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Stanford and Boise go down HARD.

Any team with 3 or more losses is long gone. New to this group are Florida & Tennessee.

It is not out of the question that a 2 loss team can win a National Championship (LSU in 2007) but it is farfetched. Auburn, Texas, Texas Tech, Arizona State, Baylor, Iowa

Alabama: Looking good. Real good.

Auburn: Ugly.

Florida: They still have yet to recover from the thrashing the Tide gave them in 2009 (and 2010 and 2011), made Tebow cry and made Urban have a nervous breakdown.

Georgia: Look at their record and they are not bad. Watch them play a game and they do look bad.

LSU: If I am coaching this team, Jordan Jefferson only plays in garbage time or in case of a Lee injury.

Ole Miss: Do ya’ll remember how excited the Ole Miss fans were when they hired Nutt? He has set the program back another 10 years.

Mississippi State: I am convinced that nobody can win big here. The state doesn’t have the recruits and what you do have you split with Ole Miss. It has to be impossible to convince someone from out of the area to come to Starkville. Mullen should start job hunting.

South Carolina: Spurrier is getting a big helping of karma. Connor Shaw has a big game and he dumps Stephen Garcia. Now it looks like Shaw is just as bad. Additionally, he does not develop any other running backs and now it’s trial by fire.

Tennessee: Vols fans are getting impatient? Already? They need to realize that is going to take some time to undo the mess that Fat Boy and Lame Kitten left in their wakes.

Vanderbilt: It must be sad to think this is what they consider good.

* Arkansas & Kentucky did not play.

It’s obvious that any team with 3 or more losses is long gone. These include UCLA, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Arizona, Boston College, Oregon State.

It is not out of the question that a 2 loss team can win a National Championship (LSU in 2007) but it is farfetched.

Alabama: The defense did not give up their third first down until the 4th quarter when all the freshmen and walk-ons were in the game. The offense should improve once Duron Carter debuts this week and Darius Hanks next week. Superfrosh Cyrus Kouandjio is a starter by Week 4.

Arkansas: Joe Adams had two electric punt returns for touchdowns. However, part of the credit goes a lame undisciplined Missouri State team. Tyler Wilson looked pretty good at QB but Ark had 102 rushing yards.

Auburn: Last year, they made a lot of daring escapes. This year, there is no Cam Newton to help out. Auburn may have already used up this season’s allotment of luck.

Florida: Urban Meyer leaving Florida was a good thing for them. Will Muschamp will turn the program around but don’t expect them back in the top 2 any time soon. The Gators are my dark horse pick for the SEC East title.

Georgia: Everything about this match-up was bad news for the Bulldogs – the uniforms were stupid and distracting to the players; UGA was looking ahead to South Carolina; UGA did not respect their opponent;  heaping all their hopes on Isiah Crowell was a big mistake; Richt’s recruiting did not address needs. Richt has lost his edge and is not fully dedicated to the program. Time to go.

Kentucky: Rich Brooks had 4 straight winning seasons and bowl games. Last season, UK went 6-7 & a bowl game. Could that have been due to leftovers from the Brooks era? Randall Cobb, Derrick Locke and Mike Hartline are all gone. Joker Phillips’ cupboard is bare.

LSU: I fully expected LSU to beat Oregon but that was due to my lack of faith in Oregon. I fully agree that they are highly overrated despite the way Brent Musberger was gushing over them. No disrespect to the Tigers. They are a legitimate candidate for the big game. The quarterfinals begin November 5 in Tuscaloosa.

Ole Miss: I blame this on the curse of the Rebel Bear. It is so pathetic that Ole Miss gave into the politically correct crybabies and did away with the Colonel. The real curse is Houston Nutt. He can’t coach, he can’t recruit and he is finding it harder to find anyone left to believe his BS. Let the next coach speculation begin.

Mississippi State: The other Dawgs did what you’re supposed to by beating their cupcake du jour. Vick Ballard had a good game. Dan Mullen is doing good things in StarkVegas. He’ll never win big at MSU but 8-9 wins ever year might be enough.

South Carolina: I have been saying all summer that this is Spurrier’s swan song. He is putting it all on the line to win this season before he retires to the golf course. This should be evident in the fact that he has no solution at QB after Garcia finished his seventh year of eligibility. The Gamecocks are good for a couple of trap games. They may win the East but after they are trounced again in the SECCG, it’s tee time.

