Just a few more news items for you at lunchtime today:

1.  Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com believes Brandon Spikes should have gotten a stiffer punishment.

2.  Mark McCarter of The Huntsville Times believes the SEC should have upped the penalty on Spikes.

3.  Jay Greeson of The Chattanooga Times Free Press makes his SEC bowl predictions.

4.  Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun writes that things can’t get much worse for Georgia.

5.  FoxSports.com ranks the nation’s 10 most disappointing teams and Ole Miss ranks #7 while Georgia ranks #6.  Ole Miss was a Top 10 team to start the season and they’re not as disappointing as Georgia?

6.  Don Borst of FoxSports.com writes that Florida and Texas finally looked like national champoinship contenders on Saturday.

7.  Jeff Goodman, also of FoxSports.com, tells you why Kentucky will be in the Elite Eight at year’s end.  (And why they won’t be.)

8.  Ron Higgins of The Memphis Commercial-Appeal looks at the Alabama-LSU game.

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1.  Dan Mullen is trying to round up another record crowd… this time for State’s home game with Alabama on the 14th.  (Mullen is also stressing the importance of reaching a bowl game and getting 18 extra practices with his team.)

2.  At 4-5, State will need to win two out of three against Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss to reach a bowl.

3.  Tailback Anthony Dixon is still receiving accolades over his 252-yard effort against Kentucky.

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I’m not a big fan of awards.  There are just flat too many of them if you ask me.

Therefore I’m really not a fan of preseason awards.  It’s not so much an honor as a guess and I don’t know what those guesses are worth.

That said, everyone hands out preseason awards and the SEC is no different.

Below are the SEC coaches’ preseason all-conference teams:


FIRST TEAM

Devan Downey, G, South Carolina
Tasmin Mitchell, F, LSU
AJ Ogilvy, C, Vanderbilt
Patrick Patterson, F, Kentucky
Tyler Smith, G/F, Tennessee
Jarvis Varnado, F, Mississippi State
Michael Washington, F, Arkansas
Terrico White, G, Ole Miss


Yep, nothing like an eight-man team.  Below are the eight players named to the coaches’ second team.


SECOND TEAM

Dominique Archie, F, South Carolina
Wayne Chism, F/C, Tennessee
JaMychal Green, F, Alabama
DeWayne Reed, G, Auburn
Trey Thompkins, F, Georgia
Alex Tyus, F, Florida
John Wall, G, Kentucky
Chris Warren, G, Ole Miss.


It’s interesting that the SEC coaches voted John Wall to their second team all-conference team.  He’s already been named the preseason national player of the year by CBSSports.com.

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1.  Here are the SEC’s Players of the Week for Week Nine.

2.  Chris Low of ESPN thinks Brandon Spikes should have been suspended for a full game and he takes Mike Slive to task for being willing to suspend officials and coaches, but not a player.

3.  Paul Gattis of The Birmingham News offers up his weekly SEC Rewind column and opens it by asking to hear from ANYONE who like Tennessee’s black jerseys on Saturday.  (I’m guessing his mailbox is already full from folks in Knoxville.)

4.  Tony Barnhart of The AJC covers a number of points in his daily blog:

* Florida (or the league) should have suspended Spikes for at least one game.

* Georgia should never, EVER, EVER wear black helmets, black jerseys or black pants again.

* LSU is still in the hunt for the national championship.

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1.  Anthony Dixon’s school record 252-yard rushing performance against Kentucky was “a dream come true.”

2.  Aided by UK’s horrible defense, MSU’s offense got back on track Saturday night.

3.  In basketball news, Rick Stansbury is wondering why John Riek’s 9-game NCAA suspension couldn’t include exhibition games while Kentucky’s John Wall’s 2-game ban COULD include an exhibition game. 

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Every Monday we provide you with a printable rundown of the week’s SEC action, complete with television listings and early odds on each games.

All times are Eastern.

