1.  Several Southern newspapers are cutting staff and cutting back their print days.  Yes, it’s a sign of the times, but it’s not good for the future of journalism.

2.  One of our favorite writers points out how quickly things can change in college football by reminding everyone that just seven years ago, people were wondering if the ACC could challenge the SEC.

3.  Two receivers and a tight end arrested for burglary this month are “not a part of (Arkansas’) football team until this thing gets cleared up or they may never be a part.”  (They’re also not enrolled in school at the moment.)

4.  Backup guard John Isaac won’t return to LSU next year because he “failed to meet the institutional and NCAA requirements” for eligibility.

5.  Mark Richt’s new contract won’t include a salary bump, but he will get bigger incentive bonuses.  (This writer thinks that means AD Greg McGarity believes Richt still has more to prove.)

6.  AthlonSports.com ranks Georgia as its preseason #8 team in the nation.

7.  While a national group questions his program’s “professional model,” John Calipari says he wants to create “experiences, not just games” by scheduling mega-events at neutral sites.

8.  South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney talks about his freshman season.

9.  Tennessee’s Derek Dooley once again says, “All the anchors that have been weighing our program down the last three or four years are gone.”

Due to outside influences — and a very long post wrapping up all things Stansbury — we’re gonna have to pile the headlines on you today.  Here goes…

1.  It’ll be all about balance when Florida meets Virginia in the NCAA tourney today.

2.  Mike Rosario is back to 100% for the Gators.

3.  Georgia will be spending more on its new and improved strength staff.

4.  Darius Miller says Kentucky will have “to do a better job of finishing off games.”

5.  Meanwhile, vanquished Western Kentucky coach Ray Harper said: “If they want to advance and win a national championship, they’re going to have to shoot the ball better from the perimeter.”

6.  South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was back at practice yesterday after missing a Tuesday workout for academic reasons.

7.  In Wichita, this writer believes it would take at least $2 million to lure Gregg Marshall to Columbia.

8.  Tennessee is hoping for a home crowd advantage when MTSU visits Monday for a second-round NIT game.

9.  The Vols also hope Jeronne Maymon will be ready to return to action.

10.  Festus Ezeli’s rebounding prowess helped Vanderbilt pull away from Harvard.

11.  Jeffery Taylor had a big night for the Dores playing before friends and family in Albuquerque.

12.  Alabama’s defense is gonna bring the heat today against Creighton.
(So will the Blue Jays feel, feel, feel their heat?)

13.  The Crimson Tide is 0-3 this season when it gives up 70 points in a game… Creighton averages 80.

14.  Folks who know Auburn’s Varez Ward — the central figure in a point-shaving investigation — are staying mum for now.

15.  Tailback Knile Davis is happy to be back on Arkansas’ practice field.

16.  With linebacker depth a question, defensive end Tenarius Wright is getting a look at that position.

17.  LSU’s O-lineman Josh Dworaczyk is glad to be back for a sixth year in Baton Rouge.

18.  Once again there was no NCAA tourney for Ole Miss, but Andy Kennedy held things together in spite of injuries and off-court issues.

19.  Texas A&M AD Billy Byrne says hoops coach Billy Kennedy — diagnosed with Parkinson’s just before his first season in College Station – is in “good shape to be our coach for a long, long time.”  (Here’s hoping so.)

20.  Frank Haith is doing great work at Missouri, but some folks haven’t forgotten the mess he left behind at Miami.  (And they rip the heck out of him for it.)

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.

1.  Freshman Bradley Beal already looks comfortable at Florida… what with that 15.2 points-per-game average.

2.  Erik Murphy will be back in the Gators’ starting lineup tonight.

3.  Prepping to meet Michigan State in the Outback Bowl, Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham remember his own three years in East Lansing.

4.  This writer puts odds on which UGA underclassmen will turn pro.

5.  John Calipari was happy with the play of point guard Marquis Teague this weekend.

6.  For freshman All-American defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, his best days at South Carolina are ahead of him.

7.  It doesn’t show in the record, but this writer says Tennessee’s hoopsters are making progress.

8.  Vanderbilt will hope to get more than 15 combined points from John Jenkins and Festus Ezeli tonight against Longwood.

9.  Alabama is a healthier team as it resumes preparations for the BCS Championship Game…

10.  And it resumes those preps today.

11.  One area of consistency for Auburn in 2011?  Punter Steven Clark.

12.  The basketball Tigers will face Florida A&M tonight before heading to Hawaii for Christmas.

13.  You can probably forget finding cheap tickets to the BCS title game.  (Duh.)

14.  Trent Johnson’s Tigers have won four in a row, but tonight they host #11 Marquette.

15.  Linebacker Ferlando Bohanna — now that’s a name — gives Mississippi State options moving forward.

UPDATE – The SEC has named its Players of the Week.

UPDATE/BONUS — We usually don’t cover baseball, but the league announced today that the SEC tourney will go from 8 to 10 teams in May.

The top recruit in the country last year, freshman defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has played up to the hype at South Carolina this fall.  He is second on the team with five sacks and he’s tops on the team in forced fumbles.

