojeke for three games meant a couple close games went down as losses.

#3. How far can Wyoming go this season in the MWC and tournament?

Most likely Wyoming would play the role of spoiler in the Mountain West tournament. This is a young team with only one senior on the roster. The starting five consists of four sophomores and one junior. The Mountain West will be incredibly competitive this year. UNLV and New Mexico are off to great starts this season and San Diego State and BYU are always dangerous.

#4. What is one area of weakness for the Cowboys?

Three point shooting is by far the biggest weakness for this team. Despite shooting just .213 from long range the Cowboys continue to try and score from 3 point land. The Cowboys have made only 29 three pointers this year and Senior Ryan Dermody leads with 12.

#5. What is the typical offensive game plan for the Cowboys?

Since they've had a hard time making shots from the field the Pokes try and find a way to get to the free throw line. The Cowboys lead Division 1 basketball in free throws made with 234 while playing in only 9 games. They are third in attempts with 316 and have made 74% of their shots from the charity stripe.

On defense the Cowboys will pull out a half court press fairly often that has created lots of turnovers. SG A.J. Davis leads the team with 2.4 steals per contest followed PG Jaydee Luster at 2.1.

Kentucky Basketball: Ken Pomeroy's Analysis

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:13:09 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

We'll get there, guys. Just keep doing what you are doing.

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Yesterday, Ken Pomeroy of Kenpom.com (not the same guy as our Ken Pomeroy here on A Sea of Blue) came out with his Pythagorean projections of records. What this post will do is examine his projections (which, by the way, change as the season goes on to reflect improvement or regression of teams through their Pythagorean Winning Percentage. We'll get to all that in a few minutes.

Pomeroy's projections are always pretty good, but they are far from flawless. I don't track his performance over the years (you have to pay attention at the very beginning so you can compare the end) and I haven't done that, but I know historically they are pretty accurate taken as a whole.

Fortunately for the Kentucky Wildcats this year, they are very young, which makes them look worse early as the freshmen learn the college game. As this Wildcat team learns to play good defense, learns the Calipari system, and gets to better understand their roles on the team and how to best maximize their strengths and minimize their weakness, we can expect these stats to have a greater than normal margin for error.

Pomeroy really doesn't factor youth in to his equation (because there is just no real way to do so other than an arbitrary bugger factor), but it really makes a difference when you are talking about a group as talented as the Wildcats are. In fact, there has arguably been no group in college basketball this young and this talented since the Fab Five, and that means that Pomeroy's system has never come up against a scenario this potentially volatile. But let's leave that for now, and look at his projections.

Follow me over the jump.

First, let's examine a reproduction of Ken's projections as of now. I have highlighted the losses for easier reading:

2010 Schedule
(Game Plan)
Date	Opponent	Result		Prob.	Location	Record	Conf
Fri Nov 13	(261) Morehead St.	W, 75-59	73		Home	1-0
Mon Nov 16	(174) Miami OH	W, 72-70	63		Home	2-0
Thu Nov 19	(173) Sam Houston St.	W, 102-92	83		Home	3-0
Sat Nov 21	(211) Rider	W, 92-63	76		Home	4-0
Tue Nov 24	(212) Cleveland St.	W, 73-49	70		Neutral	5-0
Wed Nov 25	(114) Stanford	W, 73-65	65	OT	Neutral	6-0
Mon Nov 30	(334) NC Asheville	W, 94-57	70		Semi-Home	7-0
Sat Dec 5	(44) North Carolina	W, 68-66	74		Home	8-0
Wed Dec 9	(33) Connecticut	W, 64-61	69		Neutral	9-0
Sat Dec 12	(158) Indiana	W, 90-73	68		Away	10-0
Sat Dec 19	(202) Austin Peay	W, 80-61	68	96%	Home
Mon Dec 21	(145) Drexel	W, 65-52	65	92%	Home
Wed Dec 23	(95) Long Beach St.	W, 82-71	72	84%	Home
Tue Dec 29	(259) Hartford	W, 81-57	64	98%	Home
Sat Jan 2	(105) Louisville	W, 79-67	71	87%	Home
Sat Jan 9	(189) Georgia	W, 77-59	66	95%	Home
Tue Jan 12	(34) Florida	L, 70-66	68	30%	Away
Sat Jan 16	(132) Auburn	W, 74-68	72	73%	Away
Sat Jan 23	(232) Arkansas	W, 88-64	70	97%	Home
Tue Jan 26	(92) South Carolina	W, 77-75	75	58%	Away
Sat Jan 30	(63) Vanderbilt	W, 79-72	71	76%	Home
Tue Feb 2	(25) Mississippi	W, 75-74	72	54%	Home
Sat Feb 6	(113) Louisiana St.	W, 67-63	63	67%	Away
Tue Feb 9	(80) Alabama	W, 74-66	66	80%	Home
Sat Feb 13	(9) Tennessee	L, 77-72	71	34%	Home
Tue Feb 16	(14) Mississippi St.	L, 78-68	69	16%	Away
Sat Feb 20	(63) Vanderbilt	L, 76-75	71	46%	Away
Thu Feb 25	(92) South Carolina	W, 82-71	75	84%	Home
Sat Feb 27	(9) Tennessee	L, 81-68	71	12%	Away
Wed Mar 3	(189) Georgia	W, 73-63	66	84%	Away
Sun Mar 7	(34) Florida	W, 69-67	68	61%	Home
	Projected record:					24-7	10-6
	Chance of unbeaten record:					0.00%	0.00%
	Chance of winless record:						0.00%
Projected record is based on cumulative probabilities of
winning each game and may not equal the individual game predictions.
Home games played at Rupp Arena (23,000, 2nd largest in D-I)
Games against opponents yet to be determined are not included in the upcoming schedule.

