2007 NCAA Football

[crp]

TOUCH DOWN!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by emerald chondro
all goes back to having another man available for blitzes; supposing Ginn's still playing that leaves one less man that lineman will have to pick up. if they dont double Ginn and blitz with the man or have him play in a zone elsewhere; Ginn has the speed to beat his man and allow Troy to throw it up; I personally believe this is the main reason but at this point it doesnt matter and almost undebatable.

Hehe and Yeller Sc and Cal's time is approaching; The Pac10 will go down

Whats the big ten bowl record against the Pac again?

[bluerug]

No offense but i dont think USC should be number 1 at all with the way they have been playing lately. It should be LSU, FLA, then USC. But thats the way i feel and a few others as well feel the same way.

But the Pac showed their true colors this weekend. Which is that they are WEAK.

I would love the DAWGS to crush the Gators dream this year as they crushed our dreams in 05 when we could have gone all the way, but it is what it is.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by bluerug
No offense but i dont think USC should be number 1 at all with the way they have been playing lately. It should be LSU, FLA, then USC. But thats the way i feel and a few others as well feel the same way.

But the Pac showed their true colors this weekend. Which is that they are WEAK.

I would love the DAWGS to crush the Gators dream this year as they crushed our dreams in 05 when we could have gone all the way, but it is what it is.

Only weakness is between your ears pile. USC up 42-10 at the end of the 3rd quarter against the number 14 team. Nebraska did score 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter against SC's 2&3 string defense in the game.

[bluerug]

USC is still overated and thats that.

[bluerug]

If you think that USC has been playing better than LSU and FLA then you are living in a different world than the rest of us.

Pac is weaker than the SEC, end of story. And thats why FLA and LSU should be ahead of USC since they are in a much stronger conference overall.

Kentucky just beat Louisville for crying out loud.

The mighty UCLA just got their A@&*&% handed to them by Utah.

Who beat Utah last year?

Who beat USC last year?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Only weakness is between your ears pile.

[bluerug]

Its hard to accept reality Grimey.

Oh and looks like the whole buying Reggie is coming out as well. Its easy to be a good program when you can buy the best of the best.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Only weakness is between your ears Pile

[bluerug]

How in the world can you say that USC has played better than FLA and LSU, get real grimey. Plus you bought Reggie and we all know it. If it was not for Reggie you would have not even won a title, but its a good thing you can buy players to make your program better.

[emerald chondro]

Originally posted by kev apsley
that assumption is quite a stretch considering Florida dominated OSU in all phases of the game

I dunno i figure florida then gets less time in offense thus most likely less points.

I will say that tressel was outcoached though.....he was set on playing the zone and preventing Leak on attempting the deep ball. Main problem with this was that leak hadn't thrown the deep ball very effectively all season and we were giving him what he loved; the short passes for 5-15 yards.

and Grim next year Bucks play Sc....cant wait too see the pride of the Pac 10 to go down in flames :P

[55semireef]

If USC really did buy Reggie off than thats just as bad as the PATs cheating. Without Reggie USC would have been nothing.

I think the true colors are starting to come out of the PAC 10 and SEC this year. Look what Kentucky did Louisville and look what happened to UCLA with Utah.

The only teams that seem to be solid in the PAC 10 is Oregon, SC and CAL. Oregon and Cal havn't even been tested yet anyways so who knows.

Mutt, I am very away FLA was an average team before the Spurrier days and a struggling team in the Zook era but now look at them. They are right back up in there with the elite just like Spurrier once had them. You say FLA is new money but I disagree. FLA was a very dominant SEC team in the 90s and the new century. Even though Zook failed his mission at UF they still were almost always in the rankings. If I recall, Zook and the Gators crushed Georgia's dreams one year when they were number 4.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
The only crime is someone actually got paid to try to teach you to think SimiPile

[Orangeman]

USC vs FLA. Call me when that's on. Until then, the rest is just foreplay.

LSU is overrated. Their games do look great in hi-def though.

Kentucky beat Louisville? So what? Louisville is a Big East team(overrated conference). I should know.

