Posts Tagged ‘Clemson Tigers’

Check out the Full Poll Results at Team Speed Kills!

Final Season Ballot

Well, it’s been a long season and all the games are in the books.  This season, I have been less than dutiful in managing to write anything about the comings and goings of college football, which is highly disappointing for me.  Of late I’ve taken a few weeks off to try and recharge myself both as a person and as a blogger—more on that later.  Either way, since all that really matters in the world of college football is where you end the season, here’s my final ballot the SEC Football Power Poll, serving as a cap to the the 2009 season.

Here they are, my darlins:

Rk.	Team	Comments
1.		The last chapter in this book was nothing but ugly, but the 13 wins before that were pretty stellar.  A well earned championship the Alabama Crimson Tide.
2.		The Florida Gators finished strong against Cincinnati—bidding Tim Tebow a fond farewell, and possibly Urban Meyer. Next year, however, looks awfully uncertain, not bad, just really “sketchy.“
3.		Up and down, up and down.  The Ole Miss Rebels 2009 season was the roller coaster from hell, but it was fun, and was worth the ticket. In 2010, the Rebels have holes to fill and maybe the expectations will be a little more reasonable.
4.		What a difference between 2008 and 2009.  The LSU Tigers looked like a top-rate, second-rate program at times, especially on offense. I have a feeling there will be some changes in the off-season.
5.		Considering where the Auburn Tigers were this time last year, I call this one a success. Hats off to Gene Chizik for managing to return a winning record and to avoid being lynched by the Tigers’ fans.
6.(t)		The Tennessee Volunteers improved steadily throughout the season until injuries began exposing just how empty the cupboard was when Lane Kiffin took over. Call me crazy, but I think the Vols overachieved this season.  Next year, however, will be much more important; setting the stage for years to come.
6.(t)		The Georgia Bulldogs finished with a win, which is probably a good thing for Mark Richt. The question remains, however, just how much can they reasonably improve by 2010?  I fear not enough to keep the crazies at bay.
8.		While there were some real bright spots here and there in 2009 for the Arkansas Razorbacks, on the whole I am not so sure that things will be much better next season for the Hogs, until they figure out who they want to be offensively and start playing just a little bit of defense. Still, they were much better in 2009 than in 2008.
9.		Once again, the South Carolina Gamecocks suffered their late-season slide. Still, they beat kissing-cousin Clemson before imploding against Connecticut. So, how many more seasons does the Ole Ball Coach hang around?  I’m thinking not that many.
10.		While the Kentucky Wildcats lost to Clemson in the Music City Bowl, considering where the Cats were when Rich Brooks took over, I call four bowls in a row big time improvement. As for the future, well, it’s not like Joker Phillips hasn’t already been there and done that.
11.		Dan Mullen’s Mississippi State Bulldogs were light-years better than they were under Sly Croom in 2008.  They just could never catch a break when they needed one. Next year, however, that should start to change.
12.		As for the Vanderbilt Commodores, well … umm … the field looked nice this year.

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Team Speed Kills, where the 2009 Football Power Poll round-up is there for all to see.

Now, on to basketball season…

– So it goes…

The Tennessee Volunteers confirmed this evening that they will represent the SEC in the 2009-10 Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Eve at the Georgia Dome.   Tennessee will face the Virginia Tech Hokies, who will represent the ACC.

The game will begin at 7:30 0n New Year’s Eve in Atlanta.  Tickets for the game go on sale tonight at UTTix.com.

The Vols most recent trips to the Chick-fil-A Bowl resulted in two disappointing losses to both the Maryland Terrapins and the Clemson Tigers.

Given that the Vols were sitting at home during bowl season last year, I have a feeling that they will be more than ready to face the Hokies, who they last played in the 1994 Gator Bowl, where the Vols upset the Hokies 45-23.

