Say goodbye to the last assistant coach with Tommy Tuberville ties at Auburn.  The school announced yesterday that secondary coach Phillip Lolley would be moving into an administrative role with the program, creating the third coach search Gene Chizik has had to undertake since the end of the regular season.

“We appreciate Coach Lolley and the contribution he has made to the Auburn football program in his various roles over the years,” Chizik said in a press release.  “We look forward to him continuing to help with the program’s success in his new capacity.”

Already being mentioned as a potential replacement is one Willie Martinez.  Martinez served as secondary coach under new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder at Georgia before succeeding him in that role in 2005.  After being dismissed in Athens, he moved on to Oklahoma for two seasons before being replaced there by Bob Stoops’ brother Mike this offseason.

In addition to Lolley’s successor and VanGorder’s replacement of Ted Roof, Chizik has also hired Scot Loeffler to replace offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

After seeing Kentucky up close and personal in a 78-58 loss last night, Florida’s Billy Donovan has high praise for John Calipari’s team:


“The one thing I like about their team is I love their disposition on the floor.  There’s a certain disposition you have to have and I’m not talking about an arrogance or a cockiness, but there’s like a focus level in terms of what really goes into winning at that level.  There’s a mentality there.”


Donovan — whose Gators lost to #2 Syracuse earlier this season — also said #1 Kentucky has a bit more talent than the Orange in that they have six future NBA first-round picks on their roster.  Still, “it would be a heck of a game,” he said.

The University of Arkansas is spending $40 million on a brand new football complex in Fayetteville.  The school is also planning to expand Razorback Stadium. 

People in Little Rock are paying attention.

Afraid they might lose the two games played annually by the Razorbacks at War Memorial Stadium, there’s now discussion to upgrade and expand the 63-year-old venue.  The school and the War Memorial Stadium Commission currently have a deal that runs through 2016.

Arkansas is the only school at the FBS level that plays multiple “home” games away from its campus each season.  As Bobby Petrino has improved the Razorback program, ticket demands have gone up.  And Razorback Stadium can seat about 22,000 more Hog fans than War Memorial Stadium.  For that reason, there’s already speculation that the season finale between Arkansas and LSU could be moved to Fayetteville this fall.

Obviously the folks in Little Rock can see the writing on the wall.

Using Rivals.com’s rankings of the Top 20 players from each SEC state, we are today examining who won the recruiting battles inside each state.   Below you’ll see the number of schools that signed players out of Missouri’s Top 20.

All juco-bound or currently unsigned players are lumped together into a single category.

One thing to remember when looking at these state-by-state battles — not all states have deep talent pools.  In some states, the major programs might not offer as many scholarships to residents as some smaller programs.

Top 20 Signees from Missouri

Yikes.  No SEC state gets raided by outside forces like Missouri.  The 20 best players in the state all signed with schools in BCS leagues yet the Tigers managed to nab only four of them.  Gary Pinkel has done an outstanding job of creating a pipeline to Texas and he’s currently firing up a propaganda campaign to reach Florida and Georgia recruits.  But some of the Tigers’ needs could be met by simply putting up some barbed wire fencing around the Show-Me-State.  The quicker Mizzou locks up the BCS-level athletes at home, the quicker the Tigers will begin to succeed in the SEC.

Hugh Freeze is hoping to avoid the cold-shoulder from the Ole Miss football team.  The new Rebel coach tells The Jackson Clarion-Ledger that he knows he won’t win over everybody, but he hopes to reach the vast majority of players:


“At the end of the day, you hope 80% of your team has chosen to buy in.  that’s the buy-in principle.  And your 20%, you hope they’re not negative influences.  If you can ever get a team that’s about 90% or so to buy in, I think you got a special group.  But that’s always a challenge.”


Freeze was a head coach for one season at Arkansas State.  He’ll be asking his team to buy-in on faith, not on a long, distinguished resume.  His players, therefore, will likely want to see some early positive results before they buy-in completely.

1.  After a flurry of technical fouls, Alabama knocked out Auburn.

2.  Anthony Grant probably won’t be happy with some of his players for calling out Auburn fans and players on Twitter after the win. 

3.  Tony Barbee says his Tiger team got “out-toughed.”

4.  Undefeated at home, Arkansas heads to Georgia looking for its first win away from Bud Walton Arena in 348 days.

5.  LSU goes on the road to Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym tonight.

6.  MSU fans have chosen their program’s Team of the Century (from State’s first 100 years of basketball… it’d still be a bit soon to for the team of the 2000s.)

7.  Ole Miss needs to keep hitting the boards when the Rebels travel to Starkville on Thursday.

8.  Terrance Henry says he’s got the back of UM’s Nick Williams, the Reb’s top trash-talker.”

Using Rivals.com’s rankings of the Top 20 players from each SEC state, we are today examining who won the recruiting battles inside each state.   Below you’ll see the number of schools that signed players out of Georgia’s Top 20.

All juco-bound or currently unsigned players are lumped together into a single category.

One thing to remember when looking at these state-by-state battles — not all states have deep talent pools.  In some states, the major programs might not offer as many scholarships to residents as some smaller programs.