Here are your Week 10 matchups:


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH


South Carolina at Arkansas
12:21pm
ESPN Regional Syndicated Package
Arkansas -6


Tennessee Tech at Georgia
1:00pm
Pay-Per-View
None


Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky
1:00pm
Institutional Point-to-Point
None


Furman at Auburn
1:30pm
Pay-Per-View
None


LSU at Alabama
3:30pm
CBS
Alabama -9


Memphis at Tennessee
7:00pm
ESPNU
Tennessee -25


Vanderbilt at Florida
7:15pm
ESPN or ESPN2
Florida -32.5


Northern Arizona at Ole Miss
7:30pm
CSS
None

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We’re 2/3rds of the way through the 2009 football season and already fans are starting to look ahead to next year and beyond.

Since everyone and their brother does SEC power rankings each week, we’ll nix ours this week and instead grade each program based on its overall health.

We’ll provide a reason for optimism and a reason for concern for each program moving forward. 

Enjoy.  And I look forward to receiving your angry emails.



1.  Alabama

Health Equivalent:  Jack LaLanne (at left)

The likelihood of Nick Saban leaving Tuscaloosa is slim.  He’s tried the NFL and there’s no college job better than Bama.  With Saban (and his coaching ability) on hand and yet another great recruiting class on the way, it appears that Alabama will remain healthy for years.

Reason for Optimism:  If Nick Saban can go 8-0 with a new quarterback and a rebuilt offensive line, what can he do with veterans at those positions?

Reason for Concern:  Saban found it “disconcerting” that folks in the Heart of Dixie are finding fault with his squad.  Bama fans better hope they don’t drive Saban to the golf course prematurely.



2.  Florida

Health Equivalent:  Matthew McConaughey

Florida is buff… and they have no problem showing it off — like the too often shirtless McConaughey.  Based in fertile recruiting ground, as long as UF’s head coach even TRIES to recruit, Florida will have one of the nation’s ten best rosters.  There are that many stars in the Sunshine State.

Reason for Optimism:  Two BCS titles and a possible third on the way, UF is once again going to have a Top 10 recruiting class.

Reason for Concern:  Urban Meyer has shown that he can tweak his offense and win with Chris Leak… and he’ll need to do that again next year when Tim Tebow is playing in the NFL.  Also, Meyer has referred to Steve Spurrier’s old “10 wins isn’t enough” line.  Might UF expectations drive him away?



3.  Tennessee

Health Equivalent: This kid…

Lane Kiffin was considered a joke by most when he was hired.  His mouth has often made matters worse.  But there’s no questioning his coaching staff (see our offensive and defensive efficiency ratings) and his recruiting ability (see our commitment comparison).

Reason for Optimism:  If Kiffin can make Tennessee competitive with using holdovers from a team that got Phillip Fulmer fired, what can he do when he brings in another Top 10 recruiting class or two?

Reason for Concern:  Will the staff — including 69-year-old Monte Kiffin — stay together for another three or four years?  And will Lane Kiffin’s mouth eventually get him into serious hot water off the field?



4.  LSU

Health Equivalent:  The healthy jogger who drops dead from a heart attack.

Everything looks good.  Good record.  Great recruiting.  A national title in the trophy case.  So why do I get the feeling folks in Baton Rouge could turn on Les Miles so quickly?

Reason for Optimism:  John Chavis has fixed LSU’s defensive woes and Gary Crowton has had success with the offense in the past.  The talent-base in Louisiana/Texas is outstanding also.

Reason for Concern:  Nick Saban.  Miles — fair or not — will always be judged against his predecessor.  If the program goes into the slightest decline, folks will be quick to say, “He won his title with Saban’s players.”  Miles should ask Tubby Smith about that.



5.  Georgia

Health Equivalent:  George Burns (when he was alive)

Burns smoked cigar after cigar and yet he lived to be a hundred.  As I listen to folks point out all the horrible woes surrounding the Georgia program, I notice the following: They’re 4-4 after their top two players left for the pros early, they’re on the verge of another Top 10 recruiting class, their offense is the SEC’s best (in efficiency) and this is literally the first bad year for UGA under Mark Richt. 

Reason for Optimism:  A good defensive coordinator should be able to fix what ails the Dawgs.

Reason for Concern:  Richt might not want to make a move on his current defensive coordinator.



6.  Arkansas

Health Equivalent:  The drummer from Def Leppard

Bobby Petrino has the SEC’s worst/smallest recruiting base.  The Hogs are also in a division with Alabama, LSU and Auburn.  Those are some serious obstacles to overcome.  But Rick Allen lost his arm in a car wreck and still came back to do this for the past two decades.

