The Saban Effect: NCAA looking into slowing down offenses

If a rule comes into place in the 2014 season which would allow teams to substitute within the first 10 seconds of the 40-second play clock (therefore reducing the speed at which an offense can operate), we should call it The Saban Rule. Why? Looking ahead to seeing the days in which his man-mountain defenses would be completely exhausted by lighter, faster offenses (see the second half of the Auburn vs Alabama game for details), Coach Saban complained in September: “All you’re trying to do is get lined up [on defense],” he whined to ESPN.com in September, ESPN’s website reported today. “You can’t play specialty third-down stuff. You can’t hardly scheme anything. The most important thing is to get the

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NCAA rules on two Ole Miss players’ academic eligibility

After Ole Miss had a quite incredible recruiting year in 2012-3, they looked primed for another step up in fortunes in coach Hugh Freeze’s second year in Oxford. However, tight end A.J. Jackson, from Hampton, GA, won’t be part of this year’s festivities, after being ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA. There were thoughts that Jackson could have started for the Rebels immediately. But it’s not all bad news. Antonio Conner, a safety who was the top recruit in the state of Mississippi, was ruled eligible to enroll in Oxford. According to Rebels site ‘Red Cup Rebellion’, Conner played “safety, receiver, quarterback and really any other position that could have benefited from his ideal frame, speed, and grit.” The blog added

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SEC APR scores see Alabama, Missouri top the standings

The Academic Progress Rate scores for the Southeastern Conference have just come through for football teams, and it seems that although they haven’t done a lot right on the football field, the Missouri Tiger are doing good things in the schoolroom. The NCAA says the APR “holds Division I institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through the Academic Progress Rate, a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete, each term.” It adds: “Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one retention point for staying in school and one eligibility point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by one thousand to equal

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MSU receivers coach resigns over NCAA investigation

Mississippi State wide receivers coach Angelo Mirando has walked out – allegedly over an ongoing NCAA investigation into recruiting violations in Starkville, a number of news sources have reported – and a former Big Ten head coach has been hired to take his place! The wide receivers coach is being investigated into the recruitment of defensive back Will Redmond and possible other players, the report from ESPN said. Mirando – who stressed that he was leaving due to ‘unforeseen personal issues’ said in a statement: “I have enjoyed my time at Mississippi State as a graduate assistant and as an assistant coach. I have made friends that will last a lifetime; however, due to unforeseen personal issues, I believe it

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SEC Media Days: MSU’s Mullen keen to preserve college football’s tradition

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State’s head coach, has said that keeping college football’s tradition is incredibly important in the face of the new play-off system coming in 2014. He said: “The one thing I don’t want to see us lose is the tradition that is college football.  The great thing about the bowl system, we like talking different ways.  We want to talk education.  These guys are student-athletes.  This is not a professional sport.  They’re there to get an education.  But on the top end, there can only be one champion, we have to have this big extended playoff.  Where at the bowl system, we had a bunch of seniors leave winning a championship in their last football game last year.  What a great educational tool that is for

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