Spring Game Roundup

1. Alabama.  Nick Saban’s assessment: I’m not disappointed in where we are right now…But I’m not satisfied with where we are either.”

2. Crimson Tide spring game attracts 78,315 fans – second smallest of the Saban era.

3. Arkansas. Coach Bret  Bielema on quarterback Brandon Allen’s performance: ”He continues to impress us, continues to do some things very, very positive.”

4. Record crowd of 51,088 watch the Razorbacks spring game. “Drama-free spring”

5. Auburn. Did Kiehl Frazier or Jonathan Wallace separate himself Saturday?  Gus Malzahn won’t say.

6. A record 83,401 on hand for Auburn’s spring game then fans flock to Toomer’s Corner for one final roll.  ”It’s almost like we are at a

funeral.” How it looked at 1:00 a.m.New design revealed.

7. LSU. Tigers turn play-calling duties over to quarterbacks.  Result?  A pass-happy day in front of estimated crowd of 28,000.

8. “The Tigers finally look like a modern offensive attack.” But is depth along defensive line a concern?

9. Mississippi State. First team defense gets the win in front of announced crowd of 21,000.

10. Tight end Christian Holmes plays on both sides of the ball.

11. Missouri. Announced crowd of 18,384, watch Mizzou’s quarterback struggle. Offensive coordinator Josh Henson: “I didn’t think we were very sharp today.” But is James Franklin breaking from the pack?

12. Coming back from devastating knee injury, running back Henry Jose gets 13 yards on eight carries.  Gary Pinkel: “He’ll be at his best in August.”

13. Tennessee. Second-highest spring game attendance in Vol history -  61,076 fans turn out.

14. Vols quarterback battle remains “wide open.”

15. Spring game attendance for all SEC schools compared to 2012.

SEC Football

16. Surprises and stars among Florida’s offensive line and defensive ends. Are Florida coaches failing Jeff Driskel?

17. What’s the benchmark for improvement at Kentucky?  ”Four wins, which would double last season’s Kentucky victory total, seems a reasonable base line…”

18. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze on D.T. Shackelford: “D.T. is everything you want in a student athlete.”

19. Former Alabama running back Trent Richardson on Nick Saban: ”He’s today’s Bear Bryant. It’s just not going to stop.”

20. Johnny Manziel returns home.  Favorite question –  ”How was Megan Fox?”

21. Pat Dooley ranks the SEC quarterbacks.

22. Now that we have agreement on a  playoff in college football – who is going to pick the four teams?

SEC/NFL Draft

23. Georgia prospects face questions over off-field behavior.

24. Debate over Marcus Lattimore - “contender or pretender”?

25. Prediction:  No running backs –  including Eddie Lacy – taken in the first round.

SEC Basketball

26. Tennessee forward Yemi Makanjuola is transferring.

27. Mike Rice fallout at Rutgers helps Missouri land a point guard.

Extra

28. Neil Diamond shows up unannounced at Boston’s Fenway Park Saturday – sings “Sweet Caroline.”

29. So what do Alabama fans really think about Katherine Webb?  

30. Spring game at Western Kentucky.  Bobby Petrino airs it out – throws the ball 69 times.

31. Sportscaster Al Michaels arrested and charged with DUI Friday night.

32. Big Ten likely moving to nine-game conference schedule in 2016.

Before he became Alabama’s new athletic director… before he became a multi-millioniare businessman… before he became the youngest head coach in college football at Tennessee… Bill Battle was an Alabama football player for Paul “Bear” Bryant.

In an interesting profile of Battle at Al.com, Bama’s new AD opens up about the coaching style of his mentor.  The entire piece is well worth your time, but we’ll include a small portion of Dan Kausler’s article below.  It’s a short, fascinating glimpse into the coaching methods of an SEC legend.

According to Battle, Bryant was far more than a one-trick pony.  The ex-player suggests his coach knew exactly which buttons to push with his players and when to push them.  Any good manager knows that you can’t motivate everyone in the exact same way every single day.  And when it came to getting the most out of his workers, there weren’t many managers better than Bryant:

“‘Probably my favorite story is from my sophomore year,’ Battle said. ‘We were playing Mississippi State in Starkville, and we were winning 7-0 at halftime, but we weren’t playing very well. We were ahead. We weren’t too worried. We went in and sat down and they gave us Cokes and stuff.

‘Pat Trammell, who was probably his favorite player of all time, was sitting up front. Coach Bryant came in, and he was as mad as I’ve ever seen him. He grabbed Trammell and shook him and fussed at us and told us how sorry we were playing. We went out in the second half, and I don’t know if we did a lot better, but we won the game.’

