Best Price: $49.95What a year in the South Eastern Conference!
All summer long, it looked like Alabama would be the team to beat, but who knew that it would be the two Tigers that were the top dogs. That’s right Auburn and LSU. The SEC has always had its two powerhouse teams, but this year all has changed. The SEC West has 5 out of the 6 teams ranked in the Top 25, while the East is only boasting in one with South Carolina.
It’s still a guess who will end up in Atlanta on December 4th to play for the SEC championship. With Auburn, Alabama, and LSU still having to play each other this year, things are still bound to get shaken up. Auburn and LSU face on Oct 23, which will give the West a little room. Then LSU and Alabama face off on Nov.6, before Bama faces Auburn on Nov 26. That’s just in the West. The Eastern Division is still anyone’s game through midseason.
It is just a mess in the East, with Florida losing three straight conference games; they could still end up in Atlanta playing for a conference championship. If they can beat Georgia in Jacksonville on Oct. 30, Vanderbilt on the road on Nov. 6 and South Carolina at home on Nov. 13. There has not been a three-loss champion represent the division in Atlanta since divisional play started in 1992.
Who knows where the conference will stand this year, but one thing for sure is if the SEC wants to send a team to the BCS National Championship for a 5th straight year, a hard road lies ahead. Auburn is sitting at No. 4 in the first BCS standings, but LSU isn’t far behind at No. 6. Alabama is the highest one-loss team nationally at No. 8.
The SEC is still going to have some work cut out for them if both Oklahoma and Oregon remain undefeated. The past does show that if an SEC team goes unbeaten through the regular season, the voters have rewarded them. Florida jumped up to the top two spots in 2008 and in 2006 after being 10th and 6th in the first BCS Standings.
The Auburn Tigers look like they are the team to beat from this point forward. Cam Newton is a machine and has been racking up the yards and the touchdowns on every team they have faced so far. If LSU or Alabama have a say in it, they will have to shut down Newton.
From record setting scores, to major upsets, the SEC has been full of a ton of surprises. The crazy thing is we are only half way through the season. There is no telling what is in store for college football fans as we embark on the second half of the year. Will the SEC send a team to the BCS National Championship game, or will a new conference take over as this year’s best? Only time will tell, but one thing for certain is that it will be entertaining.
Check out our Florida Christmas Ornament and our South Carolina Christmas Ornament
College Football 2009 Week 1
Tennessee and Lane Kiffin dominated the Western Kentucky team. 63-7 and they looked like a Tennessee team of old. Jonathan Crompton threw 5 td passes. It should not look at as the national championship but it should be looked at as Tennessee trying to get back moving in the right direction. UCLA is next Lane Kiffin and his father did a great job.
Kentucky went to Cincinnati and Rich Brooks. Kentucky opened it up with Mike Hartline leading the charge. Kentucky finished the game at 41-0 against Miami of Ohio. They have an open date next week then take on Louisville in a rivalry game.
Joe Cox at Georgia didn’t look like a man with the flu. But Oklahoma State came back was the one team to win against the SEC. Oklahoma State sealed the win by recovering a 4th quarter fumble by Joe Cox to complete a 12 yard touchdown pass from Zac Robinison to Dez Bryant. Cowboys win 24-10
Ohio State barley beat Navy 31-27 may need to look at their rankings. Ohio State ran a 2 point conversion that would have tied the game back to put them up by 4 in the final minutes of the game.
Iowa just barely got by Northern Iowa 17-16. Northern Iowa gave them all they wanted.
Michigan over Western Michigan. Quieted down a lot of the naysayers
JoPa was back on the sideline as Penn State wupped up on Akron 31-7 holding Akron to no 1st downs until the 3rd quarter. They held them to only 187 yards total offense.
Minnesota defeated Syracuse 23-20. Syracuse played really well. They had a new coach and a new quarterback. Polus came off the hardwood to lead Syracuse at quarterback.
Georgia Tech defeated Jacksonville State. 37-17
Notre Dame looked good as expected (or hoped) 35-0 over Nevada
North Carolina handled the Citadel 40-6
Mississippi State with new head coach Dan Mullin man handled Jackson State. They looked really good in the process. Made some 1st game mistakes but looked much better than last year when they lost to La Tech in the opener.
USC started out shakey but then took off
Michigan did a great job against a much weaker opponent
Florida was picked to win by 70 but you can bet they will play well and do their best not to win by 70. Way too much class in town for that. The final was 62-3 and could have been worse but thank you Lord for the class of Florida.
Kansas beat N Colorado 49-3
Oklahoma was the story of the day losing to BYU ranked number 20 and sure to move up. Sam Bradford getting hurt and then losing the game had to be the shocker of the day. After coming off a season of having Sam Bradford win the Heisman Trophy and playing in the National Championship game expectations were high for the Sooners. The injury to Bradford doesn’t look to be season ending but his return may be too little too late as BYU defeated OU 14-13. BYU’s quarterback Max Hall was 26 of 38 for 329 yards and two touchdowns. Hall is the nephew of former Dallas Cowboy Danny White.
Alabama and Virginia Tech were in a dog fight. Playing in the Georgia Dome. The Tide prevailed with a 34-24 win. Ingram rushed for 150 yards which was the most he had ever rushed for. He had 2 forth quarter tds. McElroy threw for 230 yards. The tide held a 498-155 lead in total yards but had to rally in the 4th quarter for the win. There was the normal opening game mistakes with penalties and special team mistakes. It was Virginia Tech they were playing not some of the other so called division 3 teams on the other ranked teams schedules. Saban actually bragged on his team saying they had actually played better than the score reflected that they had responded well to adversity and don’t you know it that is what football is all about, responding to adversity
LSU struggled to defeat Washington 31-23. Jordan Jefferson threw 3 td passes to lead the tigers passed a much improved Washington Husky team its 15th consecutive loss
Vanderbilt beat West Carolina 45-0
#12 Cal beats up on Maryland 52-13
Arizona State punishes Idaho State 50-3
Clemson defeate Middle Tennesse State 37-14 but Starting Running Back Spiller was injured
Missouri didn’t seem to miss Chase Daniels as it defeated Illinois 37-9
Fresno State beats up on UC Davis 51-0
Arizona beats Central Michigan 19-6
Coach Chizik’s much anticipated debut was a success at Auburn as they defeated Louisiana Tech 37-13
San Diego beats Azusa Pacific 24-12
UNLV defeats Sacramento St. 38-3
Arkansas looks better as they defeated Missouri State 48-10
Connecticut defeated Ohio 23-16
Old Dominion beats Chowan 36-21
South Florida put it on Wofford 40-7
Louisville defeated Indiana State 30-10
Idaho defeated New Mexico State 21-6
