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Dr. Saturday

Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:57 pm EST

The Dregs: It's November break in the SEC

By Holly Anderson

Lame game(s) of the week.

Bottom of the barrel:
Is it too much to say ... the entire SEC? It's Homecoming week for several schools in the conference, so we suppose we can't begrudge them all their creamy-middled fun, but does it ever make for a boring, bloody weekend slate. On tap down thataway:

• Tennessee Tech (5-3) at Georgia (4-4)
• Eastern Kentucky (5-3) at Kentucky (4-4)
• Furman (4-4) at Auburn (6-3)
• Memphis (2-6) at Tennessee (4-4)
• Northern Arizona (5-3) at Ole Miss (5-3)

Very gracious of the lesser luminaries to accede the spotlight to LSU-Alabama, no? (Although, in the case of my Vols, I'm frankly grateful -- with that strength of schedule and a defensive line full of holes, we could use the break, and we're surely not the only ones.) Florida, by the way, also draws Vanderbilt this week, which isn't exactly a cupcake game but with a five-touchdown spread might as well be.

The rest of the worst:

• Maryland (2-6) at North Carolina State (3-5)
The Terps have got some legwork to do if they're going to magically conjure up their traditional, inexplicable seven/eight-win seasons. Of course, the way NC State's been playing (four straight losses, including a notable thrashing at the hands of Duke in Raleigh), we wouldn't put it past them to somehow lose twice on Saturday.

 • New Mexico (0-8) at Utah (7-1)
In one corner, a New Mexico squad in complete disarray, winless and disjointed to the point of pushing the university for hush money in the wake of a coach-on-coach assault. In the other, a nondescript Utah outfit we're absolutely positive is en route to collapse after barely surviving Air Force and Wyoming the last two weeks. One-sided Mountain West slapfight!

 • Purdue (3-6) at Michigan (5-4)
Pick your wounded Big Ten pony this week: The one that was shut out in a 37-0 loss at Wisconsin, or the one that had the audacity to cede a lopsided victory to Ron Zook for its fourth straight conference loss? Wolverine fans are a characteristically somber lot, anyway, and will be potentially despondent Saturday as they watch another team trudge toward the glue factory.

• Utah State (2-6) at Hawaii (2-6)
A pair of two-win WAC teams that combined to go 1-8 in conference games in October, on pay-per-view well past primetime? Where do we sign up?

Western Kentucky Line Watch.
Tracking the odds against I-A's newest cubs.
After giving up 60-plus points two weeks in a row to Middle Tennessee and North Texas, another hopeless slog awaits the 0-8 Hilltoppers this week, when they find themselves 24-to 25-point underdogs to the high-flying scoreboard-busters at Troy. The Trojans have won 11 of their last 12 Sun Belt games and are on their way to their fourth straight SBC title; WKU is still looking for its first league win as a full-fledged member.

- - -
Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc.

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33 Comments

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  1. Marc
    1. Posted by Marc Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:27 pm EST

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    What ever happened to that week in week out punishing gauntlet that SEC teams claimed to face? That has to be the biggest lie in all of CFB. How is Florida ever going to survie playing Vandy, South Carolina, and FIU all in a row?
  2. Big Jim
    2. Posted by Big Jim Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:33 pm EST

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    1. Posted by Marc Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:27 pm EST -- ANSWER FOR YOU MARC
    After watching all of the lessor conferences play the weak schedule of playing each other, we decided that for homecoming we would invite in a breather. After all the other conferences play nobody week in and week out, so why not take off one week a year!
  3. timjames99
    3. Posted by timjames99 Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:29 pm EST

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    South Carolina will at least be a test of the Florida offense. Call it a predictor for the SEC championship game (relatively, of course).
  4. Clam
    4. Posted by Clam Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:38 pm EST

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    #2 Sure Big Jim, whatever you say...Not only does the SEC have the toughest schedules, they have the best officiating crews. Florida will survive by not scheduling Citadel for a home and home.
  5. Matt M
    5. Posted by Matt M Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:43 pm EST

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    If
  6. Marc
    6. Posted by Marc Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:16 pm EST