[55semireef]

Originally posted by Orangeman


Kentucky beat Louisville? So what? Louisville is a Big East team(overrated conference). I should know.

Its a big step for their program.

[The Grim Reefer]

Kentucky was what, 8-5 last year? Returned lots of starters. If or should I say when LSU beats Florida I wouldn't be surprised to see Tucky give them a scare the following week. We'll see how they do against Ark.

[Dr Begalke]

Originally posted by bluerug
How in the world can you say that USC has played better than FLA and LSU, get real grimey.

Tough call. All three of those teams are playing well.

[Dr Begalke]

I think LSU will beat UF as well.

[bluerug]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Kentucky was what, 8-5 last year? Returned lots of starters.

I thought Kentucky was crap though, Grimey.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/roster?teamId=96

Did Louisville not have 1 loss last year, and dont they also have returning starters as well?

[bluerug]

Good to see UCLA off the map as well. Hopefully they can beat the trojans again and that would end the season nicely.

[The Grim Reefer]

Tucky was an above average team with an easy schedule last year. They should be pretty good this year. Louisville is overrated, who did they beat last year?.

http://www.usc.rivals.com/cdepthtext.asp?Team=KENTUCKY

[Old Yeller Tang]

Originally posted by 55semireef
If USC really did buy Reggie off than thats just as bad as the PATs cheating. Without Reggie USC would have been nothing.

Do you guys even know the story behind Bush or are you just following rug's footsteps? Bush was supposedly getting invloved with agents which were offering him anything he wanted as long as he signed with them. He supposedly made a deal with some crooked agent and then left him hanging to sign with another agent who probably offered him more. SC knew nothing of these violations as it was all on Reggie. There is no proof as of yet but it does look fishy to me as well. Heck, even LSU claims Bush convinced McKnight to sign with SC. I heard Tebow was involved in some kind of scandal of trying to recruit Spiller to come to FLA with him. There's always accusations from jealous schools. Even when Texas came out here to play SC in the Rose Bowl for the title, the Texan media was trying to make up all sorts of accusations just to distract SC obviously. None of them panned out. The way boosters pay big bucks like they did in Alabama to get Saban, you got to be on crack if you don't think they try to do it with players. Look what happened at Oklahoma recently. Fortunately for SC, Carroll does not have to do that as he has no problem trying to convince athletes to come play for him. JFYI, usually you here scandals in Southern schools were the demands for a great football team is intense!

"Charley Pell coached the Florida Gators from 1979 through 1984, when he was fired in light of multiple NCAA rule violations, for which he took full responsibility. Pell had originally said he would resign at the end of the 1984 season, but after the NCAA announced that Florida was suspected of 106 violations, he was fired after three games. His successor, Galen Hall, won the 1984 SEC Championship, but the Gators were stripped of the title because of those violations. Pell was unable to secure another coaching job. He attempted suicide in 1994 and died of cancer in 2001.
Galen Hall was forced out in 1989 amidst yet another investigation of NCAA rule violations that would eventually lead to another probation for Florida football in 1990."



"Tide officials mum on possible Saban recruiting violations"

Thursday, May 24, 2007IAN R. RAPOPORT News staff writer
TUSCALOOSA - University of Alabama officials had no response to Florida media reports that Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban may have committed an NCAA violation.

UA officials would not comment on the specific incidents, nor would they address whether the charges have merit. In general, Alabama Associate Athletics Director for Compliance Chris King looks into nearly every claim to be proactive and prevent possible violations.

If a school officially turned in an Alabama program for a violation, there would be an investigation by the compliance staff.

The Miami Herald and Canesport.com, a Web site for University of Miami fans, each reported that Saban had three conversations with prospects that could be perceived as more than a greeting. From April 15 to May 31, coaches can evaluate players on their campuses but cannot have a face-to-face encounter "in excess of exchange of greeting."

Neither the NCAA (to the Herald), nor UA officials (to The Birmingham News) would say whether it is investigating the matter.

Miami Krop High linebacker Etienne Sabino told the Herald that Saban talked with him about defensive schemes and about Alabama's needs. Miami Northwestern High's Marcus Fortson and Brandon Washington both described conversations to the newspaper that may have been more than a greeting, taking more than a few minutes.




