FanHouse Mike Slive

Last week Mike Slive, the Montgomery Burns of the SEC, threatened Lane Kiffin with a suspension and rewrote the SEC policy when it comes to commenting on officiating. All season, Slive has been besieged by officiating errors, coaches sniping at one another, and the continuing onslaught of media coverage having a brand new television contract and two top-ranked teams has brought.

Now, Slive (pictured right) is backed into a corner. Just a few days after Slive announced his new policy on officiating, Urban Meyer teed off on officiating once more, taking a shot at the non-call on a late hit that Georgia delivered to Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

"That should have been a penalty, in my opinion," Meyer said, "Obviously, it should have been. You've got to protect quarterbacks. That's the whole purpose. It's right in front of the referee."

SEC presidents, athletic directors, coaches and other administrators had the opportunity to celebrate another banner year for the league during its spring meetings in April.

While that euphoria will certainly carry over into the three-day Football Media Days that start Wednesday in Hoover, Ala., the spotlight will be focused on the sport that has single-handedly raised the national profile of the SEC.

And made it plenty of loot, too.

Finally, it's time to talk football.

FanHouse on Scene: Join us for SEC Media Days Live Blog at 2:30PM ET

Its a day late but definitely not a dollar short, as the NCAA will reportedly come down on Alabama to the tune of an unknown number of vacated football victories between 2005 and 2007, three additional years of probation and a cash penalty, according to the Birmingham News.

Alabama football players and athletes in several other sports were involved in a prohibited textbook and materials disbursement scheme. It's seemingly benign stuff compared to recent allegations against Memphis and USC, but this is Alabama we're talking about, which seems to have its Brooks Was Here moment every time it finds itself paroled.

Lane Kiffin waltzed out onto some pretty thin ice when he called Urban Meyer out for cheating in his recruitment of Tennessee commit Nu'Keese Richardson. That ice got a heck of a lot thinner when Florida got wind of the accusations and responded,charging that Kiffin slandered both Meyer and the university.

The best route for Kiffin was likely a quick and humble apology. That's exactly what he did apparently after a little pressure from the SEC.

The USA Today/Coaches Poll was released on Sunday and the top 10 looks the same as it did a week ago. But when you dig a little deeper, you realize what a true joke this poll really is. First off, why is the Coaches Poll a component in the BCS Standings? Does anyone believe that coaches have time to evaluate other schools on Saturday?

Being an Auburn writer, I spend most all of my time following my team. On Saturday, I'm in the stadium watching Auburn. I rarely watch more than a few other games on the weekends. Most of my day is tied up at Auburn. I get most of my highlights from Reese Davis and his group on ESPN's College GameDay Final Show.

My guess is, even with me being in Auburn on most Saturdays, I still have more time to follow other teams than say the head coach at USC, Georgia or Texas. Is that a stretch? I think not. So why in the world does college football allow a coaches poll determine who plays for the national championship?

Does anyone really believe that college coaches actually vote themselves. Do the powers that be really think fans are that naive? We all know that it's the sports information department submitting the poll - if we are lucky. Do you think they have agendas? Exactly.

Let's look at this week's Top 25 USA Today/Coaches Poll. Ohio States remains the number one team. Fair enough. In the number two spot is Southern Cal. Now USC beat Washington State 28-22 on Saturday. Auburn beat South Carolina 24-17 on Thursday. As a result, the Trojans lost 14 points overall and two first place votes in the poll. Auburn, after beating a 3-1 Gamecock team on the road lost 23 points overall and one first place vote.

If you are comparing apples to apples, how does USC remain number two? If memory serves me correct, Auburn defeated Washington State 40-14 earlier this year. Yet Auburn loses more points than USC this week? Can somebody please explain this to me?

It's obvious that the coaches don't take the voting seriously. It's time for SEC commissioner Mike Slive to get off his butt and start making some noise about this whole BCS system. It's his year to manage the BCS system and he's remained quiet all season - much as he did in 2004. He turning out to be a disaster as a commissioner.

Meanwhile, Lee Corso and Lou Holtz's darling team Michigan, gained 38 points in the poll this week. It really pays to beat a Notre Dame team that nearly lost to Michigan State (who this week lost to a 2-3 Illinois team). Don't tell me that ESPN doesn't wield too much power.

College football is in crisis. It's time for a few good men to step up and make a difference. That means you, Mike Slive.

Link: Football Saturday In The South