For the second year in a row, the Georgia Bulldogs have the SEC’s Freshman of the Year as voted by the coaches. Wide receiver A.J. Green was voted the league’s top freshman just days after the AP gave the same honor to Alabama’s Julio Jones. Green’s 951 receiving yards leads the SEC this year, and he’d be the first freshman to lead the SEC in receiving since Auburn’s Ronney Daniels in 1999 (half of Daniels’ total had to come against Georgia). It’s fitting that Green and Jones split FOTY honors. Both had stellar seasons, and SEC fans should enjoy watching them over the next two seasons.

On some of the other awards…Tebow and Berry make sense. I also can’t argue with Brandon James though I’m sure Arenas got plenty of consideration. It was interesting that there were no unanimous selections this year. Did someone like Cody take votes away from Berry? I can’t imagine a better season by a defender than what Berry put up.

Any time I see Michael Oher’s name on one of these lists, I have to wonder how much The Blind Side had to do with it. By all accounts Oher’s an excellent lineman and has lived up to the hype, but was he really the best lineman in the conference? Or was he the safe choice because we have a book that says he’s supposed to be a can’t-miss? I don’t pretend to be able to tell the difference between Oher and other top linemen like Andre Smith (who won the award last year), and most honest fans can’t either. So while I’ll admit to being curious about that award, I really can’t disagree with the selection.

That’s not the case with another award. This isn’t the first time I’ve questioned the coaches’ on their COTY pick, and I’ve really got to take issue with Bobby Johnson getting anywhere near it this year. True, the return of Vanderbilt to bowl eligibility is big news. There’s also no question that Vandy is at a different level from the days not too far gone when they were winning two games a year. He’s a good coach over the long haul, but what was exceptional about this season? Johnson’s indecisiveness at the quarterback position proved problematic, and he saw his team all but collapse over the last half of the season as they were unable to beat vulnerable teams like Mississippi State, Duke, and Tennessee. Vandy’s bottom line improvement was one whole game from a 5-7 2007 season.

Saban was the obvious choice, but I’m glad to see that Houston Nutt received enough support to tie for COTY honors. Nutt took the Ole Miss Rebels from zero SEC wins a season ago to 8-4 overall, 5-3 in the SEC, and a New Year’s Day bowl.s

Sports Business Journal has the lowdown on this year’s crop of bowl gifts (h/t The Wiz). There’s good stuff to be had even at some of the minor bowls. That hasn’t always been the case. I remember talking with some players at the 2001 Music City Bowl who were green with envy after comparing notes with friends who were going to New Year’s Day bowls.

The NCAA limits bowl gifts to $500, and it looks as if Georgia players will be getting most of their swag in the form of a $400 Best Buy shopping spree. Their Citrus Capital One Bowl gift package will also include a commemorative watch and probably smaller items like t-shirts.

Florida Citrus Sports, who organizes the Champs Sports and Capital One bowls in Orlando, have pioneered the shopping spree program that lets the players choose their own gifts rather than accept the predetermined gifts. Players in the two Orlando bowls will be taken to a local Best Buy for a party and must spend their $400 allotment there. The BCS championship game will use a similar program where participants can select $300 of Sony merchandise from a showcase at the team hotel.

Interesting tidbit – the NCAA limits only provide for gifts for 125 people. "I don’t even need to know how many people will be coming through the doors," (promotions company rep Jon) Cooperstein said. "The NCAA allows each bowl to award up to $500 worth of gifts to 125 participants per school. Schools always bring more than that and pay for it on their dime. We’ll make up 500 folios and order forms for each school."

If the Dawgs run up another large tab this bowl season, you’ll probably find a nice chunk of it at a local Orlando Best Buy.

Georgia placed eight players on the AP All-SEC teams, but the Bulldogs only rated six spots on the coaches’ All-SEC teams.

Mohamed Massaquoi, Knowshon Moreno, and Rennie Curran were first team selections. A.J. Green, Matthew Stafford, and Brian Mimbs were second team picks. Massaquoi and Green flip-flopped from their spots on the AP teams while the coaches moved Curran up to first team. Clint Boling and Rashad Jones made the AP teams but were left off by the coaches. Knowshon Moreno was the only Bulldog named first team by both the AP and the coaches.

SEC individual awards and the All-Freshman team will be announced later in the week.

Georgia fans seem more or less resigned to Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford heading to the NFL after this season, but two of their high-profile peers might stick around for another season.

