By Brian Harbach

The SEC Bachstory will be a weekly SEC recap of all the big events from the previous weekend and will be posted every Monday morning. In order to eliminate all confusion, the Bach in Bachstory is pronounced like back (Back to the Future, The Empire Strikes Back, Back in Black), you get the picture.

Ten days away from the start of the season in Columbia, South Carolina and twelve days away for the rest of the conference, jobs are up for grabs and players are ready to hit another jersey color. The release of the AP Poll, the ACL and missed classes are all part of this week’s SEC Bachstory. As usual the format is the same; please feel free to send any comments and suggestions. Here we go…

The Weekend That Was

The AP poll was released on Saturday and the Georgia Bulldogs are the #1 ranked team in the country going into the first week of the year. The SEC had 4 teams represented in the top 10 with UGA at 1, Florida at 5, LSU at 7 and Auburn at 10. It is surprising that both predicted division winners from the SEC media days (Auburn and Florida) are ranked behind the teams picked as division runners up in the polls. Now is obviously not the time to be arguing about the rankings, but it was an interesting tidbit for a Saturday in August.

Tennessee seems to be ranked a little too low and Alabama seems to be getting a little too much credit in the first AP Poll. Tennessee ranked at 18 is about 4-5 spots too low and Alabama at 24 is probably 5 spots too high. The Vols are probably getting the shaft because no one expects them higher than 3rd in the East this year and Alabama is getting a nice bump due to Nick Saban. Looking at the actual teams, the Vols bring a lot back; they should have a pretty salty defense and the running game will be great. Even though Alabama returns a lot on offense it is hard to see them as a dramatically better team with all the liabilities on defense they will have in 2008.

The Weekend That Wasn’t

Bucking the trend that all injuries to SEC players seem to be ACL related, Ole Miss’ Greg Hardy had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot. Hardy is one of the best pass rushers in the SEC and this is another blow to a Rebel defensive line that already has Peria Jerry and Ted Laurent among their walking wounded in preseason. The Ole Miss defensive line was seen as one of the strong points on the team, but with injuries piling up and depth an issue this is not a good sign for a Rebel team hoping to be the surprise SEC team in 2008.

The Weekend That… What the Heck

Going back to the AP Poll, it is absolutely amazing the respect the SEC is getting in the AP Poll, of course it is deserved, but 9 teams received votes for the top 25. 9 SEC teams received more votes than Notre Dame did, and 6 teams are actually ranked in the top 25. Of course there will be a lot of moving and shaking once the season gets going because all of these teams have to play each other. The depth of the SEC is put on display every Saturday on the field and it shows up every Sunday afternoon in the polls. This is something SEC fans should be very proud of.

The Weekend That Will Be

Going into the season there were 4 separate quarterback battles on SEC teams including two very high profile ones at LSU and Auburn. This coming weekend should be time for Tommy Tuberville and Les Miles to announce the starting QB’s for the season opener. Auburn will likely play both Chris Todd and Kodi Burns this season, but Tuberville has said that one of them will be named starter. LSU competition is a little more interesting because both Jarrett Lee and Andrew Hatch are similar in style so it is unlikely LSU will play two like they did last season with Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux. Right now the edge goes to Kodi Burns at Auburn and Jarrett Lee at LSU.

Big Man on Campus (BMOC)

Josh Davis, UGA
When Trinton Sturdivant went down with an ACL injury about a week ago there was a huge question as to who will get the opportunity to step in and take his place. Right now the Left Tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs is Josh Davis, a redshirt sophomore from Mississippi. With a stud right handed quarterback in Matthew Stafford, Davis just became the most important player on the UGA offensive line. Stafford has shown great mobility in his 2 years as the starting QB, but in order for him to have a possible Heisman season he needs his left tackle to be great. Sturdivant was that great player, Georgia needs Davis to be just as good.

Player Now Doing Charlie Work (PNDCW)
As a note to those who do not know what “Charlie-Work” is, do yourself a favor and start watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (the episode called “Dennis and Dee go on Welfare” explains it perfectly).

Derek Pegues of Mississippi State University is this week’s PNDCW after he was suspended the first game of the year for a class attendance problem. Pegues is the best safety in the SEC, but injuries and off-field issues have been a problem through out his career with the Bulldogs. On the field he is an elite SEC player with a bright future in the NFL. Hopefully he can come back from missing the first game and have a dominant senior season or he might be back in this spot as the PNDCW.

