Pollster's Pick 'Em Tally

Alright everyone. Hopefully we can best our 9-3 performance from last week with this weeks picks. Luckily South Florida isn't in our poll again, so we should do better by default. Here are the results

1 Texas (-6) vs Texas Tech

2 Arkansas St vs Alabama (-24)

3 Nebraska vs Oklahoma (-22)

4 Florida vs Georgia (+5.5) *Neutral Site

5 Washington vs USC (-43.5)

6 Iowa St (+31) vs Oklahoma St

7 Utah (-7.5) vs New Mexico

8 Boise St (-20) vs New Mexico St

9 TCU (-14) vs UNLV

10 Missouri (-20) vs Baylor

11 Florida St (+1.5) vs Georgia Tech

12 Tulsa (-7) vs Arkansas

Penn State Is National Team of the Week

For Immediate Release

Unbeaten Penn State's win over Ohio State led to the Nittany Lion's being named this week's National Team of the Week, which is the first award for any Big Ten team. Reserve quarterback Pat Devlin came off the bench and led the Nittany Lions to 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. His one-yard run capped off a 38-yard drive that gave Penn State the lead for good.

The win was Penn State's first Big Ten victory in Columbus; the Nittany Lions were 0-7 since joining the conference in 1993. Penn State had given up more than 28 points per game while being held to seven prior to Saturday's 13-6 win. Penn State's last win in Columbus was in 1978.

Other nominees for this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week:

No. 9 Georgia (7-1)
W - at No. 11 LSU 52- 38
The Bulldogs scored more than 50 points against an SEC team for the first time in 15 years to end LSU's streak of 30 straight Saturday home game victories.

Rutgers (3-5)
W - at Pittsburgh 54-34
Mike Teel threw a school-record six touchdown passes in a 54-34 rout at Pittsburgh.

Florida State (7-1)
W - vs. Virginia Tech 30-20
Greg Carr's two long receptions set up third quarter touchdowns and led to Florida State's thirteenth of fourteen straight wins over the Hokies, and continued Virginia Tech's 34 year winless drought in Tallahassee.

The Southern Fans' Poll began naming a national team of the week this season. Members of the Southern Fan's pool of voters decide the weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2008 college football season, the Southern Fans will name the National Team of the Week through Dec. 1.

2008 Southern Fans' National Teams of the Week
• Weekend of Aug. 30: Alabama
• Weekend of Sept. 6: East Carolina
• Weekend of Sept. 13: Southern California
• Weekend of Sept. 20: Louisiana State
• Weekend of Sept. 27: Ole Miss
• Weekend of Oct. 4: Vanderbilt
• Weekend of Oct. 11: Texas
• Weekend of Oct. 18: TCU
• Weekend of Oct. 25: Penn State

Longhorns remain atop Fans' Poll

For Immediate Release

The Texas Longhorns continue the march through the brutal portion of their schedule, resulting in the Longhorns being named the No. 1 team for the third straight week, matching USC for the longest run atop the poll this season. Texas defeated Oklahoma State 28-24 on Saturday to remain unbeaten; the Longhorns travel to unbeaten Texas Tech this Saturday.

Alabama continues to fend off unbeaten Penn State for the No. 2 position. The Crimson Tide defeated rival Tennessee in Knoxville, while Penn State recorded a win over Ohio State in Columbus for the first time in 30 years. Oklahoma, which needs two Texas losses to have a shot at the Big XII Championship Game, defeated Kansas State and remained in No. 4. Texas Tech, awaiting Texas in Lubbock, slid up three spots to No. 5 following a blowout road win over Kansas.

Florida fell one spot to No. 6 despite the 65-3 win over Kentucky, while Georgia moved up two spots to No. 7 following a 52-38 win over LSU in Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs face the Gators in Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, which will probably determine the SEC East representative in the SEC Championship Game. USC and Oklahoma State fell two spots to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Unbeaten Utah moved into the top 10 for the first time ever.

