Below are listed my top five reasons we really need to beat LSU. If you have some other reasons I'd love to hear them.

1. It is for the National Championship. When they started awarding the National Championship after the bowls, in the 1965 season, suddenly you had a game at the end of the year when you were actually playing for the title. Since 1965, a span of 46 years we have had a bowl game where we played for the a NC 8 times before this year. In the early years we lost the thing 3 times in 71, 73, and 74 (although we won a piece in 73 and won it in 65.) But the last 4 times, 78, 79, 92, and 09, when we had our shot, we have won that game. It is very important we win and keep this legacy of winning the biggest game on the biggest stage going.

2. 13, 13, 13. I'm proud to claim 13 titles, but we need to get off that number. If we lose going for 14 a few times we are going to start feeling jinxed by 13. 14 is a much, much, better number than 13. Lets get off 13 now.

3. You never know when you will have your next shot. I'll never forget in 92 I thought we were a year ahead of schedule and felt like if we lost in 92 we would win it all in 93. Boy was I wrong. I'm so glad we won in 92 when we had our shot. I think we will have a lot of shots in the next 10 years...but you never know. We need to win this thing now just in case we don't return for a few years.

4. We owe LSU. The last two meetings with LSU have been sad, very sad. We out play them and then lose in some crazy play like the now infamous goal line int. It is very important we reestablish ourselves as the better team. If we lose our 3rd game in a row to these guys and then go to BR next year...well we could be starting a bad trend. To be the dominant team in the SEC you need to beat everyone more than they beat you. It is simnple. We need to right the ship against these guys now.

5. LSU plays dirty. There is no way else to put this other than to say that in game 1 LSU had some dirty hits. The Honeybadger was the worst, but there were a lot of cheap shots. When I see some of the stuff I saw in game 1, even though some of it was called, I think the only answer is to beat them. If they take cheap shots, and win, they can justify what they did. If they lose well it sends them a message. I know Bama is not perfect, but I honestly do not think we train or try to hit players in a way that is illegal or intended to harm. I have no idea who America is for in this game but I think people who pull for the team that does it the right way will be pulling for Bama.

Well, I could go on, but these are the main reasons that I feel we absolutley need to win this game. br />

In my last post about Les Miles and Voodoo I laid out some of the strange coincidences, if you can call them that, between Les Miles and the practice of Voodoo. Now, I’m not sure if there really is a connection or just some strange coincidences.

Continue reading this post »

Well I know every Bama fan in the country will be pulling for Oklahoma on Saturday night. But I’ve been following this game, Oklahoma v. Okie St., for a long time and I’ve always pulled for Oklahoma except on the rare occasion when Alabama needed an Okie St win. That was the case in 73, 74 and of course 2008. Oklahoma killed Okie St. all of those years, so Okie St. was as ususal of no value. This year however is the first year that I’ve not only pulled for Oklahoma, but an Oklahoma win would really help Alabama. Nevertheless, I thought I’d give you my favorite reasons to pull for Oklahoma over Okie St.

1. Tradition: I’m not afraid of pulling for a team with a great tradition because I respect real tradition as opposed to made up tradition like AU. Oklahoma does not have as great a tradition as Bama, but I would put their tradition in the top five. I think the greatest real traditions in college football are Alabama, USC, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Ohio St. I hate Notre Dame and Ohio St, for various reasons. I can stand USC. But, I like Oklahoma. As far as Okie St. they have no tradition.

2. Uniforms and colors: Oklahoma has classic uniforms and their colors are Crimson and Cream. I think, behind us, they have the second best uniforms in college football. Okie St. uniforms are terrible. Their colors are orange and black. Besides looking like Halloween, these are the absolute 2 worst colors for a school to have. The bottom line is that I do not like even 1 team with Orange uniforms. Not one.

3. Fans: Well this is subjective, but I’ve known and been around fans from both schools and Oklahoma fans are classy, Okie St. fans are redneck hooligans.

4. Campus/Town: Norman is a nice little city of about 100k and is really a suburb of Ok. City. Stillwater is a small town in the middle of no where. I’d rather live in Norman 10 to 1 over the redneck city of Stillwater. I’m sorry but I don’t like Garth Brooks and Stillwater is all about Garth Brooks claiming he got his start there and such.

When you step back and look at this rivalry what do you see? It is Alabama and Auburn in the west. Everything about Oklahoma looks like Bama and everything about Okie St (formally Oklahoma A&M) looks like Auburn. Rooting for Oklahoma has always been a no brainer.