Tennessee: UT has some rocky roads ahead but step one is beating the teams you are supposed to beat. Tyler Bray will be a beacon of light but not much else after that. If Dooley wants to stick around in Knoxville, he needs to find his “Herschel Walker”.

Vanderbilt: They have excellent academics.

You may recall the story of an assistant high school football coach in Greensboro, NC and how he was somehow came up with the funds to take blue-chip players on recruiting trips to places like Eugene, Oregon and Berkeley, CA (see below). There was also rumors that he would end up on the Oregon coaching staff despite having no head coaching experience.

Well, now the Ducks are in DEEP trouble with the NCAA and don’t be surprised if the name Otis Yelverton resurfaces.

Mr. Yelverton got a short-lived job at the shady Oak Ridge (NC) Military Academy that was enrolling men who were much older than your average high school player and steamrolling over these other poor programs. Yelverton has resigned.

Newly unemployed and reputation tarnished, might Yelverton be ready to speak out?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite Northern Guilford High School opening on January 29, 2008, the basketball team still “won the 3A state championship title – and with no seniors. But questions arose about the team’s fairytale rise to glory, leading to an investigation by Guilford County Schools that determined some of the players on the team resided outside of the school’s district. As a result, the team was stripped of its championship title and (Coach Stan) Kowalewski’s coaching contract was not renewed.”
http://www.nwobserver.com/articles/2009/12/06/news/doc4b1807ee49f40864555335.txt

As you may know, Northern Guilford is football home to Parade All-American Keenan Allen, University of Oregon commits Chris McCain 4-star LB and James Scales 3-star DB.

FISH #1: How can a high school whose paint is still drying have a state champion basketball team and a nationally ranked football team?

Kowalewski is now the head basketball coach at ORMA (Oak Ridge Military Academy) 13 miles west of Greensboro.

ORMA’s AD Derrell Force resigned from Northern Guilford last spring amid the school’s eligibility scandal.

“Sources said Force is expected to offer Oak Ridge’s football job to Otis Yelverton, a nonfaculty assistant coach at Northern Guilford last year. Guilford County Schools declined to renew Yelverton’s contract for the fall. Yelverton declined to comment.”
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/07/30/article/former_northern_guilford_coach_ad_headed_to_oak_ridge_military_academy

FISH #2: It’s interesting that all these shady characters end up together again. According to this article, ORMA’s new athletics director is Otis Yelverton. What happened to Force? I don’t know Yelverton’s resume but he was a nonfaculty assistant coach at Northern Guilford – not head coach. That is quite a career jump.
http://www.nwobserver.com/articles/2009/12/06/news/doc4b1807ee49f40864555335.txt

So who is Otis Yelverton? He is a coach in North Carolina who has coached and “mentored” McCain, Scales and Allen as well as Allen’s half brother and former Buffalo University starting QB Zach Maynard who wants to transfer and play with Allen. He also coached/mentored 4-star DE Gabe King who was found ineligible to play high school football in North Carolina due to living in the wrong district (sound familiar?) and transferred to South Eugene (OR) High School.

Representatives of University of Oregon have been very careful about this issue and it may be why King has yet to commit to the Ducks.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Newest+Axeman+looks+comfortable+at+first+practice.-a0208717756

FISH #3: It seems awfully strange, coincidental and expensive for a family to up and move from Greensboro, North Carolina across the country to Eugene, Oregon just so their kid can play HS football. Why Eugene? Did they have financial help? From whom?

Additionally, Yelverton did his mentoring thing with Remene Alston who will be a senior RB at Oregon. As far as I can tell, Yelverton was not a high school head coach for any of these recruits. He was an assistant.

Yelverton’s distant cousin, Dino Philyaw, is a former Duck star RB who had a cup of coffee in the NFL. He has no official affiliation with Oregon other than being an alumnus. He is currently the president of SSD Luxury Builders in Eugene and operates Philyaw’s Cookout & Catering. He is a local hero/celebrity in Eugene. After high school, he played some minor league baseball and went to Taft JUCO in California before ending up at UO. Yelverton and Philyaw played against each other in high school in North Carolina and have stayed close. The two were involved in the Rivals.com Five-Star Showdown in March 2009 that included Allen, King and many other blue chippers from the Carolinas.
http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=923236

This past summer, Yelverton took Allen, King, Scales, McCain, and Maurice Harris to Oregon’s football camp. Harris is a class of 2011 WR at NGHS and already has offers from Alabama, Cal, Clemson, etc. He is also Allen’s cousin.

