A Hometown Headlines newsletter              
 

 

Getting emotional about Richt's public display of emotions

(10/30) It didn’t take former Georgia and Kentucky head basketball coach Tubby Smith long to make a big impact at Minnesota. Smith already has enticed a top 10 recruiting class to Minneapolis and could easily end up in the top five.

I admitted that Ohio State was much better than I thought but I still don’t like the Buckeyes. Now they whining about not getting any respect. Do you suppose they haven’t noticed that they’re ranked No. 1 in every poll there is? Boston College, Arizona State and even LSU could be whining. At least they play representative opponents.

Don’t get the fact that the SEC East is exciting mixed up with the fact that that’s the weak side of the league this year. There is no Beast of the East on that side of the league. It’s exciting but it’s close among some ordinary teams. . . And by the way, the SEC has eight bowl tie-ins. There could be 11 SEC teams with at least six wins and therefore somebody might have to stay home. . . Coach of the Year in the SEC? How about Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State?

Interesting candidate list to replace fired SMU coach Phil Bennett. The rumored front-runners include Major Applewhite, former Longhorn star and offensive coordinator at Alabama; former Auburn coach Terry Bowden, who’s been out of coaching for nine years, and fired Miami coach Larry Coker.

Anybody who criticizes Mark Richt and Georgia for its entire-team-on-the-field celebration after the Bulldogs’ first touchdown against Florida - well, I hope they get run over by a Georgia defensive lineman. All we’ve heard is how unemotional Richt and his team are, so now we’re got emotion and they’re being criticized as classless and being disrespectful. Bull-Dawg!

And finally, is Florida quarterback Tim Tebow still a Heisman candidate. Most definitely. There have been seven Heisman Trophy winners who played on teams with three losses and there’s no question in my mind he’s the most valuable player in college football.

 

SEC East: Will the last team standing...

(10/29) What I think after last weekend’s college games . . .

I think that crow will be the main dish for all the pooh-bahs and Georgia nay-sayers, including me, after the Dogs’ amazing spectacle that put forth for examination in Jacksonville. Of course, the question that should be asked is where was this team against the Gamecocks and the Vols and yes, even against Vandy.

I think it won’t be over under the fat lady sings in the SEC East. What a mess. The best I can tell, nobody’s out of it but the Bulldogs are certainly in a favorable position to, as they say, control their own destiny although if you do that, is it really destiny? Can destiny be controlled? Ah well, on to less pithy things.

I think Boston College and Arizona State proved that they are potential national championship caliber teams.

I think we can stop talking about Southern Cal and take up discussions about Oregon.

I think there’s a real possibility, no make that probability, that 11 SEC teams will qualify for bowls. Everybody except Tennessee and Old Miss already has at least five wins.

I think it’s a shame that Boston College and Wake Forest are in the same ACC Division. If not, I think the Demon Deacons would be able to defend their ACC crown in Jacksonville.

I think that Clemson has quietly gone about its business and is in excellent shape for a nine- or 10-win season.

I think, and I do hate to admit this, that Ohio State is deserving of one of the top two spots in the national rankings and the Buckeyes will play for that mythical college title if it can beat Michigan at the end of the season.

I think Connecticut is living on borrowed time. I think West Virginia will win the Big East.

I think it’s great to see teams like Kansas and Missouri challenging the Oklahomas and Texases in the Big 12.

And finally, I think Kansas coach Mark Mangino outweighs Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen by a bunch.

Tide turns for Dogs? Phat Phil phlattens Evil Genius? Oh-no!

(10/26) This is Norman Arey with your Norman’s No-Nos where I pick the losers in 15 college games. Last week, I was 10-5 last week, 83-37 for the season. Your mortgage is safe with these.

GEORGIA vs. FLORIDA: Bulldogs are sick of thinking about their annual "October Adjustment." Gators rarely think about the Dawgs. This isn’t a rivalry, it’s an embarrassment. Georgia finally turns it around. NO-NO. That’s silly. Bulldogs absorb 34-20 thumping.

CLEMSON at MARYLAND: Tigers’ Tommy Bowden is on think ice with Clemson brass. Terps’ Ralph Friedgen is a big, cuddly savior with the Maryland faithful. This one needs more than faith. Maryland is due. NO-NO. Terps in the wrong place at the wrong time, lose 22-17.

OLE MISS at AUBURN: Rebs still have hard feelings toward Tuberville for leaving them high and dry. Tigers have hard feelings after losing to LSU when they should have won. The crooked letters make Tuberville pay. NO-NO. Auburn’s good, Ole Miss ain’t, goes down 31-7

SOUTH FLORIDA at UCONN: Bulls looked awfully vulnerable against Rutgers. UConn looked legitimate against Louisville. Huskies take care of the upstart Floridians. NO-NO. USF has been to the Mountaintop and enjoyed the view. UConn takes a hit, 28-14.

SEMI-BOLD PICK--VIRGINIA at N.C. STATE: Wahoos have won seven straight. Wolfpack has one straight in the bag. Wahoos win all the close ones. State has trouble winning, period. Cavaliers fence in the ‘Pack. NO-NO. This ain’t particularly close, UVA toppled, 21-13.

BOLD & OUTRAGEOUS PICK -- OHIO STATE at PENN STATE: Buckeyes are a bit obnoxious with their No. 1 ranking. Penn State is quiet, determined, dependable in those drab uniforms. OSU dominates. NO-NO. Paterno wins No. 370, Buckeyes downed, 21-17.

SOUTH CAROLINA at TENNESSEE: Evil Genius vs. Phat Phil. Gamecocks saw the light in losing to Vanderbilt. Tennessee saw the light in losing to Alabama. Vols won’t disappoint 100,000 fans, win easily. NO-NO. UT’s light was lightning, Phil's flattened, 28-13.

