Around The SEC East – 1/14/09

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Here are the top stories from the East Division of the SEC today:

Vandy:  Struggling Georgia is headed to Nashville tonight to face a team that is even more youthful than they are.  Vandy has 13 freshmen and sophomores on its 15-man roster.  But they’re still 11-4… the Bulldgos are just 9-7.

Vandy:  AJ Ogilvy’s ability to play tonight is still in doubt, which means Festis Ezeli (now THAT’s a name) could get more minutes.

UT:  If you’re wondering who the new favorite was for the SEC East title — look no further than Kentucky following their 90-72 whipping of Tennessee last night.  That’s no surprise.  Kentucky has beaten Brue Pearl more than any other team in the league.

UT:  Pearl sounded worried about his young team after the game.  “We were not competitive.  I do not think we were fatigued.  I think it was more a matter of a lack of confidence.”

UT:  Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson doesn’t believe Tennessee lacked confidence.  “Even in the last minute of the game, they were still talking trash.  When somebody scores 50 in your gym, I wouldn’t have been talking.  My mouth would have been shut.”

UT:  In football news — sort of — Lane Kiffin and his wife welcomed their first son to the world yesterday.  His name?  Monte Knox Kiffin.  He’ll go by Knox.  And I hope for the child’s sake (he’ll go by Knox) that Kiffin’s run in Knoxville is a good one.

UT:  David Climer of The Tennessean caught up with former Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson at the AFCA convention in Nashville and penned a fascinating piece on how the coach landed on his feet as the head coach at Bowling Green.  Even if Clawson won’t say that.

USC:  Steve Spurrier has re-tooled his coaching staff.  He’s brought in a ground game expert from the Big Ten.  He’s hinting at a more ground-based offense next year.  “We’re looking for some new ideas, maybe some new ways to block and schemes and so forth.”  Sounds real promising.

USC:  Joe Person of The State believes that quarterback Chris Smelley’s decision to head back to his home state to play baseball was driven by the fact that he had gotten “tired of all the back-and-forth, in-and-out-of-the-lineup shuffling that is part of the Spurrier package.”

USC:  The return of Sam Muldrow couldn’t have come at a better time for Darrin Horn’s Cocks.  USC will need the 6′9 player in the paint against LSU’s tall line-up tonight.

UK:  How did Jodie Meeks describe his 54-point explosion in Knoxville last night?  “Kind of mind-boggling to me.”

UK:  In case you’re wondering, here’s a shot-by-shot recount of how Meeks rolled up his points.

UK:  Pat Forde of ESPN.com points out that Meeks’ 54 were the most scored by a BCS conference player since 2000.  Six Division I teams scored fewer points on Tuesday than Meeks.

UGA:  The Bulldog football team took another hit from the NFL yesterday when cornerback Asher Allen decided to turn pro early.

UGA:  David Ching of The Athens Banner-Herald feels that Allen is taking a pretty big risk considering he didn’t grab a single interception this past year.

UGA:  Allen is aware of the risks and believes he can perform well enough at the combine to warrant to catch some team’s attention.  Good luck to him.

UGA:  After being outrebounded 101-75 in their last two games, Dennis Felton wants to see his team crash the boards at Vanderbilt tonight.

UGA:  Felton has tried to get his message across to his team by placing 60 signs that say “Block out; Rebound” around their practice gym this week.  The poor guy’s doomed.

UF:  Nick Calathes is ready to take some insults about his spiked hairstyle tonight at Auburn.  “I’ve heard so many chants, ‘hair gel’ and all that.  I’ve heard it since high school.”

UF:  The Gainesville Sun provides five things to watch for in tonight’s game.

UF:  One key might be rebounding for the Gators.  Billy Donovan says his guards are as much to blame for UF’s rebounding woes as his frontcourt player are.

UF:  One of the Gators’ best offensive linemen, guard Mike Pouncey, might need surgery on what could be a torn right labrum.