Go Sooners. 45-42.

When I look at the Auburn I game I think it can go one of three ways. Either a close win by Auburn (please don’t assume the game is an automatic w) or a close win by Bama (10 pts. or less) or a blow out by Bama.

Well most everyone thinks it will be a blow out by Bama. And, I sure hope that they are right. I want to beat them so bad that we are taking a knee in the 3rd qt. However, my gut tells me this is going to be a close Bama win. When I start to analyze the situation my mind tells me it could be close game as well. Here is why.

To begin with we are about as beat up as I can remember an Alabama team being. LSU took a lot out of us. Before that the loss of two Kouandjios looms large because our O-line was thin and limping. I guess Steen is ok from the head thing. I guess Vlachos foot is doing better. But our best guy, Jones is clearly not going to be 100%, although I’m sure he will give it a try.

But, even when healthy our line has not dominated this year like I hoped. If we had the 2008 or 2009 line Trent would be a shoe in for the HT. But, even against easy teams we at times struggle to run the ball. If it were not for Trent and Lacy being just extraordinary talents our run game would actually be weak. And, now Lacy is practically gone and we have worked Trent too hard the last 2 weeks. To be honest our ability to control ball when we have the ball scares me.

Then there is our passing attack. AJ, for all the stats still looks like what he is, a game managing Soph. Even when teams continue to load the box we rarely throw it deep and when we do go deep completions are even rarer. Many of our passing yards are little screens or dump offs to RB’s. And, lets face it, our best receiver right now might be Smelley. He certainly gives 100%, but it is sad that he is our biggest threat. Our WR corp, for all their stars, are not.

Add to our offense, which to me seems to be backing up, the fact that out field goal kicking is terrible. Now I don’t blame Cade as much as I blame the ones who recruited him and have coached him. I think he is trying as hard as he can, but he just can’t make a FG nor can he kick it to the end zone. He is going backward week to week. And kick off coverage has cost us two TD’s in two weeks. Mandel is only slightly better, although he has improved a little as the season has gone on.

As far as our D there are two things that scare me. First Ga So. is probably the closest thing to AU we have seen. AU tries to run misdirection and hopefully we will not be fooled. Secondly we are banged up on D too. We really, really, need a healthy Chapman. I just hope Barron is not keeping an injury hidden from everyone. And how will Williams and Gentry be this week? Is Ha-Ha really ready for the big time?

Beyond the specific places we are hurting comes the general places we are hurting. To begin with we are now having a real hard time putting people away. When we were putting it on Arky and UF I thought we had something. But then remember the way we looked in the 1st half against both Ole Miss and UT? They are bad, really bad, teams and we looked like their equal in the 1st half. We then preceded to let MSU and Ga. Southern stay in the game way too long. That means our last 4 wins have been struggles at times. Forget the final score of Ole Miss and UT, we did not dominate them the way we should. Now, I contend that as bad as AU is, they are better than all 4 of these teams. That right there makes me think we will struggle at least for a half if not longer.

Secondly AU has not lost at home for two years (since we beat them in 09.) Strange things happen down there. Just ask Utah St, MSU, or the Gators. I’m not saying they are paying refs, but from the games I have seen the refs have been very generous to AU. I think we need to realize we may not be playing 11 on 11 at AU.

Third, is the distraction factor. Last Sat we were distracted by the Okie St. thing. Now we have Game Day, the LSU v. Arky game, the national title talk etc. Going back to SC last year our team has shown the ability to be distracted. A great example of when we were not distracted was Mich St. last year. That game was under the radar and look how we played.

Fourth is the game prep angle. Clearly we spent all last week focusing on the triple option. Meanwhile Malzahn admits he was looking at Bama film last week. Personally I think AU started planning for Bama the week of UGA. That is why they looked so bad vs. UGA, not enough prep. They obviously did the same against Samford. When they were surprised to be in a close game with Samford they went to just running power plays which is not their game. Why? They had not been working on Samford. They just gave the ball to Dyer and let him grind it out. But, they did not reveal what they had been working on. I’m guessing we will see some option football, other misdirection, crazy wild cat formations, trick plays, etc. They will throw the kitchen sink, the stove, and the refrigerator at us.