Boise State moved up two spots to No. 11, followed by TCU, Missouri and Ohio State. Florida State and Tulsa round out the top 16, with both the Seminoles and the Golden Hurricanes entering the poll for the first time ever.

LSU and South Florida fell out of the poll. The Tigers, 2007 Southern Fans' National Champions, are unranked for the first time in the poll's history. Only Florida and Oklahoma have been ranked in every poll since its inception.

Week 9 Poll

The Southern Fans' College Football Poll
October 28, 2008
24 Pollsters

Ranking	Team	Points	Previous
1	Texas [21]	381	1
2	Alabama [2]	366	2
3	Penn State [1]	348	3
4	Oklahoma	282	4
5	Texas Tech	271	8
6	Florida	258	5
7	Georgia	235	9
8	Southern Cal	229	6
9	Oklahoma State	209	7
10	Utah	162	12
11	Boise State	133	13
12	Texas Christian	81	13
13	Missouri	79	16
14	Ohio State	60	10
15	Florida State	45	NR
16	Tulsa	35	NR
Other's Receiving Votes: LSU 29, Minnesota 22, Ball State 22, BYU 14, West Virginia 5, Virginia 3, Michigan State 1, Oregon 1

The Results Are In...

Ok, once again Tech doesn't show up, loses to UVA, and forces me to celebrate less than I would've. So, I've tallied all our results in my less celebrated form.
Overall, our Pollsters were pretty spot on. We went 9-3-0 for our first week among our Top 16. South Florida continues to underperform, USC did the same, and Florida came out on fire against Kentucky, which no-one expected.
Here is how our Pollsters faired
Jarad - 10-2: I promise I didn't cheat, and I'll start sending my poll out to everyone as well.
Anil - 9-3
Greg - 9-3
Eddie - 8-4
Travis - 7-5
Max - 7-5
Ashley - 6-6
Jordan - 5-7
Jeff - 5-7
John - 4-8

SCF's First Pick'em Poll

Alright everyone. We had 10 people who wanted to try and outpick the rest of the pollsters, and hopefully next week we'll have a couple more of the people pick their own games as well. I've compiled all our votes, and have averaged who we think is going to win, ATS. Our picks are in bold, with the spread we took.

1. Boise St (-7.5) vs San Jose St

2. Oklahoma St (+12) vs Texas

3. Alabama (-6.5) vs Tennessee

4. Penn St (-2.5) vs Ohio St

5. Oklahoma (-19.5) vs Kansas St

6. USC (-16) vs Arizona

7. Georgia (+2) vs LSU

8. Texas Tech (+1.5) vs Kansas (-1.5)

9. Kentucky (+24.5) vs Florida

10. Wyoming vs TCU (-31)

11. Colorado vs Missouri (-22)

12. South Florida (-4.5) vs Louisville

Hook'em Horns!

by John Buzbee

For the past several years, my dad and I have made an annual trip to a big non-SEC campus. The tradition began in 2005, when he called me late on a Friday to ask if I wanted to drive up to Blacksburg. Having just finished my sixth Coors, I naturally agreed; obviously not thinking about the six-hour drive or how we were to get tickets to the third-ranked Hokies vs. No. 5 Miami. Even after seeing the Hurricane beat-down, we decided to pick a game each season. In 2006, we went to Ann Arbor to see Iowa-Michigan and, in 2007, we headed to Happy Valley for Penn State-Wisconsin. Both of those games were huge wins for the home team. This season, we chose Austin for the Missouri-Texas game, which we thought would be a very competitive game, even if the home team had dropped a game the week before to rival Oklahoma.

Bevo was anxious for our arrival.