Like I said, you have to be on crack if you think everybody plays by the rules! Here's some old news just in case you've forgotten!




SEC watching for recruiting violations

By David Jones
Gannett News Service

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New Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive once was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect college football programs in trouble.

While working as an attorney in New Hampshire, he teamed up with former NCAA investigator Michael Glazier to form one of the most powerful advising firms college sports has ever known, representing schools such as Florida and ringing up bills in the millions.

A decade later, he finds himself defending colleges in a different capacity. Over half the schools in his 12-team league were questioned by NCAA officials in the past year. The SEC's image has been sorely damaged, with Alabama and Kentucky both on probation for recruiting improprieties. No one rests comfortably in the conference these days.

"There are other great conferences in the country with great academic institutions that have very serious problems," Slive said. "But they don't seem to impact the conference as much as they do here. Our goal is to put these behind us."

In the last few years, recruiting got so shaky in the SEC that coaches started turning on each other.

During the 2000 league meetings in Destin, Fla., Georgia's Jim Donnan, Florida's Steve Spurrier and Arkansas' Houston Nutt met with SEC officials to discuss the recruitment of Memphis prep star Albert Means by Alabama.

The subject eventually landed the Crimson Tide on probation, after an NCAA investigation revealed allegations that a booster had paid a high school coach thousands of dollars to help 'Bama land Means.

The alleged price tag: $200,000.

A laundry list of Alabama recruiting violations was uncovered during the NCAA investigation, costing then-coach Mike DuBose his job and taking a toll on his replacement, Dennis Franchione, who left in December for Texas A&M rather than deal with Alabama's five-year probation, loss of 21 scholarships and two-year bowl ban.

At Kentucky an NCAA report revealed details of attempts by former Wildcats' football coaches to lure recruits through paying various expenses such as meals and hotel rooms while on unofficial visits, giving high school players money and gifts, paying for hotel telephone calls and in-room movies, even sending cash to high school coaches.

The head coach at the time, Hal Mumme, was fired.

Slive was named the league's new commissioner over the summer, replacing the retired Roy Kramer. He's made it clear that the SEC's recruiting practices must be cleaned up.

"Just rest assured we're watching," Slive said, when asked if the cheating would continue.

For the most part, other SEC coaches feel recruiting has been cleaner this time around, as they prepare for Wednesday's national signing day. And yet, when you read between the lines, you can hear some uneasiness remains.

"I think, for the most part, programs that we recruit against are first-class programs," Florida coach Ron Zook said. "Everybody's always trying to find the edge and do everything that they possibly can do to sell their program. But I think for the most part, the recruiting is . . . it's cut-throat a little bit but I think that's just like politics or anything else."

LSU coach Nick Saban isn't quite as diplomatic.

"I think there's some (cheating)," he said. "I think it's limited to a few schools that still do it. But I think, for the most part, people try to do things the right way."

Saban says the SEC should no longer tolerate negative recruiting against other schools. He says it's becoming a big problem in college recruiting -- even though it's not illegal.

Some coaches will talk about Bobby Bowden's age when they're recruiting against Florida State. Some will talk about Miami being loaded with players, telling recruits they'll get lost in the shuffle. And if a program didn't have a big season, such as Florida this past season, they can claim Ron Zook's job is in trouble.

And it's easy to pick on a program like Alabama that's on probation and ineligible for a bowl bid in 2003.

"I can be honest with you," Saban said. "I don't know anything about anyone else's school. So I don't think I have a lot of credibility by standing around trying to tell some kid what they have at Alabama or Auburn or Florida or wherever because I wouldn't know how to get to the facility if I went there to visit.

"And there's a lot of that that goes on and I don't think that speaks well for anybody or any of us as professionals. I have a lot of respect for all the other coaches in the league and the programs that they have and I think they all do good things."

Saban would like to see more recruiters take that attitude.

"I think we do good things for our players here and to try to paint a picture to a young man, that is trying to make a decision about where to go to school, in a negative light, I don't think that is what college football is all about," he said. "I don't think it's what we should do.