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    For #2,. have you seen PAC-10 schedules? Stanford Finishes with Oregon, USC, CAL, and Notre Dame (4 ranked teams in a row) Oregon finishes with Stanford, ASU, Arizona, Oregon St USC finishes with ASU, Stanford, Ucla, Arizona Arizona finishes with WSU, CAL, Oregon, ASU, USC And so on. The fact is and it is completely ignored by the media every year is that nobody plays the week in week out grind of the PAC-10 and that is a fact. In addition to playing 9 conference games, the APC-10 faces better OOC competition than any other conference. The saying of the games you remember are played in November. Look at what UF finishes with: Vandy, @South Carolina, FIU, and FSU. Seriously? That is a joke.
  7. A!
    7. Posted by A! Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:44 pm EST

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    Cupcake leader board (games vs Div I-AA; including week 10)
    14 ACC
    10 Big East (conference only has 8 teams)
    10 SEC
    9 Big 12
    9 C-USA
    9 MAC
    8 Big 10
    7 WAC
    6 Mt West
    4 Pac 10
    4 Sun Belt
    ACC had three and Big East had two teams double-dip... SHAMELESS
    I'd like to see SEC homers try to argue this fact
  8. MarkT
    8. Posted by MarkT Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:07 pm EST

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    Bama: 2008 - Top ten ranked Clemson, 2009 Top ten ranked Virginia Tech, 2010 Penn State. That is not a cupcake non-conference schedule. Every team in the FBS 3 to 4 easily winnable games. Quit your crying. SEC is the best by far (unless you buy Carroll's spin that the PAC10 is getting better to explain why USC is getting worse).
  9. Marc
    9. Posted by Marc Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:13 pm EST

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    #8 LOL. You are ridiculous First off you are listing 3 teams over 3 different seasons. Look at Oregons OOC just this year. Highly ranked Boise St on the road, Highly ranked Utah, and bcs Purdue. That is all in the same season. USC @Notre Dame, and @Ohio st in the same season. CAL had 2 bcs teams, UW had 2 bcs teams both ranked, etc... The only SEC team who has recently started to schedule like PAC-10 teams is Georgia, and we have all seen how that turned out.
  10. ROBERT G
    10. Posted by ROBERT G Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:31 pm EST

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    sec really stands for slive enterprises central.
  11. MarkT
    11. Posted by MarkT Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:56 pm EST

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    #9 - Idiot. The top 2 PAC10 teams have to schedule decent out of conference games to have a chance in the BCS because the rest of the PAC10 sucks. Bama's in-conference schedule is harder than anything USC or Oregon has ever had to face.
  12. Marc
    12. Posted by Marc Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:26 pm EST

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    If by sucks you mean the #1 rated conference per the computers and having 40% of the conference ranked (more than anyone else) then I guess you are correct. By your use of the word "idiot" and "sucks" I think that your education, or your gene pool has failed you.
  13. DonAthos
    13. Posted by DonAthos Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:50 am EST

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    I guess these "elite" SEC teams have to get bowl eligible somehow.
    Man, that SEC, what a frikken gauntlet! After facing behemoths like Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Crompton-led Tennessee, Arkansas, down-in-the-dumps Auburn & Georgia, and pre-season hype queen Ole Miss, no wonder they have to schedule loads of creampuffs for non-conference!
  14. A!
    14. Posted by A! Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:24 am EST

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    #8, #11 allow me to spell it out for you... #7 refers to THIS SEASON, for conferences AS A WHOLE.
    I would attempt to explain how such a patsy OOC inflates the SOS for the entire conference but such effort would be in vain since your feeble mind cannot comprehend such complexities.
    Further, your example in #8 only strengthens my argument (Va Tech, two Sun Belt cellar dwellers, and a cupcake). Would you care to expand your counter argument to the 2007 season, when 'Bama lost to national powerhouse Louisiana-Monroe?
  15. J B
    15. Posted by J B Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:51 am EST

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    Well Ten Tech is fair for Georgia as they played OK State on the road and ARZ State while FLA and such played weaklings out of conference.
  16. Matt M
    16. Posted by Matt M Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:39 am EST

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    Bama has played 4 teams in top 25, cant say the same for Fla. hick even Iowa has played more ranked teams than Fla.
  17. ZacharyD
    17. Posted by ZacharyD Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:11 am EST