Others losers:

>North Carolina to Wake Forest

>Duke to Florida State

>Texas A&M to Kansas

>Southern Cal to Oregon

>Mississippi State to Kentucky

>Rutgers to West Virginia

>Cal to Arizona State

>and Minnesota to Michigan.

One-and-done for Butch? Rudy a Red Sox fan?

(10/25) Despite the fact that he’s only been in Chapel Hill less than a year, the Charlotte Observer is reporting that Arkansas is interested in replacing its head coach Houston Nutt with North Carolina coach Butch Davis. Davis is an Arkansas alumnus, his father lives in Arkansas and one of Davis’ closest friends is on the Arkansas Board of Trustees.

Remember Appalachian State, which kicked off what may be college football’s craziest season ever by beating Michigan in the Big House? The Boys from Boone are currently in sixth place in the Southern Conference and in danger of not making the playoffs. Go figure.

Virginia is 7-1, having lost its opener to Wyoming and then reeling off seven consecutive wins. The Cavaliers are the masters of close games. Five of the Wahoos’ seven wins have been by five points or less and their last three victories have come by a total of four points. Now that’s cutting it close.

This is big news, in and of itself. Tennessee was picked to win the SEC title in basketball in a media pre-season poll while Kentucky was chosen second and two-time defending national champion Florida fared no better than third.

It’s for sure that Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani could never be elected mayor of New York again. The former Big Apple mayor proclaimed he was pulling for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, saying he was an American League fan. Since any New Yorker worth his salt hates the Red Sox, Giuliani has certainly managed to close one door.

Did you realize that there are two first-year coaches in college football who have managed to compile a combined 14-0 mark. They are, of course, Jeff Jagozinski at Boston College and Dennis Erickson at Arizona State.

Uh-oh. A sure way to lose. Clemson star tailback James Davis "guaranteed" the Tigers would beat Maryland in their game with the Terps this Saturday. You think that newspaper clipping might be up somewhere in the Maryland dressing room?

And just a word about this Friday’s Norman’s No-Nos where I pick losers in 15 top college games. There will be at least two major upsets this week, possibly three.

Paterno vs. Bowden: Schedule says Joe Pa

(10/24) The way things are going for Florida State and Penn State, the Nittany Lions’ Joe Paterno could pass the Seminoles’ Bobby Bowden for most wins. Bowden currently leads with a 370-133-4 mark to Paterno’s 369-123-3 record. . . But you have to hand it to those FSU folks -- they’re clever. One put up a "For Sale" sign in Bowden’s front yard after the Seminoles’ loss to Miami when the ‘Canes scored 14 in the fourth quarter. Remember that the Seminoles have a brutal November coming up with road games at Boston College, Virginia Tech and Florida, all but assuring them a break-even season at best.

Auburn has the distinction of being the highest-ranked three loss team in the country while Florida is the highest ranked with a pair of losses and I don’t disagree. Two of Auburn’s losses came in overtime (South Florida) and in the last second (LSU). Florida’s two came to Auburn and LSU. If the Gators should win out, they would win the tough SEC East.

The Askmen.com Internet site asked its users to choose their top "Man’s Man." Soccer superstar David Beckham was No. 1, actor Matt Damon was second, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was No. 16, actor Denzel Washington was 17th. Others in the top 10 included tennis star Roger Federer, entertainer Justin Timberlake and actor George Clooney. What? No Tiger? No Tom Brady?

Former Notre Dame quarterback Joe Theismann told The Chicago Tribune his former college team’s talent level approximates that of Duke and Navy. "The next four games -- Navy, Air Force, Duke and Stanford -- those will give us a better indication of where Notre Dame is. They’ll be playing competition that is more equal to their talent level right now. The Boston Colleges and the USCs are on another level."

It must be bad when your offensive linemen ask the head coach to limit the quarterback's rushing attempts. Florida’s offensive linemen say they rush to pull tacklers off their quarterback, Tim Tebow, after he calls his own number on a rushing play and have asked coach Urban Meyer to limit Tebow’s carries.

And finally, high school senior Jack Elway, son of former Denver Broncos and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, has committed to play for Arizona State next season. The older Elway played his college football at Stanford.

Tebow's hurt (will play); FSU just hurting at QB

(10/23) Florida’s greatest fear has come true as quarterback Tim Tebow has been injured. Tebow hurt his right, not-throwing shoulder against Kentucky and will go through this week’s practices in a non-contact jersey. How important is the sophomore to Florida’s success? He’s 73 percent of the Gators’ offense, he’s carried the ball an average of 18 times a game for 578 yards and 10 scores, and completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,711 yards and 17 touchdowns.

And speaking of Tebow, Georgia coach Mark Richt called Tebow a freak of nature. I agree. Richt also said he wouldn’t mind playing Florida in a Jacksonville-Atlanta rotation. That would give Georgia a neutral site much like Florida has had one in Jacksonville all these years.

Florida State is now taking a hard look at plans C & D. Coach Bobby Bowden and offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will meet today, according to the Florida Times-Union. and discuss their quarterback situation. There are four options: Xavier Lee could keep the starting job; backup Drew Weatherford could reclaim the job he lost to Lee; redshirt freshman D’Vontrey Richardson could start; or redshirt freshman Christian Ponder could start. In other words, the Seminoles are in deep, deep trouble.

The biggest game in the ACC takes place Thursday night on ESPN in Blacksburg, Va. when the No. 2-ranked Boston College Eagles play the No. 8 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies.

And speaking of Boston College, let’s see if the No. 2 jinx holds this week. The second-ranked team in the nation has lost for three consecutive weeks. And watch out for Arizona State, too. They’re the new guy in the Top 5 block.