Plane Trip
Normally I wouldn't write anything about the plane ride. Other than leaving from Birmingham (as opposed to Atlanta) and having a connection in Dallas, there shouldn't be much to talk about. But then we were delayed in Alabama for about two hours due to mechanical issues – Dad overhead a flight attendant tell a passenger that there were issues with the overhead lights, to which we agreed that if there were actually a problem with the landing gear, would they honestly tell the passengers? But the note-worthy moment was meeting Chris Fowler (some may know him from ESPN's coverage of the Breeders' Cup). While he refused my offer to join us in row 36 (he decided to stay in first class), he was nice enough to tell me where Gameday was setup while his henchmen "escorted" me to my seat (with only a few rib shots to the gut!). Overall, a pretty nice guy.

Campus Environment
This trip was our first to a campus in a big city, and while it posed some initial concerns, we did enjoy staying five miles from the stadium for a relatively reasonable rate. (In comparison, we stayed at least 40 miles outside of Happy Valley.) The campus, like downtown Austin, is made up of a bunch of one-way streets and quite a few ‘Do Not Enters,’ which were clearly marked and clearly ignored by my father, making for an eventful car-ride around campus.

We first stopped off at the football field, and visited their trophy room. With it being Texas, I expected a much larger museum, and while they had the 2005 National Championship Trophy and the Ricky Williams’ Heisman, the room did not have too many trophies on display. It was interesting to see the 2005 People’s Choice National Championship Trophy, which makes me believe that if we send a trophy from the Southern Fans’ Poll, then the school will display it. Using my dad’s mantras, “as long as you’re not going through a locked door, it’s not trespassing,” and "just act like you know what you're doing," we were able to make it onto the field, and I was able to walk out the team’s tunnel. That makes three out of four years that we’ve made it onto the field (the lone exception being Beaver Stadium). We also walked into their athletic complex (via a side door held open by a concrete block; again no locked doors), and we actually bumped into defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who had to wonder how the hell we got in there.

We also went to their university co-op, which would be just like your normal campus bookstore other than it 1) didn’t sell books, and 2) sold all the crap that’s only available for your school on-line. There was actually a supply of pizza cutters that played the school fight song. I’ve never seen one of those for Auburn even on-line. The co-op is located on the drag, which would normally be a good place for the town bars (e.g. Athens). While they did have Austin’s Pizza (self-proclaimed closest bar to campus), apparently the bars re-located to Sixth Street or else were scared off by the Scientology ‘Church,’ also located on the drag. (I couldn’t convince Dad to take a Dianetics test... now his Thetans will never be released).

We did hit Sixth Street later in the evening, though we didn’t make it into the Piano Bar or Maggie Mays. Almost all the bars and restaurants have opened roofs to accommodate more people, and the place must get crazy on big game weekends and special events. We had drinks on the roofs of the Iron Cactus and Blind Pig Pub before grabbing dinner at Daddy’s, where we bumped into a Mizzou fan that went to Auburn for a few years, and who, at 9:30 p.m., was as my dad said, “drunker than Cooter Brown.” His friend had already begun trying to round him up. But Cooter did give us one of many ‘War Eagles’ over the weekend. Amazing how the interlocking AU is recognized across the country.

Girl takes a twirl on a mechanical bull while tailgating. Probably shouldn't have that third Miller.

Tailgating
Our biggest concern early on Saturday was (first) finding a parking spot, and (closely followed by) finding a Bloody Mary. Amazingly the latter gave us more trouble. We were able to park on the street for free, but it took us a good while to find a restaurant offering to mix us a drink (thank God for El Cualenzela). We’ve realized that while walking around campus, the best way to get noticed is to wear Auburn gear, and luckily I wore Blue, which easily stood out amongst the Burnt Orange (or Dirt Brown, as Dad calls it). Usually the Auburn clothes garner attention and (when lucky) an invitation to join the tailgate with food and beer. This time it got us free Texas chili and drinks from their cooler-keg, which is a pretty cool invention that I hadn’t yet seen.