Finally, is just the way college football has gone crazy the last two weeks. I think sometimes these things happen in big bunches. I would not be surprised to see LSU lose to Arky. I would not be surprised to see UGA win the SEC. I would not be surprised to see AU play the game of their year. They will need to play the game of their year to be in at the end, but I would not be surprised.

I so want to be wrong. I so want this game to be over by the half. And, maybe it will be. But, I have always thought this would be our hardest game and I stick by that, hoping I’m wrong.

In a way this is also the most important game of the year. I know, I know, you think LSU was. Well, if we had beaten LSU we would be in the exact same place we are now. We would still have to beat Auburn to get to the NCG. The only difference is we would have to beat UGA too.

Yes, the season really does come down to Auburn. We will at last find out once and for all the real nature of this team. When they had to win Stanford, Boise, Oregon, Okie St., Clemson, and Oklahoma all learned they couldn’t do it when they had to do it. Real champions win the games they absolutely must win. We are going to find out about this team on Sat.

Ok, I know everybody has already put this one in the win column. But, I live in South Ga and I can promise you Ga Southern does have a football team. And, although it would be the biggest upset this year I do not think it is absolutely totally 100% impossible for us to lose Sat. Last year we played Ga. State and that game was 100% impossible to lose. This year we play a Ga Southern team much more capable than Ga. State.

To begin with they run the option. Since we never see the option it will take some adjusting and some extra planning. And, if we are not sharp they could eat up some clock running the option and keep their D off the field.

Secondly, they have played big teams before and they won’t be in that much awe. Going back to 04 we Ga. So. lost to UGA 48-28. But I saw that game and it was pretty close for most of the game. In 07 they lost to Colorado St. by just 6 points. In 08 they again lost to UGA but only by 24. Last year they lost to a decent Navy team by just 6. Now, they haven’t beaten any D-1 teams, but they have given them games. And, they are now scheduled to play UGA, UF, LSU, and GaTech in the next few years. They are not afraid to play with the big boys.

Third, you will see a very disciplined and organized team. These guys are 9-1 too. They may win their 7th National Championship this season. Their only loss was by 7 to Appy. St. (Remember them?) They have on occasion put up some pretty good numbers against some pretty decent teams this year.

Fourth, get this. Their FG kicker is a perfect 12-12. Their punter is probably better than our punter, too. Not saying the game will come down to a FG or punts but they are very good in both areas.

Finally, there is the motivational angle. I’m sure these guys at Ga. So., who know how to win, are excited about getting a shot at Bama. We better not take this as just a scrimmage before Auburn. To be honest, I’m not so sure that Ga. So. may be better than Kent St. In other words they might not be the easiest team on our schedule. I’d love to see them play Ole Miss.

Now, I’m not saying we are going to lose. We will win. But, if we come out flat we could have a real battle for a half. We don’t need to be battling to the half say only up on these guys by 14-17 pts. We need to be up on them by 30 at the half so we can get the starters out, rest them, and give some young guys a shot.

Now, I’m expecting Bama to win 52-0. But, a 35-10 win would not be a shock to me. I’m sure Saban is taking this team seriously and hopefully we will be ready and crush their will early in the game. Do that and it will be what we all want...a nice Sat. afternoon picnic with 100,000 of our closest friends.    

To begin with I’ve got to be honest. Alabama stinks at overtime. It seems to me a-we panic and b- we have no plan whenever we go into overtime. However, that being said, overtime itself is a blight on college football. 

To begin with overtime is not even football it is a sport invented to prevent tie games.

(1) Allowing each team to start with great field position is not football. In football you have to earn the 25 yard line.

(2) In football you have a game clock. The time left in the game dictates a situation. In overtime you have no game clock.

(3) In football you chose when you go for two or one, not the rules.

Secondly, overtime rewards the coin toss winner. I don’t know the exact stats but the winner of the toss wins the game more often. How is that fair? A tie game might as well be decided by a coin flip.

Third, overtime adversely effects the regular time. Basketball overtime is fine because it is an extension of the regulation. You never see a basketball team playing for overtime. Baseball’s extra innings do not effect the way you play the first nine. But in football with a tie game and 5 minutes to go teams start playing not to lose, rather than to win. I’d even go so far as to say that last night that dumb Honey Nut took out Dre because he was afraid Dre was about to separate his return man from the ball. A penalty, even a penalty for assault with intent to injure, is ok as long as we keep the tie in place.