Heisman frontrunner Colt McCoy has come out and said that he’ll return for his senior season. As a senior he’ll try to lead Texas to a Big 12 and national title after coming up just short this year.

Last season’s Heisman winner Tim Tebow won’t decide until after the BCS championship game, but he said that, "if I had to say I was leaning any way, it would be to coming back." Of course he’ll stay – Georgia has everyone up to and including Rashad Jones exploring their draft potential, but Tebow hasn’t even filed the paperwork.

Would taking those two out of the draft make the leap more attractive to someone like Stafford? The looming rookie salary cap is assumed to be one of the bigger issues out there, but a weekend interview with NFL exec Rich McKay (sorry, no link) seemed to indicate that a cap wouldn’t be in place until 2011 at the earliest. That makes sense as the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement isn’t due to expire until 2011. McKay added that agents might be giving misleading and self-serving advice about the rookie cap with the intention of pushing more players into the draft sooner.

Welcome to the week that was in Georgia athletics where the number 42 served to tie together three very low points for three Bulldog teams.

42 points in football is usually enough to outscore anyone except Oklahoma, but we know how that turned out last weekend.

On the other hand 42 points in basketball often means a loss, and that was the case for the Lady Dogs on Friday at Georgia Tech. Not only did Tech beat Georgia by double-digits; they also took sardonic pleasure in making Georgia fans look up at the scoreboard and see “42” in the second losing effort to Tech within a week. “Just like football,” indeed.

Andy Landers might consider teams like LSU and Tennessee more worthy peers and rivals, but like it or not he’s got a very serious challenge in his own state. Georgia controls the series with Tech 28-3, but the series is an even 3-3 over the past six years, and Georgia has lost two out of the last three on Tech’s home floor. There was no question who the better team was on Friday night.

Even the men’s basketball team pitched in with their own 42-point nightmare on Saturday. The Dawgs trailed from the start and saw a somewhat close game deteriorate into a 34-point blowout loss at Illinois. The lowlight, pointed out in graphic detail by the Georgia Sports Blog, was a 22-0 Illinois run to close the game. Once Illinois started finding openings and hitting perimeter shots against Georgia’s 1-3-1 defense, the game was over. But the meltdown at the end was one of the things you might have expected from Felton’s first few teams where we patted everyone on the head for the effort and reassured ourselves that such defeats would be soon forgotten once 2003 was comfortably in the past. So much for that.

Maybe Georgia just needs to avoid teams from Illinois.

Alabama has done a lot of things well this year, and staying healthy is one of them. Chris Fowler reports…

Health is another reason the Tide are one step from the BCS title game. Unlike the Gators, who have endured a steady rash of injuries, Alabama has been astoundingly healthy.

The Tide have lost only a handful of starters to injury, and for a maximum of two games apiece. Check out the numbers Alabama SID Jeff Purinton provided me:

Total starts missed: 5
NG Terrence Cody: 2 (Tennessee and Arkansas State)
OG Marlon Davis: 1 (Western Kentucky)
OT Andre Smith: 1 (Tulane)
WR Mike McCoy: 1 (Kentucky)

Meanwhile, Georgia will go into the bowl practices with 4 healthy linebackers (Curran, Dent, Dowtin, Ellerbe – 5 if you count former walk-on Benjamin Boyd). Half of Georgia’s scholarship linebackers are unavailable due to injury.

I was listening to Cowherd’s interview with Gary Danielson yesterday, and the SEC championship was framed as a clash between defense (Alabama) and offense (Florida). This isn’t to pick on what was a good interview or disagree with that storyline because – let’s be honest – most people are looking at it that way because those have been two very dominant units.

But framing the game that way tends to underrate the other elements of the game – namely Alabama’s offense and Florida’s defense and special teams. First let’s look at the Alabama offense. It has most of the pieces you’d expect from a quality offense. The line is veteran and talented. Knowshon Moreno might be the best back in the SEC, but no school has a running back tandem as good as Coffee and Ingram, and Upchurch isn’t bad. Receivers are adequate until you come to difference-maker Julio Jones. It’s a long time ago, but the way this offense came out, mixed it up, and took it right at teams like Clemson and Georgia earlier in the season opened a lot of eyes.

As the Senator notes, it all comes down to quarterback play for the Tide. He’s been shaky a few times this season but nothing like the roller coaster ride that was 2007. If he has time, he should be fine, and Alabama’s experienced OL should help them here against a talented but young Florida defensive front.