In Michigan, we noticed that everyone cooked but that it was probably done for warmth. In Texas, we noticed that everyone cooked, and they do so to eat, and eat, and eat. There was no scarcity of food nor grills, and Longhorn fans take their grilling quite seriously. Large grills were the norm, and the majority were brought in on trailers. The winner was the group serving 300 people on 150lbs of brisket, 100lbs of chicken, and 50lbs of potato salad. Their setup was enormous

For your enjoyment (and amazement), I've included a few of the grills we came across.

And these guys were clearly the winners... their four wood-burning grills on a trailer equipped with two LCD televisions. The final picture shows one of the briskets...

While Texas fans were confident on their chance to win, none were arrogant or annoying, though they really do hate Oklahoma fans. The real downfall was the Texas ladies, which heading to Austin, I thought would be a huge plus. But unfortunately, while I was expecting Ole Miss, I realized it was more like Mississippi State – while there were some gems, there was much, much more rough. While everything actually does appear to be bigger in Texas, I will say that when appropriate, cutoffs and cowgirl boots make for a nice visual.



Texas vs. Missouri
Since the tickets were through the athletic department, we had to pick them up two hours before kickoff, and that got us into the game a little bit earlier than normal (and for the better, considering that after tailgating for eight hours, it wouldn't have been hard to keep being fed from the cooler-keg). While the stadium appeared enormous, it really was nothing compared to Godzillatron. For those who may not know, Texas has a 7,370 square foot high definition video screen that moonlights as a scoreboard, at least when it's not showing countless ads.

The Godzillatron in all it's glory.

Our seats turned out to be tolerable: 35-yard line, 25 rows up (but on the Missouri sideline), we were seated next to Mrs. Muschamp and her two sons. Unfortunately, either in our dismay for how great the seats were or how many drinks we'd garnered from the cooler-keg, we didn't realize that Mrs. Muschamp was actually Will's sister-in-law until she clued us in at the end of the first half. Until then though, you'd never have seen two bigger Texas supporters dressed in Auburn gear.

While our seats were great, the highly-touted game was not. As Dad said, we went to see the game of the day, and witnessed a mugging instead. While Chase Daniel looked inept in the first half, a lot of that goes to the Texas defense. The corners locked down on everything, and Mizzou couldn't get the running game to help balance things out. The Tigers have a lot of skill players, but they seem to lack top-notch players in the trenches. While Oklahoma State was able to put some pressure on Daniel last week, Texas ran amok in the Missouri backfield.

One of Colt's 17 straight completions. Yeesh.

Colt McCoy, who looked every bit capable of walking away with the Heisman, was as good as can be. We didn't realize he'd gone 29 of 32 until they pulled him in the fourth quarter. Of course, it was his third touchdown pass that made the game - on 3rd down from Missouri's 32-yard line, Colt threw up a jump-ball in double coverage that was somehow completed. If that didn't make you feel that this game was going to be all Burnt Orange, then Colt's completion after he fumbled the ball, picked it up, and flung it for a 23-yard completion pretty much ended the hopes of Missouri fans. A 35-3 lead at half was enough for Mizzou fans to debate whether the Gary Pinkel-to-Washington rumors would be that bad.

Overall, another pretty great trip. I can't honestly hold it up to the Penn State trip, which will go down as probably our best ever, considering how great of fans we were able to party and tailgate with, but overall the trip was great fun. Unfortunately, after four years, we're still waiting for a game to follow suit.

TCU Is National Team of the Week

For Immediate Release

Following their upset victory of Mountain West favorite Brigham Young on Thursday, the Texas Christian Horned Frogs have been named this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week. TCU sacked BYU quarterback Max Hall six times and ran out to a 23-0 halftime lead before ending the nation's longest winning streak at 16 games.

The Horned Frog defense, which leads the nation in fewest yards allowed per game, limited previous-No. 10 BYU to 297 yards and just 23 on the ground while forcing four turnovers from the previously unbeaten Cougars. Andy Dalton, who missed TCU's previous two games because of a knee injury but looked fine against BYU, completing 12 of 19 passes for 170 yards and two TDs.