Georgia basketball fans must believe Dennis Felton’s Bulldogs are going to have a successful year. The Bulldogs pre-season ticket sales are up 25 percent, the highest number of packages sold since 2002.

You could almost hear a sigh of relief from the TV executives when Boston overwhelmed Cleveland in the seventh game of the ALCS. Can you imagine trying to sell a Colorado vs. Cleveland series to advertisers? At least now they have the Boston and New York markets and won’t have to deal with the Mistake Beside the Lake in Ohio.

Less than fantastic four ahead for Bulldogs?

(10/22) What I think . . .

I think Florida is the strongest team in the Deep South. The Gators simply have too many weapons to be ignored in the overall national picture. You may be sick of hearing about Tim Tebow but he should win the Heisman although I doubt seriously if he will. Just a sophomore and all that. Then, of course, Herschel should have won it as a freshman and sophomore and didn’t.

I think LSU is fortunate not to have two losses. What can you say about Auburn? The War Eagle Express got derailed in the second half and LSU’s offense couldn’t be stopped. But Les Miles’ team is suspect on the defensive side of the ball and won’t make the big game. I also think that Auburn can play with anybody.

I think there’s a chance that Notre Dame might get a win in at least one of its remaining four games against Navy, Air Force, Duke and Stanford. I think it’s unbelievable that the storied Irish have given up 237 points this year and scored only 80 while compiling a 1-7 mark. That’s averaging 10 points a game while giving up 30.

I think the Gamecocks of South Carolina are going to suffer this week after losing to Vanderbilt at home after achieving a No. 6 national ranking. And I think they should suffer. Steve Spurrier doesn’t accept defeat well, especially against a team it should beat in front of a sold out home crowd.

I think it’s all over but the shouting for Nebraska’s Bill Callahan. If there was any doubt, the Cornhuskers’ 36-14 loss to struggling Texas A&M over the weekend should end it. The ‘Huskers have lost three straight, giving up 122 points in the process. There’s no coming back from that.

I think that Georgia will lose four of its last five and that Tech will win three of its last four.

And finally, I think that the fact that both North Carolina and Duke were told "no" by big time basketball recruits in the same week is startling. Duke lost Greg Monroe, a 6-foot-10 center out of Louisiana to Georgetown while Carolina was beaten out for the services of 6-4 shooting guard Iman Shumpert out of Illinois to Georgia Tech. Monroe is ranked as the top player in the prep class of 2008.

Vols vs. Tide: A double, not-so-secret No-No

(10/19) This is Norman Arey with your Norman’s No-Nos where I pick the losers in 15 college games. Last week, I was 10-5, 73-32 for the year. I’m still way ahead of the curve. Are you?

ARMY at GEORGIA TECH - Army isn’t really coming in Army Strong. The Yellow Schizods lose to Virginia and Maryland, and beat Clemson and Miami. Go figure. Black Knights lance the Jackets. NO-NO. Army marches off a cliff, 35-7.

ARKANSAS at OLE MISS - Razorbacks have played their coach out of a job. Rebels may hold the same distinction. Rudderless game but Ole Miss is at home and pulls it out. NO-NO. Darren McFadden runs all over Oxford and the Rebs. Crooked Letters fall, 28-17.

FLORIDA at KENTUCKY- What a game! Gators are one of the top two teams in The South. Kentucky may be the third best. ‘Cat quarterback Andre Woodson passes the Floridians silly. NO-NO. Don’t forget about Tim Tebow. Wildcats stumble in close one, lose 28-24.

WAKE FOREST at NAVY - Two of the best coaches in the land - Jim Grobe vs. Paul Johnson. Deacons have more talent, Middies have home field advantage. Wake sinks in Navy wake. NO-NO. Grobe finds a way, Navy goes down, 31-10.

TENNESSEE at ALABAMA - Two old friends take the field in T-Town, a real love fest. Vols have the quarterback in Eric Ainge but not the surrounding cast. Tide swamps Rocky Tops in red rage. NO-NO. Phat Phil pulls one out. DOUBLE NO-NO. UT bites the dust, 24-21.

AUBURN at LSU - Historically, two good teams but this one ain’t about history. Tommy Tuberville serves notice he’s one of the best in the game and stuns the Bayou Bengals. NO-NO. Les Miles ain’t chopped liver. Big Tigers livid after Lexington loss, handle Little Tigers, 29-20.

MIAMI at FLORIDA STATE - One of the year’s biggest games. No more with combined mark of 8-6. Miami lost to North Carolina. Seminoles lost to Wake Forest. Battle of the used-to-bees. Miami finds old magic. NO-NO. ‘Noles have the rabbit, ‘Canes blown away, 21-12.

Other losers include:

>UCLA to Cal

>Vandy to South Carolina

>Washington to Oregon

>N.C. State to East Carolina

>Illinois to Michigan

>Nebraska to Texas A&M

>Virginia to Maryland

>and Michigan State to Ohio State.

Finally, Ohio State is No. 1 in something

(10/18) The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch ran a story announcing that Ohio State had finally beaten the Florida Gators in something. After losing the national title to Florida in both football and men’s basketball, Ohio State nudged out Florida in having the largest campus in the U.S. OSU boosts 52,568 to Florida’s 51,913. Other schools in the top five included Arizona State, Minnesota and Texas.

The upcoming game between Texas A&M and Nebraska should be given a moniker - something like the Unemployment Bowl. It’ll feature beleaguered coaches Dennis Franchione of the Aggies and Bill Callahan of the Cornhuskers -- each barely making it from game to game. It’s a given that neither will make it into the new year as head coach at their respective schools. . . And by the way, FoxSports.com says that a possible replacement for Franchione might be Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville.