Reason for Optimism:  Petrino is a good coach, he just needs to keep finding better players on defense.

Reason for Concern:  It’ll be hard for a team with a tiny recruiting base to climb too high in the SEC.



7.  Auburn

Reason for Optimism:  Tradition and a solid staff of assistant coaches.

Reason for Concern:  The Tigers are stuck in the same state with an 800-pound gorilla and the jury is still out on Gene Chizik who failed so miserably at Iowa State.



8.  South Carolina

Reason for Optimism:  The Gamecocks are a young team and should improve next year.  Steve Spurrier has also improved USC’s recruiting.

Reason for Concern:  No one has ever had success in Columbia.  I can’t understand why.  They have the talent-base, the fan support, the facilities… just not the history.  And it looks like they’re going to be in that 7-5 range once again this year.



9.  Ole Miss

Reason for Optimism:  I rank the Rebels ahead of Mississippi State based on tradition and the Big Brother factor.  That’s it.

Reason for Concern:  Houston Nutt overachieves when expectations are low, underachieves when they’re high.  I see no reason for that to change in the future.  Ole Miss will have some 8- and 9-wins seasons separated by some 5- and 6-win campaigns.  It is what it is.



10.  Mississippi State

Reason for Optimism:  Dan Mullen has brought energy to Starkville… and he might just be able to recruit on par with Nutt at Ole Miss.

Reason for Concern:  We’re still talking about Mississippi State.  Traditionally, they’re the Worst of the West.  That means there are five programs for Mullen to jump.  Good luck with that.



11.  Kentucky

Reason for Optimism:  Uh… uh… football recruits will enjoy going to UK basketball games more now that John Calipari is in town?

Reason for Concern:  Rich Brooks has made UK more competitive, but they’re just too far down the ladder to make a difference in the SEC.  They also have a poor recruiting base.  And no one knows if Joker Phillips will be able to duplicate Brooks’ “success.”



12.  Vanderbilt

Reason for Optimism:  Vandy has one of their best ever recruiting classes in the works.  And Bobby Johnson — for the most part — has lifted Vandy from laughingstock status…

Reason for Concern:  Except when his team gets hammered with injuries.  Then depth wipes out the traditional Commodore-mat of the SEC.

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There’s been quite a bit of shuffling on our recruiting Big Board since we last checked.  Eight of the league’s teams have seen some amount of movement up the chart.

As usual, we use the rankings provided by Rivals.com.  We give each star in their system an equal point value in our system.  But we count even 0-star athletes as being worth 1 point.  Okay, so we’re softies.

Below are the updated commitment numbers for each team in the SEC, through this morning.

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1.  Florida maintained their top spot in the BCS rankings, Texas leapfrogged idle Alabama for the #2 listing.

2.  The Tide is #3 behind Texas in all of the major polls this week, but if they take care of business, that fact won’t matter come bowl time.

3.  Chris Low of ESPN.com has a list of what we learned this past weekend.

4.  Stewart Mandel of SI.com covers Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida, Alabama, Anthony Dixon’s 252-yard effort versus Kentucky and Lane Kiffin’s “last laugh” in his latest column.

5.  Georgia’s Mark Richt isn’t saying whether or not Joe Cox is about to be benched.

6.  You might have to register to read this one (it’s free), but Matt Hayes of The Sporting News looks at the BCS mess and feels it’s no time for #9 LSU to panic.

7.  Andy Staples of SI.com believes Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes should be suspended for the absolutely scumbag move below.  Eye-gouging?  That’s weak, Mr. Spikes.  Very, very weak.

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When your defense ranks among the best of the SEC, it also ranks among the best in the nation.  And that’s certainly true for the top three defenses in this week’s Pure Efficiency ratings for defense.

To tally this statistic, we take the total number of plays a defense plays in league-games only.  Then we divide that number by the total number of touchdowns a team has allowed.  This tells us how many plays (on average) teams run between touchdowns against the SEC’s defenses in conference play.

This measures a defense’s real stinginess.  It also provides a look at overall team efficiency, as team’s with turnover-prone offenses tend to put their defenses in bad situations.