Anyone watching last night could clearly see both teams go extremely conservative in play calling and time management just to get to overtime. It reminded me of Notre Dame running the clock our on Mich. St. in 1966. That, by the way was a terrible game. Two teams playing not to lose.

Fourth, overtime makes coaches make dumb decisions. Let me give you an example. If a team scores with no time left and needs a 1 pt. conversion to tie the score they almost always kick the 1 pt to go to overtime. Assuming each team’s odds in overtime are 50-50, this is a bad choice. Failure rate of a 1 point conversion is 2%. Combining those stats you see that a team lining up to kick a 1 pt. conversion has only a 49% chance of winning the game. However, the success rate of a 2 pt. conversion is 55%. So, going for 2 at the end of the game actually gives you a 6% better chance of getting the win than kicking the point. But, because we have been lulled into this overtime thing coaches make a dumb mistake and attempt to kick the point. (Let me point out the same thing applies to a team that scores 2nd in the first or second over time and kicks for

 the tie to go to another overtime. It is the wrong decision.)

Fifth, football is not made to be an overtime game. Football is so physically hard 60 minutes is all it should be played IN A WEEK. Every other sport, baseball, basketball, soccer, etc. you can play everyday. You can not play football but once a week. Overtime is just too taxing. I’m always glad when overtime is over and no one on Bama's tram is hurt because I’m telling you it is a real possibility. And teams playing two or three overtimes or more will actually hurt their chances of recovering in time for the next game.

Sixth, football conferences etc. do not require clear cut winners in every game. The only time you need to have a clear winner is when you have a playoff and only 1 team can advance. Aside form that, a tie is just fine in the standings, the polls, etc.

Seventh, not all ties are bad and some games actually should end in a tie. Last night was a good example. The game should have ended in a tie with the last team with the ball still trying to score. I know Coach Bryant said a tie was like kissing your sister. But in his first 3 years at Bama he had 5 ties and everybody seemed pretty happy about the way the program was headed. By the way, he said it was like kissing your sister which I’m taking he meant giving your sister a hello kiss on the cheek which basically invokes no real emotion. He did not say it was like having a kidney stone.

Eighth, the overtime rule took the best drama situation in football and eliminated it. The best drama situation was when the favorite team scores near the end and has to decided to go for one for a tie or two for the win. That is like the Nebraska v. Miami for the NC. Nebraska would have won the NC with a tie, but went for the win and lost. We had a similar thing with USC in 1977.

Ninth, back on this train of thought that we must have a clear winner. Why do we think that? I live in Ga. Our high school football has a great approach to the play-offs. When playing an elimination game teams will play overtime. However, if the championship game ends regulation in a tie, both teams are declared co-champions. I’m good with that. Maybe, just maybe, there are some times when two teams are actually even, equal, etc. Why not let both be champions? I mean is that some kind of disgrace?

Tenth, overtime rewards luck. Now there was no luck involved last night other than the coin toss which sealed our fate But, a lot of overtime games are decided by pure luck. In the course of game the bounces usually even out. But, in an overtime game there is no time for the bounces to even out.

In a way we might as well flip a coin to get a winner and save some time and heart break. I would have been happy with a tie last night even if the overtime had gone our way. The way we played the last series in regulation and the way we tried to kick a 52 yard FG which had no chance was sad to me. It was a give up from a team that had fought hard all game and then gave up at the end. I promise you AJ throwing a Hail Mary on 4th down was more likely than Cade kicking a 52 yarder. Heck, let Trent run a draw play.

Ok, at the risk of losing what little credibility I may have on this blog I’m going to broach the subject of Les Miles and Voodoo.

Continue reading this post »

Well, I’m usually pretty pessimistic coming into a big game like LSU. And, even though it will be a tough game I actually think Bama will beat LSU. Here is why:

1. THE DEFENSES: LSU has only played 2 teams that had an offense. They gave up a lot of points to Oregon and WVU, a total of 48 points to those two teams. For all the talk I think their D will give up 21-24 points to Bama. On Bama’s side we have also played 2 good offensive team- Arky and UF (when they still had a qb unlike the UF that LSU killed.) To those two teams we gave up 24. By the way LSU was out gained by both Oregon and WVU. Alabama by the way has not been out gained by any team...not even close. Bottom line our D is better.

