FanNation

SEC Football Forecast '08

Good link to an article from a recent edition of The Gainesville Sun. Go to:

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080503/NEWS/14059949/1016/SEC_football_forecast 

I'm sure that they'll be some Gator Haters out there who'll quickly dismiss this link as just Gator propoganda, but give it a chance. Thanks 

He's a Nutt

Now that Ole Miss has a coach to match its talent, the Rebels could be a dark horse team next year and into the not too distant future.

For those who don't know (or forgot), former Arkansas head coach, Houston Nutt, is the new sheriff in Oxford. He's got a solid reputation of not only being a builder of teams, but his no-nonsense appraoch will be a welcome change for the Ole Miss faithful.

I had the chance to spend some time in Oxford, Mississippi many years ago. To me, it's the idyllic old south college. I loved the campus and "feel" of the school. Great old red-brick buildings, beautiful coeds, and a gorgeous green called "The Grove." With the underrated history of Ole Miss football and the addition of a top-notch coach and leader, I'm looking forward to watching my "adopted" favorite team in the coming years. 

Bucking Trends

Ohio State football fans don't need me to sing the praises of their star James Laurinaitis who will probably go into his senior season as the nation's best linebacker, again. He won the Butkus and Nagurski Awards last year and decided to return for one last year (his senior) because he "wants to come back and be with his teammates" with a chance to go a third BCS title game." A refreshing change.

What was former Nebraska AD Steve Pederson thinking a. when he let former coach Frank Solich go and b. didn't hire then assistant Bo Pellini to replace him? The program took a precipitous fall afterward under Pederson's choice, Bill Callahan, took over the reigns of the once dominant Husker progam. Callahan was fired last year (along with Pederson) and new AD (and former coach) Tom Osborne smartly went back to Pellini and convinced him to leave LSU (where he served as defensive coordinator) to come back to Lincoln. Pellini has work to do but don't be surprised if Nebraska gets back to its winning ways sooner rather than later.  

The Winning Time

Given essentially the same talent and resources, what makes some teams or programs succeed more than others? This is a question that I've posed to myself over the years in an attempt to learn if winning programs have certain common qualities.

I was tortured in my days at the University of Florida by the arch nemesis Georgia Bulldogs. Coached by Vince Dooley, the Bulldogs beat us annually even though I thought our teams were better. No matter what the circumstances might be, it always seemed that Georgia would come up with a backbreaking big play that would inevitably turn a close game in their favor. Saw it happen again and again. In the blind firestorm of my youth, I attributed their dominance to "luck." Georgia always recovered the key fumble, always came up with the big interception, and always made a critical special teams play. It was the "Choking Gators" against the those "Silver Britches." (I still have nightmares of being condemned to Hades with nothing on my iPod but "I've Been Working on the Railroad," the incessantly played song by the Georgia band every time their team did something worth cheering about).

Spring NCAA Football Scoop

Go to: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=779594 for a solid overview of spring practice, position updates, player's to watch for in 08, and overall team information.