BCS chaos begins a week early

Another week, another thirty point win for the Gators. If not for the awful weather conditions it would have been worse, and perhaps Percy Harvin is healthy rather than dealing with an ankle inury. The Gators are a ten point favorite against Alabama despite the questions about Harvin's status.

For FSU fans, this postgame quote from Bobby Bowden about Florida State's potential revival...

"Somebody'll see it. It might happen when I'm here — but I doubt it. I don't know."

had to make them sick, particularly when Bowden clearly intends on "coaching" at least two more years.

This week will be an interesting one. For the first time since 1995, Florida heads into the SEC Championship Game knowing they have control of their own destiny for the BCS title game. No stunning wins by Texas or UCLA are required. I'll be there to cover it. That will be the thing which gets me through to Friday while enduring the nonstop bitterness here in Columbia as a result of South Carolina losing to Clemson again. Some people have asked me if this is it for Steve Spurrier - nope. He's making moves on his coaching staff for next year.

There was lots of movement over the weekend on the coaching scene. Some people were surprised that Sylvester Croom took three million dollars to go away at Mississippi State. After losing 45-0 to their instate rival, it was obviously either going to be a total departure of the offensive staff or it was going to be Croom himself going. Today Tennessee unveils the hiring of Lane Kiffin, and ESPN claims he will bring his father Monte with him. No one thinks more highly of Monte's work in Tampa Bay than me, but I still don't like this hire at all for the Vols. Talk to Charlie Weis about how it can turn out when you're trying to teach NFL tactics to college kids.

Oklahoma gets to go the Big Twelve title game, with all kinds of strange things happening in the coaches poll to try and manipulate the results. Gee, anonymous voting resulted in people trying to game the system for their own interests. Who could have ever imagined such a scenario? Only anyone who's ever paid any attention for the past two decades. We've seen stunts like two coaches voting UF 11th and 13th overall after an undefeated regular season in 1995 ended with the Fiesta bowl loss to Nebraska. Tennessee just happened to get to number two in the coaches poll that year as a result of those votes - what a remarkable coincidence! Remember when Jim Tressel refused to vote two years ago rather than have it be public if he picked UF or Michigan second? The coaches poll shouldn't exist, and it definitely shouldn't be a part of the BCS.

If you're going to the SEC title game, the Atlanta Hawks are trying to convince you to come see Al Horford play the night before with a special deal. Al explains in this video. If you are going to Atlanta and are looking for some cool Christmas presents or something good for yourself, I recommend dropping by Distant Replays. That link is to their website, but I've always just gone to the store. Andy, who owns the business, is a great guy and I've gotten a bunch of cool stuff there over the years so I figured I'd pass the suggestion on. (Just so I'm clear, that's not an ad and I will not benefit in any way if you click it or opt to go by the store.)