Saban Means "DOOM" for Croom

Well, here we go again! ALABAMA plays Mississippi State this weekend, and hopefully we won't have a letdown after last week's close loss to LSU.



Former Tider and current coach-killer Sylvester Croom has his Mississippi State Bulldogs in position for a winning season and a possible bowl berth. The ever-calm Croom (who was MY choice for Bama after the Price debacle) is slowly but surely building a solid, competitive program over in Starkville. After last year's big win in Tuscaloosa (that probably sealed Shula's fate) and some major upsets (auburn, South Carolina), State is gaining momentum and getting steadily stronger.

But I think that Saban and The Tide will just be too better-prepared today.
PREDICTION: ALABAMA 31, MSU 17

Other picks:
LSU 45, La Tech 7
Florida 28, South Carolina 20
Arkansas 31, Tennessee 21
Vanderbilt 21, Kentucky 20
auburn 27, Georgia 24

Luckily for Ole Miss, they at least won't lose today. Next week's potentially record-setting blowout loss to LSU will probably seal Orgeron's fate, and the season-ending regionally-televised Egg Bowl road loss to Mississippi State will finish him off. (Maybe they can talk Lou "Granny Clampett" Holtz out of retirement!)

Good Local High School Football on ESPN2 (And LOU..!)

Wow! Two local (well, regional, since they're in Baldwin County) teams squared off with a national ESPN2 audience last night. I watched most of it, and at first I thought it was going to be 'The JULIO JONES Show'. Which would have been fine with me. This kid makes it look easy. And he played both ways! I sure hope he comes to THE University of ALABAMA.
And we got to see and hear Kenny 'Snake' Stabler at the game. But the announcers talked more about Mobile than either Foley OR Daphne. Weird.
Now, usually, I hate to watch Lou Holtz's halftime rants. This washed-up 'Granny Clampett' look-a-like who sounds like Sylvester (excuse me-- 'thoundth like Thylvethter) is such a homer and Notre Dame apologist that I just can't sit through his insane 'pep talks'. I mean, he literally rambles incoherently and makes such vague references that even I sometimes can't make them remotely relevant.
Last night, however, during the South Carolina-Kentucky game, he did this:

I LOVE the old 'tearing paper' trick.

ANYhow, The Tide should take care of the Houston Cougars handily. It's Homecoming, so maybe they can put on a show for everyone. And win big. Hopefully, the mistakes can be corrected. If so, this game should be just what Bama needs.
PREDICTION: ALABAMA 38, Houston 14

Florida visits LSU in a good night-game matchup that could get ugly if the Gators play like they did against auburn. LSU has typically started their games slowly, but I think they'll come out clawing Saturday night. And what's with Les Miles and that 'trucker hat'...? That thing sits a mile on top of his head! The Bayou Bengals fans will have been drinking all day, so look for some ugly behavior if Florida comes out on top. It'll be a close one.
PREDICTION: LSU 38, Florida 28

Okay, honestly, I don't care about any of the other games, and as evidenced by last week's picks I obviously don't know much about college football, either. ROLL TIDE.