FanHouse MississippiStateBulldogs

Some great defense inside, horrid shooting from the perimeter, a clock operator that never started the clock, and refs who choked in the final minute of the game. The end result of all that? While Mississippi State is deservedly heading to the NCAA Tournament by winning the SEC Tournament, it is diminished by incompetence elsewhere.

Ultimately, most will remember the final minute of incompetency from the officials and clock operator. It was that bad. Phantom foul calls, not noticing a malfunctioning clock, a rapid five second call -- all these things took away from what was a taut and exciting game.

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The other bubble teams have not been enjoying conference tournament week -- whether it's doing nothing to help themselves or seeing teams not even in the discussion make deep runs to conference finals. The SEC is joining the fun as Mississippi State took down the only ranked team in the SEC, sending the Bulldogs to the SEC Championship game.

Mississippi State will not go to the NCAA Tournament without winning the SEC Championship. It has a non-con that lacks any quality wins other than over solid mid-major Western Kentucky. The way the Bulldogs have been playing in the conference tournament, though, they look like they can win the SEC.

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The Gamecocks have lost control of their fate. They are now the biggest cheerleaders of chalk in the Big Ten and Mountain West. South Carolina's loss to Mississippi State really was not not a bad loss. The problem is, the Gamecocks' overall tournament resume lacks much heft.

Beating Baylor was South Carolina's best non-conference win. It beat Florida and swept Kentucky in the conference but was swept by Tennessee. The Gamecocks have been a bubble team all season, and bowing out in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament keeps them there.

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Score one for the Bayou Bengals. It has been announced that LSU will play Mississippi State in a rare early season SEC league match to kick off the 2007 season. LSU coach Les 'The Hat' Miles can be seen to the right celebrating with one of the moves from Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video. To the surprise of nobody the game will be televised on ESPN Thursday August 30.

ESPN notes that this "continues a tradition" - started last year. Oy.

The Bulldogs were woeful in a 15-0 shutout loss to South Carolina in last year's opener. The game's MVP was Gamecock punter Ryan Succop which says about all you need to know for how that game went. Both starting quarterbacks were knocked out of action early leaving hapless backups to carry already pedestrian offenses through the remaining game action. The game's real drama was in the supposed confiscation of MSU's famous cowbells. Of little surprise many fans snuck the devices into the stadium making a mockery of the policy.

Although without the services of departed quarterback JaMarcus Russell, LSU is a strong favorite to win in a romp here. At least we can save the date, so to speak. I'm just going to pretend there aren't well over six more months until college football. Because if I knew that to be true I'd cry in misery. And I'm not in the mood for misery.

Anyhoo ... the reasoning escapes me at the moment, but those kickoff classic type games were eliminated a year or two ago, robbing college football fans of some great early season shows. Off the top of my head I remember Penn State's Curtis Enis torching the USC defense a while back, I remember the wild Cal/Kansas State shootout that the Bears lost but signaled something positive for the Jeff Tedford era. I remember Reggie Bush scoring three touchdowns against Virginia Tech in a game that catapulted him onto the national stage.

It'd be nice to have that type of game back. Y'know, compelling national matchups and all? Early season battle of titans. This is nice but it's just another SEC league game played out three weeks premature.

Until the fun games return it's LSU/Mississippi State starting the season off with more of a whimper than a bang. But I'll take it, it's football. Just around the corner. Riiiiiight.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is not taking any chances when it comes to this week's match-up with Mississippi State. And as fans, you shouldn't count it as an automatic win. I'm not saying that the Tigers won't win. They will. They are three touchdown favorites and are playing a team with a red-shirt freshman at quarterback.

With that said, there's still plenty to worry about. We talked in the last post about the Bulldog's defense. They are no joke. But most importantly, while Auburn is chasing a conference title, MSU coach Sylvester Croom is trying to hold on to his coaching life - that can be very dangerous.

The Bulldogs have lost 35 of their last 41 SEC games. They haven't won more than three games in a season since 2000. Croom has a total of six wins in his two years on campus. While publicly, Mississippi State officials say Croom's job is safe, others aren't so sure. Croom must win more than three games this year to have any chance of being invited back for a fourth season.

A win Saturday against Auburn would right the ship in a big way. Can it happen Saturday? Sure, anything can happen; ask Ron Zook and the Florida Gators. Will it happen? There's probably a better chance of it snowing at Scott Field than State winning.

Auburn must still come to play. A wounded dog is a dangerous dog. That's why Tigers offensive coordinator Al Borges and Tuberville have been careful to talk up this Bulldog team. Their defense could keep things close for a half, maybe longer.

The MSU offense is a different story. And that should finish the story. Auburn will win Saturday. They will win big. But I don't look for it to be a cake-walk early on. Brandon Cox will have to connect on his short passes better and they must correct the issues they had in the red zone during the first half last Saturday. By 4:00 Saturday afternoon, Sylvester Croom will still be looking for that first win of 2006.

That sound you hear (suspend disbelief for a moment, please)---it's the 2006 college football season quickly approaching. We are now a mere six days and a few hours from Aug. 31, the new season's genesis. The slate of games' for that Thursday hold only modest promise, but as a true college football nut I'll find a way to delight in them just the same.

Looking over that day's schedule, a few games stand out.

Northwestern at Miami (Ohio)---Emotions will run high at this one as Northwestern plays its first game since the death of coach Randy Walker. Adding further to the mood, Walker was an Ohio-born coach who led a revival of sorts as Miami's coach before taking over at Northwestern.

Minnesota at Kent State---The running backs are dropping like flies for the run-happy Golden Gophers, which may spell early-season doom. Or maybe not, as Kent State is coming off a 1-10 season. Either way this has the potential to be another interesting Big Ten/MAC battle.

South Carolina at Mississippi State---I'm surprised this game is this early in the year, as most conference matchups do not begin until several weeks into the season. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier's back, and it's just not college football without the Ol' Ball Coach throwing visors around.

Toledo at Iowa State---Coach Tom Amstutz runs an offensive power in the MAC, but will be without departed senior Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback. Iowa State should have an incredible offense as well, returning Bret Meyer at quarterback, Stevie Hicks at tailback and the dynamic duo of Austin Flynn and Todd Blythe at receiver. This is the third matchup of the day between a MAC team and a midlevel BCS conference foe.

Northern Arizona at Arizona State---This won't be much of a game, but we'll get our first look at the suddenly shaky Arizona State Sun Devils.

UTEP at San Diego State---This is the final hurrah for UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer. The program is now in its third year under coach Mike Price and should be set for a pretty big season. The Aztecs begin their first campaign under new coach Chuck Long, formerly the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.