If you believe in such thing as social media noise, then Twitter shouted the loudest.

And in particular, the insufferable yelling came from the SEC – and most particularly Georgia and Alabama fans.

RANT NO.1: WHY WASN’T GEORGIA IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF AHEAD OF NOTRE DAME?

Georgia fans were screaming their nuts off about the fact that Notre Dame’s blow-out by Clemson meant that they should have been in the blow-out instead of the Irish.

“They don’t even have their own conference” said some. “How could the Committee talk about the best four teams? Sure Georgia, in their loss to Alabama, showed that they are one of the best teams in the country?”, groused another. “Notre Dame didn’t play anyone this year”, grumbled some more. And when we say “another” and “some more”, we meant Georgia fans in their hundreds – and that – of course – including, Georgia players, Georgia legend and ESPN analyst David Pollock, as well as SEC Network anchor Peter Burns.

And if you wrote something positive about Notre Dame or Oklahoma getting in the play-off, the rage coming out of people’s mouths – particularly from ‘SEC fans’ – was enough to make Donald Trump’s haters blush.

Georgia’s basic premise was this: The Bulldogs took Alabama really close, and therefore we were one of the best teams in the country.

Never mind the fact that they got the doors blown off them at LSU. Never mind the fact that they blew a big lead to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Never mind that Notre Dame finished with nine wins over bowl-eligible teams. Never mind that Oklahoma won its conference and avenged the loss against the team that it was beaten by earlier in the season (Wait: Did Georgia do the same last year??). Logic got a combative growl from doggies everywhere.

Of course, if the Committee and ESPN had sorted out an 8-team playoff, we never would have had the arguments in the first place, but that’s simple semantics.

BTW, one of the better lines from Twitter was: “If the Georgia players had expended as much energy on beating LSU as they did on Twitter tonight, maybe they would have won”. 

RANT NO.2: TUA SHOULD HAVE GOT THE HEISMAN

Anyone who’s anyone knows that Alabama fans are basically bad losers. If they win, they think they should have won better, and if they lose, it’s the end of the world. When Alabama beat Oklahoma comfortably in the second play-off game, Alabama fans turned their rage to the fact that Kyler Murray had beaten out Baby Tua to the Heisman Trophy.

Don’t get us wrong: They were more pissed off and jealous than Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction before the play-off game. But now that Alabama had beaten Oklahoma, they were even more pissed off.

The problem with the rage is that logic – again – seemed to have defeated them.

Here are both of their arguments….

• ‘Kyler Murray didn’t play any good defenses this year because the Big XII sucked” – That one was true. Then again, the one big-time defense that Tua played this year (Georgia), beat him so badly he had to be replaced by Jalen Hurts. Kyler Murray had an exceptional season. Even if the Big XII had terrible numbers, Murray was making plays with his legs and his arms. 
• ‘When will Kyler ever play a good defense? Tua faced one in practice every day of the week’ – Actually, Kyler Murray did face a good defense this year, and he proved he was a Heisman quarterback. After a poor start when his offensive line was obliterated, Murray threw for 308 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 109 yards and 1 TD on 17 carries on this defense. That defense was Alabama’s. And Murray didn’t do that because Alabama. After a poor first quarter, Murray stepped it up a notch, and the game finished with Bama winning by 11.

But again – where Alabama fans are concerned – logic took a beating.

I love the bowl time of year. I get to ignore politics for a few hours and sit and balance a beer on my belly and watch college football.

This is a beautiful time to be a SEC fan. We get to generally see a National Champion, and we get to celebrate by haunting others with our war cry: “SEC! SEC! SEC!”.

I was going to go for a long, weaving preview of every bowl, but I realised that this (might) suffice.

So here we go – Why EVERY SEC will win its bowl game.

