1. SEC Unveils Schedule, We Rank’em From Toughest To Easiest

2. The SEC Already 1-0 In Bowls (Sorta)

3. PR Bungle: Dooley Won’t Give Vol WR Arnett A Free Pass To Transfer

4. Rumor: Dyer Done At Auburn, Heading To Arkansas State.  Chizik Says No

5. Simmons: “Rich Are Getting Richer” In The SEC

Extras

6. MrSEC’s Most Read Stories Of The Year – January To June

7. MrSEC’s Most Read Stories Of The Year – July To December

1. Mississippi State 23 – Wake Forest 17. 180 yards and two long rushing TDs for Vick Ballard.

2. Dan Mullen enjoyed the win but not the four State turnovers.

3. Chris Relf ends his Bulldogs’ career with a victory.

4. Season-high six sacks for the MSU defense.

5. Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl today.  Both teams are motivated.

6. Vandy players and Memphis natives DeAndre Jones and Chris Marve already have their college degrees.

7. Marve had never heard of coach James Franklin the first time they met.

8. Auburn vs. Virginia tonight in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

9. Virginia will face defensive coordinator Gene Chizik tonight.

10. Auburn pass rusher Corey Lemonier is a marked man.

11. Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones will return for his senior season.

12. The Tide’s Courtney Upshaw and William Vlachos want to play in the Senior Bowl.

13. Jon Solomon: “We’re spoiled in Alabama. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can better appreciate what has happened here for the past three years.”

14. LSU begins work on an Alabama game plan.

15. Les Miles: “We do what we do.  We’re not changing.”

16. What’s at stake for the LSU coach?  Only an extra $933,000.

17. Both Boise State and Oklahoma’s offensive coordinators mentioned in connection with the job at Florida.

18. Looks like Marshall secondary coach Mike Cassity is headed back to Kentucky.

19. Reasons to be optimistic in Gator Country. Here’s one - a top 10 defense.

20. The read-option offense one of the keys to success at South Carolina this year.

21. Gamecocks want to avoid the pain of a season-ending bowl loss.

22. Starting right guard Terrance Campbell probably won’t play Monday.

23. Senior center Ben Jones will be missed at Georgia next year. So will tackle Justin Anderson.

24. Nose tackle John Jenkins is coming back.

25. Who will start at tailback for the Bulldogs on Monday?  Still anyone’s guess.

26. The Tennessee/DeAnthony Arnett decision and a view from Michigan: “Dooley’s next moves will reveal where his heart is …  or if he even has one.”

27. Arkansas 77 – Texas Southern 49.  Razorbacks defense forces 25 turnovers.

28. Auburn 78 – Georgia Southern 75.  Tony Barbee: “We didn’t deserve to win this game.”

29. Dayton 62 – Ole Miss 50.  Playing without injured Murphy Holloway, Rebels drop third straight.

30. Georgia 58 – Delaware State 51. Mark Fox: “I’m not happy with the way we played.”

31. Louisville at Kentucky.  Expect a tough, physical game.

32. And never count out Rick Pitino.

33. Which coach needs the victory more?

34. Gary Parrish: “Rupp Arena will be bananas from early morning till the final buzzer.”

35. Utah State at Mississippi State.  Final non-conference game for the Bulldogs before playing Arkansas on January 7th.

36. Yale at Florida.  Gators look to bounce back after a tough loss at Rutgers.

37. Renaldo Woolridge has given the Tennessee program a spark.

Extra

38. Most-watched college football game of 2011? The Auburn-Oregon BCS National Championship game.

39. BCS changes Kirk Herbstreit would like to see.

40. All the bowl matchups, results and breakdown by conference.

Running back Mike Davis from Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Ga., has decided which school he will attend.

But the former Florida commit doesn’t plan to announce his choice until National Signing Day on Feb. 1.

“It’s the school I feel most comfortable at,” Davis told MrSEC.

It should be pretty easy to keep his decision from leaking. Davis said he hasn’t told anyone which school he has chosen.

Davis has already taken official visits to Tennessee and Florida State and plans to visit Georgia, South Carolina and Clemson next month.