Other nominees for this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week:

No. 1 Texas (7-0)
W - No. 11 Missouri 56-31
Colt McColt completed 29-of-32 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns as the top-ranked Longhorns flattened Missouri, 56-31.

Maryland (5-2)
W - Wake Forest 26-0
The Terrapins limited Wake Forest to 219 yards in handing the Demon Deacons their first shutout loss in more than ten years, 26-0, in College Park.

Virginia (4-3)
W - North Carolina 16-13 OT
Cedric Peerman's two-yard touchdown run in the first overtime gave Virginia their sixth win in the last seven games vs. North Carolina. Peerman also scored the game-tying touchdown with 47 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

No. 5 Southern Cal (5-1)
W - Washington State 69-0
USC made history with its 400th all-time Pac-10 victory, recording its largest shutout win and largest margin of victory since a 69-0 defeat of Montana in 1931.

The Southern Fans' Poll began naming a national team of the week this season. Members of the Southern Fan's pool of voters decide the weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2008 college football season, the Southern Fans will name the National Team of the Week through Dec. 1.

2008 Southern Fans' National Teams of the Week
• Weekend of Aug. 30: Alabama
• Weekend of Sept. 6: East Carolina
• Weekend of Sept. 13: Southern California
• Weekend of Sept. 20: Louisiana State
• Weekend of Sept. 27: Ole Miss
• Weekend of Oct. 4: Vanderbilt
• Weekend of Oct. 11: Texas
• Weekend of Oct. 18: TCU

Week 8 Poll

The Southern Fans' College Football Poll
October 21, 2008
25 Pollsters

Ranking	Team	Points	Previous
1	Texas [22]	397	1
2	Alabama [2]	366	2T
3	Penn State [1]	362	2T
4	Oklahoma	302	4
5	Florida	261	6
6	Southern Cal	258	5
7	Oklahoma State	257	7
8	Texas Tech	243	8
9	Georgia	209	9
10	Ohio State	158	12
11	LSU	151	14
12	Utah	148	13
13	Boise State	104	15
14	South Florida	40	NR
15	Texas Christian	38	NR
16	Missouri	24	11
Other's Receiving Votes: Georgia Tech 22, Tulsa 19, Pittsburgh 10, Kansas 8, BYU 6, Ball State 6, Northwestern 6, Boston College 3, Minnesota 2

Texas Is National Team of the Week

Following their upset victory of No. 1 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout, the Texas Longhorns have been named this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week. Spurred by Jordan Shipley's 96-yard kickoff return, Texas rallied from an early 14-3 deficit. Colt McCoy completed 28-of-35 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown while Chris Ogbonnaya added 127 yards on the ground in front of a record crowd of 92,182 at the newly-expanded Cotton Bowl. Shipley (112 yards) and fellow wide-out Quan Cosby (122) each turned in a 100-yard day for the Longhorns, who moved to the top of the Southern Fans' College Football Poll with the win.

The 80 points scored by the two teams was the most ever scored in the 103-year rivalry. The win was Texas' first win over a No. 1 ranked Oklahoma team since 1963, but the Longhorns are 14-3 over ranked teams since 2004. Texas is the first Big XII team to win the award, breaking a three-week streak of SEC schools.

Other nominees for this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week:

Florida (5-1)
W - LSU 51-21
Tim Tebow threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Gators thumped defending national champion LSU, 51-21, in Gainesville.

Oklahoma State (6-0)
W - at No. 2 Missouri 28-23
Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for a score as the Cowboys improved to 6-0 by winning for the second straight time in Columbia. The Oklahoma State defense also intercepted three passes to lead the Cowboys to their 6-0 start, the school's best since 1997.