Then there’s the Florida defense. It was assumed during the offseason that the Florida defense had to be better because – hey- it couldn’t get much worse. I don’t think many people expected this kind of improvement though. How good is the Florida defense? You know that great Alabama defense everyone sees as a strength in this game? They check in at #3 in total defense (248.5 YPG) and #3 in scoring defense (11.5 PPG). Pretty damn good, right? Florida is #7 (275.67 YPG) and #4 (12.3 PPG) in the same categories. Less than 30 YPG and 1 PPG separates these two defenses.

Florida also has the edge in turnovers. They lead the nation in turnover margin thanks in large part to being third in the nation with 32 takeaways. Florida has 23 interceptions this year, and that’s just one less than Alabama’s total number of takeaways.

Any distinction between the two defenses becomes even more hazy when you look at common opponents.

Common Opponent – Georgia: Florida W 49-10, Alabama W 41-30. Both teams had one explosive half against the Dawgs, but Florida’s defense held Georgia off the scoreboard better than Alabama’s. You can argue whether or not Alabama let up, and Florida did give up close to 400 yards to the Georgia offense.

Common Opponent – Kentucky: Florida W 63-5, Alabama W 17-14. Not even close. Kentucky had the Tide nervous, and Florida reduced the Cats to rubble.

Common Opponent – LSU: Florida W 51-21, Alabama W 27-21. Both teams feasted on LSU turnovers, but the difference was in the ground game. LSU rushed for 201 yards against Alabama but only 80 against Florida. Did the nature of the game matter? The LSU-Alabama game was a close one where LSU could stick with the run. At Florida, the Tigers were down 20-0 and in comeback mode not long into the second quarter.

Common Opponent – Ole Miss: Florida L 30-31, Alabama W 24-20. Both teams played Ole Miss close, and Florida actually held Ole Miss to fewer yards than Alabama did. The difference might have been turnovers. Florida forced only one Rebel miscue, and Alabama came away with three. Florida in 2008 mostly avoided the big play bug that hurt them so much in 2007, but an 86-yard TD pass in this one made them pay. Again, Alabama let up in this game and saw a 24-0 lead evaporate.

Common Opponent – Tennessee: Florida W 30-6, Alabama W 29-9. Both teams held Tennessee to a few field goals, but Florida held the Vols to nearly 100 fewer yards.

Common Opponent – Arkansas: Florida W 38-7, Alabama W 49-14. Alabama was definitely the more dominant team against the Hogs. Florida was in a 17-7 game in the second half while the Tide used offense and defense to put their game away by halftime in a foreshadowing of what was to come in Athens.

After looking at that, is the Alabama defense really that much of a relative advantage in this game? Special teams will also matter. Both teams have exciting return men, but Florida’s punt block unit has been one of the big behind-the-scenes development of the season. They plowed through Kentucky and Vanderbilt punt protection with speed and skill that would make Poland nervous. Florida right now is the opposite of what we’ve seen this year from Georgia. Instead of offense and special teams making it tough at times for an already-shaky defense, Florida defense and special teams are making things easier for an already-potent offense.

Alabama has the pieces to win this game, but I have to go with a Florida team that has been consistently excellent over the past two months on offense and defense. The Alabama and Florida defenses are statistically very close over the course of the season, but the gap between the offenses is nowhere near as tight. Florida wins, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the underrated Florida defense make its mark on the game in a very big way.

A Pennsylvania company is coming out with a line of unique fragrances aimed at fans of certain colleges. Penn State was the first school with its own fragrance which, in cologne form, “smells of blue cypress and cracked pepper.” Somehow “old man smell” didn’t make the cut for the Nittany Lions.

UNC is the second batch of suckers fan base with a signature scent. As the Carolina Man is a complex animal, it follows that his scent is an intricate bouquet that is part Willie Wonka, part Willie Nelson, and not at all flaming. (Note that what follows is a description of a cologne and not a dish from last week’s Top Chef.)

UNC for men is a light and crisp fragrance that embodies alluring Carolina Blue in a bottle. The fragrance opens with fresh Sicilian lemon and bergamot. The aromatics extend with lavender and the subtle spice of sensual white pepper. The base notes combine a soft white amber and tonka bean. An irresistible and fresh creation for the proud Carolina man.

The company will wisely dip its toe into the SEC market next season (insert corndog joke here), but we suggest that the SEC game day fragrance is already available in bottled form.