Pure Efficiency — Defense

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Through nine weeks of the season — though we’re looking only at the results from in-conference games at the behest of some readers –  it’s becoming clear which SEC offenses have what it takes to score.  And which ones don’t.

The SEC’s defenses are clearly dominant this year, which makes those offenses at the top of our efficiency ratings so impressive: they’re putting up good numbers in the face of the nation’s top run-stuffers and ballhawks.

Here’s an example of just how good SEC defenses are.  In five games against conference foes, Vanderbilt has scored just three offensive touchdowns.  On Saturday against 11th ranked Georgia Tech, Vandy tallied — you guessed it — three touchdowns in one game.

The SEC is absolutely brutal when it comes to suffocating defenses.



As always, we figure “Pure Efficiency” for the offense by taking the total offensive snaps run by a unit and dividing that number by the total number of touchdowns recorded by that offense.  That tells you how many plays each offense needs (on average) to score a touchdown in SEC play.

This rank gives a good idea to overall team efficiency as well, because a turnover-creating defense can give an offense short fields with which to work.



Pure Efficiency — Offense

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Anthony Dixon rushed for two touchdowns and a school-record 252 yards as Mississippi State kept its bowl hopes alive by outlasting Kentucky 31-24 on Saturday night.
(more)

Both teams have talented runners
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Mike Slive revealed to the Associated Press today that coaches who speak out against the league’s officials are going to get more than a reprimand when they pop off in the future.

It was just a matter of time before Slive got serious on this front.  When coaches (Lane Kiffin and Bobby Petrino) hint that the league is taking care of some teams at the expense of others, it brings the legitimacy of the league and all of its games into question.

We had a poll on this site for more than four days that showed that a small majority of you fans actually believe that the officials in the SEC are trying to influence the outcome of games… despite a stat analysis that showed there to be little correlation between winning teams and the amount of flags thrown.

So, in an attempt to squash this bug before it grows, Slive has said that coaches who criticize league officials in public will face a fine or a suspension rather than getting a reprimand.

“It became clear to me after last week that I was no longer interested in reprimands, and the conference athletic directors and university presidents unanimously agreed,” Slive said.

Some conspiracy theorists will claim that this shows just how far the league will go to crown Florida and/or Alabama as champion, but that’s nonsense.

The league has handed out reprimands in the past.  They used to work.  But when coaches begin to ignore the reprimands, the league has to move on to a stiffer type of punishment.

And all of the SEC’s ADs and presidents agreed.  Not just the guys at Florida and Alabama, but the ADs and presidents at Arkansas, Mississippi State and Tennessee, too.

A conspiracy?  Please. 

Once again Slive has taken the correct course of action.

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Just a few more stories to munch on this Friday afternoon:

1.  The NCAA has passed some new rules aimed at cleaning up college basketball recruiting.  Good luck with that one.

2.  With Tim Tebow on the verge of breaking Herschel Walker’s SEC rushing touchdown record, here’s a comparison of the two players’ legacies.

3.  Tony Barnhart of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution makes his weekend predictions right here.

4.  The AJC’s Jeff Schultz does the same here.

5.  Ron Morris of The State thanks folks need to take a timeout from ref-bashing in the SEC.

6.  Andrea Adelson of The Orlando Sentinel believes coaches who criticize officials should be punished more severely.

7.  Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun makes his predictions… and is hoping the refs make a bad call that costs Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin tomorrow.

8.  SEC coordinator of officials Rogers Redding says, “You can critcize our calls.  You can criticize our judgement.  You can even criticize our intelligence.  But you cannot criticize our integrity.”

9.  Charles Hollis of The Birmingham News makes his weekend picks right here.

10.  A Tennessee spokesman says Lane Kiffin wasn’t referring to a Mike Slive reprimand when he said he’d get a meaningless letter from the league this week.  Everyone outside the Volunteer State responds with a “yeah, right.”

11.  Here’s a by-the-numbers look around the SEC.

12.  Here are the predictions from Geoff Calkins of The Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

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1.  This writer believes tomorrow’s matchup with Kentucky “is the kind of game Mullen must win to ultimately be successful at State.”

