Will Bogan Hatches from Starchy Cocoon

Get it? He's from Idaho.

Will Bogan, the Gem State* native and subject of much ridicule, grew a sack last night and played some damn ball. Bogan scored 16 points and tallied 7 assists in the overtime road victory against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Yes, I know, the Razorbacks aren't necessarily "good" at basketball and their "defense" doesn't so much stop the other team from scoring but Bogan wasn't his usual, sheepish self. He needed a game like this to get adjusted to NCAA-level speed and find his comfort zone on the court.

This could either be a flash-in-the-pan type of moment or an indicator of things to come but let's all hope it's the latter. Bogan may end up being pretty solid afterall. Of course, he's no Terrico White but, shit, who is? That kid is too damn good. How Calipari and Pearl let a Memphis product like that elude their grasp confounds me.

Next season, if Bogan, Warren, and T. White can attack the lane, get the ball to the open shots, and/or excel as outside shooters, our backcourt will be one of the conference's best.

Here's to you, Will Bogan. Welcome to big boy basketball.

*You thought it was "The Potato State," didn't you? Bigot.

Rebs Best Hogs on Hardcourt; Result Surprising, Confusing

Until last night's satisfying, if unexpected, 74-65 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, I was set to ask the readership how Andy Kennedy's troubles in Cincinatti last month might have been different if they had occurred after Chris Warren's season-ending injury. Nevertheless, a team with only one 2008 starter pulled off an energizing win over the non-conference undefeated 'Backs.

I am fully aware that State defeated Arkansas in Fayetteville last Saturday. I am fully aware that John Pelphrey put together no murderer's row before his SEC slate began. The Cup can also confirm that Andy Kennedy wins consistently and methodically at home but loses frustratingly and confusingly on the road. So, continuing the metaphor of the 2009 basketball mulligan, this is no deep shot on the fairway. It's more like the drop on the other side of the water hazard.

Still, congratulations are in order for the team and for Andy Kennedy, who has "implemented a slightly slower pace since Warren's injury[.]" And, I'll offer no predictions about this game and its effect on the rest of the season, but if, unexpectedly, 18 wins or better are found down the road, where will this rank among Rebel wins in the Andy Kennedy era?

SEC West Grades

The grades are in. All over the SEC blogosphere, our seasons are being commented on and criticized and it's about time for the Red [REDACTED] Cup to jump in. The SEC West is today and the SEC East will come sometime after the BCS Championship Game.

Alabama: A

Nobody expected Alabama to go 12-0. Nobody. You Tiders all clamored on and on about how "Bama was BACK" and "motherfucking roll motherfucking TAHD" but we didn't listen.

"John Parker Wilson is still your quarterback, remember?"

"You really think a freshman wide receiver makes that much of a difference?"

"Haven't you been 'back' every preseason for the last few years now?"

Well, kudos, Bama fans. While a roster made up of mostly paraplegics and small children would have garnered a 12-0 prediction from a slew of your faithful, you've still earned your due credit. The lack of a plus to accompany your "A" is obviously due to your losses in the SEC Championship Game and Sugar Bowl. Thanks for pouring more gasoline on the already trite "OMFG teh BCS suxx" fire and giving people reason to badmouth the SEC, jackasses.

Next season should see some dropoff for the Tide as they lose two All-American offensive linemen and their three-year starter at quarterback. However, despite these losses, Alabama will be favored by many to win the West once more.

Ole Miss: A-

Obviously, I'm a homer. Pointing that out in the comments would be akin to letting everyone here know that the sun will rise over the eastern horizon tomorrow morning. Save us all the time.

Ok, now, on with the explanation: based primarily on preseason expectations and how well they stack up against the season's actual results, it's hard to give Ole Miss a lower grade. While the losses to Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina still make my head asplode, the six-straight victories to end the season (with each victory literally being more impressive than the previous) made it clear to everyone that this Rebel season was a work in progress. The Rebels who won the Cotton Bowl would certainly defeat Wake Forest, Vandy, and South Carolina on any field, neutral or not. They'd hang tough with Alabama and, as ironic as it may be, more than likely lose to Florida.

Remember? Tebow, tears, "won't lose again," etc? Ole Miss is the reason the SEC will take home it's third BCS title in a row.

This is a good Ole Miss team. Hopefully the success to end this season can be used as momentum into the upcoming season. Double-digit regular season wins should be attainable for the 2009 Rebel squad.

LSU: C+

The Tigers should not have lost five games. While a close loss to Bama is respectable, being on the receiving end of a Georgia Bulldog blowout isn't. Jarrett Lee proved to be one of the conferences most successful touchdown passers but, unfortunately, he wasn't very discriminatory as to whose team was scoring the touchdown. Jordan Jefferson looked much better towards the end of the season and the mudhole-stomping defeat of Georgia Tech in the Peach (Chik-Fil-A, I love you, but don't mess with our bowls) Bowl should give LSU hope for a win or two more next season. Also, former Volunteer John Chavis should have LSU's relatively weak 2008 defense in much better shape for 2009.