No surprise that Tiger Woods will have his own sports drink next year. Woods has signed a deal with Gatorade and the company will feature Gatorade Tiger in 2008.

How bad a shape is Major League Baseball in? The recently completed National League Championship Series between Colorado and Arizona got lower ratings than ESPN’s Emerald Bowl football game and the Little League World Series.

Abacadabra, one of the largest Halloween costume companies, has drawn the line on how far down they’ll go in bad taste. The company says it refuses to sell O.J. Simpson masks.

And how far down does football cheating go? Franklin High School in Stockton, Calif., has just been put on five years probation, having committed 54 violations including illegal recruiting.

Just a thought but if Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson should have another good game this week against Florida after shining brightly against LSU last week, how could you deny him the Heisman?

And finally, with only six teams still unbeaten - Arizona State, Boston College, Hawaii, Kansas, Ohio State and South Florida - who has the best shot to stay that way? Looking at the remaining schedule, it would seem to be the Buckeyes just because the Big 10 is weak from top to bottom this season. The long shot of the bunch is BC, which has four tough game ahead.

Kentucky's tab at $80K--and here comes ESPN

(10/17) Success is becoming a financial burden on Kentucky. It’s officially $80,000 and counting. The University in Lexington was fined $50,000 when fans stormed the field after the once-upon-a-time Mildcats stunned No. 1-ranked LSU 43-37 in triple-overtime last week. The school was fined $25,000 on Sept. 15 when Kentucky beat Louisville, 40-34. It was fined $5,000 last November following the Wildcats’ 24-20 win over Georgia. All fines were mandated by the SEC.

But it’s worth it for the Blue Grass Boys. ESPN’s Gameday will originate from the UK campus this week for the first time. Florida and Kentucky, a throw-away game in August, looms huge in the national picture. Ain’t it amazing what winning does?

When Kelvin Sampson left Oklahoma to become the head basketball coach at Indiana a year ago, he left the Sooners in a mess with the NCAA because of recruiting violations. Now he’s done the same to the once-pound Indiana program. His indiscretions cost him a $500,000 raise and one scholarship. How much longer will he last?

Notre Dame, at 1-6, has gone to Plan C and will start Evan Sharpley at quarterback against No. 13 Southern Cal Saturday. Sharpley is the third to start at QB, following Demetrius Jones and Jimmy Clausen. The question is does Charlie Weis have a Plan D?

Maybe there should be a separation of racing and state. NASCAR’s No. 1 and No. 2 drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, respectively, as well as No. 14 Casey Mears have each contributed the maximum $2,300 to the presidential campaign of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

And finally a quick look at two coaches -- one on the way up and the other possibly on the way out. Illinois is preparing to extend former Florida coach Ron Zook’s contract for three years. Zook was 4-19 his first two years with the Illini but is 5-2 this season. And by the way, 22 of the 24 starters on last year’s national title team at Florida were Zook’s recruits. . . Tommy Bowden is in trouble again at Clemson. Why? He keeps his players out of trouble, graduates them, wins more than he loses and the Tiger brass still wonders if he’s the man to take them to the next level. My question is what makes Clemson think there's a next level for them and why do they think they're a national contender in the first place?

 

That's BCS as in Baffling College Season

(10/16) The season’s first Bowl Championship Series poll is out and I have three questions. Is South Florida really the second best team in the country? And South Carolina is the No. 6 team and Kentucky No. 7? Wow how things have changed. . . I’m not going to name them but there are already 16 teams bowl eligible.

And while we’re on the subject, I find it ludicrous that Ohio State is ranked No.1. The Buckeyes are playing in the incredibly weak Big 10 and their out-of-conference schedule included Youngstown State, Akron, Washington and Kent State.

And to put an exclamation point on this most unusual of college football seasons, Boise State and Nevada set an NCAA scoring mark Sunday night as the Broncos beat the Wolf Pack 69-67 in four overtimes as the two accounted for more than 1,300 yards of total offense.

With Florida State and Miami both sporting 4-3 records, has there ever been a less-anticipated match-up between these two? The last time before this year that the two played and neither was ranked was 1977.

Nebraska fans are wildly upset and they have every right to be after the Cornhuskers’ performances the past two weeks. But they took a new tact to change things in Lincoln. They created a Website to get rid of Steve Pederson, the Nebraska athletics director who presented coach Bill Callahan with a new contract last season. Pederson was fired Monday.

What price is college athletics? The Philadelphia Enquirer reports that there is roughly $8 billion contributed by donors each year that goes to the athletics departments, which is roughly 25 percent of all giving to universities in this country.

SI.Com has come out with its pre-season college basketball power rankings with North Carolina atop the top 20 followed by UCLA and Tennessee. The only other Deep South team listed is Arkansas at No. 14.

And finally, Boston College’s Matt Ryan is No. 1 on NFL draft expert Mel Kiper’s list for college quarterbacks coming out in the NFL draft.

What to make of another wild football weekend

(10/15) What I think after last weekend in college football . . .

I think I know absolutely nothing about what’s going on this year. I think this is the most bizarre college football season in my lifetime and every week you think, "This can’t keep happening," and it does.

I am beginning to think that Florida still may be the best team in the SEC and possibly the Deep South despite losing to both Auburn and LSU. It seems that the Gators are just hitting their stride.

I think the Kentucky story still is developing. What fun these Wildcats are. The only possible explanation for Kentucky’s upset of No. 1-ranked LSU is cat scratch fever -- the smaller cats overcoming the larger variety.

I think Southern Cal has got problems which will lead to the Trojans losing at least one more.

I think Arizona State may win the Pac-10 if Oregon doesn’t.

I think Oklahoma is the best in the Big 12 and I think Nebraska is only a shadow of its former self and a disgrace.