2.  Walk-on kicker Derek DePasquale has walked right into a starting role.

3.  MSU has added Alcorn State to their football schedule next year, marking the second year in a row that a SWAC team has played at Starkville.

4.  On the hardwood, Jarvis Varnado says a #18 national ranking will put “targets on our back, and everybody will be out to get us.”

5.  NCAA officials will be in the office of Renardo Sidney’s attorney today to “review additional records.”

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(Now with proper spelling in the headline!)

Earlier this week — as I do in most weeks — I posted our updated offensive and defensive efficiency ratings for the SEC.

We take the number of plays run by each offense, divide by the number of touchdowns they’ve scored, and arrive at a plays-per-touchdown number that shows the “pure” efficiency of that unit.

For defense, we just reverse the process and divide the total number of snaps played by the number of touchdowns allowed.

After posting the numbers, I got an email from a reader suggesting I use only the numbers from in-conference games.

So that’s what I’ve done.  Now our “Pure Efficiency” ratings are even purer.  If that’s a word.

Below, you’ll find the results.  Prepare to be surprised.



Offensive Pure Efficiency

Defensive Pure Efficiency

Observations:

* Alabama’s offense is getting worse while its defense is getting better.  In their first two conference games, the Tide scored 9 touchdowns (against Arkansas and Kentucky).  Since then they’ve scored just 2 touchdowns in three games (against Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee).  On the flip-side, their defense gave up 3 touchdowns in their first two games, but have allowed just 1 (last week, late to Tennessee) in their last three outings.  Bama’s defense gives up a touchdown just once every 85 plays in league play.  Dominating.

* Arkansas’ defense might be showing some signs of improvement, but the Hogs can’t expect to go bowling if SEC teams continue to score once every 18 plays on them.

* We know that Auburn’s defense — ripped by injuries — isn’t very good.  But their offense still ranks near the top of the SEC… thanks to their Big Bang start.  Their in-league touchdown-production has fallen from 6 to 2 to 3 to 1 to 1.  Keep that up and those efficiency numbers will continue to drop.

* Florida is winning with defense, not offense in SEC play.  The Gators rank just 7th in the league in offensive efficiency.  The loss of Percy Harvin was obviously much bigger than expected.  But defensively, the only squad more fierce is Alabama.  The UF D is as good as advertised.

* Upset Georgia fans have been calling for heads down in Athens.  Willie Martinez… well, I understand that one.  For a team with that many athletes on defense, giving up a touchdown every 22 plays is unacceptable.  But to those folks who’ve suggested that Mike Bobo be tossed, too, you need to get your facts straight.  In the tough-as-nails, defense-first SEC, Bobo’s offense is scoring once every 19 plays.  You can’t beat that efficiency.

* Kentucky’s offense has actually gotten more productive as their passing numbers have dwindled.  I don’t think they can keep that up, but it is interesting that UK scored a total of 3 touchdowns in their first two games (against Alabama and Florida) and then scored 3 touchdowns in EACH of their last two games (against South Carolina and Auburn).

* LSU’s offense has had its struggles, but the Tiger D has gotten better as the season has worn on.  John Chavis’ crew has given up just 4 touchdowns to Georgia, Florida and Auburn combined.  That’s how you win games.

* Dan Mullen has made the Bulldogs competitive and he’s provided hope for the future.  But I don’t know how.  State’s defense lags near the bottom of the conference and Mullen’s spread offense has scored just 6 touchdowns in SEC play.  We’ll see what he can do with a quarterback.  (Cameron Newton, anyone?)

* While the offensive woes at Ole Miss have gotten most of the headlines, the Rebel defense has been a quiet killer.  In fact, it’s the fourth-toughest defense to score against in league games.  If the Rebels continue to turn their offense around, this can still be a very good year in Oxford.

* Steve Spurrier has never been able to duplicate the offensive wizardry from his Florida days.  So it’s a good thing he’s got Ellis Johnson driving the defensive bus.  The Cocks’ D has given up just 1 touchdown in its last 2 games (against Alabama and Vanderbilt) and ranks in the middle of the SEC.

