Bama starts three new players against Clemson

Just as everyone expected, Julius Jones will start at x (split) receiver for Bama. Don'ta Hightower will start at linebacker and all 380 lbs. of Terrence Cody will start at nose tackle, in an obvious attempt to plug Clemson's furious ground attack, featuring CJ Spiller and James Davis. Spiller and Davis may be the most wicked combo in the NCAA this year, but if not the most, they are pretty close to the top.
Bama was expected to start a freshman at linebacker, but many people thought Jerrell Harris would get the nod for the opener. However, Harris is expected to contribute immediately.
As of right now, Bama is a 5.5 pt. underdog, but the closer the game gets, the better I actually feel about the Tide's chances to take this one.

Also expect freshmen Mark Ingram, BJ Scott and Mark Barron to play in the opener.

SEC EAST Predictions

1: UGA
2: Tennessee
3: Florida
4:South Carolina
5: Ky
6: Vandy

Okay, this is probably not a popular prediction, as I pick Florida to finish third in the East for the second year in a row. Probably, it's pretty stupid, but I don't believe in Florida's defense at all. Florida lost to a very mediocre Michigan team in its last game and returns a powerful offense, for sure. A defense that gives up that many points probably needs to be located in Nebraska and not Florida, but the Gators believe their young defense will improve with age. Whatever. Either the scheme sucks or the guys just aren't that good. Possibly a combo, too.

UGA could easily land in the third spot, as could Tennessee. UGA has been picked to be everybody's national champions, so the glory may just explode in their faces in a manner remiscent of some of Ron Jeremy's sexual encounters. Tenessee has an amazing ground game, the team's best receiver returning in Lucas Taylor and a solid defense (supposedly), but it'll be up to Jonathon Crompton to see if he can lead the Vols back to the Dome and save Fats Fulmer's job.

Okay, Florida willmost likely win the fucking East, but I gotta make shit interesting.

SEC West Predictions

1: Iron Bowl Winner
2: Iron Bowl Runner Up
3: LSU
4: Ole Miss
5: Mississippi St
6: Arkansas

I'm probably the only person who has predicted in this manner, but I think the team going to the Dome in December from the West will be the winner of the Iron Bowl. LSU's qb situation is not favorable. Yes, the Baton Rouge Tigers have more talent overall than Auburn or Bama, but not having game-tested qb will hurt LSU's chances. Also, anyone who thinks LSU's defense will be better without Dorsey and Steltz probably should be writing a bunch of shit that ends in eaux.

Ole Miss will be much improved with Nutt as coach. Believe that.

Mississippi St. is due a reality check.

Arkansas will probably beat a team the Hags shouldn't, but Petrino probably needs a year or two to really get shit poppin.'

Don't fuck with Jamaica

Damn, first bolt and now Melaine Walker. Fucking Amazing, ain't it? And I'm not just talking about the faux-hawkish do.

Can't hardly fucking wait

Bama will play Clemson on August 30 in the Georgia Dome, but I, like every other Tide fan eagerly await the debut of top high school receiving prospect Julio Jones (pictured above). If JPW can get him the ball, lovely things may happen. However, Jones has a ton of expectations awaiting him, which may be more than the freshman can handle.

It's about that time

I'm totally prepared.

BReaking down Bama vs Clemson

Okay, in the upcoming three weeks, the Bama-Clemson matchup in the Ga Dome will be hyped, hyper-analyzed and overhyped, but I thought it would be nice to analyze another side of the matchup, and that would be the level of humanitarianism possessed by both teams. First, look at the obvious underdog in this matchup, Alabama and the Tide's treatment of Tyrone Prothro post-injury. Many cynical SEC fans wondered whether Bama's hallowed receiver would be stripped of his scholarship once Nick Saban became head coach. Prothro remained with the team and graduated last week. He is reportedly working for the school, though my sources were unclear as to what his role at the university entails.