I think Ohio State is the best of the Big 10. Could it come down to the Buckeyes and Michigan yet again for the conference championship? The Wolverines haven’t lost one in the league yet. And if Michigan should prevail, what would the BCS do with a team that has lost to Appalachian State?

I think the fact that South Florida hung more than 60 points on a George O’Leary-coached Central Florida makes the Bulls a much stronger team than I originally thought.

I think Boston College is legitimate and could move into one of the top three spots in all the rankings. I also think the Eagles will meet Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech team in Jacksonville for the ACC banner. I think BC quarterback Matt Ryan has to be a Heisman candidate.

I think there are a lot of historically good teams in limbo out there including Texas, Auburn, Florida, Southern Cal, Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia and Missouri.

I think Georgia really hasn’t improved one iota and that includes the play of quarterback Matt Stafford while Georgia Tech continually shoots itself in the foot -- one step forward and two backwards.

 

Will Vandy win two in a row over UGA? No-No

(10/12) This is Norman Arey with your Norman’s No-Nos where I pick the losers in 15 college games. Last week, I was 11-4, 63-27 for the year. Seventy percent. Let ye who’s done better cast the first stone

GEORGIA at VANDERBILT: We’ve established the Bulldogs aren’t where they want to be. Vanderbilt wishes it could get where Georgia is. Commodores are at home and whip the Dawgs for the second straight year. NO-NO. Bulldogs not great but not that bad. Vandy loses, 35-14.

GEORGIA TECH at MIAMI: The Yellow Disappointments surely can beat a floundering team that lost to North Carolina last week. Miami has a new coach but is getting the same results. Tech pulls one off. NO-NO. Hurricanes are mad, Tech isn’t. Jackets go down, 27-21.

SOUTH CAROLINA at NORTH CAROLINA: The battle for Who’s The Real Carolina. Gamecocks have Steve Spurrier. Tar Heels have Butch Davis. Butch isn’t an Evil Genius - yet. USC gets a surprise. NO-NO. Not this time around.. UNC takes one on the chin, 31-10.

ALABAMA at OLE MISS: Alabama continues to slog through an unmemorable season. Ole Miss would like to forget, too. Rebels remember how much they dislike The Tide, pull the upset. NO-NO. Elephants trample the Crooked Letters, 35-14.

BOSTON COLLEGE at NOTRE DAME: Hah! The Battle for the Pope’s favor. BC is undefeated. Irish have won one in a row. The Pope favors the boys from South Bend. NO-NO. Irish forgot to confess their short comings as a team. Golden Domers lose, 42-14.

TENNESSEE at MISSISSIPPI STATE: UT is hot on the heels of trouncing the other Bulldogs. Mississippi State is proving Sylvester Croom isn’t a bad coach. These Bulldogs aren’t bad and crush the Orange. NO-NO. Bulldogs make it close but falter, 24-21.

LSU at KENTUCKY: On paper, this could be interesting. LSU is No. 1 in all the land. Kentucky deserves its spot in the Top 25. Wildcats play ‘em tough at home, turns the polls upside down. NO-NO. Blue will the ready but just doesn’t have the firepower. Kentucky falls, 28-14.

Others loses include:

>Arizona to Southern Cal

>Washington to Arizona State

>Oregon State to Cal

>Louisville to Cincinnati

>Duke to Virginia Tech

>Syracuse to Rutgers

>Purdue to Michigan

>Washington State to Oregon.

 

'Class' acts: LSU calls Tebow, UM calls Holtz?


(10/11) Florida quarterback Tim Tebow says he got hundreds of threatening phone calls the week leading up to the Gators' game at LSU. There were reports that several LSU fans were walking around campus with shirts sporting Tebow’s telephone number. The quarterback finally got a new phone number.

The University of Iowa, according to SI.Com, has bought the FireKirkFerentz.com Website before angry students and alums could get it going. Ferentz’ salary of $2.7 million per year is the highest of any Iowa state employee yet his record is only 15-15 since 2005.

I didn’t realize it but until Notre Dame beat UCLA last weekend, the Fighting Irish hadn’t won a game since November when it beat Army 41-0. But it was still strange to see them celebrating a win over a non-ranked team in October which was forced to play a third-string quarterback.

The dumbest rumor this week is that influential University of Minnesota alums want to try and entice Lou Holtz to come back to coach their football team. Surely that’s just a rumor, right?

This is the most impressive college football statistic I’ve seen. Missouri is successful in completing an amazing 59 percent on third down conversions.

The Miami Herald reports the University of Miami is being creative in trying to attract bigger crowds to its basketball games. Besides dropping season-ticket prices by 50 percent, the Hurricanes will add a hot tub, a sandbox and lifeguard tower in the student section and students will be encouraged to wear beach attire. The school also is offering in-game shoe shines, massages, haircuts and a computer work station. Sounds like a mess.

And speaking of Miami, when Georgia Tech visits there Saturday, it’ll be going up against former Yellow Jacket offensive coordinator Patrick Nix, who took over the offensive reigns for the Hurricanes last year. Nix was quoted as saying that he feels Miami supports its football team better than Georgia Tech did. Makes things more interesting Saturday.

Punting Petrino and strange baseball signals

(10/10) Wow, that sure didn’t take long. Here we are, in the fifth week of the National Football League season, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution already is running a headline wondering if Falcon coach Bobby Petrino is in over his head. Come on. The guy comes in with one idea of what he’s getting into and then finds that little is as he thought it would be.

And in more Falcons news: Petrino announced that Joey Harrington would be the Atlanta starter next week. That was kind of a no-brainer considering how backup Byron Leftwich played in the loss to the Titans.