The story is just beginning. Two weeks later, Alabama visited Georgia Tech.

‘They had a really good team,’ Battle said. ‘At the end of the half, we were down 15-0. In the old Georgia Tech visitors’ dressing room, it had risers and chairs going back, and the blackboard was down here. Well, everybody was scrambling to get in the back of the room so they wouldn’t be too close to that front seat.

‘We sat there and sat there and sat there, and he didn’t come in. Everybody was wondering, ‘Well, did he go home? What’s the deal?’ He came in, and like he did a lot of times when he was thinking, he was whistling and jingling the change in his pockets. …’

The players were ready for a tantrum.

‘He said, ‘They’re not as good as I thought they were,” Battle recalled. ‘We’ve got ‘em right where we want ‘em. We’re going to embarrass them right in front of their crowd. All we need to do is change two or three little things, and we’re going to be good.’

‘Well, that was not exactly what we were expecting. So sure enough, we went out and started playing better, and we score, and we get within where a field goal wins, and we get down and Richard O’Dell kicks a field goal as time expires, and we win 16-15. If he had come in and fussed at us, we’d have probably gotten beat 40-0.’

It was Bryant at his best.

‘He was smart enough to know how to lift you up,’ Battle said. ‘He was good at putting you down. He got people grounded. He was real good at that. But he could pick you up, too.’

In light of the Mike Rice scandal at Rutgers, one wonders if any coach could grab and shake a player in this day and age without someone getting tape of the act to ESPN.  But clearly, Bryant was a master of motivation in his own day and age.

Kudos to Battle and Kausler for sharing a couple more anecdotes about a man still worshipped in the Yellowhammer State… and still respected everywhere else.

SEC Football

1. Kentucky starting defensive tackle Donte Rumph injured in spring practice. Coach Mark Stoops: ”It looks like it’s a fairly significant injury. He may be out for a while, may require some surgery.” Injury leaves a big void.

2. Challenge for the Ole Miss defense - only Mississippi State gave up more yards per play last season among SEC bowl teams.

3. Former Southern Miss quarterback Anthony Alford working out at safety for Ole Miss. Expected to sit out this season due to transfer rules.

4. Billy Gonzales is the fourth wide receiver coach at Mississippi State in four years.  Wide receiver Jameon Lewis:  ”He’s got a different burst of energy that makes you go get it.” Bulldogs practice in pads for the first time Wednesday.

5. It’s all about tempo at Auburn.  New coach Gus Malzahn wants things faster:  ”The X’s and O’s will come, but the main thing is we have to learn how to practice.” Approach vastly different from Gene Chizik.

6. More Malzahn: “When I first got the job, it was evident we had some players with mental scars and all that…”

7. Bruce Feldman on Florida’s BCS championship odds: “At 25-1, the Gators are worth a long look.” (Also likes Texas A&M at 15-1).

8. Butch Jones, Nick Saban and the speaking wars of East Tennessee.

9. Saban on new Alabama offensive line coach Mario Cristobal: “He brings some new ideas, that’s always welcome when you have new coaches join the staff…”

10. As an early enrollee in the class of 2009, no one has been a part of the Georgia program longer than Dallas Lee.

11. Some shuffling along the offensive line at Texas A&M.

12.  Arkansas fullback Kiero Small back to full strength after missing 11 games last season with a broken foot.

13. Missouri coach Gary Pinkel: ”I Twitter guys all the time now, and I didn’t even know what Twitter was” a few years ago.

14. Tony Barnhart: “The SEC West is the toughest division in the toughest college football conference in America. This is not debatable.”

SEC NFL Prospects

15. Thirty-one NFL teams on hand Wednesday at South Carolina’s pro day to watch Marcus Lattimore.  First time in Williams-Brice Stadium for Lattimore since knee injury last fall.

16. No players at South Carolina guaranteed to go in first two rounds of draft - Ace Sanders projected as fifth or sixth-round pick.

17. Tyrann Mathieu among the former players who participated in LSU’s pro day yesterday.

18. Will defensive end Barkevious Mingo’s low sack total last season scare away NFL teams?  Les Miles: ”If they don’t want him (in the NFL), we’ll take him back.”

19. AFC general manager on former Texas A&M tackle Luke Joeckel.  “Everything is perfect with him.”

20. Former Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner will meet with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns.