Trust me, I can feel the gnashing of teeth out there right now. "Whad'ya mean we're gonna lose seven games! This guy is clueless! Tennessee is going to beat us twice, and we only have a 30% chance of taking down the Florida Gators in Gainesville? What a crock!"

Relax, it isn't a crock. The data at this point is relatively sparse, and a couple of games can make a huge change. This is typical of how these calculations look early in the season, so just chill and please don't beat on Ken Pomeroy for his effrontery -- this is a calculation that gets better as time goes on, and these numbers will change, most likely for the better (well, I certainly hope so, anyway!).

To explain why this looks the way it does, keep in mind that Pomeroy's system currently ranks the Wildcats at #41. Now, nobody believes that UK is only the 41st best team in the country right now -- all you have to do is have a look at the polls. Statistical systems cannot measure everything, and one thing that cannot be accounted for in any way is potential, which human systems can account for. Also realize that the more data statistical systems accumulate, the more accurate they are. Right now, only about 33% of the games have been played, so keep in mind that the data at this point is really sparse.

Why are the 'Cats so low right now? Take a look at this graph, brought to you by the magic of Google Fusion (note - clicking on the bar will bring up the value):

What I have done here is taken the top twenty teams from kenpom.com, including their offensive and defensive efficiencies and their strength of schedule, and appended Kentucky's numbers onto the end of that group. To make SOS graph better, I have multiplied it by 100, but relatively speaking, it is still the same thing.

So how does UK grade out? The fundamental basis for Ken Pomeroy's analysis, in the end, is the difference between offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency. Remember that for DE, lower is better, and it is represented by the red line, while OE is the blue line. The orange line is the difference between the two.

You may not quite be able to see it, but UK's DE is the worst of this lot, which is why they are not a top 25 team. The OE is competitive, but it also toward the low end of the teams in this list.

The orange line tells the tale. The margin between UK's OE and DE is much lower than the top clubs, hence our relative position in Pomeroy's system. To be honest, our OE is good enough for a top 20 team, no question -- even a top 10. But the DE is a big problem. Currently, UK is ranked 65th in defensive efficiency. That's not a good number at all.

The green line represents strength of schedule, with larger being better. You will note that UK's SOS is better than the Kansas Jayhawks or Syracuse Orange, but is much weaker than the Texas Longhorns or Duke Blue Devils. To make things worse, UK has not been able to defeat these weak opponents by a wide margin, hence our current place in Pomeroy's hierarchy.

There is no doubt whatever that Kentucky will move up this list fairly rapidly, particularly by the time we get to conference play, and as teams like Kansas, Missouri and Memphis start to play tougher squads. Kentucky has only one more daunting game in the non-conference season, the annual tilt with the Louisville Cardinals. If the 'Cats can start playing better defense and blowing out opponents, you will see them move up the Pomeroy rankings fairly quickly.

Talking Points: Bruce Pearl wants you at the Wyoming game tonight

Joel — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:31:31 -0000

More photos » by Frederick Breedon - AP

7:00! Thompson-Boling! Running! Scoring! Turnovers! Excitement!

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Bruce Pearl turned back into a carnival barker (we love that about him) at a recent press conference, urging fans to buy tickets to the Wyoming game.
This will be as exciting of a game as we've had all year. Wyoming turns people over 21 times a game, and they absolutely will not mind running with us.
Oddly, they're not only runners, they're big, too: 7'2" center and 6'10" power forward. Oh, and they make more free throws than anyone in the country. So yeah, it could be a good game. Let's just hope it's not on CSS. Will's got a preview coming at 10:00 this morning.

Senior J.P. Prince is handling the insertion of sophomore Cameron Tatum into the starting lineup over him quite well ($?), thank you.

Didja know that Tyler Smith is second in the nation in assist to turnover ratio? Bruce Pearl says that's what the point forward position is all about and that Smith and Dane Bradshaw have/had it figured out.

Speaking of Will, he's joined by John Adams today in identifying that 12/17/05 game against Texas in Austin as a defining moment in the Bruce Pearl Era.

Lane Kiffin says he, his staff, and the team are not distracted by the recent reports of NCAA investigations and such. What he didn't add but should have is that it's no thanks to the media who keep reporting the same story with no new developments every day. No, the Chimera is working overtime, weekends and all, in an attempt to close a bunch of potential mid-term recruits.

3SiB compares Lane Kiffin to Michael Corleone.

For those like me who don't follow the NFL, you may be surprised to find that Arian Foster carried the ball 13 times for 34 yards and caught four passes for 54 yards for the Houston Texans this past weekend. I didn't even know he'd been picked up, so good for him.