Could there be a less interesting National League Championship Series than Colorado vs. Arizona? . . . Hottest rumor has New York Yankees’ manager Joe Torre being fired and St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa hired to replace him. Then who replaces La Russa? One of the names out there is Atlanta Braves’ hitting coach Terry Pendleton. . . . And one last thing about baseball: I’d love to see Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban purchase the Chicago Cubs. Cuban is truly a Maverick and he’d be good for MLB.

Believe it or not, these teams are already bowl eligible: Boston College, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Arizona State, LSU and Hawaii.

A sense of normalcy has returned to Tallahassee as Florida State is tied with Texas Tech as the most penalized team in college football. The Seminoles and Red Raiders are averaging 10 penalties per game.

After gaining 135 yards in Georgia Tech’s loss to Maryland over the weekend, Jacket tailback Tashard Choice reclaimed his spot as the No. 1 rusher in the ACC. The senior runner is averaging 106 yards per outing.

And the latest scandal in pro sports is --- tennis. Several of the players on the men’s pro tour have come forth saying they have been approached about throwing a match. One player said he was offered $100,000 to lose. Stay tuned.

Time to launch www.rehire-ron-zook.com?

(10/9) Just for fun, may I point out that Ron Zook’s record at Illinois, 5-1, is better than that of Urban Meyer, 4-2, the man who replaced him at Florida.

Go figure. The applications to Boston College by students from the South have more than doubled since the school joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. Were our students just unaware that BC existed?

In an article about parity in college football, The New York Times points out that this past week, 22 games were decided by seven points or fewer and 16 games were decided in the final two minutes.

There are five winless teams left in Division I-A: Utah State, Florida International, Marshall, Colorado State and North Texas. There are 11 undefeated teams still out there. . . There are only four teams that started the season in the Top 10 and still remain there: LSU, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Southern Cal. . . The new No. 2 team in the college standings is Cal and that’s the highest rating for the Bears since 1951.

How improbable was Stanford’s jaw-dropping win over Southern Cal? The Smart Guys were 41-point underdogs and their quarterback had thrown exactly three passes in college before he started against the Trojans. Plus the Cardinals scored the game winner in the last few seconds of the game. That’s better than anything Hollywood could come up with.

An SI.Com Poll asked its readers to vote for the biggest upset of the year -- the contestants were Appalachian State over Michigan, Syracuse over Louisville or Stanford over Southern Cal. The Stanford stunner got 52 percent of the votes while Appalachian State’s upset received 47 percent.

And finally, according to FoxSports.Com, the five coaches on the really, really hot seat are Arkansas’ Houston Nutt, UCLA’s Karl Dorrell, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Arizona’s Mike Stoops and Clemson’s Tommy Bowden.

 

ACC, SEC title games: Va. Tech vs. BC;

LSU tops all others in the conference

(10/8) What I think after the weekend of college football

- I think Nebraska, UCLA, Clemson, Rutgers, Louisville and Miami have one thing in common -- they’re all pretenders on the college front.

- I think Bill Callahan can’t have much of a future at Nebraska. How much longer are those good folks going to put up with him?

- I think the state of Georgia doesn’t have much to look forward to as far as the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets go. Georgia may be a year away or maybe more. Georgia Tech is, well, just Georgia Tech. I think the Jackets will achieve their obligatory five losses, or more, this season.

- I think Matt Stafford is an OK quarterback who needs some good players around him. I think Tashard Choice is a good running back who needs a good quarterback around him.

- I think that there may be a new pecking order developing in the ranks. I think we’re going to see Missouri, Arizona State, South Carolina, Illinois and Boston College continue to develop into powers that will find a home in the Top 25.

- I think Florida is still a strong football team but LSU may be the best in the land. I think Les Miles is masterful with his two-quarterback system.

- I think Ohio State is much better than many people felt. The Buckeyes just manhandled an undefeated Purdue team.

- I think I’m still not sold on South Florida. The Bulls had their hands full with Florida Atlantic out of the Sun Belt conference.

- I think Virginia Tech and Boston College will meet in the ACC title game in Jacksonville

- I think it doesn’t make any difference who meets LSU in the SEC title game -- the Bayou Bengals are head and shoulders above the league.

- I think Tommy Bowden won’t escape with his job this time around at Clemson.

- I think it makes no difference that Notre Dame finally won one. The Irish probably will win at least four more, maybe even manage a break-even season.

- I think the biggest disappointment this year is Louisville and the biggest surprise is Cincinnati.

 

Is Fulmer singing 'Rocky Top' or the blues?

Only this week's No-Nos knows for sure

 

(10/5) This is Norman Arey with your Norman’s No-Nos, where I pick the losers in 15 college games. I was 10-5 last week, 52-23 for the year. Not bad considering how you’re doing.

GEORGIA at TENNESSEE: Bulldogs are playing to get back in the SEC East race. Vols are playing for coach’s job. Georgia wins it just so it doesn’t have to listen to "Rocky Top." NO-NO. UT players love their coach and "Rocky Top." Dawgs drops a close one, 28-27.

GEORGIA TECH at MARYLAND: The Jekyll & Hydes lost to Virginia and then beat No. 13 Clemson. Terps lost to Wake Forest and then beat No. 10 Rutgers. So who’s the pretender? Tech sneaks by. NO-NO. Ralph Friedgen outschemes Chan Gailey; Jackets lose, 21-17.

WISCONSIN at ILLINOIS: Wisconsin is undefeated and highly ranked. Illinois gave up 40 in its opener to Missouri. Ron Zook has the Illini playing like Big 10 aspirants. Badgers may win the Big 10. Zooksters score an upset. NO-NO. Illinois loses badly at home, 35-19.

