2009 Off-Season Roundup
The News Stories You Need To Know ... Feb. 27
By
Phil Guidry
* Many people believe that a plus-one format is the ideal compromise
between those who clamor for a playoff and those who believe that
the bowl $y$tem should remain. SEC commissioner Mike Slive is a
plus-one fan, but he acknowledges that not everyone shares his
enthusiasm: “It was pretty clear that the Big 12 presidents don’t
want to have the extra game. The Pac-10 and Big 10 were not
interested in it from the start. The ACC was wanting to look at it,
as we were. The Big East didn’t like the model. And having said
that, I think it’s only fair to say that I’m not a playoff advocate.
I don’t think a playoff is appropriate, and I make a distinction
between a plus-one and a playoff. A lot of people don’t, but I do.”
Maybe the reason the other conferences aren't interested in a
plus-one is because that's just one more game they'll most likely
lose to an SEC team.
* One of the few teams to beat an SEC opponent in a
BCS game over the last few years (until Utah came up with the win over
Alabama), West Virginia, is back for more. The Mountaineers will play
LSU in a home-and-home series beginning in 2010. Jambalaya vs.
Appalachia: slap that on a t-shirt.
* LSU's neighbor, Ole Miss, went on a signing bender
this year, inking 37 players to football scholarships. Technically the
NCAA allows each school a maximum of 25 new scholarship football players
in an academic year, so just imagine how disappointed some of these high
school football stars will be when they arrive in Oxford and are told
they have to play badminton instead.
* Syracuse defensive tackle Arthur Jones tore his left
pectoralis muscle in what Sports Illustrated described as "a freak
injury in the weight room." Considering the way 'Cuse's defense was
pushed around last year, the freakiest thing about the injury is that
one of their defensive players was actually in the weight room.
(Kidding, guys.)
183 days and counting...
Mike Slive
http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/696941.html
LSU/WVa
http://www.lsureveille.com/lsu,_west_virginia_schedule_football_home-and-home_-_1_20_p.m.-1.1575280
Ole Miss
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/02/24/oversigning/index.html?eref=T1
Arthur Jones
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/02/25/syracuse-jones.ap/index.html?eref=si_ncaaf