Missouri To The SEC

Its official now. The SEC released a statement saying the conference’s presidents and chancellors acted unanimously, and Missouri will join the league effective July 1, 2012.

After thinking about it I decided to issue a official BBR statement about it. Who gives a hoot, it’s basketball season!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned for more come April.

Its Offical A&M Is In The SEC

Well its official now. The SEC announced today that Texas A&M will join the conference effective July 1, 2012, and will begin competition in all sports for the 2012-13 academic year. How exciting can a Sunday get?

You don’t think its exciting? It is, it is, it is exciting. Sports writers all over the country are being forced to work today since the SEC, in their infinite wisdom decided that Sunday is the perfect day to tweak noses in the Big 12. Blog writers are feverishly looking for story’s to copy ideas from. Google is about to crash from SEC fans searching for Texas boards to talk smack. Coaches are looking for Texas HS players to visit now that there is a new SEC big bull in town. Texas legislators are thinking about how to impeach Gov Perry for allowing this to happen. Oklahoma fans are laughing behind their hands at the embarrassment Texas is suffering. Anyway you get the picture, Texas A&M is in the SEC next year.

I should have had something prepared to post since I knew this was going to happen. I didn’t though so I’m just going to wing it.

How is the SEC going to change. To begin with in men’s basketball there will finally a sheriff in the west. In men and women’s track A&M has won the last two national championships and will make the west stronger. Women’s soccer, volleyball and softball will be getting good upper level SEC teams. In football the SEC will be getting a mid level team who will benefit in recruiting by joining the SEC. The SEC will also be getting a school that produces the most military officers besides the academy’s.

Not bad.

Expansion A Done Deal

BigBlueRules has learned from sources that Texas A&M is already in the SEC. According to an unnamed janitor from RFS.

Fearing the university would never receive enough votes to secure an invitation to join the conference, Texas A&M allegedly sent a team of covert operatives under the cover of night to break into the SEC’s Birmingham offices and take the necessary steps to ensure the school became the league’s 13th member.

When contacted by BigBlueRules unnamed sources at the SEC had only this to say.

Not much we can do now, but prevent this type of thing from occurring in the future. You’d think we’d have learned our lesson when Vanderbilt joined under similar circumstances in 1932 when they snuck into the first ever SEC meeting and become one of the conference’s charter members.

You can find the story as first reported here at RFS

I couldn’t pass on posting this just because of the Vandy line.

Crow Pie A&M Style

Both my fingers are flying trying to typing this out to beat everyone to the story. Don’t laugh it actually happened once last year. Now on with the story. The SEC voted to not extend an invitation to Texas A&M, for the time being anyway. Hardly a surprise to anyone since there would be an imbalance between the east and west.

Texas A&M painted their self into a corner with this one. Or did they? This could have simply been Texas politics at its dirtiest. Put some pressure on Texas, grab a few dollars from wealthy supporters, give yourself time to shift a few votes in the legislature and bolt when the time is right. Bolt they will since they have left themselves with nothing to do but bolt or eat crow pie.

Got to give the SEC credit for voting against this. After all they need us way more than we need them.

A&M to the SEC

Is it starting to heat up again in Texas. Some like Mr SEC are saying that A&M is getting serious about coming to the SEC. Read link here.

So do we want A&M and say Oklahoma in the SEC?

From a conference view I think yes but from a Kentucky view I say no. No reason to fear them in basketball but do we really need two more teams to kick us around in football?

One positive I can think of is that it will open Texas up for more recruiting and we might get some players from Texas. Some from our normal recruiting areas that the big SEC guys decide to pass on for a Texas player.

Another positive is more money from a new TV contract.

One negative is the fact that then there will be 14 teams scrambling for bowls and frankly is the 12th or 13th ranked SEC team going to make a bowl.

Your Busted Cup II

Spring football is almost over and many young SEC football players thoughts turn to mischief, so its time to start our second Your Busted Cup.

When a SEC football team gets a player arrested or suspended and you see it post the teams name and the players name on the topic in the forums and that team will get 1 point. If a player gets kicked off the team or suspended for unspecified reasons without being arrested the team gets 2 points and if he is arrested and suspended or kicked of the team the team gets 3 points.

We will announce the winning team when the season is over and possibly someone will unseat last years winner Georgia.

Drop a Triple Double on them Oscar

Oscar Robinson is suing the NCAA for allowing his likeness to be used without his permission or compensation. You heard it first from BigBlueRules who heard it first from Larry Vaught. Oscar Robinson is a much bigger name than the former UCLA player Ed O’Bannon who is suing the NCAA for using his likeness without permission or paying him.

