Who was the team that represented the SEC in the Cotton Bowl?

The Arkansas Razorbacks handed the SEC their first loss of the 2007/2008 Bowl season with a 38-7 rout by Missouri. In perhaps their worst played game this century Arkansas looked more like a team from the Sun Belt conference rather than the SEC. Sure the Razorbacks lost their head coach less than a week after their regular season finally victory over LSU but the Hogs should have made it alteast close because they have the superior talent. Their is no excuse for a team with 3 All-Americans on offense to produce only 7 points against a team like Mizzou but there are plenty of excuses flying around. Some say the players didn't care about winning the game and others say that the outgoing Ole Miss coaches sabotaged the game. Regardless the Razorbacks were beat like a drum on New Year's Day.

The hogs were sent into the off-season with their tails between their legs but the team and the Razorback nation should feel good knowing that happy days will soon be back in Fayetteville. The Petrino era begins with spring practice which is just around the corner. That should make all Razorback fans smile.

Great year for Mississippi State ends with Bowl Victory

No program in the SEC made more progress this year than Mississippi State. Sylvester Croom has taken this consistent cellar dweller to Bowl game winner. The 2007 coach of the year has proven that he belongs in the fraternity of SEC coaches. The Sylvester Croom story is a great story and one that the national media is beginning to rally around. If Croom improves on his 2007 season next year expect him to be mentioned as a candidate for most of the big name program openings as well. He became a star in the SEC this year and will probably become a national star next year.

The Mississippi State boosters should start to begin raising money for their newly beloved coach because sooner rather than later he will fetch top dollar from other programs wanting to move from cellar dweller to Bowl winner. This time next year Miss State will probably be in a bidding war with another school for his services and that is the best compliment you can give a coach.

Photo by Mark Humphrey

Coaching in the SEC is the "IT" job of college football

In a move today that surprised most people in the NFL and College Football the Atlanta Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino resigned and is about to be named the next head coach at the University of Arkansas. Petrino's desire to be a head coach in the SEC is stronger than his desire to be a head coach in the NFL.

Petrino joins a coaching fraternity that until today I thought could not possibly get any stronger. You can now make the argument that 75% of college footballs elite coaches since the turn of the century are now coaching in the SEC. The allure of coaching in College Football's elite conference has proven enough for one coach to say no thanks to the Michigan job and another to say no thanks to the NFL.

We all know that the talent on the field is superior to all the other conferences and the coaches are the most talented also. Today the coaching talent level went up even more. Welcome to the SEC Coach Petrino!

SEC flexes muscle with 9 bowl teams

Not a big surprise but the SEC leads the way with number of teams going to Bowl games.

Liberty- Miss State vs. Central Flordia
Independence - Alabama vs. Colorado
Music City - Kentucky vs. Florida State
Chick-Fil-a - Auburn vs. Clemson
Cotton - Arkansas vs. Missouri
Capital One - Florida vs. Michigan
Sugar - Georgia vs Hawaii
BCS Title Game - LSU vs. Ohio State

LSU rollercoaster 10 days ends on a big high

What an incredible series of emotions that the LSU fans must have felt over the last 10 days. Over the last 10 days the LSU fans have felt the agony of a 3 OT loss to Arkansas, the frustration over potentially losing their coach, the disappointment of competing in the SEC championship game without your starting QB, having ESPN report your coach is going to Michigan two hours before playing in an SEC Championship game, the high of winning the SEC championship, the joy of seeing a Mizzou and West Virgina loss, and then the excitement of finding out that they will be playing in the national championship game. Wow, that's more drama than an Arkansas off season.

LSU fans have to like their chances against Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game and another national championship would make all of the recent highs and lows worth every minute.

Coaching carousel going round full speed in the SEC West

In what might be a first for a major conference there could be 4 of the 6 schools in one division with a new head coach when the season kicks off in 2008. If you like rumors and breaking news you are in for a treat over the next few weeks. We all know that Nutt has left Arkansas and is now headed to Ole Miss. Suddenly the Arkansas Ole Miss game just got more exciting every year. Now we are hearing strong reports that Tommy Tuberville could be out at Auburn and on his way to Fayetteville to coach the Razorbacks. I won't even speculate that Sylvester Croom may end up at Auburn, that would be too much to handle in one off-season. In addition there is a high probability that Les Miles will go to Michigan. So buckle up SEC West fans this will be an off-season like no other in history. When the season kicks off next year either Sylvester Croom or Nick Saban may be the most tenured coach at his current school in the SEC West. Wow!

Great win for Nutt

In classic Houston Nutt fashion he just defeated the number 1 team in the country on national TV at their house. That's not so much the classic Nutt fashion but being at his best with his back to the wall is.

Its going to be a tough decision for Jeff Long the new Arkansas AD on whether or not he should fire or keep Houston Nutt. Nutt certainly made that decision tougher for him today but many Arkansans still want him gone but even those fans are scratching their heads after today wondering what the right thing to do is. One thing is for sure if Houston wants to walk away with his head high he can do that now and that is probably what he should do. He loves Arkansas and all of Arkansas will have to respect him if he walks away after defeating the number 1 team in the country in his last regular season game as the head coach.

Photo by Ann Heisenfelt