MIAMI at NORTH CAROLINA: The Hurricanes have blown away folks since loss to Oklahoma. Tar Heels are a year away from being competitive. UNC takes this one in Chapel Hill. NO-NO. Randy Shannon won’t accept defeat, Baby Blues lose, 31-14.

WAKE FOREST at DUKE: Deacons are still hanging around for a chance to defend their ACC title. Duke is barely hanging on. Blue Devils show up to score a surprise. NO-NO. There will be more Wake fans in Durham than Devil worshipers. Duke loses, 35-10.

VIRGINIA TECH at CLEMSON: Hokies were a pre-season ACC favorite until LSU decimated them. Clemson was an ACC favorite until Georgia Tech rendered its offense inept. VATECH gets back on track. NO-NO. Hokies go down to Davis-Spiller tandem, 17-14.

FLORIDA at LSU: The Gators have worn quarterback Tim Tebow out. LSU isn’t exactly settled at quarterback. Tebow is going for Heisman. Tigers are going for national title. Gators shake up the national picture. NO-NO. Gators can’t match LSU on defense. Florida loses, 31-21.

Other losers include:

Syracuse to West Virginia

Cincinnati to Rutgers

Vanderbilt to Auburn

Texas to Oklahoma

Nebraska to Missouri

N.C. State to Florida State

Houston to Alabama

and Washington State to Arizona State.

Fulmer out if Volunteers lose to Georgia?

(10/3) The New York Times reported that all but one of the 49 pit bulls seized on the property in Virginia belonging to Falcon quarterback Michael Vick will be allowed to live. After a month-long inspection by an animal behavioral expert, it was deemed that only one of the dogs was beyond rehabilitation. . . And speaking of Vick, he took an eight-hour course sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and passed a written exam at the end.

I’m kind of ambivalent about Andruw Jones not being re-signed by the Atlanta Braves. It seems to be the truth that the club simply couldn’t afford to keep him and Mark Teixera, whom I feel will be more valuable in the long run.

Here’s a great note that I wasn’t aware of which was pointed out by ESPN.Com’ Pat Forde. The six quarterbacks who had yet to throw an interception going into last week’s game had at least one each. That included Kentucky’s Andre Woodson, South Florida’s Matt Grothe, West Virginia’s Pat White, Clemson’s Cullen Harper, Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor and Oregon’s Dennis Dixon. . . Forde also jokes that the historic collapse of the New York Mets is directly related to Tyrone Willingham’s lack of recruiting while at Notre Dame. Meanwhile, the Irish are 0-5 under Charlie Weis this season.

Forgive me this quick look at college basketball’s upcoming season. Virginia’s Sean Singletary led the first team selections for Collegehoops.net’s pre-season All-America team. Others included Tennessee guard Chris Lofton, Arizona forward Chase Budinger and North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough and Georgetown center Ray Hibbert.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban took a cheap shot at South Florida’s football program by intimating that the Bulls took players who couldn’t qualify academically at other schools, such as Florida and Florida State. . . Former Florida and now Illinois head coach Ron Zook is upset with Las Vegas as his Illini has been installed as a three-point favorite over highly touted Wisconsin this weekend.

And finally, FoxSports.com rumors that if Tennessee loses to Georgia this weekend, head coach Phil Fulmer will not be retained next season. The rumor is that Tampa Bay Bucs' coach Jon Gruden and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher are in the lead to succeed Fulmer.

 

'Worst' festival: NFL teams, all sorts of coaches

(10/3) OK, already. I love college football but televising games Tuesday through Sunday nights this week is a little much. I mean, are we dying to see Rice and Memphis, and Utah and New Mexico State, and Southern Miss that badly? Over saturation kills the mystique of the game.

A Harris Poll shows that the most popular NFL team is the Dallas Cowboys. Rounding out the top five are the Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. The bottom five, from 28-32, are the Atlanta Falcons, the Phoenix Cardinals, the Buffalo Bills, the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

SI.Com lists its five worst coaches in sports this year. One through five included San Diego Chargers’ Norv Turner, New York Mets’ Willie Randolph, Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis, Greg Ryan of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics.

Two of the most unlikely teams in the country have been reported for a "Videogate" violation. Duke is accused of sending Rutgers a video tape of one of Maryland’s earlier games. What next? Mike Tyson presiding over UNICEF? And besides, Rutgers lost anyway.

Three quarterback questions have been answered, sort of. Texas’ Colt McCoy, who suffered a mild concussion, will play. Xavier Lee will start for FSU in place of Drew Weatherford and Jimmy Clausen is "probable" to start for Notre Dame instead of Evan Sharpley.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football got an 8. 2 rating and was beaten badly by ABC’s nighttime soap opera, Desperate Housewives, which drew a 12.5 rating. The NFL needs to try adding Eva Longorio to the broadcasting booth.

When Kentucky meets South Carolina Thursday night, Wildcat coach Rich Brooks says he has a long personal history with Gamecock coach Steve Spurrier. Brooks was an assistant with the 49ers in the mid-‘70s when Spurrier was the quarterback. Brooks says Spurrier was "confident, cocky, brash, a winner. He hasn’t changed. I like Steve. He says some pretty entertaining things. And it’s the way he says it as much as what he says," he told the Lexington Herald-Ledger. I’m sure most Georgia fans feel the same way.

SEC key games this week: UF vs. LSU, Kentucky vs. Gamecocks, UGA vs. Vols

(10/2) Georgia Tech is auctioning a VIP Sideline Experience to its fans. Whomever wins gets to have an up close and personal experience on the sidelines of Tech’s homecoming game against Army on Oct. 20. My question is, how close would you want to be to that game?. . . Alabama and Clemson are talking about playing each other in the Georgia Dome next season.

It seems fair to me that LSU jumped over Southern California after this past weekend. USC struggled to beat Washington in a sloppily played game while LSU had no such struggles in taking care of state rival Tulane.