The Southern Fans' Poll began naming a national team of the week this season. Members of the Southern Fan's pool of voters decide the weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2008 college football season, the Southern Fans will name the National Team of the Week through Dec. 1.

2008 Southern Fans' National Teams of the Week
• Weekend of Aug. 30: Alabama
• Weekend of Sept. 6: East Carolina
• Weekend of Sept. 13: Southern California
• Weekend of Sept. 20: Louisiana State
• Weekend of Sept. 27: Ole Miss
• Weekend of Oct. 4: Vanderbilt
• Weekend of Oct. 11: Texas

Game Picks

Just wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing who does best picking games from our top 16 every week against the spread, or maybe pick 15-20 games during the week. If anyone is interested leave a comment here, or email me Jarad.Wilson@gmail.com. I think this would be a good addition to the poll, see who our pollers do at picking games

Bowden’s Departure

I got the news while sitting on the tarmac in Phoenix on my way back from Vancouver. So I was a few hours behind the curve and had plenty of emails to scroll through. Can’t say I was surprised by this, only thing that caught me off guard was that it was first reported as a ‘firing’, and didn’t sit well with me. Now reading how it played out I am comfortable with this decision and excited to see Clemson move forward.

First, a little background. I didn’t grow up a Clemson fan; in the high cotton days of Danny Ford and a national championship I was more interested in Joe Theisman, John Riggins and the Fun Bunch. I had seen a few Clemson games when they played the Terps or as the local ACC game of the week. I knew Clemson was a ‘football school’, but that was about it.

My freshman year at Clemson was the last year of the Ken Hatfield era and my first road-trip was to witness a 57-0 drubbing at the hands of the Noles. Then suffered through 4 years of Tommy West and watched Clemson slip further and further into the football abyss each year.

So what does this have to do with Bowden’s departure? Well nothing really, but does give me a different point-of-view on his accomplishments at Clemson and why it was time to go.

For all the faults of Tommy Bowden, he became a victim of his own success (inevitably followed a week later with the lack of it). Clemson football was in a tailspin when he arrived in Tiger Town. Clemson had only won 3 games (vs. Furman, MD, and 1 win South Carolina) the previous season and fan base had become almost apathetic.

Bowden first season saw him go 6-6, with 3 of those losses were to teams that went undefeated in the regular season (Marshall, runner up VPI, and national champ FSU). The first Bowden Bowl was the first time I saw Death Valley live up to its name and the fans buy back into Clemson football. I was less than 2 years out of school at this point and was jealous of the students and the football they got to be a part of each Saturday.

Of course the next 8 and a half seasons followed the pattern great games and mind boggling losses. Opportunities were missed and coordinators were fired, but the cycle just kept repeating. Bowden had brought Clemson football back from obscurity, just couldn’t take them to the mountain top (or even an ACC title game) either. As expected, this rests w/ the head coach.

Not only did the Bowden years bring the fans back, but also the recruits. He pulled in kids out from under the noses of FSU, UGA, Miami, etc. And these were kids (for the large majority) that Clemson could be proud of…not the trouble makers and academic causalities that made up the team during the West years. As the recruiting classes improved, so did expectations.

Bowden reshaped Death Valley; added the West Zone, new locker rooms, new museum and a general make-over of Memorial Stadium. But, these updates depended on fund raising that also elevated expectations.

That brings us to yesterday. Bowden resigns citing concerns over the program, recruiting and the ability to meet those expectations. I guess he could have stayed until the bitter end and had a protracted contract fight, but a deal was worked out w/ the AD. It is easy to exit gracefully with $3.5 million (vs. $4 million), but he also gave a press conference which had to be brutal.

So I want to thank Coach Tommy Bowden. For bring Clemson (almost) back; for giving the fans games like the 63-17 embarrassment of Lou Holtz and the Gamecocks, the Game Day night vs. Georgia Tech and a win over #8 Tennessee in the Peach Bowl. Now when you see Death Valley full of orange that is because of work of Tommy, his staff, and his players. I wish it had worked out for you, but clearly it did not; so thanks for exiting with grace and setting the foundation for the next coach. He’ll have a lot to live up to.