This story on yahoo sports says that former UCLA Bruins star Kareem Abdul Jabbar recently filed suit against the NCAA in California state court based on the same trading cards featuring Robertson.

Its only a matter of time before one of these lawsuits are won. Of course then there will be the appeal followed by a higher appeal to the supreme court and mean while some congressman will get involved for the publicity.

I figured this a while back based on 850 athletes in the sports program at Kentucky and paying them $100 a month for 9 months. It comes out to $1,020,000 a year. I’m sure that ESPN can come up with $12,000,000 more a year to pay the SEC by just adding a couple more commercials a game and during the championship game.

What I think is we meaning the top 7 or 8 conferences should break away from the NCAA and form a new entity that will allow paying players. The small conferences can stay in the NCAA or go to the NAIA. Then the players will be professional players and Enes can play.

Of course once we start paying athletes then there will end up being a players union sooner or later and new headaches. Speaking of which I’m getting a headache thinking about this. Anyone got a beer?

How The SEC Became The Man

I didn’t realize until I started reading about PCC slush funds that I actually knew nothing about football history other than the big things like how the Cat’s did, who won a bowl or who was #1. I didn’t know that scholarships weren’t universally offered by conferences till the late 50′s. The SEC, the SWC and other southern schools offered scholarships but the Big 10 and PCC provided jobs, with limits on pay and the Ivy was the Ivy.

The SEC began to become the football giant they are now after WWII, when returning veterans found it financially profitable to enroll in southern schools, since the government was paying for school and they got to keep the scholarship money. I could be wrong on exactly this worked but it did work.

In 1948, the northern schools found themselves at such a recruiting disadvantage to the southern schools that they had to do something. Because regional conferences set their own standards what they did was to have the NCAA, then a relatively powerless body as far as regulation went, assume a role as national regulator of recruiting. At the 1948 NCAA convention, the “Sanity Code” was instituted. This set a policy that no athletic scholarships were allowed, but off-season jobs were allowed, as long as the pay was limited to NCAA standards.

Then, a curious thing happened. Seven schools, on a follow-up questionnaire, noted that they were continuing to offer scholarships.

The issue of these schools, dubbed the “Sinful Seven” (Virginia, Maryland, V.M.I., V.P.I., The Citadel, Boston College and Villanova) was brought to the 1952 NCAA convention (per the rules at the time, the convention addressed violations, not the current committee). In a 130 – 60 vote, the NCAA decided to not punish them. At that point, the “Sanity Code” was dead and schools resumed offering scholarships. It wasn’t till 1957 that the now-familiar athletic grant-in-aid was finally adopted in 1957.

What happened then was that the PCC who was against scholarships ran into major problems with slush funds, became the Athletic Association of Western Universities (how’s that for a name) then the PAC 8 and began to offer scholarships.

The Big 10 also began offering scholarships but tied them in with higher academic standards for recruits. This led to a period in the late 1950′s where the Big 10 went from maybe the country’s toughest conference (the SEC of its day) to being no better than any other conference. Today you can really see the results with their ponderous style of play.

Amazing isn’t it how one little thing can lead to another. By first offering scholarships then getting great players and coaches the SEC began the climb up the ladder to what it is today.

BBR’s Weekly SEC Rankings

BBR’s Weekly SEC Rankings

1. Alabama: After a win that wasn’t as good as the score over UK the Alabama travels to Ole Miss where I expect a true blow out to occur.

2. Florida: The Tebow saga continues. After being off last weekend they travel to play speedy LSU.

3. LSU: Held on to beat Georgia. Next up Florida. LSU can win this game if they can generate points.

4. Auburn: Won a tough game against Tennessee. This week on the road against Arkansas who easily handled Texas AM away.

5. Georgia: Lost a close one to LSU. This week they could be walking into another loss at Tennessee if Crompton can put a whole game together the Tennessee defense will win the game.

6. South Carolina: In last weeks win against SC St. they gave up 14  points. This could bode well for Kentucky this week.

7. Ole Miss: Beating Vandy doesn’t count for much. Beating Alabama this weekend will count for a lot.

8. Arkansas: Demolishing Texas A&M might have given Arkansas a boost going into this weekends game with Auburn. This should be a shootout where the last team with the ball wins.

9. Tennessee: Lost to Auburn and with Georgia coming in this weekend as Crompton turns so Tennessee turns.

10. Mississippi State: They put up 31 points in a loss to Georgia Tech this past weekend. With Houston up next 31 wont be enough for a win.