Top 20 Signees from Georgia

More SEC signees come from Georgia each year than any other state.  While Florida produces the highest number of future NFL players, the Sunshine State is home to more than a half-dozen FBS programs.  In Georgia, there are two.  So it’s much easier for other schools to raid the Peach State.  Quite simply, Georgia and Georgia Tech can’t grab ‘em all.

Using Rivals.com’s rankings of the Top 20 players from each SEC state, we are today examining who won the recruiting battles inside each state.   Below you’ll see the number of schools that signed players out of Mississippi’s Top 20.

All juco-bound or currently unsigned players are lumped together into a single category.

One thing to remember when looking at these state-by-state battles — not all states have deep talent pools.  In some states, the major programs might not offer as many scholarships to residents as some smaller programs.

Top 20 Signees from Mississippi

Since Dan Mullen’s arrival in Starkville, the Bulldogs have year-in and year-out collected a bigger number of in-state players than Ole Miss.  But Houston Nutt usually made his count, grabbing those players higher up the rankings.  Hugh Freeze nabbed the top player in the state this year, but the first-year coach lagged behind Mullen 3 to 1 (6 to 2, actually) in Magnolia State prospects.  This battle bears watching in the future.  And both schools need to do a better job of closing Mississippi’s borders to outsiders.

Yesterday we told you that in SEC hoops, teams have but a 24% chance of winning on the road.  Well after last night, that number has skyrocketed to a 25% chance.

SEC home teams are still 38-13 in league play, but one of last night’s two contests was indeed captured by the visitor.  In spite of the turmoil surrounding that squad.


Alabama 68, Auburn 50

One day after the indefinite suspension of Tony Mitchell, the Crimson Tide traveled into the home of its arch-rival and made off with an easier than expected win.  The Tigers had been 3-1 at home and Bama would be looking to replace Mitchell’s 13 point- and 7 rebound-average.

JaMychal Green and Trevor Releford combined for 34 points to fill the scoring void.  And UA managed to outrebound AU 30-26 on the night, even without Mitchell’s usual contribution.

The win boosts Bama to 16-7 overall and 5-4 in the SEC.  They’ve now rebounded from a four-game losing streak with a three-game win streak.  The NCAA Tournament is still in sight for Bama.  For Auburn?  The SEC cellar remains in view as the Tigers tumbled to 3-7 in league play, ahead of only Georgia and South Carolina.


Kentucky 79, Florida 58

The thinking went as follows: If anyone is going to knock off the Wildcats in Lexington, it will be the Gators.  But in reality, Billy Donovan’s team was just another speed bump en route to an SEC crown and a probable #1 seed in the NCAA tourney.

When we pointed out yesterday that UK’s average home win was by a score of 83-60, we didn’t anticipate last night’s score being so similar.

For the Cats, overconfidence might be the only concern moving forward.  Example: “We have this little swagger.  We just want to go out there and play hard and win.  We’re capable of winning a national championship if we keep playing how we’re playing.”  That’s from Anthony Davis after last night’s whipping of Florida.  Davis, of course, is a freshman who happens to have no idea of what it takes to win six games in a row in the NCAA Tournament.

There’s a reason John Calipari changed his talking point from “being physical” to “avoiding overconfidence” this week.  The latter seems to be the only thing that can slow down his Wildcats… especially in the regular season.

Using Rivals.com’s rankings of the Top 20 players from each SEC state, we are today examining who won the recruiting battles inside each state.   Below you’ll see the number of schools that signed players out of Louisiana’s Top 20.

All juco-bound or currently unsigned players are lumped together into a single category.

One thing to remember when looking at these state-by-state battles — not all states have deep talent pools.  In some states, the major programs might not offer as many scholarships to residents as some smaller programs.

Top 20 Signees from Louisiana

2012 was a down year for talent in Louisiana.  Still, Les Miles kept a solid grasp on his state’s best players.  The only bothersome fact — that Alabama snuck in and made off with the state’s top prospect.

Using Rivals.com’s rankings of the Top 20 players from each SEC state, we are today examining who won the recruiting battles inside each state.   Below you’ll see the number of schools that signed players out of Kentucky’s Top 20.

All juco-bound or currently unsigned players are lumped together into a single category.

One thing to remember when looking at these state-by-state battles — not all states have deep talent pools.  In some states, the major programs might not offer as many scholarships to residents as some smaller programs.

Top 20 Signees from Kentucky

If Joker Phillips is to succeed at Kentucky, he’s going to do a better job of closing down the state’s borders.  It’s one thing to lose players to Louisville, but he can’t afford to let talent good enough to play at Auburn, Michigan, Purdue and Cincinnati escape his grasp.

Using Rivals.com’s rankings of the Top 20 players from each SEC state, we are today examining who won the recruiting battles inside each state.   Below you’ll see the number of schools that signed players out of Florida’s Top 20.

All juco-bound or currently unsigned players are lumped together into a single category.

One thing to remember when looking at these state-by-state battles — not all states have deep talent pools.  In some states, the major programs might not offer as many scholarships to residents as some smaller programs.

Top 20 Signees from Florida

In contrast to Arkansas, look at all the BCS schools racing into Florida to snap up the state’s top talent.  Will Muschamp and his Gators had a consensus Top 5 class this time around, but Al Golden and Miami nabbed the state’s top player and equaled the Gators in high-end, in-state signees.