Arkansas: C-

When the season began, everybody was pretty sure that you were going to suck. Thank you for not disappointing.

Arkansas' season was, in many ways, akin to Ole Miss'. They started poorly, nearly losing to directional-Illindianachigan or something like that and ULM but finished on a somewhat strong note by defeating LSU on a neutral site. Over the course of the season, Arkansas' offense became one of the SEC's best, with Casey Dick putting up respectable numbers and Michael Smith earning ALL-Sec honors at tailback.

But why a "C?" Well, as I said before, nobody expected much out of the Hogs this season and, if Ryan Mallett can be the quarterback the Fayetteville wacky-asses Faithful hope for Arkansas should be much improved next season.

Mississippi State: F+

Thank God for this season. I was getting incredibly fed up with folks in Starkville talking about how "Nutt'n good happens in Oxford" and how Croom was somehow going to win them an SEC title.

We at the Cup have been saying for quite a while that Sly Croom wasn't much of a coach and, finally, the world realized the clarity of our truth. His Gulf Coast offense continued to put up paltry numbers and his defense failed to force turnovers.

Their F gets a plus because they did beat a top-25 team in Vanderbilt, knocking them off of their wacky hotstreak, and earned a much less impressive win over Arkansas. The jury is still out on Dan Mullen as far as gameday coaching is concerned, but he's done a fair job keeping most of the talent Croom had recruited for this upcoming class.

Auburn: If the analogy lent to the use of letters past F, one of them would apply here

Hiring Tony Franklin, only to have him fired before the season's end because Kodi Burns isn't all he's been cracked up to be, really set the stage for the debacle of Auburn's head coaching search. Tommy Tuberville has been disliked by the GOB's in charge on the Plains for quite some time now (remember that whole Bobby Petrino fiasco a few years ago?) and, once both parties were equally fed up with one another, they finally were able to part ways.

Both of these coaching situations made it apparent to coaches across America that if you can't deliver on exorbitantly outrageous goals set forth by a group of bitter, old white guys you won't last long at Auburn, nor will you enjoy your time there. If that weren't the case, they would have hired someone just a hair better than the worst coach in the Big XII.

Hey, at least Arkansas fans have convinced themselves that you're going to soon be badass! Granted, it really has nothing to do with your players, school, or coaches outside of Gus Malzhan but, in times like these, you'll take what you can get.

Auburn could win anywhere from 4 to 8 games next season for two reasons: they're Auburn, and they're Auburn. The situation there is so messy that it's incredibly difficult to prognosticate but they've got the talent on both sides of the ball to make some things happen.

You be the Judge.

This is the offensive pass interference call which many Arkansas fans are upset over. I'm not going to say anything towards the validity of the call. I have my opinions but I'm just going to let you decide. Heck, if you want to be as objective as possible, turn the speakers off so you can't hear the announcers. If you've got 'em nearby, get your friends who cheer for someone besides Arkansas or Ole Miss to take a look at this.

A VERY Tardy Q&A Exchange

As was mentioned in Straw Man numero tres, most of the cup contributors spent their weekend at a wedding. This, naturally, kept us away from the wonderful daytime distraction that is our blog. We not only apologize to you, but we especially apologize to our friends at The Razorback Expats, with whom we had a question and answer exchange. The questions they presented us, with our answers, are up at their blog. The questions we presented them, with their answers, are below. Enjoy and, when you get the chance, visit their blog.

1. How has the attitude of the Arkansas fanbase changed over the last season?

Quite a bit. Razorback fans were a fairly grumpy group of people last year. The team was led by a coach that, before the season began, had already worn out his welcome with a significant portion of the fanbase (and, yes, some Razorback fans were batshit crazy with Nutt hatred, but, despite what Nutt's boosters in the ESPN broadcast booth would have their audience believe, many of the causes of Nutt fatigue were legitimate). Then the team had a disappointing season, and to add to the angst, several of the losses were of the agonizing last-second variety and featured boneheaded Razorback mistakes and/or controversial coaching moves in the waning minutes. As the season came to an end, even the non-haters, by and large, agreed that a fresh start was probably best for all involved.

By contrast, this year Hog fans have a coach that they're excited about, in part because he incorporates this new-fangled play called the "forward pass" into his offense; it's really something to see. Overall, Razorback fans knew this would be a rebuilding year and even though the extent of the rebuilding needed has probably taken some by surprise, there's no real angst among the fan base at this point. That may change to a small extent if Houston Dale and crew blow the Hogs out on Saturday, of course, but the long-term outlook is optimistic.

2. Talk about Casey Dick a little bit. Does he wilt under pressure?

Casey has had an up-and-down year. He started out well, throwing for 318 yards and 323 yards in the Hogs' first two games. Granted, the opponents – Western Illinois and Louisiana Monroe – weren’t exactly Top 10 quality. Still, this is a guy who had never thrown for more than 228 yards in a single game before this year. He looked pretty bad against Alabama, Texas and Kentucky and was OK against Florida and Auburn.