FISH #4: Who paid for the flight, etc? How much do you think a summer flight for six or more from Greensboro to Eugene costs?

FISH #5: Philyaw was there to greet them. It seems to me, as a UO booster Philyaw has probably had some illegal contact, but I don’t know the details of the contact or the NCAA rules.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2009/09/oregon_football_could_reap_div.html

“ ‘Yeah we are all taking off tomorrow around 7:30 am and will be landing in Eugene around 1:30 pm,’ said Coach O. ‘James Scales, Keenan Allen, Gabe King, and Chris McCain will all be traveling with me to visit Oregon. James is also bringing some of his family on the trip. We plan on visiting Oregon, Oregon State, and Cal on the six day trip,” said Coach O.’ ”

FISH #4.5: Add in Scales family members, rental cars, gas, food and lodging… $$$

http://duckterritory.com/football/football-recruiting/130-nc-athletes-invade-oregon
http://queencityhigh.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=957496

Mighty fishy….

Let’s face it. Auburn’s success in 2010 and the difference between 14-0 and 9-4 were squarely dependent on quarterback Cam Newton and D-lineman Nick Fairley. Without them, the Tigers lose to Clemson, LSU, Alabama and possibly Arkansas, Mississippi State and Kentucky. But those two are gone and have left big gaping holes in the team.  That said, it could be a loooong year for the War Eagle.

Utah State Win
Mississippi State -  this game is a  toss-up. MSU is much improved and dangerous but the game is at Auburn.
at Clemson – another toss-up. Clemson will be hard-pressed to forget last year’s heartbreaking loss, when they missed an easy OT touchdown and an easier field goal. Played at Clemson.
Florida Atlantic Win
at South Carolina is going to have a better team than last year. 19 of the 21 projected starters are seniors and juniors and some of them will probably be leaving for the NFL (Alshon Jeffery, Stephon Gilmore). It is now or never. Plus, Steve Spurrier is getting old. Prediction: LOSS
at Arkansas – on the road against a team that also might be better even without Ryan Mallett. Prediction: LOSS
Florida – what a  tough SEC stretch! Finally, the Tigers get a home game. Too bad the also get another  LOSS
at LSU – and Baton Rouge makes four straight:  LOSS
Ole Miss – finally a  Win
Open Date
at Georgia – in Athens = LOSS
Samford Win
Alabama =  LOSS

*Bonus Prediction: reports of the deaths of the Toomer’s Corner trees were greatly exaggerated.

SEC WEST:

ALABAMA
Start of spring practice: March 21
Spring game: April 16

ARKANSAS
Start of spring practice: March 15
Spring game: April 16

AUBURN
Start of spring practice: March 23
Spring game: April 16

LSU
Start of spring practice: March 11
Spring game: April 9

MISSISSIPPI STATE
Start of spring practice: March 4
Spring game: April 9

OLE MISS
Start of spring practice: March 28
Spring game: April 16

SEC EAST:

FLORIDA
Start of spring practice: March 16
Spring game: April 9

GEORGIA
Start of spring practice: March 10
Spring game: April 16

KENTUCKY
Start of spring practice: March 30
Spring game: April 23

SOUTH CAROLINA
Start of spring practice: March 15
Spring game: April 9

TENNESSEE
Start of spring practice: March 22
Spring game: April 16

VANDERBILT
Start of spring practice: March 18
Spring game: April 17

UNC hopes to have one of the top defenses in the nation in 2011 football season. Experience will definitely point them in the right direction in 11 players returning with starting experience.

After a season of turmoil in 2010 that saw several Tar Heels suspended including safety Brian Gupton, safety Da’Norris Searcy and cornerback Kendric Burney, many young players got extended playing time and will return.

Defensive end Linwan Euwell and safety Jonathan Smith also saw suspensions for 2011 and are expected to compete for starting spots.