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September 2, 2010
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November will be cold for some
Published July 29, 2009
While I was at the last paper I worked for, in Alabama, we started running Paul Finebaum’s columns.
Finebaum is a sportswriter and radio talk show host. He has done quite well for himself stirring up the rabid fan base in the Heart of Dixie.
One column suggested Georgia’s Mark Richt, who brought Athens its first Southeastern Conference football titles since the Vince Dooley days, and whose teams have won 79 percent of their games, could be on the hot seat.
To be fair, Finebaum didn’t say Richt had an ax swinging over his head. But he said Bulldog fans could be growing restless given that Georgia hasn’t made the leap to play for a national championship yet.
Let’s look honestly at the SEC as football season approaches. Coaches and top players gathered last week near Birmingham for the annual Media Days spectacle and speculation ran high about several teams.
Florida is almost everybody’s choice for a repeat as national and SEC champs. Georgia’s expected to be very good, again — no surprise.
In the West, Ole Miss is the sexy pick. The Rebels handed Florida its only loss in 2008 and looked impressive in the Cotton Bowl.
But Alabama is expected to be great again in Nick Saban’s third year. Gene Stallings won a national championship in his third year, and even Bill Curry, Mike DuBose and Mike Shula’s third Alabama teams won big.
LSU ran up another top recruiting class and should improve, and Arkansas will upset some folks.
Last week’s Media Days was a chance to celebrate what the SEC has become, with a huge new television contract and the last three national champions.
Has it become a monster, though? After all, it’s not possible for everybody to have national championship-type seasons.
Florida and Georgia have to play each other. Somebody’s going to lose. Same as when Ole Miss and Alabama meet.
Rick Bragg once wrote that SEC football is like a “knife fight in a ditch.” He’s right, assuming you’ve got to fend off eight guys in a row in that same ditch.
As tough as that is, somebody’s going to be mighty disappointed come November.
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