He's actually made his share of clutch plays (overtime against LSU last year, for example), so we hesitate to say that he wilts under pressure and instead think the better explanation for his struggles is that he just isn't that talented of a quarterback. We will say this however: Do not - repeat, do not - underestimate the power of his ears.

3. What about Michael Smith? What is the key to stopping him?

Fortunately for the Rebels, they may not have to worry about stopping him, since he suffered a concussion against Kentucky and isn't certain to play against Ole Miss. Never say never, but if he's not ready to go, it's hard to see the Hogs even being competitive against the Rebels. He has become the heart and soul of the Hogs' offense in recent weeks. Against Kentucky, for example, he accounted for 225 of the team's 330 yards of total offense.

He's small, though, so there have been concerns all along about his durability, questions that have only grown as the team has turned to him more and more. He carried the ball 35 times in each of the Hogs' last two games: The coaches were basically begging for him to get injured and now he has.

When he returns, he may find the going a lot tougher: With no other consistent offensive weapons to contend with at this point, opposing defenses will be free to zero in on Smith.

4. How does the Razorback O-Line matchup against the Rebel D-Line?

Good question. Before the season, our offensive line was usually tapped as the strength of the team. After all, it's anchored by our one bona-fide All-American, center Jonathan Luigs, and it paved the way for McFadden/Jones/Hillis to run for about a billion yards last year. When the games actually started, though, there were some major hiccups adjusting to the new scheme (evidenced by our struggles against our less-than-worldbeating competition in the first two games).

Since then, though, things seem to have jelled nicely and now the line is doing its part...we pretty much marched up and down the field at will against the highly ranked defenses of Auburn and Kentucky (actually pushing into the end zone was a different matter, unfortunately).. The Ole Miss rushers are tough, but we think we'll hold our own there. We're more worried about Snead getting hot and carving up our defense with a big passing day.

5. Realistically, how long do you think Petrino says in Fayetteville? I certainly feel that he needs to "rebuild" his reputation a bit, so he's not going to 1-and done it like some would have you believe. To humor you, I don't see Nutt staying in Oxford longer than 5 years. I'm guessing 3 or 4.

One small benefit of having a losing season is that we probably don't have to worry about Petrino getting happy feet and being poached by some other school after this year. But, anything is possible, and there's a small part of us that's waiting for him to not return to the field after halftime of some game, having just accepted the job at the University of Washington or whatever.

We tend to agree with you that he'll most likely stay put for at least a little while to rebuild his reputation. We also are guessing that the Hogs will improve over the next couple of years, making him a more desirable hire again. If we had to place a bet on it, we'd say he'll be at Arkansas for three seasons.

6. The Rebels won at the Swamp and almost snatched one form the Tide in Bryant-Denney. Do you think the stadium atmosphere for this especially emotional game will have any effect on this team?

The atmosphere at Razorback Stadium will undoubtedly be pretty insane, and we're sure the Hogs will get some sort of emotional lift from all the drama and personal significance behind the game. However, we're also sure that Houston is going to have his players ready to run through a wall for him, so there will be a lot of intensity on both sides. After dealing with all the nonsense of the last year or two, HDN can handle whatever the fans there are going to throw at him.

We could see the first quarter of this game sort of being like the Super Bowl, where both teams are usually so keyed up they don't play particularly well and things don't get going until the emotions have settled down a bit.

7. Looking to the future and, really, just to satisfy my curiosity, how is Ryan Mallett doing? I think a lot of the SEC is nervous (but won't readily admit it) about a Petrino offense centered around Mallett.

Ryan Mallett is currently stored in an isolation chamber deep in the bowels of the U of A athletic complex, where Bobby Petrino and his team of evil masterminds are busily building him into the UltimateSuperRoboQuarterback of the Future. To give you an idea of what's going on, combine the Siberian training montage from Rocky IV with the scene in the Matrix where Keanu wakes up and says "I know kung fu."

Actually, we haven't heard much about Mallett lately, but the last thing we read was that he's progressing well. The coaches were making a point during the preseason workouts of giving him as many reps as possible without hurting the prep time of our active QBs. If all goes according to plan, he'll be ready to do some damage by the time next season rolls around.

Arkansas Straw Men - Part 3

Omigah like HaPpY hAlLoWeEn Y'a-wulll!!

Shazzam! The Ghost of Jay Cutler is gettin' ready for what is likely going to be the most bomb-ass weekend this side of Mardi Gras. A good but of us Red [REDACTED] Cuppers are going to be attending a wedding this weekend (one of us is getting married and, no, we're not saying who) and we're going to set a new standard for gettin' dranked. If Memphis is a smoldering pile of ash by Sunday morning, you can blame these assholes right here.

Anywho, if we don't do a whole lotta updatin' over the next couple of days, you'll know why.

Ok, well, having that been said, here's

Arkansas Straw Man Number 3: "Houston Nutt is the Devil... I mean, he porked a weatherlady!"

I would hope an SEC coach could do better...

