A tale of two brackets

This year I allowed my 5-year old son to fill out his first bracket for March Madness. He went with SMU, he has a thing for Larry Brown.

While I went with the Big Blue Nation capping a perfect season. 

Professional Tailgating: Roasted Hogs

So the Big Bad SEC came to Rutgers Saturday and Rutgers sent a message: we can play football too. Rutgers beat Arkansas 28-24 in a thrilling game.

Cover Story: Bobby P. out at Arkansas

In Arkansas there is no bigger story then the firing of football head coach Bobby Petrino. Here is how two of the newspapers in the state covered the story.

The Cover Story: Sporting News College Basketball Preview

The season is only 10 days away and I could not be happier. Here are all of the covers of the Sporting News College Basketball previews from around the country.

Springdale Five: Where are they now

National Signing Day is a day for college football fans to look forward to the future, but sometimes that future is not so bright and doesn't turn out they you want it to.

No group of players better shows that then the Springdale Five. The Springdale Five were a group of five players from Springdale High School in Arkansas that went on to get Division 1 scholarships, but it has not turned into roses for them.

The biggest of the group was quarterback Mitch Mustain (pitcured above), the National Player of the Year. Mustain decided to stay at home and attend Arkansas with fellow Springdale Five member Damian Williams. The pair both started as freshman, but the summer before their sophomore years things started to go a little of the boil. Williams transferred to USC and Mustain and his mother got in a public fight with then Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt and then he decided to join Williams at USC.

Late last year, the first of the much-celebrated Springdale Five saw his playing days come to an end. Bartley Webb, the left tackle for Springdale High's 2005 state championship team, recently "retired" from college football. Webb, who took part in the 2006 U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio and has been on scholarship at Notre Dame the past two seasons, underwent shoulder surgery after this past season. The injury was severe enough for Webb's career to come to an end, though he will continue on scholarship at Notre Dame and help as a coach.

Tight end Ben Cleveland has had an ok career at Arkansas, while the final member of the club Andrew Norman has had an ok career at Tusla.

Razorbacks fans thought that Williams and Mustain were going to lead them to the promise land in the SEC, but it all ended in the train wreck. So as college football fans celebrate the newest players in their program, remember this class might could turn out to be like the Springdale Five.

SEC Coaches South Park 2008

The coaches of the SEC are back acting like South Park characters, just like they were last year. Thanks to VolNation for this one.

Nike Rules College Football

The bowl season, that was just completed, can be described in one word, Swoosh. All over the month long festival of college football, besides the football, the other constant, was that darn Nike Swoosh .

Take a look at the BCS Bowls, the only team that did not sport the swoosh was Kansas who wore the three stripes of Adidas.

Here is the list of the bowl games and the shoes and uniform deals they were wearing:

• Poinsettia Bowl: Navy vs. Utah: both Nike schools
• New Orleans Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis: both Nike schools
• Papajohns.com Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss: Both Nike schools
• New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs. Nevada: New Mexico Nike, Nevada Adidas
• Las Vegas Bowl: BYU vs. UCLA: BYU Nike, UCLA Adidas
• Hawaii Bowl: East Carolina vs. Boise State: both Nike schools
• Motor City Bowl: Purdue vs. Central Michigan: Purdue Nike, Central Michigan New Balance
• Holiday Bowl: Texas vs. Arizona State: both Nike schools
• Texas Bowl: TCU vs. Houston: TCU Nike, Houston Adidas
• Champs Sports Bowl: Boston College vs. Michigan State: Boston College Reebok, Michigan State Nike.
• Emerald Bowl: Oregon State vs. Maryland: Oregon State Nike, Maryland Under Armour
• Meinke Car Care Bowl: Wake Forest vs. UConn: both Nike schools
• Liberty Bowl: South Florida vs. Mississippi State: South Florida Adidas, Mississippi State Russell Athletic
• Alamo Bowl: Penn State vs. Texas A&M: Penn State Nike, Texas A&M Adidas
• Independence Bowl: Colorado vs. Alabama: both Nike schools
• Armed Forces Bowl: California vs. Air Force: both Nike schools
• Sun Bowl: South Florida vs. Oregon: both Nike schools, but South Florida will be becoming Under Armour next year.
• Humanitarian Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State: Georgia Tech Russell Athletic, Fresno State Nike
• Music City Bowl: Kentucky vs. Florida State: both Nike schools
• Peach Bowl: Clemson vs. Auburn: Clemson Nike school, Auburn Under Armour
• Insight Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Indiana: Oklahoma State Nike, Indiana Adidas
• Outback Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Tennessee: both Adidas schools
• Cotton Bowl: Missouri vs. Arkansas: Missouri Nike , Arkansas Adidas
• Gator Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Virginia: Texas Tech Under Armour, Virginia Nike
• Capital One Bowl: Michigan vs. Florida: both Nike schools
• International Bowl: Rutgers vs. Ball State: both Nike schools
• GMAC Bowl: Tulsa vs. Bowling Green: Tulsa Nike, Bowling Green Adidas

