27 Days Tennessee Preseason Preview
“I don’t have a theory other than to say I’ve been watching SEC football all of my life, as you guys know, and everything goes in cycles, it always does. Programs have their great runs. Programs have their bumps along the way. I don’t think that’s ever going to change. I mean, that’s the competitive nature of our sport.
“So certainly the east looked a little different last year than it has in the past. But we’ll see how it turns out this year,” – Derek Dooley at SEC Media Days.
Derek Dooley has quickly become a coach known for his quirky explanations and odd analogies; however, most are reluctant to label him as a buffoon or a new, younger version of Les Miles.
Dooley proved himself in the realm of intelligence by obtaining his law degree, passing the bar, and working as a successful lawyer before making a drastic career change.
+Continue Reading
28 Days
Ten Most Important SEC Games
10. Miss St @ Auburn 9/10
Miss State wants to say hello to the world. Auburn wants the world to take its new team seriously. This is also the opening conference game for the SEC West.
9. LSU @ Miss St 9/15
Thursday night on national TV. LSU plays three meaningless out of conference games including a trip to Dallas to face a top 10 Oregon team and a trip to Morgantown to play West Virginia. Smudged in between these games is an important SEC battle against Miss State. If Miss St beats Auburn, it could make a serious explosion in the SEC if they beat LSU just five days later. LSU can’t get caught focusing on their tough nonconference slate and lose to a hungry Bulldog team.
8. Auburn @ Arkansas 10/8
+Continue Reading
29 Days
I didn’t realize that kickoff is less than a month away. It doesn’t feel so far away.
I also didn’t realize that….
1. Florida’s stretch of tough games is worse than Auburn’s October.
We’ve heard ad nauseum that Auburn faces the toughest schedule in the country. We’ve heard that October for Auburn is the toughest stretch of games in history with 3 out of 5 games being on the road against tough opponents. Does the fact that a month is easily measured (although an arbitrary measurement) affect the predictions for Auburn’s demise?
Analyze this:
Sept. 24 @Kentucky
Oct. 1 Alabama
Oct. 8 @LSU
Oct. 15 @Auburn
Oct. 29 @Georgia
Nov. 5 Vanderbilt
Nov. 12 @South Carolina
Their bye week falls before the Georgia game, but make no mistake about it. No matter what section of the schedule you look at, it’s daunting for the Gators.
+Continue Reading
31 Days
Kentucky Preseason Preview
“When we’ve had good defensive linemen … that’s when we’ve won eight games and had a chance to win eight, nine, 10 games,” Phillips said.
The coach said he has high hopes about UK’s defensive front this season.
“This defensive line we have this year is older and a year more mature,” he said. “You’ll see some major results this year.”
Big quotes from Joker Phillips.
This team will need all it can get from their linemen as they lost their starting quarterback, starting running back, and top two receivers from last year’s squad.
And that was a squad that went 6-7.
Joker Phillips is a Kentucky man. He was born in Franklin, Kentucky. He played football at the University of Kentucky. He began his coaching career coaching at Kentucky from 1988-1996. He returned to Kentucky to coach from 2003-2008. And in 2009, he was the head coach in waiting at the University of Kentucky.
+Continue Reading