To cover this, I'm going to use an excerpt from a swap piece we're doing with Razorback Expats which, as a member of the illustrious SEC Power Poll, is a damn great college football blog. No, I'm not bullshittin' ya. It really is a good blog and if you haven't been checking it out on occasion you really should. We were asked about the Houston Dale "honeymoon" and what our true feelings towards Coach Nutt were. Part of my response is below:

Look, we know that he says wacky stuff like "yehaw" and "special" all of the time. We know that he banged a weatherlady (go get 'em, tiger). We know that he's oftentimes self absorbed. We know all of these things. But here's what a lot of you Arkansas fans don't get: we've had fucking batshit motherfucking crazy son of a bitch as a head coach. His name was Ed Orgeron. He had the temperament, body odor, and IQ of a shrimpboat captain. He hated interacting with the fans and media. He bled Red Bull. He was unintelligible. He received counseling for his issues with domestic violence. He was arrested for getting into a bar fight… in Baton Rouge. All of this got him placed on probation from the Athletic Department of the University of MIAMI!

You Hogs love to talk about how horrible Houston Nutt was. Naw, lawya. We know horrible. Trust us. Houston Nutt doesn't hold a candle to Eddie O.

Arkansas fans really think they had it bad with Nutt. He (egads!) fibbed to recruits and (gadzooks!) had an extramarital affair (as if that has anything to do with coaching) and he even would make a goober of himself during press conferences! The horror! The agony!

Arkansas, we have no pity. This motherfucker was our head coach. Capiche? I've said it once before on a comment thread here, and I'll say it again: Arkansas may have had no shoes, but we Rebels had no feet.

And another thing: all of this finger pointing comes from a state that loves Bill Clinton. He can get his knob slobbed in the White House and everyone's all cool, but if a coach bangs a lady from the local news station, you're outraged? I mean, come on Arkansas. I've never seen more obsenely bizarre double standards come from anyone else.

Have a kickass weekend everyone, Rebels and Hogs.

Arkansas Hate Week - Bobby Petrino Edition

Fish in a bucket. The broad side of a barn. Digging a post-hole with a back-hoe. These are the tired analogies one could use to describe the effortlessness with which one can paint Bobby Petrino to be a lying scumbag greasier than breakfast at The Beacon, but not nearly as satisfying filled from head-to-toe with 24 tons of everything that would make Mike Roe vomit less than honest. Lawyer Milloy said it best:

Bobby Petrino's integrity has been talked about and roundly discredited for months on end. Sometimes it has been done so in farcical visual images. Other times by former players. And, notably for the young law student, even through satirical litigation. It's been done to death.

But it cannot be overlooked, not during Arkansas Hate Week, that the man who now leads Razorback Nation is, by their estimation, preferable to the former head coach to whom many in the Natural State have assigned the title of "Snake Oil Salesman," which is, of course, analogous to the pot calling the glass pitcher black.

Logically, though, there seems to be a double-standard here on the Cup. We speak lowly of Petrino, while balking when our friendly pig posters harangue Houston. Isn't that a little bit of irrational homerism? Wouldn't it be far more consistent to accept and let accept? If the man has found his home in fair frightful forgiving Fayetteville, who are we, the undefiled of Oxford, to care?

Upstanding folks, that's who. Put your Baptist hats on, get on down to the Town Square, and start judging. That's what real Southern Hospitality is all about, simmering endlessly in the faults and foibles of others, so that you can show your decency and courage to yourself by acting polite when in the presence of the profane. By Jove, the man is downright despicable. Misunderstood Houston Nutt found himself dragged shamelessly through town by those ill-mannered (and likely ill-bred) Arkansans, while they accept with open-arms the most dishonest man of his profession, who no doubt has a dozen or more paramours with which his interaction exceeds far beyond, I'm sure, the innocent and occasional text message. Why, I doubt that any self-respecting weather girl would be caught dead receiving calls from Mr. Petrino, animal that he is. Forget not that Mr. Petrino once attempted full-time employment in (I dare not say it aloud) ... Auburn. Terror of terrors.

In conclusion and summary, like most really important principles (for example, religion and complex mathematics), it is mandatory that we, on regular occasions, return and examine the evidence and thought processes that brought us to our present conclusions on any very important matter. To wit: Bobby Petrino is an ass-hat. Always has been. Always will be.

Hotty Toddy! Pork Roast.

Women of the Opposition - Arkansas part II

Alright, alright, Casey Dick's got himself a pretty nice lady friend. Now, that purple shirt makes him look like a bit of a.... well, dick... but I guess that and big floppy ears are what they like up there in the Natural State.
It's all over the intrawebs, so you've likely seen it before now, but here's the linky-link.

Arkansas Straw Men - Part 2

Part two in my overly verbose series of dismantled Arkansas arguments begiiinnnssss....

NOW!

Arkansas Straw Man Number 2: "Houston Nutt is a despicable person for not putting his full effort into recruiting last season."

Here's an article in the Kansas City star which discusses the recruitment of QB Kale Pick. Pick was once committed to Arkansas, but decommitted after Coach Nutt told him that he and his staff did not have plans on coaching for Arkansas after last season.