* Tennessee is a surprising 3rd on both lists.  At 3-4, the Vols are playing better than their record indicates and they seem to be improving.  After scoring just 4 touchdowns in the first two games (against Florida and Auburn), UT has tallied 7 in their last two (against Georgia and Alabama).  Defensively, Monte Kiffin’s unit is the third best in the SEC and hasn’t allowed a score in its last two outings.  Lane Kiffin might be the Mouth of the South, but his team — offensively and defensively — is playing pretty good football right now.

* What can you say about Vanderbilt?  They’ve scored just 3 touchdowns in five SEC games this year.  That’s 1 every 110 plays… basically 1 every two games.  Defensively, the offensive woes have taken their toll.  The ‘Dores allowed just 3 touchdowns in their first two contests (against LSU and MSU), but they have been scorched for 9 in their last three (against Ole Miss, Georgia and South Carolina).

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Just a few more nuggets from around the league this afternoon:

1.  John Adams of The Knoxville News Sentinel believes the SEC has a good shot at filling all 10 of its bowl slots.

2.  Ron Higgins of The Memphis Commercial-Appeal goes around the SEC to discuss everything from Florida’s need to improve to Kodi Burns literally getting his teeth knocked out.

3.  This SEC notes column reveals that Lane Kiffin believes quarterback Jonathan Crompton is playing his way up NFL draft boards.  (Crompton has played better in his last two games, but that’s still the craziest thing Kiffin’s ever said.)

4.  Here’s Travis Haney’s always entertaining weekend preview from The Charleston Post & Courier.

5.  Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun believes it sometimes looks like the SEC has reverted back to a pre-Steve Spurrier style of football.

6.  Edward Aschoff — also of The Gainesville Sun — looks at the excellent defense being played in the league right now. 

6.  Tim Tebow is at the center of this debate: how much religion is too much religion in college sports?

7.  Tebow has fallen to fifth in the Scripps Howard Heisman poll.  Alabama’s Mark Ingram still leads it.

8.  Paul Gattis of The Huntsville Times has put out his own SEC notebook column.

9.  Chris Low of ESPN.com tells you what to watch for in this weekend’s Halloween games.

10.  Mr. Low has also made his predictions for this weekend’s SEC games.

11.  Just as I wrote last week, Andy Staples of SI.com believes any junior debating whether or not to turn pro early should pay close attention to what’s happened to Sam Bradford and Dez Bryant.

12.  Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com ranks SEC defensive coordinators Charlie Strong and Monte Kiffin among the 10 best assistant coaches in the country.  (This is an “Insider” column and might not be viewable by some of you.)

13.  The preseason AP Poll for basketball lists Kentucky #4, Tennessee #10 and Mississippi State #18.

14.  The preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll ranks Kentucky #5, Tennessee #11 and Mississippi State #19.

15.  All-SEC guard Devan Downey has been missing practice at South Carolina due to flu-like symptoms.

16.  And Tony Barnhart of The AJC has four burning questions for SEC fans (that he explores in depth right here):

* Will Tim Tebow break Herschel Walker’s touchdown record against Georgia?

* What will Lane Kiffin do if he gets a bad call against South Carolina?

* How many times will Dexter McCluster touch the ball against Auburn?

* What’s the over/under on Georgia Tech’s time of possession against Vanderbilt?

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Some fans have a lucky shirt.  Some sit in the same chair during games.  Some eat the same thing each Saturday.

And some feel that they have “a pocket of spiritual energy that they can call upon” and toss at an opposing team in true hex fashion.

Sweet. 

Look, I’ve been known to speak in tongues during Patriots or Celtics games, but after watching this video of an Auburn fan who believes in his own personal voodoo powers, well, I actually feel quite normal, thank you very much.

Enjoy.

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While the goal of every offense is to hold onto the football, it’s the goal of every defense to create turnovers.

We’ve come up with a stat that shows you which SEC defenses are the best at forcing their opponents to make mistakes.  Or at least which defenses are most often in the right place at the right time.

Below you’ll see our “Defensive Thievery” stat.  We take each team’s total number of defensive snaps and divide that number by their total number of takeaways.



Defensive Thievery

Observations:

* It’s interesting that Arkansas, Alabama and LSU all rank in the top four in both Defensive Thievery and Ball Security.  That turnover margin helps to explain the success of Bama and LSU, but Arkansas’s numbers are a head-scratcher.  A team with a +10 turnover margin should be better than 3-4.