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    #8, you're still counting Clemson last year as a "Top 10 [in the ACC]" opponent? And three loss Virginia Tech (who should have lost to Nebraska for a 4th loss)? [insert derisive laughter here]. If you know your 'bama history, you know that Joe Paterno and Bear Bryant met many times on the sidelines in the 1970s and 1980s.
    #7, with only 8 teams, the Big East only plays 7 rather than 8 (or in the case of the Pac 10, 9) conference games. Interesting that the Sun Belt plays so few FCS opponents - guess they are too busy collecting those checks from the SEC.
  18. jjg1576
    18. Posted by jjg1576 Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:30 am EST

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    Good call Marc- logic is rarely part of their argument.
    But remember, the SEC is always supreme & the rest of the PAC 10 sucks- guess that's why UCLA who hasn't won a game in the PAC 10 beat Tennessee in Knoxville..... not to mention LSU struggling to win against 3-5 Washington...
  19. Festus
    19. Posted by Festus Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:06 am EST

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    Typical cupcake week in the SEC. Schedule tough out of conference consistently and leave the state occasionally (I'm talking to you, Florida) and we'll all respect y'all more.
  20. George B
    20. Posted by George B Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:53 am EST

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    #17, The point is the schedule. Bama scheduled and played those them when they we in the top 10. After you beat them, they drop down. That's how CFB works. Hell, If Oregon beat Boise St, they probably be ranked about #22 right now.
  21. dorfineer
    21. Posted by dorfineer Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:53 am EST

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    Muck Fichigan
  22. Clam
    22. Posted by Clam Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:13 pm EST

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    I agree, the point is the schedule, and the rankings. But since a Tide fan brought up 2008, their win over an over-hyped pre-season favorite Clemson was not a quality win. Then Alabama followed it up with "quality" wins over Tulane, Western Kentucky, and Arkansas State. Please refer to this same article on the ferocity of the Western Kentucky program. The highlights of Alabama in '08 were their quality losses to Florida and Utah and the pollsters still allowing them in a BCS bowl to collect a million dollar check. Florida and Alabama schedule cupcakes, never play in snow, at elevation or travel beyond sight of a Waffle House.
  23. Mike A
    23. Posted by Mike A Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:58 pm EST

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    That's cause the Waffle House is gooood.
    Seriously, though. Whomever user Ohio State as an example of a tough OOC game, get real. Furthermore, you may say what you want about Florida's schedule, but the fact is, they have HANDLED whomever they were matched up against in the NC game. They had an off year in 2007 when they lost to Michigan, but the weak spot of UF that year was an atrocious secondary, and Michigan was throwing to a guy, Mario Manningham, who is on his way to being a stud in the NFL.
  24. Adam S
    24. Posted by Adam S Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:07 pm EST

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    Ok so I read somewhere either somewhere on yahoo or heard it on ESPN that Florida has the third toughest SOS or maybe 3rd toughest of top 10 teams an my question is how? That have played ONE ranked opponent, LSU. TWO teams that currently have winning records. LSU and Troy! Friggin Troy has the 2nd best recond among this somehow daunting schedule of theirs.
    And of their remaining opponents only S. Carolina has a winning record and they are among the most unimpressive teams in the SEC. They also have the FSU game, but FSU is under .500 or maybe they got back to it, I didn't look, but they are terrible this year. If you want to talk about a cupcake schedule, look no further than UF. It was loaded so that if they didn't get to the title game last year, they could almost walk to it this year.
    I am an OSU fan and I will admit that every big school, adds the pumpkins. Some of it is a money thing, some of it is in state agreements to help add exposure for other schools. But, outside the top 3 teams in the SEC the rest of the conference is mediocre and LSU and Bama have been more than Vanilla on offense. We need to stop paying reverance to this conference as such a powerhouse. The top three teams in each of the elite conference could give the others a game. We just get so wrapped up in hype. I mean OSU has been in 3 NC games this decade, one perhaps kinda by default (07). The big 12 has sent teams 3 times, it all goes in cycles, one conference will be better for a few years, then another will take over, then another. Its just how it works. Look in 06 the Big 10 had the top 2 teams in the nation in November, in 08 the Big 12 did. this year its the SEC. NExt year it could be the Pac 10 or ACC.

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Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.

Contributors:
Holly Anderson, Doug Gillett, Chris Brown, Dan Shanoff,

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