Here are the crazies. A great deal of them are pretty gal-durned pissed off at Nutt over this. Some even cry "sabotage!"

Let's take a good look at this situation. To do this, I would like to put together an analogy and then utilize said analogy in an allegory.

Think of Houston Nutt as any old employee at any old firm, business, whatever. He's just a guy who sits in his cubicle all day long working on Excel spreadsheets and (hopefully) visiting The Red [REDACTED] Cup every half hour or so. Now, think of his supervisor as being the collective Arkansas Razorback fan base. I'd say that most could agree with this analogy because, in the end, the fans have the most control over a coach's job security. The fans buy the tickets, donate money to the athletic fund, and cover their whiny little kids in tacky gear from head to toe. They are the lifeblood of any sports program with SEC football being the premier example of this.

Now, imagine this allegorical employee is you. I would like for you to mentally put yourself in this situation. You walk into work one morning, slump down into you seat, and, before you can even pour your first cup of coffee, your supervisor storms angrily into the room and bursts into your cubicle.

"YOU!" Screams your supervisor. "You are the WORST God Damned thing about this place! FUCK YOU!"

"What?!?"

"You fucking heard me! You're the reason this place isn't where my unreasonable expectations would want it to be and I'm going to fucking can your shitty ass as soon as I get the chance!"

He then heads towards his office, but not before stopping at the receptionists desk and hanging a large "COPIERS AND FAX MACHINES DESERVE BETTER-FIRE [insert name]" banner from the ceiling. Never mind your successful quarterly evaluations and the great work you did with that color-copier (Wait, let me guess. "That color-copier was made in Little Rock! It was going to end up in this office regardless!" Right?) because you're done at this place.

You turn around, hang your head in confusion, and begin to contemplate your situation.

Your BlackBerry vibrates. It's a new e-mail detailing a FOIA request for your phone records. "Motherfucker, I've gotta get a new job," you mutter.

Honestly imagine what you would do under these circumstances. Imagine that this same supervisor then expected you to do your job above and beyond your traditional duties. Imagine that he, after being a Goddamn dick, would have the audacity to ask you to enthusiastically bring some new employees in to the organization.

I posit that, under these circumstances, most of us would be looking hard for a new job and, on our way out, we'd likely piss in the break room fridge and/or drop a whoppin' deuce in a filing cabinet.

Why is Houston Nutt somehow different than any of us?

Why, in the eyes of many of us, are coaches elevated to some sort of superhuman moral and ethical plane? Remember, Arkansas fans, you were the ones who gave Nutt hell for supposedly lying to Mitch Mustain and his posse of pussies. Now, you're giving him hell for telling a recruit the truth.... Think about that one.

Some of you do get this. I will recognize that. However a whole lot of you are still caught in that long lasting, Arkansas moonshine-induced high of Razorback fandom.


Marinate, ruminate, and anticipate Arkansas Straw Man 3.

Arkansas Straw Men - Part 1

The "Straw Man Fallacy" is a term used in the context of discourse to represent the deliberate construction of your opponent's argument simply for the purpose of either proving a point or misrepresenting your opponents true position. The name is derived from the idea that, in doing this, one creates a "straw man" which to attack as opposed to his or her opponent. In its most extreme sense, it's a diversion tactic. However, in its most basic sense, it's simply an attempt to make your opponent look foolish.

How have Arkansas fans used it? Well, many of them seem to think we're mindlessly enamored with our coach. I can even remember (and no, I'm not going to take the time to look) Razorbacks making claims in our comment threads that Ole Miss fans think Houston Nutt is "brilliant" and "the best coach ever." This maybe be true for the "OMG Hawtty Tawddy y'all WeAr RED!!!1" portion of the fanbase, but to come onto a blog which openly admits that Nutt is in the bottom half of the conference in coaching and make such claims is pretty damned ignorant.

You get it now? This argument is a straw man in that it purports a position which is not necessarily that of the target in an attempt (a failed one, at that) to misrepresent the opponents' (that'd be us) position and/or undermine their intelligence. I have yet to meet an Ole Miss fan who thinks Houston Nutt is "da best currch EVAR " and we've certainly never said that.

Within the realms of logic, reason, and debate, the use of a straw man is considered fallacious (hence the name) and frowned upon. I certainly don't like them very much myself, either.

This is why, over the next few days, I plan on demonstrating the absurdity of the common use of the straw man on the part of the Razorback fans by--you guessed it--setting up my very own straw men!

Now, this series won't be consistent of true straw men in that these are positions actually advocated by hoardes of Razorback fans. However, they will be straw men in the sense that I am bringing up these topics without (direct) provocation and arguing against them before my opponent(s) have an opportunity to directly state their position(s).

Also, I plan on really blowing this shit outta proportion.

Hypocritical double standard? You bet. I run this Goddamn blog, motherfuckers. You can just get over it.


Straw Man number 1: "Ole Miss has a talented football team."