On the flipside, Clemson had a feel-good situation turn sour when the school notified surrogate parent, student-athlete amazing big bro Ray Ray Mcelrathbey was informed that his athletic scholarship was needed after graduation, though he has eligibility left. Clemson did establish a fund for Rey Rey's little brother, but needed to make space for more talent. Any way you look at it, Clemson comes out looking mediocre in the long haul, after delivering the feel-good story of two season ago.

The clear winner here is Bama, though Prothro and Ray Ray come out ahead having graduated.


Congrats, No. 4! This is the amazing catch people will remember for generations.

R.I.P. Skip

And the Heisman Most Likely Goes To...

Barring injury, Chris "Beanie"Wells has this shit locked down. All he needs is a decent performance against USC and the remainder remains simplistic. Yep, this trophy ain't staying in the Sec for two years in a row.

Hated on Mostly

ESPN.com posted a conference by conference list of the team in each conference hated most by the other teams and fans in the conference. In the PAC 10, USC was the team most hated, The Big 10 (and everyone else) loathes Ohio State, and the SEC hates Alabama. I wasn't surprised by ESPN posting that Bama was the most hated team, because ESPN loves to hate upon Alabama and revel in Bama's recent mediocrity which is due mostly to probation combined with a string of average to below-average coaches (Saban not included). However, I really wonder which SEC teams other than Auburn, LSU and Tennessee really hate Bama.
Here is my SEC ranking of hatred for other teams with one being most hated and 13 being most loved (UGA gets ranked twice).
1: Tennessee- Phil Fulmer is the biggest contributor to Bama's misery. But I watched The Wire, so I know what happens to snitches.
2:(tie) LSU- LSU has really only been good since the Saban era. I hated Saban when he was at LSU because his teams were so good. Now, I gotta hope he brings the same talent to Bama.
3: Florida- Florida is super fucking obnoxious, and really good, obviously. Bama actually has performed decently against Florida since the SEC began hosting a championship game, but UF definitely holds the advantage. It also seems that UF is here to stay, the team is some defacto team for people from places like New Jersey and the Midwest and some Florida fans scare the shit outta me.
4: Over-zealous, fair-weather UGA fans: UGA has been consistently good since Mark Richt has been head coach. However, this particular group of UGA fans is quick to proclaim that a team is a "national title contender," talks tons of shit, has no sense of UGA football history and never sees players from other teams as being as valuable as UGA players and always declare players Heisman worthy, even if they aren't (hey, hey DJ Shockley). This group of fans always deserts the team when the Dawgs lose two games for the remainder of the season. However, many UGA fans fall into a cool, realistically loyal category that I love and respect from any college program. Also, every SEC team possesses this type of fan. I fucking hate this particular breed of fan, regardless of the team. However, I live in Athens, so I deal with this shit on a regular basis.
5: Auburn: The days are over when I hated Auburn more than any other aspect of life. Many of the Auburn players, like myself, are from the state of Alabama, so it makes it impossible for me to hate the players. However, like every other Bama fan, I recognize the Iron Bowl as the most important game each season. Six years of losing is a really long time, ya know?
6: Six is tough, but I guess I need to list Arkansas here. Arkansas is a West rival and a team to always fear, even though the Razorbacks will probably suck this year. Okay, I don't hate Arkansas
7: South Carolina: Why is South Carolina in the SEC again?
8: Ole Miss: I dunno, I love the uniforms, but Ole Miss is just, well, Ole Miss.
9: Mississippi State: Despite back-to-back wins over Bama, it's easy to get behind Sly Croom's recent triumphs. This year, the Bulldogs will re-enter reality
10: Kentucky: I dislike Kentucky basketball sometimes, but how do you hate the semi-hapless Wildcats?
11: Vanderbilt: If you hate vandy, you fucking suck.
12: UGA (in actuality): Most of UGA's players rule and it's fucking fun to go to Georgia games. Also, living in a college town like Athens just enhances the energetic feeling I associate with waking up on football Saturdays in the fall each year. By far, home football Saturdays in Athens are the best days of the year. However, the fans I mention in #4 can almost ruin the greatness at times.
13: Roll Tide!!!!!