1. Why Vanderbilt (-4)will beat Baylor: Vanderbilt can stop someone, Baylor can’t. Vanderbilt’s got one of the most underrated running backs in college football in Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who ran for over 1,000 yards in the regular season. Vandy QB Kyle Shurmur’s better than what Baylor will offer, too.
2. Why Auburn (-3.5) will beat Purdue: Because Jarrett Stidham NEEDS a good bowl game to lift his NFL Draft status, and Gus Malzahn needs a good bowl game to get some ju-ju off his back. And also, Purdue really isn’t that good.
3.  Why Florida will beat Michigan (-6): Florida will bring back all of its talent from 2018 for this one, while Michigan is going to have some heavy losses. Michigan winning by almost a touchdown? Are you kidding me? Chomp, Chomp, Harbaugh.
4. Why South Carolina (-5.5) will beat Virginia: Virginia isn’t very good. Despite Deebo Samuel electing to forgo this game so that he can concentrate on the draft, South Carolina will be just fine without him. Jake Bentley will pick apart Virgnia’s secondary with his bevvy of tight ends (Kiel Pollard, Jacob August, Kyle Markway and KC Crosby).
5. Why Missouri (-9) will beat Oklahoma State: Missouri’s en fuego after getting Kelly Bryant to sign for next year, and Drew Lock’s coming back for his swansong. Oklahoma State’s going to miss its best RB (Justice Hill) because he’s declared early. This will be fun, but Missouri will win. Double digits. Mark it down.
6. Why Texas A&M (-7) will beat NC State: Because Texas A&M’s a good team, and NC State’s ‘D’ is porous at best. Kellen Mond will have a field day.
7. Why Mississippi State (-7) will beat Iowa: Iowa’s offensive line won’t be able to stop Mississippi State. 96-tackle anchor Jeffrey Simmons has said he is GOING to play before he leaves for a bright future in the NFL. Good luck, Hawkeyes.
8. Why LSU (-7.5) will beat UCF: Because UCF’s QB Mackenzie Milton isn’t playing. LSU will grind UCF into the ground using their bevvy of running backs. This will get ugly.
9. Why Kentucky will beat Penn State (6.5): Because even if Penn State stops Benny Snell, Josh Allen’s going to kill Trace McSorley on the other side of the ball.
10. Why Georgia (-13) will beat Texas: Texas hasn’t got a great defense, and Georgia will run straight through them. It might be exciting early with Texas’ big wide receivers, but Sam Ehrlinger’s moxiness will get crushed by UGA’s defense.
11. Why Alabama (-14) will beat Oklahoma: Because Oklahoma couldn’t stop a damned thing all season, and it ain’t about to start now.

Stop if you’ve heard this before about recruiting: It’s an Alabama and Georgia world, and everyone else just lives in it.

Every time there was a tweet from the two schools’ Twitter during the National Signing Day flurry, there was another four or five-star recruit that wanted to play for Nick Saban or Kirby Smart.

Everywhere you looked, the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs were in everyone’s thoughts, and it seemed a rarity when a player decided to go elsewhere.

Alabama pulled in five-star RB Trey Sanders, OT Evan Neal, and DE Antonio Alfano, while Georgia celebrated the signings of five stars OC Clay Webb, DE Jermaine Johnson, CB DJ Daniel, while DE Nolan Smith, LB Nakobe Dean, DT Travon Walker, and WR Dominik Blaylock also either signed letters of intent or enrolled early.

Georgia only signed 3 players below a four-star 24-7 ranking, while Alabama just one.

Alabama pulled in 26 commits, while Georgia had 23. Nick Saban’s number was higher due to the attrition of juniors going to the NFL.

THE SEC RULED RECRUITING

Behind them, Jimbo Fisher was doing great things in Texas, vaulting Texas A&M to 3rd overall headed up by five-stars OT Kenyan Green and DT DeMarvin Neal, while LSU was fourth. They added Baton Rouge local CB Derek Stingley, RB John Emery Jr, OC Kardell Thomas, and LB Marcel Brooks.

Whether this will lead to a deeper SEC West in 2019 with everybody beating everybody is anybody’s guess, but Georgia will probably dominate the East. 

Auburn was 11th, Florida 16th, Tennessee 17th, Mississippi State 19th, Arkansas 20th, South Carolina 22nd, and Ole Miss 23rd. Kentucky and Missouri were 32nd and 33rd respectively – although Missouri’s biggest recruit may have been the signings of the ‘silly season’ when former Clemson QB Kelly Bryant elected to play in Columbia. Vanderbilt was 51st.

Football loves winners. Sure, there are the celebrated losers (Charlie Weis in his time in Kansas), but we care more about the trophies, the Heismans, and the winners.

After all, schools build their cathedrals because they like winning and let rich people know that they like winning, and will do anything for that. The rich people then put in their money for winning, and coaches are hired. Hopefully, the coaches win, and statues are created in their image, and the congregations bow down.

Urban Meyer was a skilled high priest. He won three of them.

The first two were at Florida, a program that was still recovering a little from Steve Spurrier’s departure. He took home two National Championships, three SEC Championships, and more important for Gators fans, beat Georgia 5 out of 6 times.

After he returned after a year of stress relief, he went to Ohio State. Ohio State doesn’t lose much and doesn’t like losing much, and in Columbus he didn’t do that, winning another National Championship (1) and beating Michigan (7-0).