Arkansas fans love to say this. They clamor on and on about the ever so talented Rebels. Of course, they do this to further perpetuate the idea that, with another (really, any other) coach, Ole Miss would have a much better record. In their eyes, Ole Miss is extremely talented and Hooten Day-yel is just fuckin' this one up royally. The examples are numerous. Just peruse our comment threads, woopig, hogville, and the like.

While the Rebels certainly have a few talented players (some at an All-American level) at certain positions, to say that Ole Miss, as a team, is talented is not true. Oher and Peria Jerry are perhaps the only players who consistently display high levels of talent. When Jevan's on a roll, Hardy has his magic shoes, and Dex hasn't been eating fried catfish while wearing his receiver's gloves they are certainly quite talented. However, a 1/1 TD to INT ratio doesn't scream "talent." Not starting because of your shitty attitude is, in my opinion, a demonstrable lack of talent. And you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would describe someone who turns the ball over as routinely as McCluster to be purely talented.

Does a talented team have to convert a wideout and halfback to cornerback just to be four-deep at the position? Does a talented team have two converted safeties at the outside linebacker slots? Does a talented team have a former wideout starting at free safety? Our lack of talent has made these changes necessary; not some imaginary boatload of talent, Razorback fans.

On what basis to the Hogs make these claims of talent? They, like many of us in Eddie O's first couple of seasons, were tricked by Rivals and Scout recruiting rankings.

For simplicity's sake, I'm going to be using Rivals.com data for this next portion where I look at the last few years of Ole Miss recruiting to decipher just how we ascertained such high, yet misleading recruiting rankings.

2004: 30th overall/8th in the SEC - Ok, this one doesn't really count because it was Cutcliffe's last year and it wasn't highly ranked, but the fact that, of the 14 3-star or higher rated players, 3 of them made it to their redshirt senior season (remember, Cut gave just about everyone a red shirt) says something about our retention rate. "Oh, but Ghost, those players graduated or are in the NFL, duh." No, sadly, not at all.

2005: 30th overall/9th in the SEC - This class featured Jerrell Powe. Keep that in mind. It also featured Peria Jerry, who was being counted a second time. Of the 11 3-star or higher players, only five stuck with the program. Remember Quenten Taylor, Jada Brown, and Kendrick Perry? Yeah, thought so.

2006: 16th overall/6th in the SEC - This was Ed Orgeron's best class by far... sorta. While looking through the reference links today I noticed this thread on Hogville, on which someone made the claim that we had "the best recruiting classes in the SEC." Sixth isn't the "best," you dolt. The reason this class was ranked so high was because of two 5-star caliber athletes: Brent Schaeffer (bust, only "played" two seasons) and Jerrell Powe (being counted for a second time). It also featured John Jerry being counted for a second time. Furthermore, 4-star Tery Levy, who never made it on campus was a part of this class. However, despite these setbacks, this class was still pretty good by Ole Miss standards. Many of those players are still on the team. Despite this relative succss, the 2006 class certainly isn't the type to completely support an entire program. Of the 24 3-star or higher players in this class, 7 are not a part of the program.

2007: 27th overall/8th in conference - This class was a complete bust. It consisted of six four stars, the three highest rated of which (Chris Strong, AJ Jackson, and Roderick Davis) aren't on the team. There were 18 3-star or higher athletes in this class and, after ONE season, a third of them are gone.

2008 28th overall/7th in conference - This was a half Nutt, half Orgeron recruited class and, say what you Razorbacks will, but four of the top five players in this class committed to Ole Miss because of Nutt.

So, of all of the highly rated Ed Orgeron years, we had several players whose star rankings counted twice, a five-star who played like a 1-star, and more than enough 4-stars that never even made it to campus. As of right now, we have 49 3-star or higher players to fill up 85 roster slots... ouch.

Those recruiting class rankings you see every spring are absolute bullshit. If you are an Ole Miss fan and haven't realized that by now, prayers have been sent.

All of this adds up to one, simple fact; and that is that Ole Miss is NOT talented. LSU is talented. Florida is talented. Alabama is (I regret typing this already) talented. This team didn't win a single damned game in conference last season. This team can't fill out its roster at certain key positions with natural players of those positions. Hell, some members (ahem) can't even put a pair of shoes on a damned bus. However, and as sad as this is to say, this is the most talented Rebel team in five years. Are they more talented than Arkansas? Yes. Yes they are. The Razorback faithful will say "well Houston Dale just gave up on recruiting!"

Well, well, well... What a lovely segue into tomorrow's segment of Arkansas Straw Men: "Houston Nutt is a despicable person for not putting his full effort into recruiting last season." Stay tuned, faithful Cup fans! Arkansas hate week rolls on!

Arkansas Hate Week - The Long and Winding Road

Rebel fans who have been with us longer than a year remember a time when "Arkansas Hate Week" would have been a pretty distant hypothetical. Sandwiched between a trip to Tuscaloosa (See: Alabama Hate Week) and an appointment with the Plainsmen, I certainly felt a little too swamped to be sweating the swine.