* There isn’t a clear drop-off in this stat until you reach Kentucky and Georgia.  The Cats force a turnover just once every 43 plays.  But Georgia’s numbers are abysmal.  The Dawgs create a takeaway just once every 80 snaps.  That’s almost hard to believe.  You can call this bunch the Un-Lucky Dogs.

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Nothing is more important than taking care of the football.  Why it’s even more important than staying on the good side of the league’s referees.

That’s why we’ve set out to show you which teams do the best job of holding onto the football.

Below, you’ll see the stat we call “Ball Security.”  To determine a team’s strength in ball security we simply divide a team’s total number of offensive snaps by its total number giveaways.



Ball Security

Observations:

* There hasn’t been a lot of praise for LSU’s offense so far this year, but the Tigers have done one thing well — they’ve taken care of the football.  Turning the ball over just once every 71 plays helps to explain why a team low on yardage is 6-1 and ranked in Top 10.  (Their defense doesn’t hurt, either.)

* Alabama led the league in this statistic for the first six weeks of the season, but turnovers the last two weeks have dropped them to third in the league.

*  LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, and South Carolina are all at or above the 60 plays-per-turnover ratio.  Not surprisingly, those teams are a combined 23-7 overall.

* If you simply looked at the league’s turnover standings, you’d think that Mississippi State’s offense is most snakebit in the SEC.  But their 21 turnovers have come on 561 offensive snaps.  In fact, Georgia’s offense is actually the league’s most turnover prone… coughing up the ball once every 25 plays.  It’s awfully hard to win like that.

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Earlier this week, Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin complained that the referees in his team’s game with Alabama should have thrown a flag on the game’s final play and allowed the Volunteers a second try at a potential game-winning field goal.

By rule, even if officials had thrown a flag, the Vols wouldn’t have been given a second kick.  That, of course, meant little to Kiffin.

“I’m sure we’ll get one of those letters that mean nothing, that Bobby (Petrino) got last week, but Florida and Alabama live on,” Kiffin said.

Clearly, he was a suggesting that the SEC is taking care of #1 Florida and #2 Alabama.

UT assistant Ed Orgeron then added to that thought the next day.

“There were very questionable calls throughout the season and it seems they go for the better team.  Whether that’s true or not, we can never prove that but that’s what it seems like.”

Well, let’s do a quick check of the facts and see if Alabama and Florida are being “taken care of” by the league and its officials.

Below you’ll find the game-by-game penalty numbers for Alabama (8-0), Florida (7-0) and Tennessee (3-4). 



Alabama Penalties

Florida Penalties

Tennessee Penalties

As you can see, on a game-by-game basis, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee have each won the penalty battle in all but two of their games.

In terms of penalty yardage, there were only 10 games that showed one team having a 25-yard advantage or disadvantage against their opponent:



Alabama vs Virginia Tech (UA 38-yard disadvantage)

Alabama vs Arkansas (UA 38-yard advantage)

Alabama vs Kentucky (UA 31-yard advantage)

Alabama vs S. Carolina (UA 53-yard disadvantage)

Alabama vs Tennessee (UA 58-yard advantage, UT 58-yard disadvantage)

Florida vs Troy (UF 36-yard advantage)

Florida vs Arkansas (UF 76-yard disadvantage)

Tennessee vs W. Kentucky (UT 29-yard advantage)

Tennessee vs Georgia (UT 32-yards advantage)




Just by looking at the numbers, there’s no real game-to-game difference between the unbeatens and Kiffin’s 3-4 Vols.  In fact, a look at the current SEC stats shows that Tennessee is still the league-leader in both fewest penalties committed and fewest penalty yards marked off.

Florida ranks third.  Alabama is just sixth.

But let’s look at this another way.  Let’s compare the amount of penalty yardage marked off against each team per game to the amount of penalty yardage marked off against its opponent per game.



Penalty Yardage Differential

Observations:

* Florida does sit on top of the league, gaining 12.1 yards in penalty mark-offs per game.  But the conspiracy of “good teams get the calls” seems to end right there as 3-4 Tennessee is the only other school in the league to be getting a double-digit bounce in penalty yardage per game.