But he’s still getting better, according to defensive line coach Brad Lawing:


“He’s got so much room for improvement.  He’s just touching the surface right now.  It’s very exciting, because as he learns to practice consistently day to day to day, he’s going to keep getting better.  He still hasn’t learned how to do that like he needs to.  He’ll have a good day of practice and then sometimes a not-so-good day.  But when you learn to ply your trade day in, day out, the entire time you’re out there, that’s when you really make big jumps of improvement.”


In SEC games, Clowney also ranks 10th in the league in the tackles for loss category as well as sixth in sacks.

1.  Florida is hoping to heal up this weekend before facing Georgia next Saturday.

2.  Georgia has been settling for a lot of field goals this year… and Blair Walsh hasn’t been as accurate as usual.

3.  Kentucky quarterback Morgan Newton is trying to remain positive.

4.  Jadeveon Clowney’s potential at South Carolina is no laughing matter.

5.  Tennessee needs a big day from its defense at Alabama tomorrow.

6.  Vanderbilt will face an Army quarterback this weekend who wanted to play for the Commodores.

1.  Charlie Weis is happy with his co-starters at tailback…

2.  But he knows his new Florida offense will have to prove itself Saturday against Florida Atlantic.

3.  Here is a list of keys to the Gators’ season.

4.  Despite the UF-FSU rivalry, Will Muschamp and Jimbo Fisher are keeping their shared beach house.

5.  Georgia’s Aaron Murray says hotshot freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell is “every bit as advertised.”

6.  UGA will be focused on shutting down Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore on Saturday.

7.  Murray would like to fashion his own game after the Broncos’ Heisman-candidate signal-caller.

8.  Linebacker Danny Trevathan is a team leader for Kentucky.

9.  Here’s a look at how the Wildcats match up with Western Kentucky.

10.  As Joker Phillips enters his second season as UK’s coach, this writer points out that second seasons have been a mixed bag for previous Cat coaches.

11.  This scribe says freshman defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is even better than expected.

12.  Steve Spurrier will play two quarterbacks on Saturday and he says the competition has made Stephen Garcia and Connor Shaw better.

13.  Third-string quarterback Andrew Clifford was knocked unconscious and will miss up to three weeks after a mo-ped accident.  (When did this scooter craze begin on college campuses?  Man, I feel old.)

14.  Tennessee didn’t react well to simulated crowd noise at practice today.

15.  Derek Dooley believes UT’s ground game will be better this season.

16.  The Vols’ defensive linemen are focused on pressure first, then sacks.

17.  Over the last 10 years, no school has been more disappointing rankings-wise than Tennessee.

18.  Vanderbilt has a pair of big-play cornerbacks.

19.  James Franklin is trying to make sure his team doesn’t take Elon — yes, Elon — lightly.

1.  This writer expects Kentucky to grab a Gator Bowl bid with a 6-6 record in 2011.

2.  Here’s a terrific primer on Joker Phillips’ second UK football team.

3.  Carolina freshman defensive end Jadeveon Clowney — the most-hyped rookie in the SEC this fall — is staying humble.

4.  Stephen Garcia is asking Cock fans to take him back “one more time.”

5.  New strength coach Ron McKeefery — the Vols’ fifth since the start of the 2008 season — has tried to instill a sense of pride in Tennessee players.

6.  Freshman safety Pat Martin is leaving the UT program in what Derek Dooley calls a “mutual decision.”

7.  In the end, Vanderbilt’s hopes hinge on an improved offense.

8.  James Franklin named his starters today and quarterback Larry Smith will once again get the nod.  (He’s now had three head coaches give him starts at VU.)

South Carolina’s pass-rushing duo of Melvin Ingram (9 sacks last year) and Jadeveon Clowney (the top signee in the nation) were both felled by injuries during practice yesterday.  Luckily for the Cocks, it sounds as if those injuries are relatively minor.  Both defensive ends left the field without assistance.

Ingram suffered a left thigh contusion, according to The Charleston Post & Courier.  Clowney sprained his left ankle.  Steve Spurrier talked about Clowney’s injury first:


“The doc doesn’t think it’s too bad.  He went in and put a little ice on it.  So two of our D-linemen had a minor nagging little thing.  Hopefully, if it had to happen, it happened 10 or 11 days before the game, so they should be OK.  Definitely both of them will be out a couple of days.  Hopefully they’ll get well by next week.”


South Carolina opens against East Carolina next Saturday in Charlotte.  The following week, they travel to Georgia for a matchup of the two East Division favorites.

With injuries and suspensions already taking a toll in the Gamecocks’ secondary, USC can’t afford to lose either of their star pass-rushers for any extended length of time.

You can hand the offensive and defensive MVP trophies to Alshon Jeffery and Courtney Upshaw.  You can count on Jadeveon Clowney to be the impact freshman of the year.  And you can pencil in a South Carolina-Alabama SEC Championship Game.

At least according to SI.com’s preseason SEC predictions.  You can see their full write-up here, but their divisional predictions are as follows: