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As you will recall, Jim Harrick and his son won a lot of basketball games at UGA. But any achievements on the court were badly tarnished (and eventually rescinded) by their actions off the court. In the last few weeks of the 2002-2003 season, Jeremy Schapp reported on major academic compromises in favor of the basketball team and payments to players (Tony Cole) and their friends.

The result of the story was a cascade of horrors: no post season for one of the best Georgia basketball teams ever, the program being the subject of late night comedy monologues (how many points is a three point basket worth?), the resignation of Harrick and his staff, and NCAA sanctions.

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Videos like this are making me really start to like Monte Kiffin.

Video : Lane Kiffin introduces Monte Kiffin : GoVolsXtra.com.

I like his tie, don’t you?

Meanwhile, the Great Punkin makes his first appearance on ESPN, as an analyst

Still Workin’ Like Heck!

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UPDATE: [Note by Joel, 01/05/09 10:10 PM EST ] And just like that, the report just after the second half started is that Lane is moving both arms and that everything was just precautionary. Fantastic news. Now back to the game.

Sports injuries, especially football injuries, generally look much worse than what they really are. Just last week, Vol fans were holding their collective breath when Tennessee basketball player Wayne Chism was immobilized on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to the hospital. A few days later, he was playing against Kansas.

Even with the most gruesome injuries — like Alabama’s Tyrone Prothro’s (warning: graphic content) or Tennessee’s David Holbert’s (warning: graphic content) — players are expected to mostly recover full use of their bodies even if their ability to use it for sports is impaired.

In rare cases, though, an injury is bad. Really bad. Bad enough that a person becomes permanently disabled. And usually these injuries are the results of collisions that don’t really look all that scary. Like the injury to Tennessee’s Inky Johnson a few years ago that left him unable to use one of his arms.

When Ohio State’s Shaun Lane slumped to the turf immediately upon making a special teams tackle in tonight’s Fiesta Bowl, I thought of Inky Johnson even as the broadcast was cutting to commercial. I thought of him more when, upon returning from break, players were scattered on the field around the gold cart and the stretcher. And still more when the announcers were encouraged by Lane giving the thumbs up sign as he was being carted off. I wasn’t looking at the outstretched thumb on the raised hand, I was looking at the medical personnel carefully holding the other arm immobile.

Appearances are deceiving. What looks ordinary is often worse than you imagine. But sometimes what looks awful and reminds you of some other horrid thing is really just the ordinary dressed up in the robes of nightmares. Here’s to hoping and praying that the report on Shaun Lane is immediate, before the game is over or early tomorrow morning, that he’s just had a stinger or a contusion of some scary sort. If not, I will keep thinking of Inky.

More on Inky, because whatever happens with Lane, Inky’s worthy of continued prayers and remembrance for what he gave to, and gave up for, us fans:

• Inky Johnson talks about his injury
• Talking Points: on Inky Johnson edition

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Matt. Does a Big Ten also-ran in the Ex-Citrus Bowl even qualify as a consolation prize for Georgia? Or is UGA’s season just a crater after getting pantsed by Georgia Tech, no matter what?

Ten wins (assuming a win over MSU, whose defense has been ripped on numerous occasions) with a slew of injuries sounds like a fine year to me. Georgia fans … they do not readily agree.

Holly. Georgia Tech on its own, maybe not a crater. Georgia Tech and an impending Knowshon departure? Yeah, that might do it.

(Matt Hinton and Holly Anderson, Dr. Saturday)

Let us leave aside for now the question of whether Knowshon Rockwell Moreno is N.F.L.-bound; we will know the answer to that one soon enough. Sticking strictly to what happened on the field in 2008, do we in Bulldog Nation have any business feeling as dour as we (or, at least, I) do in the wake of the campaign just concluded? Given the rash of injuries (including the loss of two starting left tackles and our best defensive lineman), was it, as Dr. Saturday says, “a fine year”?

I take the position that it was not, and, while I know the Doc meant no offense, I believe it says something about the popular perception of the Red and Black that the question even would be raised. No one would ask whether Florida, Ohio State, or Texas fans ought to be disappointed by a three-loss season and no conference crown in an autumn in which a national championship game berth was anticipated; it would be taken as a given that they would be and should be dejected at such a result.

After the Gators won a national championship in football in 2006 which was bookended by back-to-back N.C.A.A. tournament titles, there was fear expressed in Bulldog Nation that the Saurians were about to dominate the league. I took issue with that assertion, and my position was bolstered by the following year’s result in Jacksonville.

Then came 2008, with its lofty preseason expectations, its lopsided loss on Duval Street, and its embarrassing culmination in the final home game. If the Gators had suffered exactly the same injuries the Bulldogs suffered this season—meaning, of course, that all of their skill position players remained healthy throughout the fall—and, instead of making it into the national championship game, they had lost badly to a Western Division opponent, gotten blown out in the Cocktail Party, and been beaten by Florida State to end up in the bowl formerly known as you-can’t-spell-”Citrus”-without-U-T, would anyone anywhere call that “a fine year”? Not on your life.

I respect the fact that Doug Gillett views the glass as half-full, but I agree with Damon Evans that Georgia should be judged alongside its peer institutions. By that standard, 2008 was a woefully dispiriting year for Bulldog football. I agree with the maxim that things are never either as good as they seem or as bad as they seem, but the season just concluded gives real cause for concern that the program slid backwards, not just from a preseason No. 1 ranking that now seems like a cruel joke, but to the late 1990s (when blowout losses to the Gators and close losses to the Yellow Jackets were the norm) or even the early 1990s (when shootouts were standard and the ‘Dawgs often came out on the short end of high-scoring games).

At the end of the 2005 campaign, it was clear that Georgia and Louisiana State were the top two teams in the Southeastern Conference. In the three years since, the Red and Black have not attended a single S.E.C. championship game, while Florida has won two conference crowns and is about to play for its second national championship in a three-year span, L.S.U. has won league and national titles, and Alabama has resumed its historic place among the conference and national elite.

In 2008, for the first time in the Mark Richt era, Georgia seemed to be losing ground. That perception is being perpetuated as we enter the offseason. The Bayou Bengals, following a brief downcycle, have found the quarterback and made the coaching staff changes to place themselves back among the S.E.C.’s upper echelon. Rumored or reported assistant coach acquisitions not only by L.S.U. (John Chavis), but also by Auburn (Gus Malzahn and Trooper Taylor) and Tennessee (Monte Kiffin and Ed Orgeron) represent positive developments for those annual Georgia rivals, as well.

Yes, Coach Richt managed to keep Rodney Garner and Stacy Searels in the fold, but all of Georgia’s hopes (including the fervent wish that Moreno and Matthew Stafford return for another year) are based on holding the line rather than rooted in getting better. Merely not regressing (or not regressing further) is not synonymous with progress; when your rivals all are improving, standing still is tantamount to losing ground.

Three years ago, Georgia was no worse than the second-best team in the conference, and, given the Bulldogs’ lopsided wins over the other contender for the top spot in 2004 and 2005, the Classic City Canines had a compelling case for being the top team in the country’s toughest conference. Today, the Red and Black clearly are behind Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana State, and Georgia’s argument for being the No. 4 team in the league presently holds water only because Ole Miss was not among the Western Division foes the ‘Dawgs faced in 2008.

I have great faith in Coach Richt based upon past performance, but changes must be made if we are to stop the slide, reverse the trend, and begin again to ascend. If we do not get moving anew, we will be left behind; we already appear to have been lapped by the parvenu program to the south of us, and why? The Gators have a wealth of institutional advantages, including a devoted fan base, excellent facilities, a compatible climate, a natural nearby recruiting base, extensive financial resources, a proven head coach, a forward-thinking athletic director, regular television exposure, a strong conference affiliation, and a run of success in recent years.

Those characteristics give Florida a built-in edge over all but a handful of programs in the country . . . but Georgia has every one of those advantages, and, whereas the Gators have a winning tradition dating back to the early 1990s, the Red and Black have a winning tradition dating back to the early 1890s. There is absolutely no excuse for what has happened in Jacksonville over the last 19 years, much less for what happened there last November 1.

Was 2008 “a fine year”? With all due respect to Matt, Holly, and Doug, no, it wasn’t. Hell, no, it wasn’t. It wasn’t even close. The win over Michigan State took an absolute disaster and turned it into a mitigated disaster. I’m not the least bit satisfied with the season and I will not be satisfied with any subsequent seasons until the Bulldogs get back where they belong. Falling from No. 1 in the country before Georgia Southern to No. 2 in the state after Georgia Tech is and always will be utterly unacceptable. Losses sometimes happen, and there is no dishonor in falling to a superior opponent, but Georgia should never encounter three superior opponents in any single regular-season schedule, and failing even to show up in big games invariably is inexcusable.

Georgia went into the 2002 Auburn game needing to beat a longstanding orange-and-blue-clad rival on a field in that opponent’s home state to claim a division crown and open the door for much more. The Bulldogs trailed 14-3 at halftime, but team leaders voiced their discontent in the locker room and capable coaches made effective adjustments at intermission. The Red and Black came back for a stirring win to propel them to an S.E.C. title, a Sugar Bowl victory, and a No. 3 final ranking.

The identical scenario unfolded in 2008, when Georgia went into the Florida game needing to beat a longstanding orange-and-blue-clad rival on a field in that opponent’s home state to claim a division crown and open the door for much more. The Bulldogs once again trailed 14-3 at halftime. Where was the leadership? Where was the coaching? They were in the other locker room.

When a program reasonably expects to end the year in the Promised Land, no season in which the team wanders blithely back into the desert can be counted a success. By no reasonable measure was this “a fine year” and Georgia will have something to prove in 2009. The Classic City Canines lost much of the respect they spent the previous six or seven years earning, and deservedly so. The Bulldogs will have to break out the hobnailed boot, if not 70 X Takeoff, to get back to where they were one year ago.

There are 244 days remaining until the Oklahoma State game and the Georgia Bulldogs will spend Thursday night watching the national championship game instead of playing in it. It’s time for finishing the drill to stop being a slogan and go back to being a way of playing. First snap. Last snap. Every snap.

Go ‘Dawgs.

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Colin explains why Utah doesn’t deserve to be number 1 in the nation.

Author: glenn0043

Keywords: The Herd- Utah-College Football- Number

Added: January 5, 2009

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Let’s get ready to rumble.

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What a difference a week makes. Freshman forward Jason Henry may return to Arkansas’ lineup as soon as tomorrow when the Hogs host No. 7 Texas, coach John Pelphrey announced this afternoon.

Henry

Henry underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Dec. 29, and was expected to miss two to three weeks, Pelphrey said at the time. But thanks to pre-surgery workouts and re-habilitation training, Henry surprisingly returned to Arkansas practices Sunday and participated in drills. Pelphrey said Henry is day-to-day but he could be back just eight days after his surgery.

Watch Pelphrey discuss Henry below, or continue reading after the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“He’s not just on crutches in the training room with ice. We’ve seen him move,” Pelphrey said. “At one point in time he’s just shooting free throws, next thing you know he’s in a drill. It’s been a progression.”

Maybe it’s not too surprising, Pelphrey joked. Henry, after all, was pretty jovial just a few hours after his surgery, when Arkansas beat then-No. 4 Oklahoma on Dec. 30.

“I thought there was a chance he might be OK when he left the floor, jumped on the seat and back down on the floor again,” Pelphrey smirked. “I couldn’t get him to do that in pre-season weight lifting.”

Pelphrey added, “we’re a little bit surprised there’s a decision to be made that he may play tomorrow.”

Henry was averaging 8.2 points 3.2 rebounds and 16.2 minutes a game in six appearances before his injury sidelined him prior to the Dec. 27 win against Northwestern State.

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Arkansas didn’t make either major Top 25 poll today. The AP Poll was released a few minutes ago, and Arkansas received the third-most votes in the “others receiving votes” category to place 28th in the mythical, extended version of the media rankings. The Hogs weren’t close to making the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25.

Here’s the update from this morning concerning the coaches’ poll:

Arkansas garnered some votes but didn’t make it into the field of 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25 poll this afternoon. The Hogs received 27 points and are 36th if you extended the 25-team poll.

Not a surprising development. I wonder if Razorbacks coach John Pelphrey voted for his Hogs. He’s a part of the 31-member Board of Coaches that participate in the poll.

UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Pelphrey was asked about his ballot today at his afternoon press conference. He wasn’t too sure if he voted for Arkansas in the coaches’ poll because, well, the UA basketball coaching staff usually partakes in casting the ballot.

Coach said he wasn’t too consumed by the rankings. He just guessed that one SEC team was in the poll this week. (He’s right, Tennessee is 25th in the coaches’ poll.)

Watch Pelphrey’s reaction below or continue reading.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I certainly hope there comes a day where we’re never outside the top 25, because I think that’s where Arkansas belongs,” Pelphrey said. “I think that’s what history says. But once we get there, the season’s not over with that stuff either.

“I’m just not real consumed with it. Certainly you’d rather be ranked than not ranked, make no mistake about that. But whether we are or aren’t, it’s not going to help us against Texas. I have not looked. I have no clue where that stuff sits or lies.”

Arkansas hosts No. 7 (AP/ESPN) Texas on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena.

After North Carolina’s 85-78 loss at home to Boston College last night in its ACC opener, Pittsburgh claimed the No. 1 spot in the poll. It’s the first No. 1 ranking ever in men’s basketball for the athletics department there, which was once led by second-year UA athletics director Jeff Long.

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I feel like I wasted a good part of my weekend watching high school all-star games, and I’m not overly happy about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I got to see as many as a dozen or so players who could end up at LSU, and that part was productive for me as an LSU football fan.

But I also got to see some of the most ridiculous, low-class and shameful displays of “commitments” by high school recruits that I’ll ever see. And it irritates me that as a fan and a follower of LSU and college football and the recruiting process that is so vital to it I’m probably going to have to wade through more of this crap in the next month and on into the future.

I want to make it clear that I’m not just griping here about the fact that William Campbell and Andre Debose committed to Michigan and Florida, respectively, or that LSU also didn’t get kids like Xavier Nixon, Jon Bostic, John Martinez, Dyron Dye or Ray Ray Armstrong. That latter group contained not one player LSU had a real shot at, regardless of what was presented by NBC and ESPN. As it turns out, the Tigers probably got played by Campbell and Debose so as to provide drama for an otherwise ho-hum commitment to their in-state schools.

And while it’s about as attractive as a Tabasco enema to think of Debose at Florida the next 3-4 years, at least he seemed to handle his commitment to the Gators with a degree of class. I can live with that, as awful as it is.

But if you saw Campbell’s bizarre act before committing to Michigan Saturday on NBC during the Army All-Star game, you might have felt as I did a sense of relief that he’s not going to LSU. Campbell proceeded to display a few muscle-man moves as soon as the camera was put on him, then did one of those hat-fake deals which are becoming de rigeur in these commitment announcements before donning a Michigan hat. This after “eliminating” Michigan just a few days before the announcement.

Campbell’s father was standing next to him while all this was going on.

If you’re a reader of this blog, you’ll probably recall that one of my axioms about recruiting is that the kids who put on circuses while being recruited are usually the ones who turn into big fat busts while in college, and I can offer countless examples to prove that axiom. Campbell was definitely a circus clown, and what’s more he really didn’t impress in the Army game. I saw him get beat repeatedly both on offense and on defense (he played both ways in the game), and it looked like he lacked a motor. This guy has bust written all over him - and I would say that if he had committed to LSU, although I’ll admit probably in a more understated fashion.

The Armstrong and Dye commitments to Miami Sunday night were even worse, though part of that was the Jerry Springer fashion in which they were conducted by ESPN. Armstrong looks like a pretty good player, but I couldn’t quite decipher anything he said - it was absolutely not any form of English I’m familiar with. And Dye’s pronouncement that “Imma MACHINE” was pretty embarrassing. I guess he’s not aware that if you’re going to “Da U” you gotta be a f$@&ing soldier, not a machine.

I am fully aware that these are high school kids, and I am also aware that I was an assclown of considerable magnitude when I was in high school myself. But I also wasn’t on TV displaying my immaturity at that age, and to a large extent NBC and ESPN are to blame for putting these degrading displays on national television and insuring that high school recruits in the future will think up dumber and more embarrassing ways to commit to a school - until such time as folks like me, the audience for this garbage, will finally throw our hands up and watch the Food Channel or the fight scene from Troy on Starz instead. That time is coming unless some adult supervision is finally applied to this process.

For the football side of these all-star games, I can offer the following about LSU’s commitments and remaining recruiting targets:

QB Chris Garrett, Offense-Defense game (Friday): I thought Garrett really looked pretty good even though his team was clobbered and the offense didn’t move much when he was in there. Garrett showed a lot better mobility than advertised, which was a good thing because his offensive line at Tupelo High School was probably better than the group he played with this past weekend. He’s got a live arm and he’s pretty accurate, and he also has pretty good presence in the pocket. Based on what I saw Friday I’d say he’s going to redshirt here, but there is no reason to believe that down the road he won’t be a fine SEC quarterback.

QB Russell Shepard, Under Armour game (Sunday): Shep’s numbers weren’t great - I think he was only 2-for-6 in the game - but he accounted for both his team’s touchdowns; one on a 92-yard bomb to Andre Debose, after which he told the ESPN cameras “he’s gotta commit to LSU after that” and another on a 15-yard run that showed off some lightning quickness which ought to scare the hell out of SEC defensive coordinators. Against probably the best competition of all the all-star games this weekend Shepard was the most dangerous player on the field when he was in the game, and that indicates he’s more than capable of fulfilling at least a Ryan Perrilloux 2007 role in the LSU offense next year. His passing needs some work; he made a few throws where he didn’t plant his feet properly, but on the other hand I think the coaches for the Black squad did a lousy job of trying to make him a dropback passer in that game when that’s not what he does best. He should have been rolling out or running spread option every play, not making himself a pillbox.

RB Dexter Pratt, Offense-Defense game: Pratt played with the same line Garrett did for the Red team in the Offense-Defense game, and as a result he wasn’t really able to show all his stuff while getting hit in the backfield half the time. But on a couple of possessions in the second half he was featured as a runner and in those opportunities he got some openings and really looked good. Pratt has something of a Charles Scott-type style as a runner, but he’s got better speed than Scott and he’s capable of getting to the outside. Billed as a great receiver, though, he dropped a pass from Garrett in the flat. I expect he’ll redshirt, but I can definitely see why LSU’s coaches jumped on him early - he was the best running back I saw in that game, and he looked a cut above Montrell Connor, who was in the Under Armour game.

OL Chris Faulk, Army game (Saturday): Faulk wasn’t exactly dominating, but I thought he acquitted himself well playing guard for the White team. I didn’t see him get beat or stood up, and he seemed to do pretty well in pass blocking. One thing is for sure - he is a thick, well-built kid whose body looks ready for college ball. I’m sure he could get stronger and improve his conditioning just like every other high school kid getting ready to play college football, but if Faulk doesn’t play as a freshman it’s going to be due to technique or the mental aspects of the game and not due to a need for more physical development.

OL Stavion Lowe, Under Armour game: Lowe was playing right tackle for the White team Sunday night, and he got beat on a speed rush once. Otherwise he looked very good. He’s a prototype college tackle, with great height and long arms, though I think he could maybe add some bulk to his frame, and I thought he showed pretty good feet. Lowe seems like a guy who could play early at LSU, though I’m not sure there will be a need for him to play as a freshman.

DT Chris Davenport, Army game: Davenport is supposedly hobbled by a knee injury he suffered at midseason at Mansfield High, and I can believe it. To be honest, he didn’t look all that good. He clogged the line a few times, and that’s going to be his major job as a defensive tackle at LSU (think Charles Alexander or Howard Green rather than Booger McFarland or Glenn Dorsey), but he also seemed to have a tendency to stand straight up at the snap and on at least one occasion the result was that he got pancaked. I’m not down on the kid, though, because if that knee needs rest and rehab we’re not seeing an accurate picture of what he can do - and playing at little bitty Mansfield is hardly good preparation for SEC football. He was always going to need a lot of coaching before he’d be ready to contribute.

DT Josh Downs, Under Armour game: By contrast to Davenport, Downs looked like he could have started for LSU this year, which was a major surprise given that the Bastrop product was largely unknown when he committed to LSU back in February of last year. Downs isn’t what you’d call big for a college defensive tackle; I’d make him maybe 6-2 and 270 or so, and he’s going to need to add 15 pounds or so if he wants to play this fall. But in terms of a guy who dominates a game from start to finish and in terms of a guy who doesn’t take any plays off, you won’t find a kid better adjusted to the requirements of college football. Downs is cat-quick inside, he rushes the passer extremely well, he has great leverage and comes off the ball fast, he pursues plays to the sideline, he’s a good tackler, he doesn’t give up on plays, he’ll turn around and chase when the pass is released - which virtually ZERO high school defensive tackles will do, and he’s got excellent technique. He’s also strong as an ox for a guy who’s a little undersized at the position.

Downs was the biggest surprise of all in the game; I’ve considered him something of an afterthought as a recruit the whole time since he’s been committed despite the recruiting services bumping him up from a three-star player to a four-star player over the course of his senior year, but I am now completely aboard with him. He’s clearly the best defensive lineman in the state of Louisiana this year and I see so much Glen Dorsey in this guy I can’t even believe it.

DE Sam Montgomery, Under Armour game: Montgomery, who still says LSU is his leader but who might well melt away as defensive line coach Earl Lane moves on in a week or so, would be a really nice addition to this class. He’s rail-thin for a defensive end right now, but there’s no doubt he has the frame to be one of those 6-4, 260-pound edge rushers who clobber quarterbacks from the blindside. In fact, he did just that to Shepard in the second quarter of the game, causing a fumble that the White team picked up and returned for a touchdown. He’d be a great pickup if the Tigers could close him; hopefully they’ll get the defensive staff straightened out soon and get somebody on him hard before Signing Day.

LB Barkevious Mingo, Army game: Mingo didn’t do much in the game. He got beat by a running back out of the backfield for a touchdown late, though he had no safety help, but he also had a 40-50 yard return of a blocked kick in which he looked awfully good with the ball in his hands. Mingo has serious speed, though, and with a 6-5, 210-pound frame it’s not a surprise he’s a highly-rated recruit. This is a guy whose value comes from a projection rather than where he is now; he’s got to add 40 pounds of muscle before we’ll know what kind of player he is or even what position he’ll play. My guess is he ends up at defensive end rather than linebacker and he’s going to be a very scary edge rusher.

LB Jelani Jenkins, Under Armour game: I don’t know if Jenkins is serious about LSU after all. ESPN did a pretty in-depth report on him and his recruiting process and the Tigers weren’t even mentioned, though Rivals and Scout have both had repeated reports on him in which LSU was supposedly a finalist. What that means I have no idea. What I can say, though, is that this guy can flat-out play. He runs sideline to sideline, and he hits like a truck. He’s also pretty good in pass coverage, and while he needs to add a few pounds he looks like he’s big enough that his size wouldn’t prevent him from contributing next year. The only weakness I saw was he doesn’t play off blocks quite as well as you’d like.

S Craig Loston, Under Armour game: Watching Loston is like watching LaRon Landry all over again - for good and bad reasons. Like Landry, Loston will absolutely knock the crud out of people, and because of his physicality he plays a good bit bigger than he actually is. Like Landry he also has unbelievable speed and gets to the ball extremely quickly. Of course, like Landry he also has no compunction about drilling guys late or talking smack, so that part needs to be coached a little. The intimidating persona for a free safety is there, though, and he backs it up with his play. Loston may actually have better ball skills than Landry as well. I would say this guy is absolutely capable of coming in and contributing if not starting as a freshman.

S Darren Myles, Under Armour game: While Loston was every bit as good as advertised, Myles struggled. He arrived late on a pair of touchdown passes the White team threw, one a slant route to Marlon Brown (who apparently isn’t interested in LSU any more from what he says and who seems like he’s going to Tennessee) who ran right by him on the way to a score, and the other a lollipop pass down the field that resulted in Myles hitting the receiver late five yards in the end zone. But that having been said, Myles did have a few really nice open-field tackles in the game. He’s not a big guy, but he’s pretty tall and he looks like he can fill out to 200 pounds at least without dramatically altering his body. He’s also a physical guy. So if he can be coached to take better angles to the ball and improve his recognition I think Myles can be pretty good - I’m not sure he’s ready to play as a freshman, though. As to his college choice, there’s no news. Word is LSU is in the lead, but he won’t let on publicly what he’s thinking.

Hoops Looks Really Good Against SLU: Saturday night a pretty solid Southeastern Louisiana team came into the PMAC and took a 90-61 beating at the hands of Trent Johnson’s LSU club. It was a strong performance by LSU, as SLU had taken Arkansas to overtime earlier in the season and had also played Auburn and Minnesota to their heels during the season as well. But after struggling a bit with the Lions in the first 10-12 minutes of the game the Tigers took control, and the second half was masterful for LSU.

Marcus Thornton had 33 points for the Tigers, a season high, and it is now no longer a silly proposition that Thornton might play in the NBA. I would say he’s the best player in the SEC at this point and I’m not sure it’s a close comparison. Thornton plays defense now, he rebounds well, he’s a ballhawk, he takes much better shots than he did last year and if he’s open he’s going to score. With Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell giving the Tigers something of an inside-outside game offensively (Mitchell had 24 points Saturday) and Bo Spencer adding a third option (Spencer had 17), LSU seems like they’ve got a puncher’s chance against the good teams. Add Garrett Temple’s ability to shut down the opponent’s best offensive player, which he did once again to SLU’s Kevyn Green, and you’ve really got the makings of a nice club.

Or at least you would have those makings if you had anything at all in the post. Chris Johnson was terrible again Saturday, playing lousy defense and failing to contribute anything at all on the offensive end. Quinton Thornton was actually a lot better than Johnson when the latter was in the game, and at this point you’d probably have to go with Thornton over Johnson in the starting lineup. Thornton isn’t going to give you any more than the six points he had Saturday, and with Temple not being much of a scoring threat you hate to play 3-on-5 when you’re on offense. But at least Thornton brings you some bulk in the paint and he can be easily backed down under the goal. He’s also a decent rebounder and he can set screens. It might also be time to experiment with Storm Warren in the post; Warren is out of position as a center at 6-7 and 220 pounds, but he’s at least athletic and he plays hard. He’s also coming back next year and needs playing time.

Wednesday, LSU pays its respects to Utah, and I’m sure the Tigers will thank the Utes for the entertainment of seeing them spank Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. That’s a blog update all its own, particularly on the topic of Nick Saban attempting to pass the loss off on the fact that he’s still building a program (how many recruiting clases will you need before you can match up with Utah, Nick?) rather than the fact he was badly outcoached, but I digress.

I don’t know that the Utes will be any more SEC-friendly in basketball than they were in football. Utah has had some rather inexplicable losses this year, but they also trounced Gonzaga last week and they’re a horrible matchup for LSU. Utah has a 7-2, 265-pounder in the middle in Australian Luke Nevill, who leads them with 17.6 points and eight rebounds a game. But they also have five guys in double figures on the season - so LSU can’t just sag down into the middle on Nevill.

To win this game, which is doable but very difficult, the Tigers are going to need to get out in transition more than they’ve done so far this year. They’re also going to need Thornton and Spencer to shoot the lights out from beyond the arc. And it hasn’t happened all year, but LSU will also need Johnson to finally start making some shots from 10-15 feet so that they can pull Nevill out from under the goal; Mitchell is going to get totally closed down on his patented running jump hook across the lane if Nevill camps out under the basket.

After Utah comes the SEC. LSU is almost ready, I think.

The Coaching Carousel: There isn’t much new going on with respect to coaches, or at least nothing definitive I’ve heard since the last update - though the Times-Picayune reports that we might finally have some sort of announcement on the subject later today.

After a day or so of hearing a whole lot about Bill Johnson as LSU’s prospective defensive line coach, the new name being thrown around is Brick Haley, the defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears who might be getting moved out so that Lovie Smith can hire his buddy Rod Marinelli for that job. Haley is being made the scapegoat for the Bears not making the playoffs at 9-7 this year; the criticism is that Chicago didn’t have enough of a pass rush. I can’t offer much of an opinion on that since I didn’t see them play a whole lot this year; a year ago Haley was supposedly the best up-and-coming defensive line coach in the NFL.

What I do know about Haley is that when he was at Mississippi State for Sylvester Croom’s first three years (2004-06), he did a sensational job. Haley turned Willie Evans and Titus Brown into all-SEC caliber players, which was a very difficult feat of coaching to perform. His guys totally overachieved there, and as a result Mississippi State actually had a pretty good defense despite one of the worst offenses around. He’s also known as a very solid recruiter with good connections in Mississippi.

Haley isn’t the only name in the hopper for the defensive line job. Supposedly Miles is also talking to Bo Davis, the former Tiger player and strength coach who currently serves as Alabama’s defensive line coach. Davis has just finished his second year coaching the defensive line for Saban, which would make him ripe to leave and go somewhere - Kevin Steele is already gone off that defensive staff, as he’s the new defensive coordinator at Clemson, and rumors of a mass exodus on Bama’s coaching staff are beginning to pile up. But Saban gave Davis a shot to coach a position when Miles would not; Davis was up for the LSU d-line job when Miles took over at LSU in January of 2005 and again when Karl Dunbar left in December 2005, and that resulting loyalty might well mean he can’t be had now.

Tony Hughes, who we’ve discussed in previous updates, is still being talked about as a potential addition to the staff in some capacity. What I’d initially heard about Hughes was that he was an appendage to an Ed Orgeron hire, but it seems LSU’s interest goes deeper even without Orgeron’s involvement in this staff. Word over the weekend was that LSU’s pursuit of Vance Joseph as the secondary coach has forced the San Francisco 49ers to redouble their efforts to keep him, and it looks like Mike Singletary is going to hold on to Joseph.

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The audience has spoken. Amidst the most dominating tear in the football team’s 102-year history, the hoops squad has been quiet, practically unnoticed.

At first glance, it doesn’t look as if the 08’s have made any progression toward Big Dance form, if anything, taking a step back with nonstop attrition.

As before, Florida finished a somewhat wanting pre-SEC slate with two losses. Highly promising big man Mo Speights spurned Hogtown for the City of Brotherly Love (For those wondering, he’s averaging 7.6 and 3.6 in 15 minutes of NBA action per game.)

Jai Lucas, unhappy with playing time, transferred to Texas.

Eloy Vargas and Kenny Kadjii? Hampered by injuries and conditioning issues.

But deep within the exterior of a team that, to some, seems doomed to repeat its NIT history, bright spots await. And they begin with the team’s star point guard.

Despite the aftermath of a probe on his poker habits, former co-SEC FOY Nick Calathes has shown clear signs of improvement from playing international ball over the summer. That oft-maligned mid-range jump shot is starting to fall, not to mention improved perimeter shooting. His defense has bettered, with steals in 13 of 14 games.

Yes, rebounding has dipped from last year, but Little Bill has played more minutes at point with Lucas gone. In the spirit of nitpicking, his 74% free throw shooting percentage still leaves something to be desired. But overall, he has stepped up his leadership.

By the way, don’t be surprised if Calathes begins to assault Florida’s record books, and soon. Despite playing just a season and a half, he already holds UF’s single season record for assists, and his 5 assists in the N.C. State game moved him past Justin Hamilton for the 9th most assists in a Gator career (Seriously.)

Sophomore slump? For Alex Tyus, it’s more like a sophomore surge. He’s shooting 65.6% from the floor at time of writing, and his numbers have gone up in all sorts of ways. Like Speights, who had an outstanding frame for the center spot, Tyus in undersized, more like Udonis Haslem than Al Horford. The more skills Tyus shows in the low post, the more he can compensate for physical difficulties down the road.

Walter Hodge has improved every year under Donovan, and this one is no exception. Even without scoring as much, he remains the Gators’ top perimeter scorer. If anything, Donovan has chided him for not shooting *enough*. And lest opponents think about Hack-a-Hodge, he shoots over 85% from the line.

Even freshmen Erving Walker and Ray Shipman have played key roles off the bench. Maybe it’s not Calathes-esque, but at with a 12-2 record, something is going very well.

Amidst the fray, the Gator Boys enter an SEC that has seen better days. Only one team in the East or West is ranked in the top-25 (No, it’s not UK) Tennessee is favored to win the conference, but even then, star center Wayne Chism is dealing with injury. Speights, Richard Hendrix, Chris Lofton, Anthony Randolph, and Shan Foster are gone. Even Kentucky has experienced many of the ups and downs it had last season, and no amount of cajolery by the fanbase on this website can convince me otherwise.

Can Florida learn from their mistakes and make it back to the Big Dance? The real test begins in five days against Ole Miss. Until then, there’s one more tune-up against the 7-8 Longwood Lancers.

Things might look eerily similar to last year, but don’t be fooled.

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Here are a couple of extra noteworthy items from today’s media day…

Dan Mullen still has a couple of hires to make at Mississippi State, and the former Gators offensive coordinator said he’s waiting until after the title game to talk with Florida Coach Urban Meyer about  possibly plucking from the UF staff.

"He didn’t want the distraction, so he didn’t want to talk about
any of the guys," Mullen said. "We’ll see afterward. I’ll talk to Urban afterward to
get permission and see if there’s anybody interested."

It’s my understanding that wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales and defensive line coach Dan McCarney aren’t going anywhere.

HARVIN CLOSE TO 100 PERCENT
Harvin said he’s about 90-95 percent healthy on his injured right ankle.
“I’m as close as I’m going to get,” Harvin said. “I feel great. The ankle won’t affect me playing in the game at all.”
Harvin re-injured his ankle against Florida State on Nov. 29, causing him to miss the Southeastern Conference. Florida Coach Urban Meyer said Harvin will play barring any setbacks.
Harvin has scored a touchdown in a national-record 14 straight games.
“Last few days I’ve been running and cutting, it’s feeling as good as I’ve felt since before I got hurt,” Harvin said.

MULTITASKING: WR Riley Cooper said he’s been hitting the batting cages in the last four weeks to stay fresh for the Gators baseball season in the spring.
“I’ve got to have a good season and put up some stats,” Cooper said.
It’s because of Cooper’s baseball talent that Tebow, Percy Harvin and LB Brandon Spikes aren’t the only juniors who might not return to the football team. Cooper told the Sentinel that it will be difficult to return to football if the major league draft takes him high enough.
Cooper, who has 16 catches for 233 yards and three touchdowns as a wide receiver, is considered an attractive pro baseball prospect despite struggling through a .207 batting average in 22 games last season.
“It’s definitely tough playing baseball only six months out of the year,” said Cooper, who was drafted out of high school but opted for school. “Baseball has so much to do with timing and recognizing pitches and playing year around.” 

INJURY REPORT: Backup OL James Wilson won’t play in the title game because of a right foot injury. The redshirt freshman saw action in the SEC title game against Alabama.

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OSU AthleticsTaylor at Oklahoma State Auburn has hired Oklahoma State co-offensive coordinator Trooper Taylor as assistant head coach and receivers coach, the university confirmed late Monday. Taylor spent one season at Oklahoma State and was previously an assistant under Phillip…

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We travel to Littlejohn Coliseum to play the #12 ranked (and undefeated) Clemson Tigers. I hear they might be a pretty good team. Here’s Clemson’s stats pack.

A few years ago they were undefeated, but ended up in the Not Invited Tournament after tanking in the ACC. I don’t think that’ll be the case this year. They’ve got some impressive wins at Illinois, South Carolina, Miami, and Charlotte. We on the other hand have some impressive road/neutral site wins over… nobody.

The stats:
- 50% FG
- 37.5 3PT FG
- 69% FT
- +3.8 rebound margin
- almost 7 blocked shot per game

Trevor Booker is going to give us fits inside despite being a smallish PF (6′7″). He’s their leading rebounder and one of the leaders in FG percentage (58%). K.C. Rivers is their leading scorer. I assume Hillman gets him defensively. Delmontez Stitt (the 1st time I saw that name I read it wrong and laughed) will push Steele at the point. He’s lightning quick.

Prediction: I know everyone’s thinking this will be a Clemson blowout, but they did somewhat struggle with East Carolina so there’s some hope. Not a whole lot of hope, but there’s a glimmer. Saying that, we know if Alabama gets down double digits in the 2nd half we tend to fold like a cheap tent. I say we keep it close for a half and then comes the pain. Clemson by 15.

SEC Predictions (revised)
As the non-conference slate comes to an end I think I’ve seen enough of every team in the SEC to try this again (g).

SEC East
1) Tennessee (11-5)- they seem to have defensive lapses, but lucky them that most teams in the SEC don’t play offense.
2) Kentucky (10-6)- like last year, SEC play is just what the doctor needs.
3) South Carolina (10-6)- the surprise of the east so far… winning at Baylor impressed me.
4) Florida (9-7)- all the talent in the world, but it hasn’t come together for them as of yet. Maybe they hit their stride and compete with Tennessee, but I doubt it.
5) Vanderbilt (6-10)- if they were in the west they’d be better. I can’t see them splitting with Tenn, UF, and Kentucky.
6) UGA (4-12)- Dennis Felton is a good coach… at the wrong job. I don’t think his hard core discipline works in Athens. He’ll be back with a mid major and recapture success.

SEC West
1) Arkansas (11-5)- Fortson seems to be the real deal. Weren’t they picked last in the SEC West. A scary enthusiastic young team.
2) LSU (9-7)- win out at home and steal one on the road. Their size is going to cause problems in the west.
3) Auburn (7-9)- probably not good enough to save his job. Like Felton he’s a good coach in a bad job.
4) Alabama (7-9)- if we play like we did against Ga Tech I’d flip the record. I tend to go with the body of work instead of abnormalities.
5) Ole Miss (6-10)- injuries decimated this team. They’ll lose a lot of close games.
6) Miss St (6-10)- Stewart and Varnado have to play well EVERY GAME for them to win. That’s a lot of pressure.

SEC RPI
I realize this is from Dec 30th, but I wanted to put this out there.
Tennessee: 29
Florida: 66
Kentucky: 76
Ole Miss: 79
Vanderbilt: 83
Arkansas: 96
LSU: 103
Auburn: 110
South Carolina: 157
Mississippi State: 184
UGA: 189
Alabama: 235

Looking at the SEC West and the non-conference slate, the most impressive win was Arkansas’ home win over the Sooners. Auburn’s road win at UVA sadly is 2nd best.

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Well, it’s a new year, and with that, the Blazer Chronicles have a new look.  Yes, I started playing around with the old design software, and “voila!” new title sequences emerged for VolzRChamps to use.

Thus, here’s Episode 24 of the Blazer Chronicles, courtesy of VolzRChamps, with a little sneak peek at things to come.

The Blazer Chronicles: Episode 24

– Go Figure …

Video Courtesy of: VolzRChamps / Blazer Chronicles

Gate 21 Tags: Blazer Chronicles, Gate 21 Graphics, Tennessee Football, Video

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A little soundbite from ESPN.com:

When you meet Orgeron, the first thing you are struck by is how different he is than his perceived persona. The average college football fan perceives Orgeron as some wild guy that jumps around and screams all the time. That’s just not the case at all. What strikes you first is his intelligence; second his organization and finally his familiarity with the overall nature of recruiting.

• via: Southeast Recruiting Blog - ESPN

Interesting, don’t you think?

Gate 21 Tags: College Football, Ed Orgeron, Football, Gate 21, Headlines Links & Lies…, Links, SEC, SEC Football, Sound Bites, Tennessee Football, Tennessee Vols, Tennessee Volunteers

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What a difference a week makes. Freshman forward Jason Henry may return to Arkansas’ lineup as soon as tomorrow when the Hogs host No. 7 Texas, coach John Pelphrey announced this afternoon.

Henry

Henry underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Dec. 29, and was expected to miss two to three weeks, Pelphrey said at the time. But thanks to pre-surgery workouts and re-habilitation training, Henry surprisingly returned to Arkansas practices Sunday and participated in drills. Pelphrey said Henry is day-to-day but he could be back just eight days after his surgery.

“He’s not just on crutches in the training room with ice. We’ve seen him move,” Pelphrey said. “At one point in time he’s just shooting free throws, next thing you know he’s in a drill. It’s been a progression.”

Maybe it’s not too surprising, Pelphrey joked. Henry, after all, was pretty jovial just a few hours after his surgery, when Arkansas beat then-No. 4 Oklahoma on Dec. 30.

“I thought there was a chance he might be OK when he left the floor, jumped on the seat and back down on the floor again,” Pelphrey smirked. “I couldn’t get him to do that in pre-season weight lifting.”

Pelphrey added, “we’re a little bit surprised there’s a decision to be made that he may play tomorrow.”

Henry was averaging 8.2 points 3.2 rebounds and 16.2 minutes a game in six appearances before his injury sidelined him prior to the Dec. 27 win against Northwestern State.

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Arkansas didn’t make either major Top 25 poll today. The AP Poll was released a few minutes ago, and Arkansas received the third-most votes in the “others receiving votes” category to place 28th in the mythical, extended version of the media rankings. The Hogs weren’t close to making the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25.

Here’s the update from this morning concerning the coaches’ poll:

Arkansas garnered some votes but didn’t make it into the field of 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25 poll this afternoon. The Hogs received 27 points and are 36th if you extended the 25-team poll.

Not a surprising development. I wonder if Razorbacks coach John Pelphrey voted for his Hogs. He’s a part of the 31-member Board of Coaches that participate in the poll.

UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Pelphrey was asked about his ballot today at his afternoon press conference. He wasn’t too sure if he voted for Arkansas in the coaches’ poll because, well, the UA basketball coaching staff usually partakes in casting the ballot.

Coach said he wasn’t too consumed by the rankings. He just guessed that one SEC team was in the poll this week. (He’s right, Tennessee is 25th in the coaches’ poll.)

“I certainly hope there comes a day where we’re never outside the top 25, because I think that’s where Arkansas belongs,” Pelphrey said. “I think that’s what history says. But once we get there, the season’s not over with that stuff either.

“I’m just not real consumed with it. Certainly you’d rather be ranked than not ranked, make no mistake about that. But whether we are or aren’t, it’s not going to help us against Texas. I have not looked. I have no clue where that stuff sits or lies.”

Arkansas hosts No. 7 (AP/ESPN) Texas on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena.

After North Carolina’s 85-78 loss at home to Boston College last night in its ACC opener, Pittsburgh claimed the No. 1 spot in the poll. It’s the first No. 1 ranking ever in men’s basketball for the athletics department there, which was once led by second-year UA athletics director Jeff Long.

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David Hale has the transcript. Here’s my favorite part:

If Richt does all those things — particularly more tackling, scheme changes, and better player utilization (ie. having the right people in the best spots) — it’ll go a LONG way towards addressing many of my concerns.

On the personnel side, I mentioned this in the comments earlier — Richard Samuel is a key player the team needs to look at from a position move standpoint.

Many coaches would look at a player who is big, strong, fast, relishes contact, was an elite high school linebacker, and who fumbles or bobbles the ball regularly and they would say….”That is a linebacker.” If Samuel doesn’t learn to hang on to the ball, he’s not going to play. That’s pretty evident by his decreasing minutes to bobbled balls ratio this season. Giving him a long look at LB in the spring makes enormous sense to me.

Having him at LB is particularly intriguing given the speed we’re facing in Jacksonville. The idea of having a guy with Samuel’s wheels going against Demps and Rainey is much more appealing than a guy with Gamble, Washington, or Dent’s feet. Richard is blessed with great speed, but it won’t do him any good on splinter patrol due to fumblitist. He’s a kid to watch.

PWD

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Safeties Coach Ron Cooper to LSU