Florida, Oklahoma, Rutgers and Texas, all losers last week, get an immediate chance to climb right back into the national spotlight and possible BCS bowl bid picture. Florida visits LSU, Oklahoma meets Texas and Rutgers takes on surprising undefeated Cincinnati. And don’t overlook the Georgia-Tennessee game. Whomever wins this one is going to be in good shape in the SEC East. And how about this game - Kentucky at South Carolina? That’s one you wouldn’t have given a second look in pre-season.

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr can’t retire soon enough it would seem. Word comes out of Ann Arbor that the Wolverines may forfeit two of their three wins, over then-ranked Penn State and poor Notre Dame, because of having used an ineligible player. . . And speaking of the Big 10, Purdue’s 5-0 start is only the second five-win beginning of a season for the Boilermakers dating back to 1945.

Talk about a conference dominating, the SEC has five teams ranked in the AP’s top 12 picks this week. . . A quick look at how the new coaches in the ACC are doing thus far. North Carolina’s Butch Davis is 1-4, N.C. State’s Tom O’Brien is 1-4, Miami’s Randy Shannon is 4-1 and Boston College’s Jeff Jagodzinski is 5-0 and ranked No. 7. And finally, here’s why the state of North Carolina is looking forward to basketball season: The Big Four (UNC, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest) is a combined 5-14 in football thus far.

There are several stories on the Internet about the Big East being a pretender this season because of West Virginia and Rutgers’ losses this weekend. I disagree. What about the emergence of South Florida and Cincinnati?

 

Upset Weekend leaves a new look to Top 25

(10-1) What I think after the weekend in college football:

I think this weekend was one of the ugliest in memory. Seven ranked teams lost to unranked teams -- this wasn’t a case of two great teams slugging it out but rather of seven overrated teams getting their due.

Oklahoma was beaten by Colorado, Penn State lost to Ron Zook’s Illinois team, Texas was shocked with a 20-point loss at the hands of Kansas State, Rutgers lost to Maryland, Clemson somehow forget to bring its offense to Atlanta, Alabama went down for the second straight week and Florida lost in the Swamp to Auburn.

That’s three of the top five teams losing, five of the top 10, nine of the top 25. My God, Boston College, Kentucky and South Florida have moved into the nation’s top 10. So what do we have? How about barely organized chaos. First thing you know, Michigan will be ranked again. There are now 13 ranked unbeaten teams.

I think the Texas-Oklahoma showdown in the Cotton Bowl lost its glitter. The Red River Shootout is now the Red River Fizzle Out.

I think there’s not going to be much of a buzz about Florida visiting Baton Rouge next weekend. The Tigers should be favored by double digits.

I think Florida State has found a quarterback in Xavier Lee.

I think Nick Saban might be a little over-priced.

I love the fact that Illinois is undefeated and coach Ron Zook is finally moving on from the ugly scene in Gainesville three years ago.

I think Clemson’s ugly offense it showed against Georgia Tech will once again move Tommy Bowden onto a warm place to sit.

I think two of the top three teams will be from the Pac-10 and two more from the Big 10 is weird- I don’t think they’re necessarily the top five, but that’s the way the voters think.

I think that the biggest surprises so far are 5-0 Arizona State, 5-0 Cincinnati, 4-0 South Florida, 4-0 Missouri and 5-0 Kentucky.

It's SEC East vs. SEC West: Who goes south?

(9/28) Here are your Norman’s No-Nos where I pick the losers in 15 college games. Last week, I was 12-3, 42-18 for the season. Take these picks to the bank.

Ole Miss at Georgia: The Rebels had their game of the year last week against Florida. Georgia had its game of the year last week in Alabama. Bulldogs need help up front. Rebels need help everywhere. Rebs pull an upset?. NO-NO. Dawgs not great but not that bad. Rebs lose, 28-14.

Clemson at Georgia Tech: Clemson is no paper Tiger this year, Tech is. Orange guys can run and throw. Guys in gold can run, not throw. It’s time for a Jacket upset. NOT A CHANCE. Tommy Bowden stays off the hot seat, Jackets beaten, 24-10.

Alabama vs. Florida State: Two shadows of former selves. Tide may be on the upswing but hasn’t swung that far yet. Seminoles are sliding fast; can they pull out of it? Hard to pick this one. Let’s say Alabama by a point. NO, CAN'T DO IT. Tide goes down, 24-20.

Auburn at Florida: Tigers can’t be as bad as they’ve looked. Can Florida be as good? Auburn gets it together and lives up to pre-season hype. NOPE. Gators may be good enough to be playing for the national title again. War Eagles grounded, 35-14.

Pitt at Virginia: This is another one of those ACC vs. Big East games where the thieving ACC gets embarrassed. Pitt takes a giant step toward respectability. NO-NO. UVA has already had its embarrassment against Wyoming. Pitt is beaten, 28-17.

Louisville at N.C. State: Cardinals have gone from the White House to the outhouse in two weeks. State got rid of Chuck Amato but so what? Can Louisville stop anybody? Wolfpack offense goes wild. NO-NO. Cards can at least stop the ‘Pack. State loses, 42-14.

Notre Dame at Purdue: Fighting Laughing Stock has a hard time finding Purdue stadium. Boilermakers have scored 194 points in four games for a 48.5 average. Irish have given up 133 in four, a 33.3 average. IRISH WIN IN UPSET! NAW, JUST SPOOFING. Irish lose, 38-21.

Other losers include:

-Stanford to Arizona State

-Michigan State to Wisconsin

-Illinois to Penn State

-Oregon State to UCLA

-Cal to Oregon

-Maryland to Rutgers

-UNC to Virginia Tech

-and Washington to Southern Cal.