Any other guesses about the fragrances for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU?

• Waiting for us in the mailbox Saturday evening was the Hartman Fund renewal envelope. Talk about perfect timing. Somehow I don’t see 10,000+ points as the cutoff for new season tickets next year.
• Aside from Massaquoi’s afternoon, the one good memory I’ll take away from the game was the block that Chapas threw to spring Moreno around the end for his touchdown run. It was Tony-Milton-2002-Kentucky good.
• Speaking of Chapas, his contribution this year was a bright spot. He answered the call and really set himself up as the next Georgia fullback. But what ever happened to Southerland? Was his conditioning just shot after the injury kept him off his feet for so long? Southerland played and contributed where he could – even at tight end in certain packages – but surely this isn’t the way most of us thought and hoped it would end for him.
• Either Lane Kiffin stole HeismanPundit’s girlfriend once, or Tennessee will be looking for another new coach in a few years. HP first warned athletic directors back in September and has continued to beat the drum since. No punches pulled there.
• Clemson’s new coach also fails to impress. It comes off like a cross between Bill Stewart and Ray Goff. He’s regarded as a recruiter, young, liked by his players, and has embraced his school’s traditions, but the win over South Carolina sure seems a lot like Stewart’s win over Oklahoma last year. I look at it this way – if Swinney were in the same assistant position at, say, his alma mater Alabama, would he even register on a Clemson coaching search?
• If Georgia has a kindred spirit this year, it’s Missouri. The Tigers started the season around the top 5, didn’t have to play Texas Tech or Oklahoma in the regular season, and still finished 9-3 giving up 40 points to a 7-5 team in their last game and loss. Yet they’re playing for a conference title this weekend.

You’ve really got to hate it for Texas safety Blake Gideon. A single dropped interception a few weeks ago is all that stands between Texas and the #1 spot in the polls, a spot in the Big 12 title game, and the inside track to the national title game. Instead, Texas is now on the outside looking in for not only the national title game but even the championship of half of a conference.

The bits and bytes will be burning up this week debating the subject, so here are a few more points to ponder.

First, understand that this is a Big 12 problem, not a BCS problem. The Big 12 chose to make the BCS part of its tiebreaker process. Blaming an undesirable outcome on the BCS in this situation makes as much sense as pointing out the flaws in rock-paper-scissors if the conference had chosen that method to break its ties. The conference will surely revisit its tiebreaker scenarios after this year, and it’s on them for not taking care of it earlier.

Second, the BCS got it right. As much as Texas wants to boil this down to a 45-35 45-35 45-35 45-35 45-35 argument, it’s not that simple. To begin with, it conveniently skips over the loss to Texas Tech and the fact that the #1 team in the nation couldn’t hold a lead with a minute to go. That’s not a fatal flaw for Texas by any stretch – all three Big 12 co-champs have their warts. But it is enough to step back and remember that the BCS evaluates not only individual results but also the entire season.

That’s where Oklahoma shines, and I’m glad to see that in this case schedule was rewarded. Oklahoma has wins over BCS-bound Cincinnati and #11 TCU. Texas’ best nonconference opponent was Arkansas – a middling SEC school. Texas Tech played no one from another BCS conference. Texas did have their tough gauntlet that culminated in the loss at Texas Tech, but among a group of three teams that played the conference season to a deadlock Oklahoma’s out of conference slate has to tilt things in their favor.

Offense, special teams, and especially defense contributing to a spectacular meltdown…now where have I seen this before? Once – hey, it happens. Twice – hm. Three or four times in a season? Trouble.

The best minds of the Bulldog nation are already hard at work figuring out the why of the 2008 season. Was it players? Sure…we’ve been down that road. Was it coaches? Most fans sure seem to think so, and they’ll be disappointed to learn that Richt expects no changes on the staff. Was it injuries? Sure, they contributed, but injuries didn’t have much to do with the problems that showed up (again) in the Tech game.

When such problems show up time after time, there are usually deeper things going on, and Richt admitted as much on Sunday.

“I’m not sure we tackled enough [in practice this year],” Richt said. “We had so many injuries early on in fall camp … that we were more cautious than we had been in the past in terms of live tackle-to-the-ground drills. And in hindsight I think we missed that.”

I doubt that will be the last area Richt will identify to revisit during the offseason. This 2008 team was operationally shaky in many more areas. Penalties were frequent and costly. Kickoffs were train wrecks. The Dawgs had to burn two second half timeouts against Tech leaving them with only one for the stretch.