"I think that the honesty and the integrity and the values that we have as college football coaches should supercede getting any one player. For us to compromise those principles and values to get one single player . . . to me, we're losing sight of what we're trying to accomplish for the players themselves that we're trying to recruit and help develop as people, students and players. So it doesn't make any sense to me."

Still, the practice continues. South Carolina's Lou Holtz knows of coaches who've pushed recruiting too far in the SEC.

"I think there will always be some people trying to gain an edge in things like that," Holtz said. "I felt like there were one or two schools in this conference that there were some strange things happening, where a guy commits to one school and was definitely going to go. And all of a sudden, two days later, he's going to go to another school. Well, what entered into the equation about changing his mind? . . . That's the only time you get nervous."

There are a lot of nervous coaches in the SEC this recruiting season. But now, it's not the ones that have a clean history that are worried. It's the ones Mike Slive might have his eye on that are a little uptight these days. As he said, he's watching.

Originally published Tuesday, February 4, 2003



Conference working through 'issues' at annual meeting

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Associated Press


DESTIN, Fla. -- The Southeastern Conference will distribute more than $100 million in revenues this year, yet another gaudy reflection of the strength of the nation's richest league.

Issues, issues, issues
A list of sanctions, investigations and inquiries football and men's basketball programs in the Southeastern Conference have faced over the past 24 months.


Alabama: NCAA places football team on five years probation last February for recruiting violations, mostly under former coach Mike DuBose. Banned from postseason play for two years and stripped of 21 scholarships.

Auburn: Last fall, NCAA begins investigation into alleged recruiting violations involving two basketball players.

Arkansas: Loses two football scholarships and entire sports program placed on three years probation last month after NCAA determined a university booster overpaid athletes for work at his trucking company.

Florida: None.

Georgia: Sends letter to NCAA this month stating former assistant basketball coach Jim Harrick Jr. was solely responsible for academic fraud that left two players ineligible. Also this month, suspends nine football players for violating NCAA rules by selling SEC championship rings.

Kentucky: NCAA places football program on three years probation in Jan. 2002 for recruiting violations.

LSU: Six-month investigation that concluded last summer determines some football players received improper study help and help with typing; school contends all violations were "secondary."

Mississippi: Not officially being investigated, but Ole Miss officials said recently that they are working with the NCAA to gather information about various allegations of rules violations. Also, two football players face suspensions for making hundreds of dollars of phone calls with an access code stolen from an athletic department employee.

Mississippi State: NCAA investigating football program for possible rules violations over the past five seasons, largely regarding recruiting. NCAA is reviewing whether there was a failure to maintain institutional control.

South Carolina: NCAA briefly investigates allegations of recruiting violations on football team last fall, but finds no wrongdoing.

Tennessee: In January, NCAA accepts Tennessee's self-imposed penalties for recruiting infractions related to a former football player. The university gives up two scholarships. NCAA also clears Tennessee of any violations in a case involving payments quarterback Tee Martin received from an Alabama sports writer in 1999.

Vanderbilt: None.



Then there are the facts and figures nobody at this week's annual conference meetings wants to discuss.

Three of the SEC's 12 schools have football teams on probation. Six more have had football or men's basketball teams under NCAA investigation in the past 24 months.

In addition, Alabama is reeling from an embarrassing coaching scandal, and when the Crimson Tide failed to hire a black coach, Jesse Jackson called the conference a bastion for racists.

"I know we've got our issues and our problems," LSU football coach Nick Saban said. "But I think we're trying to correct these things as quickly as possible."

The man trying to make the fixes is new commissioner Mike Slive. Soon after he took over for Roy Kramer last July, the former commissioner of Conference USA issued a bold -- some said unrealistic -- challenge: In five years, he wants every school in the SEC off probation.

He reiterated that point earlier this week to football coaches, and he seems to have sold everyone on the idea, no matter how farfetched it may seem.

"I started saying that a little earlier and I haven't really wavered from that at this point," Slive said. "I really believe we can get there."