BCS Bowls

• Rose Bowl: USC vs. Illinois: both Nike schools
• Sugar Bowl: Hawaii vs. Georgia: both Nike schools
• Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Kansas: Virginia Tech Nike, Kansas Adidas
• Fiesta Bowl: West Virginia vs. Oklahoma: both Nike schools
• BCS Title Game: LSU vs. Ohio State: both Nike schools

Of the bowl games that were played only two games did not feature the swoosh. In college football its all about the swoosh.

A death walk of Coaches

In one rotation of the coaching carousel the SEC has again turned into a death march.

Just look at the SEC West:

• Alabama: Nick Saban
• Arkansas: Bob Petrino
• Ole Miss: Houston Nutt
• Mississippi State: Sylvester Croom
• LSU: Les Miles
• Auburn: Tommy Tuberville

That is just one division, look at the SEC East:

• Florida: Urban Meyer
• Georgia: Mark Richt
• South Carolina: Steven Spurrier
• Kentucky: Rich Brooks
• Tennesssee: Phillip Fulmer
• Vanderbilt: Bobby Johnson

When you look at the list of coaches on paper, it might just blow your mind.

The Eastern Division has three different coaches that have won National Championships, while the west has one coach with one and another playing for one this year. The stats continue, all of these coaches have been to bowl games, expect Bobby Johnson of Vandy, who many think might be one of the best overall coaches in the country.

So when people talk about the strength of a conference just look at the people strolling the sidelines and no conference does it like the SEC.

SEC Football Coaches, South Park Style

Surfing the Internet can lead to gold, and this photo of SEC coaches as South Park characters is no different.

My personnel favorites are Ole Miss Ed Orgeron and the ole Ball Coach.

Wildcats Running Wild

Last year, the Arkansas coaching staff developed the "Wildcat" formation, with running back Darren McFadden taking snaps at the quarterback positions. McFadden collected more then 2,000 yards and completed 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards and three touchdowns, with help of the "Wildcat" Formation.

Over the summer, a couple of other teams started to jump on the "Wildcat." Georgia Tech is using the formation with Tashard Choice and Clemson has used it with CJ Spiller and James Davis.

The best thing that the "Wildcat" Formation does is allow a team's best players to get their hands on the ball as much as possible and all of this was invented by former high school coach and current Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

Malzahn introduced the concept the Arkansas last year and it took off, leave it to the a former high school coach to have a ground breaking idea.

A Nutty Trend

A year ago, Gus Malzahn (pictured) and Mitch Mustain were preparing for a state championship game in Arkansas, this year they are preparing for a different type of championship game: the SEC Championship Game. During the summer, Houston Nutt made the shocking move to hire Malzahn as offensive coordinator despite him being only a successful high school coach at Springdale in Arkansas. At the time if it was unclear weather Malzahn was hired in order to make sure that Mustain, the number one ranked quarterback in the country in the class of '06, was coming to be a razorback or because he was a great offensive mind. Besides Mustain, two other players from the Springdale team that spent much of last year in the top 5 in the nation joined Nutt's calling.
Over the course of this season, Malzahn has showed the world that he is an offensive mastermind. With a team that is loaded with red shirt freshman and sophomores, he has made their offense into the one of the most exciting in the SEC. The hiring of high school coaches as college assistants is nothing new, but they are never hired as offensive and defensive coordinators. Malzahn along with other members of the Razorbacks staff have created an offense that is fun to watch and thought outside the box when it comes to using its best player Darren McFadden. The group has created the "Wildcat" formation, which allows McFadden to operate as quarterback and throw the ball when it is there.
Will the hiring of Malzahn and his success spur other coaches around the country to hire high school coaches as top-level assistants. Here are a couple of high school coaches that could find there ways to college sidelines next season:

• Todd Dodge, Southlake Carroll High School, Texas: The former University of Texas quarterback is an offensive genius, he could find is way to a sideline of a Texas based school.
• Tommy Knotts, Independence High School, Charlotte: Few teams in the country have dominated area schools like they have. Over the last couple of years, they have produced University of Florida starting quarterback Chris Leak as well as other Division I-A players. Knotts would be a good fit for Butch Davis new staff at North Carolina.
• Rush Propst, Hoover High School, Hoover, Alabama: Besides having his own MTV series, he has been a passing guru for the last couple of years. College coaches from all over the country have visited his program in order to learn his passing game. Who ever takes the Alabama join should hire him.