Nevertheless, here we are - renting airplanes.

And why? Because we here at RSC have visitors like Stephen Colboar (clever girl!):

Hotty Totty gosh almighty,
Houston's bout to shit the potty

ROLL TIDE

Or the ever-entertaining Gonzohog:

You might be wasting your time with these folks Yellow Tail, as I have. What does it tell you when thier listening to the mighty ESPN BS, over fans that's followed thier team for a lifetime? Drinking a lot of cool-aid down yonder in Rebel land these days.

The irony that Gonzo spelled "cool" correctly in the general context, but not in the specific context of Kool-Aid, is certainly not lost on me.

And those two gems paled in comparison to these great firestorms. The larger point is this - if you happen to be one of our loyal readers who objects to lewd and offensive language and/or inflammatory "logic," be prepared; there's about to be some hog slop in these parts.* And it may well be misspelled.

*Note: I've got nothing but love for our neighbor, Yellow Tail Swine. He's a misguided, belligerent Hog fan, but, by God, he can think and type at the same time. Huzzah!

Corralling the West, Week 1

We won. You should know this by now. More to come later whenever Whiskey Wednesday shakes off his hangover.

They're also the third best engineering program in all of Louisiana!  You know how a lot of teams like to schedule division II (screw whatever they're called nowadays, that shit is stupid), mid-major, or low-level BCS teams for their opening games?  You know, for a sorta faux-preseason stat-padder to ease the fans and players into the season?  A sure win and what-not?  Well, not so much.  It's ok State, they were the 91st best defense in football last year which, as Wesley Carroll can tell you, is certainly more than enough to make the game competitive.  Coach CroomS has just shown the Bulldog faithful exactly how one earns a raise + contract extension in Starkville.

Not so fast, Hogs.  You're on notice, Arkansas.  Of course, you won and you've gotta get whatever credit is due for that... but Western Illinois?  Seriously?  Would Nutt have trailed them in the 4th quarter with whatever athletes are up in Fayetteville?  But hey, Casey Dick thew the ball 41 times which is exactly what you crazy assholes wanted in the first place, right?

The Big Ten is horrible.  LSU, in a much more roundabout manner, proved this once again last night by downing Appalachian State with an ease that Michigan couldn't.  Michigan, the winningest football team in the HISTORY OF FOOTBALL dropped a season opener again yesterday, this time to the Utah Utes.

It's ok to hate Nick Saban.  Damn you, Bama.  I wanted to you to lose and lose bad but, instead, you showed that you may be a true candidate to represent the West in Atlanta.  I know it's early for these kinds of things, but they seriously shut Clemson down big time and proved that their preseason ranking of 24 wasn't undeserved.  

Speaking of Bama and upset victories.  Auburn beat ULM the way they're supposed to be beaten making the hearts of many a Bama fan weep deep, deep down inside their chest cavity (just past the adipose tissue).

Internets Available in Arkansas; Accessed by Hog Fans part Vier

The obsession Arkansas fans have with Houston Nutt still baffles the hell outta me everyone. We get it: you hate the guy. The fact that we're not rolling around in teary fits screaming "oh God, Arkansas, you're so right, Houston Nutt is a shitbag" etc is, somehow, quite perplexing to them. Furthermore, instead of celebrating the turning-over of a new leaf in Fayetteville, much as we have done in Oxford, they continue to center much of their discussion around Coach Nutt.

It's weird.

However, it's never been this wildly entertaining. Hogville.net, an Arkansas message board, has a thread featuring images of Coach Nutt photoshopped into various Olympics related photos. Really, it's good stuff that obviously took some time and talent to create. Check out the photos below. If you like what you see, click the link and enjoy the few-dozen or so others.

11 Days until Kickoff

Memory lane for the last four years of Rebel football has been filled with construction delays and potholes. After a day's absence, we continue the countdown with the 12th and 11th worst moments of the last four years.

12th Worst Moment of the Last Four Years: 2004 Loss at Alabama, 28-7

ESPN 2 chose to televise this thorough beat down of our beloved Rebels. It should have been on the Ocho. I was in attendance for game two of the post-Eli era, and after losing our opening game to Memphis, I was hoping we would at least give the Tide a good game. The Rebels have about as much success in Tuscaloosa as Dennis Miller has in Starkville. 

Ethan Flatt sparked the Rebel offense to their only touchdown that day while Michael Spurlock had a tough day throwing roughly a baker's dozen interceptions. 'Bama burned down the clock once they had a 21 point lead and ended up taking a knee inside the five yard line as time expired. That's how bad they felt for our team...and it's 'Bama, 'nuff said. 

11th Worst Moment of the Last Four Years: 2004 Matt Jones and Arkansas deal 32 point loss to Rebels

I hate to post this just because of how ravenous Arkansas fans are for any positive press to use in their propaganda towards convincing themselves and others that they could still make a national title run. But here it is for all to see.