Soon to be seen on Sundays

Arian Foster, University of Tennessee
Foster is the best running back in the league not named Moreno, at 6’1’’ and 215 lbs he has the combination of size and speed that the NFL looks for and he is a great pass catcher. Last season he had 39 receptions for 340 yards to go along with his 1200 rushing yards. Foster will be a huge part of the Tennessee offense in 2008 with a good offensive line returning and with Tennessee moving to a spread offense he should have more open space to run. This could be a breakout year for Foster and allow him to kick off his drive to the 2009 NFL Draft.

4 Downs with the SEC

First Down – Ranking the SEC Coaches

A friend of mine who knows college football as well as anyone sent over a ranking of the top coaches in the SEC and challenged me to do the same. The list was based on the coaches he would most like to have running his schools program. It sounded like a good fit for this week’s Bachstory, here it is.

1 Urban Meyer – Amazing recruiter, smart coach and he wins
2 Mark Richt – His Bulldogs love to play for him and he wins championships
3 Tommy Tuberville – There is not a better big game coach in the SEC
4 Nick Saban – The SEC’s Belichick, focused and relentless
5 Steve Spurrier – A proven winner, always good for a sound byte
6 Les Miles – Unafraid to say anything and takes a lot of risks
7 Houston Nutt – Terribly underrated, good offensive mind
8 Sylvester Croom – Runs a program the right way and loves his players
9 Bobby Petrino – Great offensive mind, obvious stability issues
10 Phil Fulmer – Seems past his time as an elite coach
11 Bobby Johnson – Makes the most of what he has
12 Rich Brooks – Still an unknown in the SEC, experienced but rough

Second Down – ACL’s and Dr. James Andrews
How many doctors do you know by name? Maybe your personal doctor, maybe the doctor you went to as a kid, but do you honestly know that many doctors and are they famous? The words “Dr. James Andrews” and “ACL” in the same sentence are usually not a good thing, but whenever an SEC player hurts his knee, the first name that comes to mind is Dr. James Andrews.

It is pretty impressive that a doctor is just as well known as the players we cheer for on Saturdays and honestly there is probably no one else in the country that does a better job than Dr. Andrews. There is a reason coaches always follow a sentence about a hurt player with the phrase “He is going to see Dr. Andrews later this week.” With the outbreak of knee injuries in the SEC already this year his name is being used so much it needs to become a drinking game. Every time Dr. Andrews is mentioned on College Football Live take a shot.

Third Down – Thanks Goodness for Gameplan
For those of us that live outside of the Southeast and have to live through the classic NC State/Duke match up on the Raycom game of the week, Gameplan is a lifesaver. The hundred bucks spent to witness the game that really matters instead of sitting in the car listening to satellite radio is well worth the money. Those of you complaining about the 3 Dave’s right now would not be doing so if you had to endure with what the ACC has to offer. Gameplan is the lifeline to what should be on TV, it keeps us out of the hot car while neighbors wonder what the heck that guy is doing screaming in his driveway. Screaming is much more dignified when it is in your house and not in the front yard, trust me. If you are hesitating on Gameplan, there is no need to any longer, it is worth every penny.

Fourth Down – The Deal with CBS
The SEC Commissioner, Mike Slive, signed a record deal this past week with CBS for 15 years to broadcast the SEC. According to Slive other television deals with be taken care of in the next couple weeks and ESPN is expected to continue its relationship with the SEC for the rest of its games. While great for the SEC, this is disappointing to the fans, not because it lessens the chances of an SEC Network, but because it lessens the chances for better SEC coverage.

It would have been fantastic is Fox could have purchased the rights to the SEC and starting pushing the SEC agenda the same way ABC pushes the conferences they own the rights to. CBS does a fine job of the SEC game of week, but Fox knows football and does it better than any other station right now. They own the BCS games, minus the Rose Bowl and having Fox as a partner with the SEC would have closed the promotional gap between the ABC “Game of the Week” and whatever CBS does to promote the Southeastern Conference.

This was an opportunity for the SEC to take a huge step forward nationally in college football, yes CBS has a national game on at 3:30 Eastern every Saturday and sometimes does a double header. But a Fox Saturday night “Game of the Week” could have put a lot of pressure on ABC and the fans probably would have gotten better football on Saturday Nights. CBS is great for Golf, but Fox knows Football.

Questions or comments? E-mail me Brian Harbach

Has Spurrier Failed at USC?, August 15, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, August 11, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, August 3, 2008
Harbach's Top 5 SEC Offensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top 5 SEC Defensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top SEC Games, July 13, 2008
Championship Game Hurts SEC, July 6, 2008
Harbach's 2008 SEC Preview, June 30, 2008
Let's Get This Started, June 9, 2008