2. THE OFFENSES: On the scored board the LSU offense looks really good. They have scored 314 pts. and we have scored 315 pts..But our offense has gained 3661 yards which is 2217 yards more than our defense has given up. LSU has only gained 2977 but that is only 966 yards more than their defense has given up. To me this tells me that our offense line has been able to control the other teams defensive line more effectively which is turn keeps our defense off the field. At any rate statistically our O looks to be slightly better than LSU. Plus we have the one offensive super star in this game on our side.

3. TURNOVERS: They do have an edge in turnover margin. They are +15 in turnovers and we are only +6. They have remarkably only thrown 1 int all season. However, I think we have made progress in turnovers. We have not lost a fumble since N. Texas. and except last night we have not had an int since Kent. So in the SEC we had 1 total turn overe. A bigger concern has been our lack of turning the ball over. But here is what I think. Both teams are so solid we may not see one turnover in the game from either side. If that happens it is advantage Bama. Take the turnovers away from LSU and they are not nearly as dominating.

4. HOME FIELD: LSU has not played in front of crowd like they will see Nov. 5. They have had 3 road test (I do not consider their opener a road test.) They looked weak at MSU and MSU is not much. They gave up a bunch of yards and points to WVU. They should have been in a closer game at UT but UT gave it away. Of the 3, UT would probably be the toughest crowd because of size but trust me the UT crowd was not that much into it. WVU crowd was into it but really almost only half the size of BDS. Our crowd will be worth 7 points to us.

Assuming we do not turn it over I think we will win at home 27-17. Of course anything can happen in football see OU last Sat. But I really think we are the better team and we are at home. Plus I do think we still have the intangibles on our side: team unity from the tornado, motivation from last seasons loss, ranked #2 not #1, better looking uniforms, and heavy fertilizer on Les’ sideline grass at BDS.

Alright, tell me what you think about what I’ve got.

The SEC will probably one day go to 14 teams and eventually 16 teams. But, right now we are just talking about, and talking with A&M. Everyone assumes you can not have a 13 team league as it will be unbalanced. However you can very easily do a 13 team league.

To begin with you just do away with divisions. Then each team plays 8 games. The top two teams meet in a Championship Game. Ties can be decided first by head to head and then by strength of non-conference schedule. This will encourage SEC teams to beef up non-conference schedules.

As far as the 8 games you play there is a simple plan. Each team will have 4 regular opponents and 8 rotating opponents. This is the way it was in the SEC before 1992. And you would actually play the 8 rotating opponents more often than we even play the East Teams we rotate right now. Basically every rotating opponent would be on your schedule 50% of the time. Current rotating opponents (for us Vandy, SC, UGA, etc.) are only on our schedule 40% of the time. And for students that means that in 4 years they would get to see every SEC team in play BDS. (Right now students get to see every SEC team but one in their 4 years.)

To keep things fair you would need to make the regular opponent strength as even as possible while still keeping the traditional games like GA-FL, Bama-UT, etc. Actually this would not be that hard to do. I worked out a little sample myself last night in about 20 minutes. Because programs do progress and regress the regular opponents would need to be adjusted about every ten years.

There is one thing I’m not sure of though. Does the NCAA require 2 divisions to play a championship game? If they do, and we wanted to stick with 13 teams we would need to get the NCAA to give us permission. Considering the situation and the money I feel they would.

By the way SEC Basketball had wiped out the divisions. I doubt anyone is going to mind.

So, we need to forget the "expansion will never happen because we don’t have a 14th team" talk and just deal with A&M right now. I’m not in favor of any expansion personally, but picking up 1 extra team with a big market would be preferable to me to going all the way to 16.

Well I’ve already heard from some Alabama fans saying "Well, it is not so bad that Auburn won. After all the SEC now has 5 in row." Or, some even saying "It makes the state look good." Let me tell you this is all a bunch of crap. Nothing good will come from this win, nothing.

First. About this SEC stuff. People, we don’t go to the University of the SEC. We don’t get together will all the other SEC schools and pick an all star team to play the Pac 10. We are in the SEC not because we love all these other schools, but just because our school is located near their school...period. That is it! And that is why they started the whole thing. It was not that we all loved each other, it was just out of convenience. But the real truth is having a powerful conference actually hurts our NC hopes. Year in a year out Ohio St has a better shot at the NC than does Bama. Now that Auburn has won it that just makes the conference that much harder to win. It was bad enough when LSU got good, now here comes another good team.