Does Richt’s lack of action when it comes to the staff indicate complacency? I don’t think so, though others will have their say on that this week. I certainly hope not – Massaquoi and those who played their hearts out on Saturday deserve much better than the conclusion that everything is OK.

The weather forecast has turned around overnight, and now it’s looking as if a slick track is likely on Saturday.

The debate about whether rain helps the offense or defense will no doubt come up over the next day or two. On one hand, the offense knows where it’s going and the defense has to adjust to make the play. On the other hand, we’re going up against an option offense that has put the ball on the ground this year.

One thing to consider – we assume that with the option the football will be flying all over the field when the pitch is made. But Dwyer and the quarterbacks have accounted for over 73% of Tech’s running plays this year. In other words, a Tech running play is much more likely to be a straight handoff or a quarterback keeper.

Much, if not all, of the talk leading up to this weekend’s game will center around Georgia’s challenge in stopping Georgia Tech’s option offense. There’s plenty of reason for that: it’s a look we’re not used to, it’s effective, and it did a lot of damage in the game most of us used to scout the upcoming opponent. Defending the option will require exceptional preparation and execution. But don’t take for granted the size of the job on the other side of the ball. Keep this fact in mind:

Tech hasn’t scored more than 17 points on Georgia since 2000.

That might or might not change this year. Tech’s offense is different and improved this year, and past performance does not guarantee future results, etc., etc., etc. We’ve seen what the Tech offense can do against teams like Miami and Mississippi State, but they’ve also scored 21 or fewer points in over half of their games to this point thanks largely to turnovers.

Yet from 2004-2006, the games were way too close for comfort. In 2004, David Greene had to come off the bench and play injured just to get a field goal. Georgia scored 30+ in four of its last five games in 2005 but could only manage 14 against Tech. In 2006, Georgia couldn’t even break double-digits without help from the defense. In games where the Georgia offense has performed well, the result has been wins by double-digits.

Georgia in 2008, statistically speaking, has one of their best offenses in recent history. The quarterback, running back, and receivers are among the SEC leaders, and it’s all being done behind a young and depleted line. But those of us who have seen the offense in operation should know that statistics over the course of a season have a way of smoothing over what’s actually happened. Yes, this is the same Georgia offense that had its way with Arizona State, LSU, and Kentucky. It’s also the same offense that struggled for 14 points at South Carolina, skipped the first half against Alabama, shot itself in the foot against Florida, and couldn’t put Auburn away. If the Georgia offense had been performing consistently at a high level on the way to those nice averages, I wouldn’t be as concerned. But they haven’t.

Georgia Tech is currently #12 in scoring defense at 16.7 PPG – that’s the best unit on either team in this game in terms of scoring offense or defense. #12 puts them more or less between Auburn and Tennessee in that stat. They are strongest up front with Darryl Richard and Michael Johnson leading the way, but they have also been opportunistic with 17 interceptions (10th best in the nation).

The performance of Georgia’s offense will have a bigger impact on the game than just putting points on the board. With everyone fretting about stopping the option, what better way to affect an offense’s gameplan than to put it in a come-from-behind situation? Even in its losses Tech has done a good job this year of keeping the games close and within reach, and they’ve been able to stick to the offense. It wasn’t until North Carolina built a lead on them that Tech QB Josh Nesbitt attempted a season-high 22 passes.

It’s the last home game for Massaquoi, and it could be the swan song at Sanford for Stafford and Moreno as well. That trio, along with the rest of the offense, just might be Georgia’s best weapon to slow down Tech’s option attack. I go back to what I wrote back over the summer: if Tech is going to end the streak any time soon, (defensive coordinator) Dave Wommack will have as much or more to do with it than Paul Johnson. If Georgia’s stars on offense go out with a signature performance, it won’t matter what kind of offense Tech is running.

Back in July when the SEC media made its preseason predictions, a single vote stood out among the dozens cast. David Paschall pretty much captured my reaction when he wrote that, "The Ole Miss Rebels somehow received a first-place vote after going 0-8 in the league last year." That’s right: Alabama, zero votes. Ole Miss, one vote. The SEC media split its SEC West first-place votes among Auburn, LSU, and….Ole Miss.