11. Kentucky: After the loss to Alabama this weekends game at SC comes down to mistakes. Don’t make mistakes and the Cats are in the game.

12. Vanderbilt: At Army this weekend after a loss to Ole Miss. at home last weekend. A no offense no win situation for Vandy.

JUCO RECRUITS PROJECT AS STARTERS

It is a rare thing when Juco come into a major college program such as UK’s and compete right away. You could ask Stevie Johnson, now a Pro, about the “learning curve” for SEC football. Knowing the difficulty adjusting to the level of play of a league like the SEC, most experts suggest that the Jucos don’t usually contribute until their Senior Year, hence the penchant of most schools to skip the Juco ranks. UK, however, is in a position of great need at the DT and WR spots and just happened to land two of the finest JUCO’s in the land

As it turns out, two of the last recruits that Rich Brooks and Co. Landed turned out to be the two highest rated kids in the entire UK recruiting class according to Rivals. They each land 4 Stars as does Ryan Mossakowski, AND with ratings of 5.9 to Ryan’s 5.8 are actually rated higher…but both rating falls into a range that includes the top 300 players in the country, with only the 5 star “franchise player” rating being higher….

The ratings are configured thusly using only twenty –five, 5 Star players around the country and 300-4 star prospects:

RATINGS 5.8 – 6.0

“All-American Candidate; high-major prospect; considered one of the nation’s top 300 prospects; deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on college team”

Who are these young Juco lads that we signed and why are they so highly rated?

Dequin Evans (6-2, 275) is rated the No. 15 junior college prospect in the nation by Rivals.com and is a teammate of UK’s other 4 Star Recruit, Wide Out Chris Matthews 6’5” 210 4.5 Forty. Here is a tumbnail on both players:

DE DeQuin Evans- 6’2, 260, 4.6 40-

Evans is a talented Junior College defensive end, who if he manages to grasp the defense, should start opposite Jeremy Jarmon to open the season. At 6’2, 270 pounds and running a 4.6 40, Evans has all the pieces to be a force opposite Jarmon and DT Corey Peters who will both demand full focus from opposing offensive lines. His game is solid, the one concern is he is a JUCO who wasn’t able to enroll in January. That is a huge hindrance to the long and short term success of most junior college transfers. DeQuin looks to be a can’t miss prospect, but B.J. Parsons and Ernie Pelayo where also can’t miss prospects for the ‘Cats in the trenches. When you enroll late and miss that first spring practice of your playing career, sometimes that’s a mistake a JUCO player never gets over. With freshmen, it might slow them down, they might not fully understand the system, or the speed and effort needed every single snap in the SEC to be successful until late in their redshirt freshmen or true sophomore year. The same learning curve with a JUCO player would lead them to not understanding what it takes to win until they’ve already spent their eligibility. Evans has the tools, if he can come in and learn quickly, he could be a very productive member of what looks to be a stout defense in 2009. He should start his first year on campus, and should be considered the leader for the position ahead of Collins Ukwu and Donte Rumph.

Evans ended up deciding between Kentucky and Louisville. He also had scholarship offers from major Pac-10 and Big 12 schools, turning down offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Washington State, Oregon State, Kansas and Kansas State.*

^*kyink.com

Scout- 4* Rivals- 4*

WR Chris Matthews- 6’5, 210, 4.5 40-

Matthews is a big, physical WR that can catch in traffic, as well as posing a threat down the field. He also possesses very good speed. As a JUCO, he has shown he can run good routes and has good technique. With the well-documented struggles of UK’s WR corps in 2008, the ‘Cats need an impact guy. Can Matthews break the JUCO jinx and be that guy? In two years at junior college, he had 124 receptions for 1,935 yards and 19 touchdowns. As fans, we should remain cautiously optimistic with Chris. Had he been able to enroll in January, his chances of breaking out in his first year would have increased.

Signs with UK over offers from Washington and Oregon.

ESPN- Doesn’t Rank JUCO’s

Scout- 3*

Rivals- 4*

^kyink.com

I expect these two Juco lads will be counted on extensively next season as UK unfolds it’s Pro-Style Offense with Morgan Newton**, at the QB spot ( SEC games), throwing to Randall Cobb, the aforementioned Chris Matthews, Cyrus Lanxter, Aaron Boyd, Maurice Grinter, Terrell Mitchell and many more…

**Morgan is rated a 4 Star by Scout and a 3 by Rivals.

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