Looks like the Vols will be eating their Christmas “Turkey” on New Years…

– So it goes …

Image(s) Courtesy of:   the Chick-fil-A Bowl •   UT Sports.com ||  Statement on Fair Use

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 9

Through 25 October 2009

Things stabilized a bit this week in the world of college football, but there was still a little shuffling as a few teams took it in the teeth and others managed to hang on when it looked like all was lost.   Thus, below are the changes to my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot for Week 9.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here it is:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	–
2	Texas	–
3	Florida	–
4	Southern Cal	–
5	TCU	–
6	Iowa	2
7	Penn State	1
8	LSU	1
9	Cincinnati	–
10	Boise State	–
11	Oklahoma State	1
12	Mississippi	1
13	Georgia Tech	1
14	Oregon	1
15	Pittsburgh	1
16	Ohio State	2
17	Virginia Tech	–
18	Houston	2
19	Miami (Florida)	8
20	Oklahoma	1
21	Utah	1
22	South Carolina	3
23	Notre Dame	–
24	Arizona	NR
25	West Virginia	NR
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

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Cornell won the Ivy League for a second straight year - and got blown out in the first round both NCAA trips

The Other Side to March’s “Madness”

It’s been raining all day today (Friday) here in Knoxville, so I think it’s perfect time to do this post, one I’ve been conjuring up for the past week. A couple of disclaimers: first, it has little or nothing to do with anything Tennessee-related; secondly, overall it just isn’t going to be a happy post in any sense.

The NCAA Tournament is undoubtedly one of the greatest sporting events in the world. It’s my favorite time of the year, along with the fall of course. We all know why it’s so great – a champion being determined on the court, players rising to the occasion, teams playing their best basketball, schools you’ve never heard of putting a scare into a traditional power – so on and so forth. The office pool phenomenon is second to Super Bowl parties in sports-related hooplas. Everybody loves it and says that’s what makes college basketball so much fun to watch.

However, there’s a bad side to just about everything, and the NCAA Tournament/March Madness. And it’s one I’ve come to realize this past March more than ever before.

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This post is part of a continuing series — “The Cost of Sports” — examining the impact of current economic changes on the world of major sports.    To see the other posts in this series, click here.

As I discussed in Part 1 of this series on the cost of sports, at Tennessee, the price can be high when it comes to paying your way into Neyland Stadium — a truth of which Nashville’s Thomas Luck is all too aware.  I discussed the issue purely in terms of the experience at Tennessee mainly because it is what I am familiar with.  Tennessee was but a lens — the reality is largely the same at all schools with a major athletics presence.

The world of professional sports, however, makes the college ranks look like small potatoes in the way it is wed to the almighty dollar.  Given the current uncertain economic times, however, I question whether professional sports in particular can continue in the way it has for so long.

I suppose that sports fans should not be surprised at the notion that professional teams would necessarily focus on money, after all that is what professional athletics are all about: getting paid to play.  I suppose Rod Tidwell (from the movie “Jerry Maguire”) summed it up best with the oft quoted line “Show me the money!“  What I think is a bit surprising is how willingly and uncomplainingly professional sports fans have accepted the “money first” approach of all the teams in all the major leagues.  The increases in costs passed along to professional sports fans over the last generation is really quite staggering.

Video: Show me the Money!!

But don’t take my word for it…

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Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack!

Week 1

Through 6 January 2009

Well, given the fact that the collective SEC Blogging brain trust simply couldn’t give up on a good thing, this week Gate 21 along with a host of real blogs (ones that actually know what they are talking about) proudly debuts the first SEC Basketball Power Poll, ranking the relative “power” (hence the name … pretty cool, huh?) of the basketball squads for each of the SEC-member schools on a weekly basis throughout conference play.  In the future, these ballots will be submitted by the various members at the first of the week with the results being posted over at Garnet and Black Attack Thursday-ish.  Since this week is the first week of the 2009 Poll, however, well … we’re running behind.

Anyway, here’s my ballot for this first week in the SEC Basketball Power Poll, along with a feeble attempt at explaining why I’m such a moron.

In all its radiant glory:

So there you have it, my pre-SEC conference Power Poll rankings which are worth almost nothing.  In a few weeks we should have a much clearer picture of who is for real and who is not.  For now, however, we are really left to little more than educated guessing.

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Garnet and Black Attack, where the final poll results will be posted Thursday-ish.

– Go Figure …

Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack!

Week 13

Through 22 November 2008

Well, there were only four games in the SEC this weekend, thus, I have very little to say about some of the teams that took the week off.  Be that as it may, here’s my ballot for this week in the SEC Power Poll, along with a feeble attempt at explaining why I’m such a moron.

In all its radiant glory:

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Garnet and Black Attack, where the final poll results will be posted Wednesday-ish.

– Go Figure …