21. Former Auburn defensive end Corey Lemonier meets with the Atlanta Falcons, will meet with Tampa Bay soon.

22. Seven NFL coaches have visited Georgia in the past week.

SEC Basketball

23. Does a Willie Cauley-Stein tweet indicate the Kentucky freshman is leaning toward leaving for the NBA?

24.  Florida will bring a group of about 115 to Dallas for the NCAA Tournament.  NCAA pays the expenses for 75.  

25. Putting Alabama’s season in context - Tide picked to finish sixth – ended up tied for second. Suggestions on getting Alabama to play to its full potential.

26. How should Tennessee’s basketball program be judged? “In the context of the SEC, the Vols are barely middle of the pack.”

27. If Mike Anderson can take credit for Frank Haith’s players, Haith can take some credit for things at Miami, right?

28. Questions facing Mizzou next year include Haith’s NCAA case at Miami.

Extras

29. More questionable NCAA behavior in the Miami/Nevin Shapiro investigation. The University of Miami will submit motion to dismiss the case on Friday.

30. BCS “playoff group” receives bids from four cities – Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and San Diego.

31. Confused with realignment in college sports?  This graphic should help.

32. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on his 13-year old son’s bracket.  “The damn kid picked Duke.”

33. Heads are rolling at the Sporting News.

34. More cash hungry states look to legalize sports betting. Polls show a growing acceptance among the public.

SEC Football

1. Ole Miss wide receiver Philander Moore dismissed from team following domestic assault arrest.

2. The lasting legacy of Alabama A.D. Mal Moore, who announced yesterday he’s stepping down.  While at Miami, Nick Saban called his wife Terry and told her he wouldn’t be leaving for Alabama: “She said, ‘Oh, Mal’s already here. We’ve been talking for an hour.’  That was his first step in the right direction.”

3. An outpouring of tributes and support for Moore from A.D.s and coaches around the country.

4. Crimson Tide may have found their replacement for Barrett Jones in Ryan Kelly. Alabama left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio: “I trust him as much as trusted Barrett Jones last year.”

5. Alabama will open its 2015 season against Wisconsin at Cowboys Stadium.

6. The big attraction at Kentucky’s spring practice will be the three-way quarterback competition – Maxwell Smith, Patrick Towles and Jalen Whitlow all vying for the job. Fifteen players participating in pro day at Kentucky.

7. Big challenge at Missouri – gaping holes in the defense.  In SEC play, only Tennessee and Arkansas gave up more plays of 10 yards or more than Missouri (180) and more pass plays of 20 yards or more than Missouri (44).

8. Spring practice underway at Mississippi State.  Two JUCO transfers could start right away.

9. Tennessee coach Butch Jones at the last practice before spring break:  ”The soft guys will get exposed!”

10. With Jacoby Brissett no longer looking over his shoulder, Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel is more comfortable this spring. “This year, I’m the guy, and that does take a little bit off my shoulders.”

11. Most experienced tight end at LSU this fall will be Travis Dickson – he’s started on game in his career.

12. Auburn’s returning senior class wants to set a new tone. Defensive end Dee Ford: ”We’re taking more of a player approach to leadership, taking ownership.”

13. Ole Miss starting defensive end C.J. Johnson is having surgery today on his broken fibula – will miss the rest of spring practice.

14. JUCO transfer Jonathon Rumph is hoping to make an impact at wide receiver for Georgia this fall:  “Nothing’s going to be given to me. I just came in to work hard and try to earn my spot just like everybody else.”

15. Fans can watch Vanderbilt scrimmage the next two Saturday mornings – spring game set for April 13.

16. Georgia pro day today - 18 players will work out for NFL scouts. Bulldogs have as many as nine guys projected to go in the first three rounds of the draft.

17. At Tennessee’s pro day Wednesday, quarterback Tyler Bray was asked about his draft stock.  ”It’s whatever (NFL Network Analyst) Mr. (Mike) Mayock says it is.”

SEC Basketball

18. Missouri plays Colorado State tonight in Lexington.  Frank Haith wants the Tigers to attack: “When the game’s on the line, the aggressive team wins.” Matchup ranked as one of the best in the first round.

19. Guard Phil Pressey hears what people are saying about Missouri. “You mean that we have enough talent to be in the Final Four, but we can just as easily shoot ourselves in the foot and lose in the first round?”

20. Ole Miss guard Nick Williams started his college career at Indiana, so he knows Wisconsin and the Big Ten style of basketball. ”It’s a fight to score points in that style.”