His brilliant recruiting at Ohio State and Florida made sure that his guys earned some money in the pros, too. Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey are still stalwarts on the offensive lines. Joe Haden is still playing. Percy Harvin had 8,000 receiving and kick returning yards before retiring. Brandon Spikes had a mixed career, but still ended up with 349 tackles. And although you wanted to punch him for his outrageous remarks in 2013, Riley Cooper was a great target (2,400 yards, 18 TDs). And Ohio State, Meyer saw – amongst others – draftings for Joey Bosa, Ryan Shazier, Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore and one Ezekiel Elliott. Even 2018 first rounder Denzel Ward has shone, grabbing 3 INTs and 48 tackles. And even though Aaron Hernandez could be defined as an awful human being, he was a  stud tight end for the New England Patriots.

The Flaws

The mistakes I make,

That’s the real me

Nas

But while the football was going well, the man management went to hell.

During his reign in Gainseville, forty-one players were arrested. That’s half a football team. Of these, one was Cam Newton (laptop stealing), and the other was Hernandez (felony battery). We all know what happened to both of them. Newton was kicked off the side, and Meyer kept Hernandez on after appeals from St. Tim Tebow. As it goes, even Tebow couldn’t save Hernandez in the same way as Gus Malzahn did for Cam Newton.

At Ohio State, 8 Ohio State players were handcuffed under Meyer’s supervision, and then there was the bit this summer where Meyer lied about knowing about domsetic abuse allegations made against his wide receivers coach, Zach Smith. Because of football’s eagerness not to keep its bosses on the sidelines, Meyer was only given a three-game suspension.

And yet through all of this, it’s difficult not to feel sorry for Urban Meyer. We should be grateful that it was just stress that gave Meyer chest pains during his Florida reign, and thank God that Meyer didn’t have an aneurysm on the field. You know, because sometimes the Devil deserves some sympathy.

Alabama offensive co-ordinator Mike Locksley is leaving to become the new head coach at Maryland.

Locksley was given the Broyles Award earlier this week for being the country’s top assistant coach, helping the Crimson Tide to be one of the country’s best offensive teams. His crowning glory may well be on Saturday with Tua Tagovailoa is given the Heisman Award.

“I am thrilled to be returning home and to have the opportunity to lead the Maryland Football program,” Locksley said in a statement. “This has always been a special place for me and my family, and I am honored to take on this role at the state’s flagship institution. Our goal is to create an atmosphere and environment focused on the total development of our student-athletes. Our focus will always be to help them become more successful in all areas of their life through their association with our program.”

Although Locksley – who is expected to be introduced on Thursday – will compete in a division with Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, he’s seen as one of the best recruiters in the country.

Locksley is expected to help the Crimson Tide’s offense in preparation for their match-up with Oklahoma is what promises to be an entertaining game. Having said that, if I’m Nick Saban, I would let him concentrate on recruiting and one of his 199 assistants take the ‘temporary offensive co-ordinator role’.

Locksley’s only previous experience as head coach was at New Mexico, where he had a 2-26 record between 2009 and 2011 and was once suspended for punching an assistant.

Maryland won’t be looking for such fun and games – particularly after last season when player Jordan McNair tragically died during summer camp, eventually costing DJ Durkin his job.

Locksley is Alabama’s third offensive co-ordinator in 3 years to leave the Tide. Last year Brian Daboll left to be the Buffalo Bills OC and before that Lane Kiffin departed for Florida Atlantic. Amusingly, Daboll hasn’t had a great season with the Bills, and Kiffin’s second year has been nothing short of a disaster.

Former Clemson QB Kelly Bryant has opted to play for Missouri Tigers in 2019 instead of Auburn and Arkansas.

Bryant’s decision represents a massive pick-up for the Tigers, who will be without Drew Lock, who has finished his senior year. New OC Derek Dooley, taking over from Josh Heupel, who took over Scott Frost’s job at UCF, is credited with helping Lock play like a NFL quarterback of the future, and Bryant will be hoping for the same.

Bryant, who threw for over 2,000 yards and 13 TDs in his junior year in Death Valley before getting injured, decided to transfer from Death Valley after he was replaced by freshman Trevor Lawrence.

Auburn fans will probably blame Bryant’s decision on the fact that the Tigers recently fired OC Chip Lindsey, who admitted taking the Tigers’ offense back about 300 spots from where it was in 2017, and turning Jarrett Stidham from potential Heisman candidate to one of the biggest disappointments of the 2018 season. The uncertainty of Gus Malzahn’s future on The Plains was potentially also a worry, although probably Bryant and his advisors won’t admit it.

Arkansas fans shouldn’t blame Chad Morris, since he’s a first-year head coach.

Right, this time of the year is a sad one, because we say goodbye to our greatest SEC playmakers, wishing that they would have one more year in college to make us smile.

Some are seniors, but what the SEC Blog is focussing on is the juniors, who have decided to forgo their senior year, in an effort to make cash instead of being exploited for it (!).

