Recruiting News: DB picks USC

Ali Groves could have gone to Florida. Or to Vanderbilt. Or to Missouri. But instead, the Stephenson High defensive back chose Steve Spurrier and the University of South Carolina for his football career. The biggest issue for him may be a neck fracture, which kept him out for most of the 2011 season. Having said that, he was cleared to play in December – rather like a certain SEC alum we all know – so should be fine come September. Palmetto Sports said that linebacker Brandon Golson of Georgia Military Junior College may also come to Columbia as soon as this week. It must be noted that Groves wasn’t offered by his two homestate universities – UGA or Georgia Tech

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Recruiting news: Star O-Lineman commits to LSU

Star offensive linesman Ethan Pocic is moving out of Big Ten country and into the SEC, he told his Twitter followers today. “Yo just commited to LSU!” said the 6 ft 7, 285 lb giant offensive tackle. This news was well-timed, as it gave a lot of journalists some time off the SEC Spring meetings, which started in Florida on Tuesday. Pocic, a four-star recruit who’s ranked 36th in the country, will bring more solidity to Les Miles’ offensive line, also helping the running game as well as the future of quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who is almost certain to be playing two years behind the Tigers’ line this year (unless he’s flawless and will immediately start in the NFL, which

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New SEC schedules, rivalries to be announced by Friday

After rumours, more rumours, and even more rumours about what was going on in the SEC, CBS came out with the big news of the day (that everyone already really knew)…..the conference was close to releasing its 12-year schedules (just in case you were planning to visit your 6-year-old in college that date)…possibly as soon as Friday. The biggest news amongst this is the confirmation of what will forever be known as the 6-1-1, which will see: 1) 6 intra-division games 2) 1 rotating cross-division match-up (meaning you’ll see Georgia vs LSU once every six years if they don’t play for the SEC Title) 3) 1 ‘permanent’ cross-division match-up. The permanent match-up is the most interesting, as they’ll feature Georgia

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Tuesday Spring Meetings: Spurrier, the 6-1-1, and other stories

It’s been a busy first day at the SEC Spring Meetings with everybody getting to find out how they felt about a play-off. Everyone wants a four-team play-off, and in particular the four-best teams in the country. But Steve Spurrier said that actually, the winners of the East and West should be decided ONLY on their records in their divisions. He said: “We’ve lost seven games in the last two years, and five of them are to Auburn and Arkansas. We were pretty good against them other guys, I guess.” Nice way to talk about your divisional rivals, Steve. In that world, LSU would have played South Carolina in Atlanta for the SEC Championship, by the way. Mark Richt, Georgia’s

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SEC Spring Meetings: James Franklin interview

While Nick : and Les Miles were expected to battle it out for a National Championship in 2011, Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier were expected to battle it out for the SEC East, James Franklin and his Vanderbilt team were expected to be their inspiring, yet toothless selves. But the Commodores had a sensational season by their standards, finishing 6-6 and getting bowl eligible (they lost 31-24 in a heartbreaker in the Liberty Bowl). Franklin, looking resplendent in white shirt and chinos (he looked like one of the cast of the OC), took the interview with the SEC’s Buzz Baker: The 2011 season: The UConn win at the start of the season was critical to us – UConn were a

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SEC Spring Meetings: Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze talks!

Hugh Freeze isn’t new to the SEC but he’s new to the head coaching business. But he’s come to familiar waters – Oxford, Mississippi – to take over the new head coaching job. Anyway, he talked to SEC TV’s Buzz Baker. Here are some good excerpts of his conversation: On coming back to Ole Miss: It’s been an exciting ride for my family. I feel honored and blessed to be a part of Rebel Nation. The Blind Side (Freeze was the high school coach of one Michael Oher, Baltimore Ravens offensive linesman and big-time recruit who eventually came to Ole Miss): Our recruiting team has really used the film to recruit. It’s a great thing to have behind us. Michael Oher

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SEC Spring Meetings:Nick Saban on entitlement, titles and schedules

Nick Saban sat down with Buzz Baker to talk about things at the University of Alabama, and he made sure that he delivered more than just an interview… Here are some of his best quotes: On Entitlement: There was a lot of entitlement in 2010 after we won in 2009 and we played badly. In 2012, the team we have now the entitlement is less but the schedule is tougher. But entitlement is a human condition. With it, you focus on what you’ve done and the holiday that you’re entitled to rather than focus on what makes you successful. The LSU game: I’m proud of the way they managed losing the first LSU game. We knew that we didn’t execute

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Spring Meetings: Les Miles’ interview with SEC TV

In his chat with the SEC’s Buzz Baker, Les Miles – wearing a rather loud yellow shirt – and not with all his children (they are on camp, apparently!) – had some soundbytes. Sorry if the quotes aren’t exact: The season: We played three 2nd ranked teams and beat them all. We played 13 great teams, and the one we didn’t so well in was the National Championship game, unfortunately. Our team understands they were in the SEC West and now they have a Championship banner that no-one else hangs. Motivation for the future?: They are excited with playing and they are looking forward to it. The team for 2012: Good on defense, and the offense will be much better.

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SEC Meetings: Miles, Saban headline Tuesday Schedule

Here are the SEC Spring Meetings schedule for the SEC Digital Network. The ones highlighted are the football head coaches.   10:40-10.50                     Gary Pinkel, Mizzou 11:00 – 11:10                      Les Miles, LSU          11:20 – 11:30                      Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss  12:00 – 12:10                      James Franklin, Vanderbilt 12:30 – 12:40                      Nick Saban, Alabama 12:50 – 1:00                        Commissioner Slive Don’t worry, we’ll be writing each of the press conferences up on SECFootballBlog.net! Expect: Gary Pinkel to talk about new, big wide receivers, and the challenge of SEC Football after the joke that was the Big XII North. Les Miles to talk about quarterbacks Hugh Freeze to talk about life after Houston

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SEC Spring Meetings Preview: What to Watch Out For

We love the SEC Spring Meetings. Whether it’s coaches ranting on about whether student-athletes should be paid to others talking about oversigning, they are generally the first smell of powder, and the first sound of war. The only thing it is missing is fans tailgating before, during and after it in the car park, and a live animal in parking lot. Anyway, from Tuesday to Thursday it’s the Spring Meeting from Florida, which is going to mean potential RSI for this blog and a lot of information from you guys. Seriously – if you want to find out how Wil Muschamp plans to exorcise last year’s demon in the State of Florida, you’ve come to the right place. Heck, we’ll even

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