Monday, October 11, 2010

Monday's Washington Post Column -- Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks might have knocked SEC out of national title picture

South Carolina football Coach Steve Spurrier is not an e-mail guy. Those who wish to write to him about something need to use the United States Postal Service.

Spurrier may need to hire some extra help to open all his fan mail this week, after the Gamecocks beat a top-ranked football team for the first time in history Saturday, dominating Alabama from the start en route to a 35-21 victory.

There also might be a note or two from the lovely folks at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, who no doubt were not thrilled when Spurrier, in a postgame interview, made mention of the fact that his team was "only a 61/2- or 7-point underdog" in trying to emphasize that his team's victory wasn't completely surprising. Point spreads, as we all know, do not exist in NCAA World.

Last, but certainly not least, Spurrier might get a note from Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive. There may be a congratulations buried in there somewhere, but the real message will be this: "What in the world are you doing to my league, Ol' Ball Coach?"

The OBC and his team changed the tenor and tone of the entire college football season with their victory Saturday. Alabama's droning, seemingly inexorable march to a second straight national championship is over. The Crimson Tide are going to need a lot of help to get back to the national championship game, and that may very well mean the end of the SEC's four-year run of consecutive national champions.

Auburn and LSU are still undefeated - although how LSU has managed to go 6-0 defies all logic unless you believe, as many do, that Les Miles has made some kind of deal with the devil. Both teams can't go unbeaten, because they play one another in a couple of weeks. Both also have to play Alabama and LSU has a game with Arkansas. What that means is this: The likelihood of anyone coming out of the SEC undefeated is somewhere between slim and none.

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2 comments:

Justin Morton said...

You're probably right. But then, isn't this what makes college football so much fun. Because, you know what, who really knows? Oregon, Ohio State, Nebraska and Oklahoma all have tough conference opponents left. And it is certainly possible that a one-loss Alabama could jump an undefeated TCU or Boise St. I wouldn't put the SEC out of it quite yet. There is still a lot of football left to be played. The season is only half over and the toughest games still remain.

PM said...

John, any truth to the rumor that the Senior Tour (er, Champions Tour) snuck into DC and held an event over the weekend? My son told me he saw something on the back page of the Post sports section, but I think he has to be confusing the "TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm" with some other venue.

What if the PGA held a senior major, and no one knew about it, much less gave a damn?