Week 7 Poll

The Southern Fans' College Football Poll
October 13, 2008
29 Pollsters

Ranking	Team	Points	Previous
1	Texas [23]	458	6
2T	Alabama [5]	421	2T
2T	Penn State [1]	421	5
4	Oklahoma	342	1
5	Southern Cal	300	8
6	Florida	299	11
7	Oklahoma State	295	16
8	Texas Tech	270	7
9	Georgia	236	10
10	BYU	215	9
11	Missouri	151	2T
12	Ohio State	131	12
13	Utah	124	13
14	LSU	94	4
15	Boise State	62	15
16	Virginia Tech	44	NR
Other's Receiving Votes: Kansas 29, North Carolina 20, Michigan State 4, Wake Forest 3, Tulsa 2, Georgia Tech 1, Ball State 1

Rat Trapped

Auburn Fires Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin
by John Buzbee

Apparently Tony Franklin's heated practices the past two days were heated at both players and coaches. Franklin cursed them all saying he's tired of getting all the blame after he was the only one doing all the coaching. Obviously this wouldn't sit well with Coach Tommy Tuberville. Then at lunch on Wednesday while preparing for the Arkansas game on Saturday, more words were had, and the argument blew up into complete chaos. Tuberville apparently wouldn't stand for the chaotic situation any longer, or he wasn't given a choice. Either way, Auburn fired Franklin on Wednesday afternoon after he had held the job for less than 10 months.

While I'm not too enthused of seeing an updated version of the 2003 Hugh Nall/Steve Ensminger offense, I think a basic offense should garner wins against Arkansas and UT-Martin, while relying on defense and special teams may get a split of either West Virginia or Ole Miss. Tiger fans can mark UGA as a certain loss.

I know strange things have happened in the Iron Bowl, but generally the favorite wins, and Alabama will definitely be favored. The streak against Alabama comes to a crushing end this season. So I project a 8-5 season; probably head to Nashville, but maybe Atlanta.

Now the real question is the future, especially considering the huge haul of recruits that were committed to The Plains. How does this change their opinion of Auburn? I agree with some about finally getting rid of some of the career assistants in order to get a top caliber coordinator, and that's still going to be difficult, considering all but one OC has been fired/demoted in Tub's tenure. Who's stepping into this mess and not think that if things go poorly, he won't be tossed out as a scapegoat as well?(and to all the Tiger fans who were tired of last season's OC Al Borges, think about this: even with the anemic Borges offense, who doesn't think the Tigers leave Nashville with a win? Better yet, what are the odds of a Borges-led O getting past LSU? A ball-hogging O would've meant a fresh D in the 4th quarter. That'd make AU a top 5 team...)

While I haven't always favored his decisions, I have almost always defended Tuberville. The decision to fire Borges for Franklin might be his undoing, however. He's created a mess and seemingly fallen way behind rival Nick Saban. For someone who's not all that interested in being a long-time coach or even creating a lasting legacy, Tubs may not be all that interested in staying too much longer. While some may like that thought, that scenario will just make the next person's rebuilding process longer.

Oh and let's not forget that UK fans still call our former OC "Rat Franklin." His taking the fall will not go over well - to his ego or to his product: "The Tony Franklin System." No large college football program is clean, so we'll quickly learn if Franklin lives up to his moniker.

No matter what an individual fan's personal opinion of Franklin may have been, firing a coordinator midseason (one who'd been on the job 10 months nonetheless) is a black-eye for any program. Today is not a good day to be a Auburn Tiger.