We don’t expect Alabama to have any declarations because they’ve got two big play-off games coming up (potentially), but otherwise…

Alabama:

Arkansas:

Auburn: Jarrett Stidham (QB)

Florida: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (DB)

Georgia:

Kentucky:

LSU: Greedy Williams (CB)

Mississippi State:

Missouri:

Ole Miss: AJ Brown (WR), DK Metcalf (WR)

South Carolina: Deebo Samuel (WR)

Tennessee:

Texas A&M:

Vanderbilt: 

And so, it happened. Georgia didn’t have to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game to cause bedlam….they just had to play the Crimson Tide close.

Close? The Bulldogs damned nearly beat them, ramming the ball down their throat during a first half whirling dervish. The second half was your usual tale of Alabama adjusting, Georgia being a little more conservative – an assinine 4th-and-11 call side – and Alabama have two National Championship-winning quarterbacks to use to take home a 35-28 victory.

Earlier in the day, Oklahoma had righted the wrongs of a Red River Shoot-Out by exacting revenge on Texas 39-27, and after the SEC Championship Game, Clemson took care of business against Pittsburgh to win the ACC Title Game. In Indianapolis, Ohio State started slowly but ended up completely – and predictably – dominating Northwestern, begging the question – yet again- why on earth didn’t they play like this against Purdue, Maryland and Nebraska?

Anyway, back to the Bulldogs. At the moment they sit in the No.4 seat in the College Football Play-Off, below Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame. Oklahoma and Ohio State are just below that.

Thanks to Oklahoma beating a tougher opponent, as well as exacting revenge for an earlier season loss, you can count Ohio State out. Urban Meyer’s team got it’s scarlet and grey behind given to it in Purdue, and that’s their fault. In our view, they are gone. A New Year’s Day Bowl probably won’t suffice for angsty Buckeyes fans, but there you go.

That leaves Oklahoma and the Bulldogs.

WORKING IT OUT

If you look at total record:

• Oklahoma has one loss (12-1) to Georgia’s two (11-2).
• Oklahoma has won at 13th-ranked West Virginia, and exacted revenge for its earlier-season loss to No.19 Texas by – like Georgia did in 2017 to Auburn – exacting revenge on their hated rival (ranked 14th) last night. OU has won
• Georgia beat No.9 Florida on a neutral site and No.9 Kentucky on the road (both of them are arguably overrated now after Florida was blown out at home by Missouri and Kentucky was blown out on the road by Tennessee, but lost two of its biggest games of the year in No.13 LSU and No.1 Alabama.

EDGE: Oklahoma

IN THEIR LOSSES

• Georgia lost by 20 at LSU and by 7 to Alabama. In the Alabama game they led 21-7, and missed a chip shot field goal.
• Oklahoma lost by 3 on a neutral field.

EDGE: Oklahoma

EYE TESTS

The Committee loves talking about ‘eye tests’ and teams that have really impressed.

• Oklahoma‘s offense have done just that, enabled by the most exciting player in college football in Kyler Murray (watch him, if you haven’t already). It’s a wonder mix of rush and pass, with the offensive line the best in the league. On the other hand, the defense is not. Although it’s made some exceptional plays – notably against West Virginia in Morgantown and this week against Texas – offenses have been able to run through it like a sharp knife through tender brisket.  And if you want to say one thing about the defense, they had HUGE plays at West Virginia and against Texas in back-to-back weeks – and that’s more than Georgia’s secondary managed at the end of the SEC Championship Game, against arguably a worse QB.
• Georgia’s offense is more brawny, depending on the run and ramming that down your throat and then reverting to the pass when needed. They’ve absolutely crushed teams. Jake Fromm proved that he’s evolving from game manager to outright Heisman hopeful for 2019, and the Dawgs are young. But the Bulldogs have savagely beaten pretty medicore opposition since the LSU loss, and when the big game has happened, it’s lost the second half battle, losing it 21-7. But Georgia was predestined to get blown out by Alabama, but they weren’t, were they? They were fantastic (for three quarters), before the house of red and black-coloured cards imploded.

EDGE: Georgia (because of the offense)

WHO SHOULD GET IN THE PLAY-OFF?

The SEC Championship game was so damned good that we would happily see Georgia back for the play-off game, where they are a No.4 seed and playing Alabama again. But Georgia is a two-loss team. And didn’t win its conference. And that is a fact. And they had their chance to confirm their place in the play-off. And they didn’t make it.

Oklahoma, on the other end, may not be great defensively, but it’s got a fantastic offense, won back-to-back tough games away from Norman, walked away with the Big-12 Championship, and should have the chance to play for a Championship Game play-off place.