Davis is ranked the No. 6 running back in the country by Rivals.com.

LSU chancellor Michael Martin made an interesting comment regarding football coach Les Miles in The Shreveport Times today.  See if any other SEC coach — or at least a coach’s reputation — pops into mind as you read this:


“He never waves that paycheck in my face.  His ego is controlled.  He doesn’t feel he has to run the whole show.  I know of other coaches who are incredibly control-oriented.  And I know coaches who have two personalities — the coaching one and the personal one.  Les is exactly the same guy no matter if he’s coaching or not.  You don’t have to guess with Les.”


Hmmm.  An “incredibly control-oriented” coach.  Might that be a reference to the guy Miles will face in the BCS Championship Game on January 9th?

Derek Dooley is developing quite the reputation for being a stickler.  Maybe that’s just the lawyer in him.  But Tennessee’s head coach is now — for the third time — putting his foot down when it comes to a player looking to transfer.

Yesterday, freshman receiver DeAnthony Arnett let it be known that he wants to return to his home state of Michigan to be closer to his father, whose poor health has worsened in recent months.

Soon after, UT announced that Dooley would not allow Arnett to have a free pass out of town.  According to an email the player sent to the media, Michigan and Michigan State are off limits to him:

“If I wanted to attend The University of Michigan and Michigan State University then I would have to pay for school instead of be on the Scholorship.  I dont know whats next my family cant afford to pay for school and my father health reason isnt good enough excuse for me to attend a BCS school close to home.”

Sidenote — It’s ridiculous what Twitter and texting are doing to the English language.  Do kids even know what an apostrophe is anymore?

Back to the topic, Dooley appears A-OK with Arnett heading to the Mid-American Conference, but he doesn’t want him going to a football power.  Here’s a UT spokesperson’s take on the situation:

“We’re not denying him a release to be near his family, get a good education and play Division I football at the same time, but we do have a policy of not releasing players to schools we either play or recruit against.”

Outside of bowl games — and Dooley didn’t have to worry about that one this year — the Vols don’t meet up with the Wolverines and Spartans often.  In fact, in more than a century of football, UT has played Michigan once and State never.  And it’s not as if Tennessee squares off with great regularity against those schools on the recruiting trail, either.

Admittedly, no one can be sure if Arnett is seeking a transfer just because he wants to be near his father.  Rumors suggest he was tight with departed receivers coach Charlie Baggett.  So maybe he wants out because he’s disgruntled.  And it’s also possible that UT coaches feel Michigan or MSU might have tampered with the player.  Who knows?

But for Dooley, this is a PR battle he doesn’t need to fight right now.  He’s already played hardball with two players who wanted to transfer when he took over — Lane Kiffin-signee Bryce Brown and Phillip Fulmer-signee Aaron Douglas both met major resistance in their attempts to leave Knoxville.  Now Arnett is getting the same treatment and not everyone on the Tennessee messageboards is thrilled about it.

Nick Saban — who Dooley served under — and Les Miles can get away with being tough guys in these types of matters because they win.  Dooley hasn’t.  So he’s not getting universal support in his decision to block a player whose father is sick from playing at a big school (which could aid Arnett’s professional aspirations).

We view it as another public relations misstep for a coach who lost at Kentucky to close the season and then decided to go into silent mode.  Many ornery Vol fans have voiced their displeasure with their coach’s disappearance since November.

Dooley should be worried about winning with the guys he’s got.  If a kid wants to transfer because he’s homesick or his playing time isn’t what he’d hoped, fine, he should hold onto him.  But this one looks bad.  And UT fans are split over their coach’s move.

That’s not what Dooley needs right now.  Because if he doesn’t start winning in 2012, he might spend the next few years of his career in the MAC right along with Arnett.

Michael Dyer has been a bellcow for the Auburn program since suiting up as the Tigers’ top tailback last year.  Unfortunately, there have also been off-field issues and an indefinite suspension to go along with all his rushing yards and that BCS Championship Game MVP award.

Now, rumors are swirling that Dyer is finished on the Plains and will be transferring to Arkansas State… where it just so happens Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will be taking over as head coach.