Vanderbilt Is National Team of the Week

For Immediate Release
Back-up quarterback McKenzie Adams came off the bench and lead Vanderbilt to its first win over a ranked team in 52 years, which lead to the Commodores being awarded this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week honor. Vanderbilt rebounded from an early 13-0 hole to defeat Auburn for the first time since 1955. The win gives Vandy five for the year, one shy of bowl eligibility. The Commodores haven't been to a bowl since 1982, while the 5-0 start is Vandy's best record since opening the 1943 season with an identical record.

The come-from-behind win is nothing new to the Commodores - Vanderbilt has trailed in each of their five victories this season. In addition to the 14-point run against Auburn, Vandy scored 16 straight against Ole Miss, 24 against Rice, 21 against South Carolina and 17 against Miami (Ohio).

The Dores are the fourth team from the Southeastern Conference to be named the National Team of the Week, and the third in as many weeks. Louisiana State received the award following its own victory over Auburn.

Other nominees for this week's Southern Fans' National Team of the Week:

North Carolina (4-1)
W - Connecticut 38-12
Converted safety Shawn Draughn ran for 109 yards and a score as the Tar Heels recorded their first win over an AP-ranked non-conference opponent since 1997 with their 38-12 win over Connecticut.

Pittsburgh (4-1)
W - at South Florida 26-21
LeSean McCoy ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers upset 10th-ranked South Florida, 26-21, in Tampa

Hawaii
W - Fresno State
Hawaii capitalized on six Bulldog turnovers to record the first road victory over a ranked team in Warrior history, as Daniel Kelly made up for a blocked field near the end of regulation with a 33-yard to end the game in overtime.

The Southern Fans' Poll began naming a national team of the week this season. Members of the Southern Fan's pool of voters decide the weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2008 college football season, the Southern Fans will name the National Team of the Week through Dec. 1.

2008 Southern Fans' National Teams of the Week
• Weekend of Aug. 30: Alabama
• Weekend of Sept. 6: East Carolina
• Weekend of Sept. 13: Southern California
• Weekend of Sept. 20: Louisiana State
• Weekend of Sept. 27: Ole Miss
• Weekend of Oct. 4: Vanderbilt

Week 6 Poll

The Southern Fans' College Football Poll
October 7, 2008
28 Pollsters

Ranking	Team	Points	Previous
1	Oklahoma [19]	438	1
2T	Alabama [4]	394	2
2T	Missouri [4]	394	4
4	LSU [1]	370	3
5	Penn State	332	6
6	Texas	331	5
7	Texas Tech	248	8
8	Southern Cal	233	10
9	BYU	218	9
10	Georgia	184	11
11	Florida	170	15
12	Ohio State	126	14
13	Utah	116	15
14	Vanderbilt	111	16T
15	Boise State	49	NR
16	Oklahoma State	42	NR
Other's Receiving Votes: Virginia Tech 18, Kansas 16, Auburn 3, Northwestern 3, TCU 3, Michigan State 3, Georgia Tech 2, North Carolina 1, Ball State 1, Wisconsin 1

Glories of Southern Football

Planning for the fall football season in the South is radically different than up North.
For those who are planning a football trip South, here are some helpful hints.
Women's Accessories:
NORTH: Chap Stick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, and a fifth of bourbon. Money not necessary - that's what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
Fathers:
NORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.
Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.
Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America.
Heroes:
NORTH: Rudy Giuliani
SOUTH: Archie & Peyton Manning
Getting Tickets:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus, make a large financial contribution and put name on a waiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hung over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and wave to the idiots up north who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never Broadcast from their campus.

Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance from the Dave Matthews Band,... who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask "Where's the stadium?" When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it is the state's third largest city.
Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH : Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.
The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, Gunpowder (from the cannon in the end zone), with a touch of bourbon.
Commentary (Male):
NORTH: "Nice play."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."
Commentary (Female):
NORTH: "My, this certainly is a violent sport."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."
Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for next week's game.

Nothing else in the universe comes even halfway close to the glories of Southern football!