Fanshots

TAMU Chancellor on Chip Brown Reports: 'Hogwash'

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We respectfully suggest that Mr. Brown should consider sticking to covering UT football and leave reporting on Texas A&M to reporters who pay closer attention to the facts and who do not have some kind of personal axe to grind with John Sharp.

The Office of Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp, responding to Chip Brown's latest missive. The entire takedown is worth a read

Missouri Won't Go to a Bowl at 5-7

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Our focus remains on identifying the right leader for our program and moving forward with the transition process.

Mack Rhoades, Missouri athletics director, confirming that the Tigers will not go to the postseason with a losing record even though they could.

It's not really a surprise. Outgoing head coach Gary Pinkel made it clear he wouldn't want to lead the Tigers in a bowl in that case, and there's no time for a new head coach to install his schemes, so it's not like the practice time would necessarily help. It's got to be disappointing for some of the players, but from the program's perspective, it probably makes sense to just move on.

'Realizing the Bigger Picture' at Mizzou

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We love the game, but in end of the day, it is just that; a game. Through this experience, we've really began to bridge that gap between student and athlete in the phrase student-athlete by connecting with the community and realizing the bigger picture.

Mizzou S Ian Simon, in a beautiful summation of the other angle on this weekend's strike

Is the SEC Over?

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For the first time in four seasons, the SEC won't have four 11-win teams. It very easily could have only one. Alabama is 11-1. Missouri and Mississippi State are 10-2.

The best running backs in the FBS play in the Big Ten. The best quarterbacks are in the Pac-12. So are the best defensive linemen. The ACC skunked you 4-0 last Saturday. The Big 12 is the only conference with a chance of putting two teams in the playoff. ...

The league spent the season beating up one another. Parity can be a wonderful thing. The NFL wouldn't exist without it. But parity is another word for pretty good, and pretty good is a saddle that hasn't weighed the SEC down in a while.

Ivan Maisel

We'll deal with this more fully after the bowl season, but since the topic is already coming up, what say you? Is the conference supremacy argument gone for a while? Or is everyone overreacting to one bad weekend?

The Thing About Chip Brown's Texas A&M Report

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Two sources close to the situation told HornsDigest.com SEC officials have indicated to bowls with SEC and Big 12 tie-ins that the SEC won’t support a Texas vs Texas A&M postseason matchup. In short, A&M has too much to lose from a potential loss.

Chip Brown

Listen, you don't have to doubt Brown's personal credibility to doubt the validity of this report. The question I always have with Chip Brown reports is: Who is telling him these things? "Two sources close to the situation" could be any number of people with any number of motivations, and without telling us if they're bowl sources, sources with either the Big 12 or the SEC, or sources with Texas or Texas A&M, Brown doesn't give us enough to go on to judge whether these people are blowing smoke or not. Texas athletics director Steve Patterson and Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby tell Brown that this is going on behind the scenes and -- voila! -- Brown has a story that makes Texas A&M look bad to fans at large and on the recruiting trail. Which is a nice little feat to pull off, particularly when Brown then builds a narrative around the idea that A&M's recruiting would be hurt by losing a single game to Texas.

Maybe Texas A&M is the reason that the game is not being played -- and if so, shame on it. But to jump to any conclusions based on a report this thinly sourced from an unabashedly partisan site is stretching. (HT: BON)

Gurley Likely Out Again

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I will try to clear up Todd's status. "We will let you know if his status changes. Not anticipating it to change this week."

Mark Richt's Twitter account Straight from the head coach himself: Todd Gurley is not likely to see the field against Arkansas this week.

Kentucky RB Predicts Win Over Florida

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"A couple of my (high school) teammates actually went to Florida, so I'm familiar with a lot of those guys," Kemp said. "It's going to be fun walking out with a victory and rubbing it in their faces."

Bold words from Jojo Kemp Kentucky has not defeated Florida in Kemp's lifetime.

Steve Spurrier on Domestic Violence

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Really, it’s amazing that America has sorta put up with it or compromised, but that is something that should never happen. Our players know that they’re gone if they hit a girl. They know it.

Steve Spurrier

It's good that Spurrier said this for a few reasons. First, it needed to be said and needs to be said by every coach in the SEC and in college football. Second, it sets a standard that he's now going to be held accountable for. If Spurrier gets a report of a player involved in domestic violence and doesn't do anything about it, odds are the report will become public and Spurrier will get destroyed in the media for it -- as he should. In this case, the Head Ball Coach's direct way of speaking is not a joke, but serious and even refreshing.

Spurrier Can't Help but Talk About Alabama

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Every school is different. For example, at Alabama, if I had had five No. 1 recruiting classes in the last six years like Alabama, I would say, ‘Fellas we are going to mess up if we lose a game, because we’ve got the best players in college football.’ But we’re not in that situation.

Spurrier can't help himself Again, for the second time recently. You can tell it bothers him when people recognize someone else as the SEC's best coach.

Steve Spurrier Doesn't Think Nick Saban Is Very Good

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... if you wanted to, you can find faults with anybody if they don’t win them all. How many SECs has (Saban) won there in eight years? He’s won two. He’s won three nationals, but he’s only won two SECs in eight years. Now, if you had the No. 1 recruiting class every year and so forth, I don’t know if he has maxed out potentially as well as he could.

Steve Spurrier being Steve Spurrier