UPDATE: GRANT HAS USED A CAMPUS RESTROOM. WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO RETRIEVE SAMPLES. This is only a slight exaggeration of how eagerly the Alabama media tracked Anthony Grant's visit to the Alabama campus.
As usual, in the absence of real news, rumors flew. VCU spent the day knocking down reports of a counter-offer -- linked to here at Team Speed Kills. No retraction, because who knows what is actually going on?
And Alabama might not have Grant locked up yet, because ...
It's over. Postseason basketball ends for the SEC, as Notre Dame eliminates Kentucky from the NIT. Whether it's over for Billy Gillispie remains to be seen. At least some Kentucky fans think their fellow fans are -- well, a little overzealous.
Make no mistake, good people, we have brought this on ourselves. ...We have become a fanbase literally about to collapse under our own weight, too bloated and full of a sense of entitlement to realize or care that we are destroying the thing we are most passionate about.
For the disinterested, getcha popcorn. For the Kentucky fans -- remember, you all cheer for the same team.
Play Ball! Rain wipes three games off the slate and suspends another with the score tied 2-2. Among teams that actually finished, Vanderbilt spared the SEC the embarrassment of losing two in a row to Wright State. The only loser of the eight teams who finished their games? Kentucky, defeated by Cincinnati. [ Official SEC wrap-up ]
This has gotten annoying. Let's stop making the snarky comments about "two wars, broken economy and you're worried about what?" and recognize this for what it is -- a joke and a farce. Congratulations, Orrin Hatch, for continuing to stand up for small government. Because, you know, nothing says "small government" like micromanaging college sports. Even if we didn't have two wars, a broken economy, a health care system in shambles, a near civil war in one of our neighboring countries, an ongoing genocide in Africa, a (for whatever reason) warming planet and the lingering threat of a terrorist attack, there would have to be something -- something more important for Congress to do deal with. If you can't come up with a higher purpose for your office than this, go back to Utah. There has to be someone there who can make better use of a senator's staff than this.
Tennessee's playbook. Or Smart Football's best guess at it, anyway. As usual, X-and-O types will love it. (HT: Rocky Top Talk)
There's millions of dollars at risk. That's really the only possible explanation for NFL scouts being the pickiest people in the world.
But you missed one. Dr. Saturday lists the acceptable reasons for taking on FCS/I-AA teams, but he forgets one: Threat of legislation, the actual reason South Carolina and Clemson ended up taking on teams like Furman, Wofford, The Citadel and S.C. State. Yes, a lawmaker in South Carolina -- a future Orrin Hatch, maybe -- threatened to pass a law forcing the schools to take on the smaller state teams, in the name of state pride or some such nonsense. However, the Team from the Upstate did play two teams last year, so they have some more explaining to do.
I don't have a big problem with teams playing in-state FCS schools; it's often a bunch of fun for the guys who missed going to the large state university. It isn't flying in some hapless team from 300 miles away so you can have an extra bye week. Whether it's good for college football is, I suppose, an open question.
The Kiffin Effect? An actual thought that has occurred to me twice in recent days: You know, Les Miles has been awfully quiet lately.