Second. This has got to hurt our life blood- recruiting. Who do we recruit against? Auburn! Well until this year we could tell a kid "Come to Bama and you can win a NC." Now, Auburn can tell them the same thing. And, although I can’t prove it Auburn is paying players and we aren’t. So a kid can get some cash and a ring or just get a ring. You tell me what he is going to chose. By the way, we were way ahead of Auburn in recruiting this year but now I’d expect them to close fast, steal maybe even some more of our commits, and finish with a top 5 class. Just watch. They got the ring and they got the money.

Third. I’m tired of hearing that a strong Auburn will make the Iron Bowl a better game etc. I’m not interested in a good game. My idea of a good game was 2008. I can promise you during their 6 year run they were not hoping we got better so it would be a better game.

Fourth. This does not help the State of Alabama look better. Have you seen the way the Auburn team acts? Frankly, I cut the TV off after the FG because I was literally sick. But, every game this year they are jumping in the stands and running around acting like a bunch of thugs. And, on the field, do we want to be known as the state the knees people in the groin or jerks the other players heads when they are down? If I saw Bama players doing this kind of stuff I would never wear Crimson in public. Auburn makes the State of Alabama look like a bunch of thug/punk hoodlums.

Fifth. Don’t be thinking "Auburn is going to get punished." They are not. You see Auburn has figured out, after being caught several times, that the way to keep from getting caught is to never turn your self in, deny all charges, and pay in cash. Then the only way to get caught is to have one of your players turn you in. So, make it a family, keep everyone happy, and the NCAA can do nothing to you because they will never know you did anything. The NCAA is not the FBI that is going to wire tap, use plants, and strong interrogation. And, by Auburn winning it all this just encourages more cheating, not only by them, but by others. Meanwhile, Saban will not stand for cheating, so we actually end up behind a lot of folks by trying to be clean.

Sixth. Don’ t think, "Well this isn’t so bad because next year they will do like Texas." I’d say that is unlikely. Malzahn is really a factor. Now they are learning to play D. Their back up qb is pretty good and they have a great rb. I suspect Auburn will be ranked top 5 preseason and ahead of Bama. But, even if they fall off a bit next year, this NC does lift their program a great deal. The benefits to their program will be felt for 5 years at least. I would not be surprised if this spring they announce plans to expand their stadium to 100,000. They know that we can hold that over them and now they are feeling their oats they will try it. And, they will increase season ticket sales dramatically. They will even up their enrollment next year...just watch.

Finally, coming the year after our NC this does take away from us a bit. Sure, we still have a 13-2 lead, but they have the most recent one. They can’t take our memories, but if you live with them they are going to be terrible to live with for a long, long, time. Personally, I wish I lived in a foreign country right now.

Alright, to all of you who think this win was somehow good for the Crimson Tide, I’d like you to take a minute and tell me how it is good.

Well, the SEC has ten teams in bowls this year. I think it was a actually a down year for the conference (and CFB in general) and don’t think for a minute we have 10 teams worthy of bowls. However, thanks to weak nonconference schedules we landed ten so a big pay day will be had by all.

Now, some of y’all are just total SEC fans and are going to pull for every SEC school. Sorry, I’m just not that loyal to the SEC and furthermore I have little use for Slive. So, I’m only going to be rooting for SEC schools in half of the bowls. Anyway, here is who I’m pulling for and why. I’d like to know whom the rest of you all want to win and why.

Birmingham: Kentucky vs. Pitt. In this game I’m rooting for UK. Kentucky is actually my favorite SEC team besides Bama (Bear coached there.) There is no team in the Big East I care for.

Outback: Florida vs. Penn St. In this game I want PSU. I don’t like Urban and PSU fans were very nice when they came to BDS, something UF fans have never been. Besides, in the long run, in spite of AU’s magical season, UF is the biggest threat to Bama in the SEC. Any time they can lose some prestige that is a good thing.

Peach: SC vs. FSU. In this game I want SC. I think a strong SC only helps Bama as it keeps UF from totally dominating the East. I’m not against FSU as I like what they did to UF. This is as close to "I don’t care" as I’ve got but it is still SC.

Liberty: UGA vs. UCF. In this game I want UCF. Normally I’d pull for UGA in a bowl game, but I am actually a UCF graduate and member of the UCF letterman’s club so I have to go with my alma mater. Besides we are in tight battles with UGA for some top prospects. Them having a losing season couldn’t hurt. GO KNIGHTS!!