21. Can you guess which Ole Miss guard gets mentioned as one of the ten names to know in the NCAA Tournament?

22. This will be Florida’s 17th NCAA Tournament – a compilation of the best and worst of the openers.

23. Losing four players to season-ending injuries this past year, coach Rick Ray sees a brighter future for Mississippi State basketball.

24. Even with a huge freshmen class coming in, Kentucky coach John Calipari will have scholarship flexibility next season.

Extras

25. Five things to watch for today in the NCAA Tournament.

26. What’s a victory in the NCAA Tournament worth?  $1.5 million.

27. Report: “College football and men’s basketball players at the NCAA FBS level have an average annual fair market value of $137,000 and $289,000.”

28. Want to change college athletics?  Hit coaches where it hurts – their wallets.

29. Proposed changes to loosen rules on recruiting are headed back to the drawing board.

30. What was Tim Tebow doing at SMU Wednesday?

SEC Tournament Thursday Results
LSU 68, Georgia 63…Tennessee 69, Mississippi State 53…Vanderbilt 75, Arkansas 72…Missouri 62, Texas A&M 50
SEC Tournament Friday Schedule
LSU vs Florida…Tennessee vs Alabama…Vanderbilt vs Kentucky…Missouri vs Ole Miss
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive says to expect announcement about SEC Network in Mid-April
Follow the SEC each day at MrSEC.com and at twitter.com/mrsec

This one was never seriously in doubt.  After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, Mississippi State was outscored by 20 points the rest of the first half. The Bulldogs did manage to cut the lead down to nine points with just under five minutes to go, but that’s as close as they would get.  Tennessee wins it 69 to 53.

Jordan McRae led Tennesse with  17 points. Trae Golden added 15.  Jarnell Stokes double-double featured had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Quinton Chievous had 10 points for Tennessee off the bench.

Craig Sword led Misssissippi State with 19 points.  The Bulldogs finish their season 10-22.

- Tennessee shot 51% from the field, making 29 of 56 shots. Mississippi State shot just 35% from the floor (20-of-57)

- Reflecting that defensive dominance, Tennessee had five blocked shots, MSU had none.

- The Vols outrebounded Mississippi State 35-31.

- Tennessee had 16 turnovers – Mississippi State 14.

Tennessee advances to play  Alabama tomorrow.

 Mississippi State 70 – South Carolina 59. Video Highlights

1. Freshman guard Fred Thomas scores a career-high 21 points as Bulldogs win for the third time in four games – will face Tennessee today.  ”We’re playing hard, playing smarter and tougher than the other team.”

2. South Carolina’s Brenton Williams scored a career-high 38 points against South Carolina earlier this month but just six points Wednesday.

Texas A&M 71 – Auburn 62. Video Highlights

3. Despite playing with a broken bone in his pinkie finger, A&M guard Elston Turner scores a game-high 22 points. Aggies will play Missouri tonight.

4. Auburn ends the year losing 16 of its last 17 games, wins just nine games all year. Coach Tony Barbee: ”Now that it’s over, I’ll spend time reflecting on why things went the way they did and try to get better from there. That’s all we can do.”

Day 1 Reaction

5. Jon Solomon: “Auburn and South Carolina have two of the three newest arenas in the SEC, and they both lost Wednesday in the first SEC Tournament play-in games with 14 members.”

6. First night of the tournament draws just under 8,000 fans.

Day 2 Schedule (All Times Eastern)

LSU vs. Georgia (1:00 p.m.)

Mississippi State vs. Tennessee (3:30 p.m.)

Vanderbilt vs. Arkansas (7:30 p.m.)

Texas A&M vs. Missouri (10:00 p.m.)

SEC Tournament Wednesday Night Results
Mississippi State 70, South Carolina 59
Texas A&M 71, Auburn62
Thursday SEC Tournament Games…
LSU vs Georgia…Tennessee vs Mississippi State…Vanderbilt vs Arkansas…Texas A&M vs Missouri
Florida’s Billy Donovan was named the SEC’s Coach of the Year
Georgia F Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was named the SEC’s Player of the Year
Vanderbilt DT Jared Morse is currently away from school after breaking a team rule, though coach James Franklin is hopeful he can return
East Tennessee State is considering re-starting its football program and on top of the school’s wish list of coaches is former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer
In 2011-12, Kentucky made $21.6 million in basketball revenue, tops in the SEC
Ole Miss made $5.9 in basketball revenue in 2011-12, the worst number in the SEC

1. Vanderbilt defensive tackle Jared Morse is no longer with the team or enrolled in school. Coach James Franklin: “Jared broke a team rule and is not here this spring. We’re hoping that Jared will have a chance to come back. We’ll see.” Depth at defensive tackle a concern.