* So much for the league looking out for Alabama.  If the Tide really was a favored team, you’d think they would net more than a 3-yard gain in penalty yardage per game.  That’s not even one bogus offsides call per outing.

* If there is a bias towards good teams, LSU fans must be wondering what’s going on.  They get less help from the refs than Tennessee, Ole Miss and Kentucky… all of which have worse records than the Tigers.

* And who did poor Auburn tick off?  The Tigers are 5-3, but they started out 5-0.  If the league is looking to take care of its top teams, it’s hard to fathom why Auburn would be looking at an average net loss of 21 yards per game through penalties.

* In other words, it might seem like the good teams get the calls, but the numbers don’t show any such thing.  So it’s time to cool the conspiracy talk.

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1.  Chris Low of ESPN.com provides you with a list of his Top 10 Heisman candidates from the SEC.

2.  Here’s some more info on the frosty relationship between Houston Nutt and Gus Malzahn.

3.  Stewart Mandel of SI.com talks Tim Tebow, Terrence Cody, Georgia, SEC conspiracies and Lane Kiffin’s lack of rulebook knowledge in his latest mailbag column.

4.  Bill King of The AJC’s Junkyard Blawg points out that Herschel Walker didn’t get credit for the touchdowns he recorded in bowl games… therefore he’s still ahead of Tim Tebow.  Only he’s not.  And that’s the stupidity of the NCAA’s decision to make bowl numbers count… but not retroactively.  So, tough break, Herschel.

5.  The second trailer for “The Blindside” isn’t as good as the first.  Probably because it includes Phillip Fulmer, Lou Holtz, Tommy Tuberville and Nick Saban looking out of place.

6.  In basketball news, Seth Davis of SI.com takes on the one-and-done rule that many coaches have now turned against.

7.  David Ching of The Athens Banner-Herald writes that he doesn’t believe there’s a conspiracy to keep the SEC’s top teams unbeaten… but by writing about it he legitimizes the argument.

8.  Mark Bradley of The AJC doesn’t understand that the a flag against Terrence Cody would not have made any difference in Saturday’s Tennessee-Alabama game.  (But he goes on to make a good point that officials are REACTING to situations, not CREATING situations.)

9.  Jim Kleinpeter of The New Orleans Times-Picayune has posted his latest SEC power rankings.

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1.  Dan Mullen said that Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong had a pretty good idea of what Mullen wanted to do on Saturday… and he did a pretty good job of shutting it down.

2.  According to this notes column, Chris Relf might begin to see some more playing time at quarterback.

3.  SEC coordinator of officials Rogers Redding said on a television show yesterday that there was not enough evidence to overturn a Florida touchdown on Saturday night.

4.  The last time Mississippi State played on Halloween was in a 1992 win… at Kentucky.

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Notes from Dan Mullen’s teleconference:

* “We’re bouncing back from a pretty emotional game last week.”

* Kentucky will create a lot of problems for Mississippi State with their “many playmakers on offense.”

* Mullen says he wants his program to catch up with Kentucky and what Rich Brooks has done.

* Jonathan Banks was put at corner when he first arrived on campus this year.  He showed some great coverage skills.  Then depth issues pushed coaches to try him at safety.

* Mullen hasn’t been surprised by the good job kicker Derek DePasquale has done filling in this year.

* Asked about replay, Mullen said the system is set up well, but the league should always be looking for ways to improve it.

* State will have to know where Randall Cobb is at all times.

Sidenote — Mullen talks way too fast for me to type up his comments.  That’s why you get fewer straight quotes from him.

* Mullen wouldn’t talk about his reprimand and said that he’s “moved on.”

* He’s proud of the toughness his team has played with.  “Our kids are playing with unbelievable effort.  I’m really proud of that.”  Mullen isn’t happy with his team’s fundamentals, but he does see some improvements.

* Mullen believes recruits can see some positives with what’s going on in Starkville right now.  The Bulldogs “are not afraid to play freshmen.”

* Pernell McPhee is playing at the level of a “solid” SEC defensive lineman.  He plays with a lot of intensity and effort and that’s made him State’s best D-lineman.  He could eventually turn into an all-conference player.

* The SEC office is always working to make itself better — including officiating.

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