The Rebels are in no danger of winning the SEC West, but in hindsight that lone voter – through luck or skill – had a lot more insight than the rest who put LSU or Auburn at the top. With Saturday’s win at LSU, Ole Miss moved into second place in the SEC West behind undefeated Alabama. The Rebels are 4-3 in the conference and 7-4 overall. This week’s Egg Bowl played at home against Mississippi State stands between the Rebels and a very solid 5-3 SEC record made all the more remarkable when you consider that Ole Miss won a total of 3 SEC games during the three years with Ed Orgeron at the helm.

With that record, it would be tough to keep Ole Miss out of a pretty nice bowl game. Only Alabama, Florida, and Georgia would have better SEC records. If Houston Nutt, with a new program and a new quarterback, could turn Ole Miss from a team that went winless in the SEC a year ago to a team headed for a New Year’s bowl, I don’t see how anyone else could be considered the SEC’s Coach of the Year.

Of course it all comes down to this weekend. Not only would a loss to Mississippi State drop the Rebels into a 4-4 mess, a loss in their biggest rivalry game would also take a lot of the shine off of a nice season. The memory of last year’s epic collapse in Starkville still has to hurt, and a win this year to top off a winning season would go a long way towards erasing the bad memories left from the end of the Orgeron era.

Where is Penn State among the discussion of 1-loss teams? Their dismantling of Oregon State looks better every week, and their only loss was a 1-point road upset against an 8-4 Iowa team. Not saying they necessarily stand out over Texas, Florida, or any of the others, but it’s amazing how quickly they were written out of the conversation after the Iowa game.

Jarrett Lee’s taking a lot of heat for LSU’s woes this season, and he has made his share of mistakes, but issues at quarterback were more or less a given entering the season. Most expected LSU to follow a tried-and-true SEC formula: play well enough on defense to get by with average offense. The story of LSU’s season hasn’t been Lee’s struggles at quarterback; it’s been the slippage on defense. LSU has given up 31+ in five of their last seven games. Houston Nutt has won at Death Valley in consecutive seasons with two different teams and seems to have his quarterback for the next several seasons. The Alabama-Auburn-LSU power structure in the SEC West has been shaken up this season, and if the Rebels can win the Egg Bowl this year, an 8-4 Ole Miss team might be headed to the Cotton Bowl.

How might a guy named Sammie Stroughter impact Georgia’s postseason? Pac-10 leader Oregon State had to come from behind to win at Arizona, and Stroughter was Mr. Clutch for the Beavers down the stretch. He tallied 3 catches for 88 yards on OSU’s final two drives, caught the touchdown pass that pulled the Beavers to within 1, and then set up the game-winning field goal with a 49-yard reception with under 40 seconds remaining. With the win, Oregon State remains in position to win the Pac-10 if they can beat Oregon this weekend. If OSU does win out and earn a Rose Bowl trip, it will likely keep Ohio State out of the BCS and put them in a position for a possible game against Georgia in the Capital One Bowl. If OSU loses to their rival, Southern Cal heads to the Rose Bowl, Ohio State gets an at-large BCS bid, and it would be Michigan State heading to Orlando.

Is it possible for a team like Vanderbilt to have a letdown game? Twice this year after milestone wins (the Auburn victory in front of a national Gameday audience and the Kentucky victory which made them bowl-eligible), the Commodores have come up with an ugly loss. Mississippi State and Tennessee have a combined 4 SEC wins, and Vanderbilt accounts for half of them. It’s great and all that Vandy is headed to a bowl game, but they are still very much Vanderbilt.

David Cutcliffe’s Duke team was the talk of the college football scene after a 31-3 win over Virginia gave the Blue Devils a 3-1 start. Entering the final week of the season, Duke is now 1-6 in the ACC and will be favored to lose to rival North Carolina this weekend. Duke has won just one game since that blowout of Virginia back in September…naturally, that win came against Vanderbilt. Four wins would still be as many victories as Duke had from 2004-2007, but that quick start might have inflated expectations for this season. Cutcliffe is still a heck of a coach and will continue a tough turnaround job.

When sorting out the Big 12 South mess, how important is the strength of schedule factor? Texas’s win over Oklahoma on a neutral field surely counts for a lot, but we can’t forget that Texas (and Muschamp’s defense) had the game in Lubbock for the taking and didn’t get it done. Looking outside their respective Big 12 schedules, Oklahoma should get credit for a slate that includes wins over respectable TCU and Cincinnati teams. Meanwhile, Texas’s best nonconference opponent was SEC bottom-dweller Arkansas, and Texas Tech hasn’t played a BCS conference team outside of the Big 12.