At least two Arkansas State players have already welcomed/congratulated Dyer on his move to Jonesboro via Facebook and Twitter (though that page no longer exists).

But Gene Chizik said today that the rumors that first kicked up yesterday are just that — rumors.


“Michael Dyer’s status has not changed.  If it does, I’ll let you know.  I’m not aware of any of that.”


Pressed for more information, Chizik simply said: “I’m not going to go into details of my discussions with Mike Dyer.  I’ve told you guys his status, and that status hasn’t changed.”

So is Chizik simply avoiding the question until after the bowl game?  Stay tuned.

All-American offensive guard Will Blackwell admitted yesterday that he and his LSU teammates aren’t thrilled with the fact Alabama’s being given a second shot at them in the BCS Championship Game:


“We kind of have a chip on our shoulder.  We went to Tuscaloosa, and we beat them.  And they get another shot.  We don’t necessarily see that as fair.  We kind of fell like that if it were the other way around, we wouldn’t be getting this opportunity.  But it is what it is.  You can’t change it.  We’ll accept this challenge head on like we would every other team.”


In reality, the Tigers likely would be getting a second shot at Alabama, they lost a 9-6 overtime game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.  LSU’s strength of schedule has been — without question — the toughest murderer’s row in college football this season (at least among those teams in the title chase).  And Alabama’s second shot has more to do with the strength of the SEC than it does some perceived voter love for the Crimson Tide.

But this storyline was predictable.  At LSU, for inspiration, the Tigers have created a chip on their shoulders tied to facing the same team twice.  They’ve been “disrespected.”  While at Alabama, Tide personnel have already manufactured a “we beat ourselves the first time” chip for their own motivation.

Sorry, but we’re not into such nonsense.  Especially considering these two teams are playing for the BCS title and they shouldn’t need any added motivation.  But what we do like to hear is what Blackwell said as a follow-up to the above quote:


“I don’t think there’s any team out there that we dislike more, and I don’t think there’s any team out there that they dislike any more.  This is a definition of a rivalry game.  We’re just glad we get to play in New Orleans this time.”


Game on.

1.  The Florida defense is focused in on Ohio State’s outgoing offensive coordinator… as he might just throw the kitchen sink at the Gators.

2.  Billy Donovan’s 10th-ranked Gators were upset 85-83 in double overtime at Rutgers last night.

3.  Georgia’s football players know they’re supposed to respect their curfew and avoid Tampa’s strip clubs this week.

4.  Safety Bacarri Rambo is “50-50″ on leaving for the NFL after getting a third-round grade from the league.

5.  Tomorrow at Rupp Arena, it’s Kentucky versus Louisville… Marquis Teague versus Rick Pitino’s press.

6.  Pitino says UK’s the better team “right now,” so he won’t plan to get into an track meet with them.

7.  Expect to see a whole lotta zone read offense in the Capital One Bowl.

8.  Steve Spurrier says receiver Alshon Jeffery will be ready to go against Nebraska.  (He also continue to say the CC Whitlock and Jadeveon Clowney should be eligible to play, but there’s no official word from the NCAA yet.)

9.  Yemi Makanjuola’s double-double led Tennessee past The Citadel 86-55 last night.

10.  Vol hoops signee Jarnell Stokes — who can join the team next month — is already being treated like a celebrity in Knoxville.

11.  Vanderbilt annihilated Marquette 74-57 in Milwaukee last night.  (The 14th-ranked Golden Eagles have lost just two games on the season… and they’ve come to Vandy and LSU.)

12.  Safety Sean Richardson looks to continue his steady play in the Commodores’ bowl game tomorrow.

13.  Alabama pulled away from Jacksonville in the second half of last night’s 72-55 victory.

14.  Folks in Tuscaloosa remember well the trick play that backfired in Bama-LSU I.

15.  No one is sure what to expect from Gus Malzahn and Auburn’s offense tomorrow night.

16.  The Tigers have only five seniors who signed scholarships in 2007 and 2008.  Remarkable.

17.  The AU hoops team will face Georgia Southern tonight.

18.  Quarterback Brandon Allen is making an impression during Arkansas’ Cotton Bowl practices.

19.  UA athletic director Jeff Long is still trying to work some details with next year’s schedule.

20.  Don’t look now, but LSU’s 69-37 win over Grambling State last night was the school’s seventh win in a row.

21.  This writer says Jordan Jefferson is playing “the victim card” and shows no remorse for his involvement in a preseason fight.

