1. The Football Bowl Association offered their congratulations to the folks who decided a playoff should include the bowls.
2. This media member likes the new playoff set-up…
3. But there are still plenty of unknowns according to this scribe.
4. And a four-team playoff won’t last long in this writer’s mind.
5. This writer thinks Auburn’s 2004 snub set the wheels in motion for a playoff. (Not buying that. Auburn and other schools have been shafted since. This one was all about an all-SEC title game.)
6. Need an early preview of Alabama’s opener with Michigan? Here ya go.
7. Nick Saban, Gene Chizik and Les Miles will take part in SEC BeachFest — along with an expected crowd of 10,000 — to kick off the season in late-August. (Sorry, we’re not going to buy the “Coaches Gone Wild” videos that are sure to emerge.)
8. The Arkansas state trooper who helped Bobby Petrino after his motorcycle wreck might have broken the law in accepting tickets and a Sugar Bowl ring from the UA program (pre-wreck).
9. Ex-LSU center Justin Hamilton says he’ll find his way onto an NBA roster one way or another.
10. Are you following Les Miles on Twitter? (For that matter, you need to follow us on Twitter and you can do so right here.)
11. Mississippi State’s Arnett Moultrie will probably be a first-round NBA draft pick… Renardo Sidney will not.
12. Both State’s Dan Mullen and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze are okey-dokey with a playoff system.
13. Ole Miss has created an “external relations unit.”
14. Texas A&M has suspended two key contributors on defense for its season opener due to the dreaded violation of team rules.
15. A rendering of possible renovations for Kyle Field sent Aggie fans into a frenzy yesterday. (Looks cool, folks.)
16. A&M linebacker Sean Porter makes the Top 20 of this paper’s “best players in the SEC” list.
17. Kevin Sumlin talks about his squad’s SEC transition.
18. Florida will have to face a lot of quality quarterbacks in 2012.
19. Gator hoops assistant Matt McCall is getting a raise, while Billy Donovan says his team is trying to get an identity.
20. Georgia’s going to have to start thinking about strength of schedule.
21. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham — naturally — hopes to a be a head coach someday.
22. An NCAA rule change is a great help to UGA hoops coach Mark Fox.
23. This writer ranks the importance of Kentucky’s 2012 football games.
24. Breaking down the physics of ex-Cat Anthony Davis’ shot-blocking technique.
25. Trademarking terms tied to his “unibrow.” (Yes, really.)
26. Missouri AD Mike Alden on the school’s $200 million facilities upgrade plan: “I think when (the SEC sees) this amount of work coming out of the chute, it will tell them Mizzou is really serious.”
27. The Tigers have unveiled an artist’s rendering of their own proposed football stadium upgrades.
28. The SEC has been at the forefront of the college football playoff debate for a while now.
29. “Newness” abounds in SEC hoops circles.
UPDATE — A terrifically-researched piece from SI.com’s Stewart Mandel, this column is an absolute must-read. Great stuff.
One quick vent: It never fails. If I have outside business to attend to, that will be the day when news stories pop up from one end of the SEC to the other. Always. Guaranteed. It’s amazing really. Folks who haven’t said a peep in weeks all decided to write and report on June 27th of all days. Grrrrrrrrr. At any rate, sorry for all the links today. I’ve got opinions on a lot of what you see above, but no time to write ‘em.