Cleaning up this mess won't be easy. Academic fraud, overzealous boosters, recruiting violations and corner-cutting coaches have resulted in probations and investigations from Knoxville to Starkville. It's a daunting task to keep tabs on it all.

"You educate, audit, double-check and keep your fingers crossed," said Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, an assistant in the 1980s when the Gators were on probation. "We've learned some painful lessons. We know it could happen again tomorrow. All it takes is for one person to step out of line."

Most painful? When that single person is someone inside the program who should have intricate knowledge of what's right and wrong in the voluminous NCAA rulebook.

Georgia officials recently sent a letter to the NCAA stating assistant basketball coach Jim Harrick Jr. was solely responsible for academic fraud that left two players ineligible and compelled the Bulldogs to withdraw from the NCAA tournament last season.

Harrick Jr. was fired in March and his father, Jim Harrick, resigned as head coach shortly after.

Since then, nine football players have been declared ineligible for violating NCAA rules by selling their SEC championship rings.

"You have to take care of yourself first, but the way I look at it, whenever anyone's in trouble, it's not good for the league," Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan said.

University presidents still are tinkering with the idea of an oversight committee to help schools deal with athletics compliance. The Pac-10 has a similar system, but Slive said he is against giving the committee the ability to impose sanctions.

It was a popular idea among SEC presidents last year. But Kramer and others opposed it, saying it could put schools in double jeopardy for the same violations -- forcing them to face sanctions from both the conference and the NCAA.

The SEC's most-recent problems don't end with the NCAA.

When Alabama fired coach Mike Price after his reported hijinx at a topless club in Pensacola, its decision to replace him with a white lifetime assistant, Mike Shula, instead of a black assistant with more experience, Sylvester Croom, gave Jackson ammunition. In 70 years of football, the SEC has never had a black head coach.

"The SEC maintains a culture of excluding blacks beyond the playing field," Jackson said earlier this month.

Slive said he had "confidence" that Alabama made a responsible decision.

Of course, problems regarding race and the NCAA don't mask the fact the SEC is in good health.

During a time when the Big East is faced with possible extinction, the SEC is stable. The 12 conference teams share more than $100 million in revenue. That's about $15 million more than the next-richest conference, the Big 12. The figure is even more staggering considering it was at just $16.3 million in 1990.

But clearly, the SEC has problems to fix, lest it become permanently tainted as a conference full of cheaters.

"My main concern is Auburn," athletic director David Housel said. "But people know what's going on around the league. This is a conference, and when another team has a problem, obviously, it affects us all."

[Old Yeller Tang]

Originally posted by bluerug
If you think that USC has been playing better than LSU and FLA then you are living in a different world than the rest of us.

Pac is weaker than the SEC, end of story. And thats why FLA and LSU should be ahead of USC since they are in a much stronger conference overall.

Kentucky just beat Louisville for crying out loud.

The football thread jester has spoken!!!

Sounds like you already have your excuse ready for when Kentucky beats you guys again this year!

[Old Yeller Tang]

Originally posted by 55semireef
The only teams that seem to be solid in the PAC 10 is Oregon, SC and CAL. Oregon and Cal havn't even been tested yet anyways so who knows.

So Fla has then with games against W. Kentucky and Troy. Might as well throw in Tenn too since CAL played them and according to you, wasn't a test so that means FLA is also untested. Oregon played on the road in Michigan and won handily, but wait a second, FLA hasn't played away from home yet! Hmmm, who's really untested????

[Muttling]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Only weakness is between your ears pile. USC up 42-10 at the end of the 3rd quarter against the number 14 team. Nebraska did score 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter against SC's 2&3 string defense in the game.

Last time I checked, there were 4 quarters in a normal college football game. If you hold back on a couple of quarters, then it hurts your ratings just as it should.


I'm not saying that USC should be dumped from No. 1, but they really haven't made a solid showing that says they are WAY beyond LSU and Florida.

Perhaps they're holding back as you suggest, but the score is the score and they didn't make the score in the later quarters so that's all that matters. If you wish to change that, then we should take into consideration games where Florida and LSU held back because they were so far ahead.


Gotta love the arrogance of WE'RE great for any excuse and you suck for the same exact excuses.