Corralling the West: Bad Boys, Bad Boys

This has been an incredibly active off season in the jail cells of the SEC West. Baton Rouge just purged the Perrillouxxr, Mississippi State players carried guns on campus, Ole Miss athletes got their swerve on, Alabama has taken the lead of the Fulmer Cup standings and, just recently, Arkansas has added this bit of humor:

Arkansas linebacker Wendel Davis may be facing felony charges after smashing up a car. Davis apparently got mad enough to smash his fist through a car window after, I'm not kidding here, the aforementioned car bumped into his scooter (I hope his scooter had a badass flame job, to boot). I find this amusing because of the mental image the story conjures up: a large, athletic male dressed in Arkansas Razorbacks sweats going apeshit because his scooter got a ding in it. It's a scene you'd expect from a smaller, greasier male in Athens or Naples, but Fayetteville? Seriously? Anyway, this adds to an already exciting, crime filled summer break.

EDIT: I wonder where this kid's first SEC scholarship offer is coming from.

Where Do We Stack Up? Wide Receivers

The SEC East is the passing division of the conference. While there have certainly been prolific quarterbacks (The Mannings sans Peyton, Pat Sullivan, Joe Namath) and wide receivers (Don Hutson, Terry Beasley, Wendell Davis) in the West, the East has most certainly dominated through the air. This season looks to be no different with all of the talent Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee bring to the table at both quarterback and wideout. This does not mean, however, that the SEC West is untalented in the passing game. There are many receiving threats scattered throughout the West and many teams, most notably Auburn and Arkansas, are looking to utilize them more so than last season in order to put together a potent passing attack.

Here's how the West will stack-up this season at wide receiver:

1. LSU - How does LSU always have something like 14 or 15 All-SEC receivers? While Early Doucet has gone to the Arizona Cardinals, Demetrius Byrd and Brandon LaFell can easily fill in his vacancy. Byrd led the team in receiving touchdowns last season (7) and is aiming to win the Biletnikoff award this upcoming fall. Furthermore, the signing of DeAngelo Benton and Chris Tolliver adds depth to an already stellar corps of receivers. The only real issue remains at quarterback. If LSU cannot find a consistent passer to deliver the ball, expect the passing game to be a frustrating one in Baton Rouge.

2. Alabama - As much as it hurts to say, John Parker Wilson is a good quarterback. No, I didn't say great, but he's most certainly more than "serviceable." He will really allow his wideouts to shine this season if he is protected well enough and able to avoid any major injuries. DJ Hall and Matt Caddell are gone but I expect freshmen Melvin Ray, Destin Hood, and über-recruit Julio Jones to contribute well their freshman season. All three have good size and speed and will be called upon early and often. If JPW plays well, Jones and co. shine, and LSU has quarterback issues, expect Alabama's passing offense to be the best in the West.

3. Ole Miss - Mike Wallace and Shay Hodge are both ready to make a lasting impression on the Ole Miss faithful this season. Hodge has as sure a set of hands as anybody and Wallace emerged as one of the conference's premier deep threats with an eye-popping 18 yards per catch last season. Dexter McCluster, if he can avoid injury, could also become a dependable option for Jevan Snead. Prep school star Andrew Harris could also contribute as a freshman if he is able to qualify.

4. Auburn - I feel that Auburn and Ole Miss are rather interchangeable here simply because of their similarities. They both are utilizing new offensive systems designed around highly-touted yet unproven quarterbacks. Statistically speaking, Rod Smith (705 yards, 13 YPC, 5 TD) is the only player from last season who truly sticks out. If Tim Hawthorne and recruits Darvin and Harry Adams become viable receiving options, Kodi Burns should have an easy time working under new OC Troy Franklin's spread offense. If Franklin's offense brings out the best in Burns and his receivers, Auburn could jump ahead in these rankings.

5. Arkansas - Casey Dick has an opportunity to shine under Bobby Petrino but his receivers are the least experienced in the SEC. Arkansas' leading receiver last season, by a long shot, was a fullback. Simply put, the running game was the fulcrum of the offense, for obvious reasons. The team's leading true receiver going into this spring had negligible numbers (157 yards, 13.1 YPC, 3 TD) last season. The position was recruited fairly well and Jarius Wright along with Cruz Williams will likely be used effectively in a Bobby Petrino style offense. If Casey Dick's spring game statistics (404 yards, 2 TD) are indicative of anything, one can expect Arkansas to sport a completely different looking offense this season.

6. Mississippi State - The departure of Tony Burks should hurt Mississippi State dearly this season, as Wesley Carroll will have to rely on Jemayel Smith as his only legitimate, veteran wideout. Co-Eric Riley has the potential for greatness and could have a breakout season. Other than that, Mississippi State could have serious trouble with their passing game this season. The position was not recruited very well (O'Neal Wilder has ideal size, but was not highly touted by scouts) which does little to help with regards to depth. Keep in mind, they averaged an abysmal 160 yards per game through the air last season.


There it is. Comment and criticize. We all know you will.



EDIT: Cruz Williams will not be attending the University of Arkansas this fall. (HT: YellowTailSwine)