2. Spring practice starts Friday at Vanderbilt.  Expect a battle at quarterback.

3. The brother of former LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson signed with LSU in February.  Just days before, Rickey Jefferson was charged with resisting arrest.

4. Spring practice begins tomorrow at LSU.  Despite returning top four players, no position will be under the microscope more than wide receiver.

5. Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds are competing to be the feature back at South Carolina. Running backs coach Everette Sands says whoever emerges will get 60 to 65 percent of the snaps.

6. Will Muschamp announces several position changes at Florida.  Cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy will move to wide receiver - at least temporarily – where he’s listed as a starter.

7. Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel: “We’re no longer the underdog, like we were a little bit last year.” More troubles for Florida lineman Jessaman Dunker.

8. New Tennessee running backs coach Robert Gillespie spent four years as a running back at Florida battling the Vols.  ”You never know where life is going to take you.”

9. “Real football” at Tennessee starts Thursday when the players will practice in pads for the first time.

10. Mario Cristobal will make $475,000 as offensive line coach at Alabama.  He earned $522,000 as a head coach in 2012.

11. Auburn’s 2013 coaching staff will make about $1.6 million less than the 2012 staff did.

12. Arkansas had the worst rushing attack in the SEC last year – and with Knile Davis gone to the NFL – is the cupboard looking a little bare?

13. First choice for football coach at East Tennessee State?  Former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer -was on campus Friday.

SEC Basketball

14. No SEC team generates more basketball revenue than Kentucky.  $21.6 million in 2011-2012.  Ole Miss last at $5.9 million.

15. With Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson named second-team All-SEC on Tuesday, it marked the first time in twelve years that the SEC’s leading scorer was left off the first team.

16. Peers picked Florida’s Billy Donovan as SEC Coach of the Year – but NBC Sports selected Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy for the honor.

17. SEC Player of the Year Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is ranked the No. 31 overall NBA prospect by ESPN’s Chad Ford.  Georgia sophomore will decide after season if he will leave early.

18. Georgia will face LSU Thursday in the SEC Tournament.  Tigers coach Johnny Jones on Caldwell-Pope: “He’s crafty. He’s excellent with the basketball in terms of his ball-handling skills.”

19. NBA questions surround underclassmen Arkansas players BJ Young and Marshawn Powell – but for now the focus is the postseason.

20. Charles Barkley’s message for most underclassmen? Stay in school.  “I don’t think these guys understand how physically imposing the NBA is. The (Noel) Nerlens kid needs to stay in school. It’s not an easy decision.”

21. Did Tennessee’s Jordan McRae deserve the POY honor? Teammate Jarnell Stokes was second-team All-SEC despite being the only player to average a double-double in league play.

22. SEC Tournament gets underway tonight with Mississippi State playing South Carolina in the first game. Not a single player on the Mississippi State roster has played in an SEC Tournament.

23. South Carolina coach Frank Martin will be an assistant coach for Team USA in the 2013 World University Games.

24. Texas A&M likes their tournament draw.  Aggies have defeated five of the six opponents on their side of the bracket.

25. Elston Turner has a broken bone in his finger and didn’t play in the Aggies last game but Auburn is planning on him to show tonight.  Auburn coach Tony Barbee: ”The type of competitor he is, I fully expect him to be out there playing.”

26. Five years ago, Georgia went 4-12 in the SEC but won the tournament.  How does that team compare to this year’s bottom of the SEC?

27. Kentucky coach John Calipari on UK’s season.  ”Some of the stuff went on that won’t go on next year…The bench is going to be my best friend.”

28. Mizzou senior Alex Oriakhi won a national title at Connecticut in 2011, but he wants to be identified with the Tigers.  “Other people might not like that. But oh, well.”

29. The father of Mizzou guard Phil Pressey says talk of the point guard leaving early for the NBA is premature. “When the season is over with, we’ll sit and talk with his coach and my wife and him and evaluate what’s best for Phil.’ ”

30. How good was Alabama in the SEC Tournament under Wimp Sanderson?  25-7 record and reached the finals nine times in 12 years.

31. Get used to Nashville as the host city for the SEC Tournament.  Counting this year’s tourney, it will be there three of the next four years.

Extra

32. Here’s what happens when Jeff Gordon shows up in a disguise on the car lot and wants to take a test drive.