22.  Ole Miss should expect a rowdy reception as they face Dayton on the road tonight.

With a win tonight in the Music City Bowl against Wake Forest, Mississippi State will have its first back-to-back winning seasons since 1999 and 2000.  Lose and the Dogs will finish with a losing record… and Dan Mullen will have to deal with some offseason doubts for the first time. 

That’s the razor’s edge that now exists when 6-6 teams (and even 6-7 UCLA) can go bowling.

We at MrSEC.com believe the Bulldogs will get their seventh win.  An undersized Wake Forest club cobbled together a 5-3 record inside the ACC, but outside the league they lost to seven-loss Syracuse in overtime, five-loss Notre Dame at home, and six-loss Vanderbilt absolutely thrashed them 41-7 in the season finale.

In that final game, the Commodores rolled up 481 yards of total offense including 297 on the ground.  If Vandy can run on the Demon Deacons, State should be able to run on them, too.  The Bulldogs and Commodores had nearly identical rushing stats on the season with MSU averaging 168 yards per game and Vandy averaging 167.

The Demon Deacons also lost five of their last seven games.

In the ACC, Wake Forest had a middle-of-the-pack offense and a below-average defense.  But what they have been able to do well is pass the football.  And pass defense hasn’t been a strong suit for Mullen’s squad this season.

But if the Bulldogs win the battles in the trenches — where they have a considerable size advantage — and if they avoid turnovers, State fans should enjoy a nice start to their New Year’s weekend.

A few headlines…


Wake Forest ready for physical State squad

Favored State is no lock vs. Wake Forest

Mullen, Grobe Speak on Eve of Game

One final fling: Big game could help Relf’s legacy

Mighty SEC confronts mild ACC in football culture clash

Wake Forest relishes SEC test of Mississippi State in Music City Bowl

Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen no stranger to job rumors

Mississippi State fans hear pride in cowbell clank

When Urban Meyer was finally coronated at Ohio State last month, ripples quickly went out across the great sea of recruiting.  “How many players will he grab from Florida?”

The new Buckeye and old Gator coach said at his initial presser that he would mainly focus on landing good ol’ Ohio boys for the scarlet and gray, but anyone with a noggin knows that Meyer will attempt to catch a few top prospects from the Sunshine State each year.  After all, interim coach Luke Fickell has admitted as much this week:  “Outside of our 250-mile radius, (Florida’s) the next probably largest area (we recruit).  It’s great anytime we can just get exposure down here.  Obviously, you want to play well and do well.”

For Florida, that’s become awfully important, too.  Not only do the Gators need to show the local recruits that there’s hope under Will Muschamp, but they also need to make it clear to the state’s 17- and 18-year-old blue chippers that their program isn’t going to get lapped by Meyer at OSU.

Recruiting guru Tom Lemming spoke with Rachel George of The Orlando Sentinel regarding the threat Meyer poses for UF:


“Urban Meyer was the biggest name in Florida.  Everyone there knows him.  He’s won two national titles, so the kids that followed him at Florida, some of them will follow him to Ohio State, especially if he has a good showing now and hasn’t lost his magic.”


Certainly, it will be Meyer’s program on the field Monday in Jacksonville, but the coach himself will not be in attendance.  And that’s probably a safe move on the part of Meyer. 

Recruiting his first class for Ohio State — and doing so at the last minute — Meyer can still make the case to Florida prospects that the Buckeyes are going to win at big levels once again, very soon.  But if he coached in the Gator Bowl and lost head-to-head to Will Muschamp and a 6-6 UF team, his message might not be as believable.

Especially to teenagers who tend to view the world through black-or-white lenses.