Cotton: LSU vs. Texas A&M. In this game I want A&M. I always liked A&M because of their cool traditions until they got Fran. Anyone is entitled to one mistake, so now I’m back with them. If I had been born in Texas, I’d definitely be an Aggie.

Sugar: Arkansas vs. Ohio State. In this game I want Arkansas. I hate Ohio St. and always will. Arkansas fans were very nice to me this year when I went to our game in Fayetteville. I’m not big on BP, but I guess the Hogs are now my second favorite SEC West team.

Gator: Miss. St. vs. Michigan. In this game I want Miss. St. I like Mullen and appreciate MSU not paying Cam although they could have done a better job of collecting evidence to fry him. I’m somewhat neutral on Michigan, although I don’t care for Rich Rod one bit.

Music City: Tennessee vs. North Carolina. I hate UT thus I’m for NC 100% in this one. Personally I don’t think UT should even be in bowl. Furthermore, any win just helps their recruiting and I want them to be down a long, long, time.

BCSNCG: Auburn vs. Oregon. Is there any rational reason to want Auburn to win? Absolutely not! I am for the Ducks all the way. Let me say though that unless Cam is declared ineligible BEFORE the game this is going to be a tough one. People picking Oregon the favorite are making the same mistake as they did when the picked Bama a favorite over Auburn. As a side note, if you live around any Aubies, and you think they are bad now, just wait until they win a NC, they will be impossible.

Capital One: Alabama vs. Michigan State. Obviously Alabama. But, there is a lot at stake in this game for Bama and it is no "exhibition." To begin with we have some great seniors on this team and I want them to go out as winners. Secondly, CFB is all about bragging rights. One of Bama’s main bragging rights is that we have the most bowl victories of all time. We need to add to that number. Thirdly, do you realize we have not won bowl games in two consecutive years since we won 4 straight from 91to 94. That needs to change this year. Fourth, a win gives us 10 wins for the year and could bump us into the Top 10 as well. Finally, this game is really all about pride for Alabama. We can win no title, we can erase no defeat, and we have every reason to mail it in. We are going to find out how much pride Bama has come Jan. 1 and I’ll be there.

So, I want UA, UK, MSU, SC, & Arky and the other 5 I really want to lose. I guess I’m really not much of an SEC fan at all.

Anyway, which way do you want these games to go?

Ok, I’ve thought about this long and hard and I’ve come with this proposal for the NCAA: Start allowing kids to take money from schools, alums, agents, whomever they want. Allow as much money to be given to the kid as the kid can get. Allow the kid to continue to get money while in school.

Now immediately you say this is wrong. But, I ask why is it wrong? It is wrong because the NCAA says it is wrong. But, is there something inherently evil in getting paid to do something? Nope. In fact, getting paid to do things is how our whole society works.

Anyway, before you dismiss this idea, consider these points.

1. The whole idea of amateur athletics died a long time ago about the time the Olympics started allowing pro athletes to compete. These kids are making millions for their schools so why should they not reap some of the benefits?

2. The NCAA has not been able to stop the payment of student athletes. They have just forced people to be more creative, more under the table and even more involved with the criminal element. This needs to stop.

3. If it were out in the open then schools would have a fair chance to compete, or meet the offer of other schools. Right now a school trying to play fair as at a disadvantage to schools that cheat.

4. By making it legal you would end all this snooping around schools going against each other, calling the NCAA etc. All the schools going against each other, turning each other in etc., has created some bad blood.

5. A whole lot of kids in poverty could get their families out of the hood and into a better life. Right now even when a kid gets money he has to keep it on the down low. If it were legal a lot of poor folks could probably get home mortgages based on the money their kid is earning at college.

6. Kids would more likely stay for the full 4 years and who knows maybe even get a degree.

Now, if they were to make it legal I think all the money would need to be funneled directly through the athletic department so it is in public view. Boosters giving big bucks, say 200k, could give it to the athletic department and get a tax write off in the process as long as the money did not go towards their own kid. In fact giving a tax break would just about insure there was no more under the table money. And kids would need to pay taxes on the money too. I mean right now no one is paying taxes on this under the table stuff.

Actually, this whole idea would stimulate the economy and up the tax revenue all at the same time.

I know it is crazy but it would sure make things a lot easier. I think Bama would fair very well in this kind of environment. I mean we came up with the money to expand the stadium pretty easily and I think we could generally outbid most other schools, certainly we could outbid Auburn.

Alright, how do you feel about this idea?