OK, so we know that Tim Tebow has been cleared to act like Tim Tebow. He can go to class, he can watch TV and game tape, he can tolerate bright lights and he doesn't have a headache. That was Florida coach Urban Meyer's latest medical update Monday concerning his recovering quarterback as the top-ranked Gators prepare for Saturday's showdown at No. 4 LSU.
While the big question remains -- when will Tebow be cleared to play football after suffering a concussion late in the third quarter against Kentucky two weekends ago? -- LSU coach Les Miles says the Tigers are prepping to face either Tebow or his backup, John Brantley.
Les Miles is the most confident man in America. It doesn't matter what situation he faces, Miles believes he will triumph. What's more, he believes that everyone around him will win as well. Little Bighorn? Miles slays the Native Americans and rises to prominence on the Bull Moose ticket. Gettysburg? Miles takes Cemetery Ridge during Miles's Charge and the country remains divided forever (Or it would be one nation with Waffle Houses everywhere). Put Les Miles in charge of any losing proposition in the annals of history and he single-handedly swings the result the other way.
Meet the new college calculus: Les Miles + impossible eventuality = probable eventuality.
I'm going to write on this later this week, but until then, just keep our new equation in mind as we dive into the ClayNation Starting 11.
Here's the top lesson from Saturday: If you're a major program, never schedule a game you can lose as your season opener. Period. This should be a rule. Why? Because we fans sit around for nine months waiting for the college football season to return, and then, in one sixty minute game, the entire season is ruined. It's just not worth it. You roll out of bed the next morning and effectively the wildest dreams of the offseason, that your team could run the table and contend for a national championship, is over.
Ask Georgia fans what they feel like this morning. Ask Tennessee fans what the last two years prior to this season felt like losing the first game of the season in California. Losing the opening game counts as two losses, it makes you feel like complete crap. And don't even get me started with how good you feel if you win an opening game. You're a liar. You don't feel good, you just feel relieved. Nothing has changed about your season if you win a big opening game. You just get to dream for one week more. On to the ClayNation Starting 11.
It was a good win, but not good enough for LSU's expectations. In fact, Tigers coach Les Miles called LSU's road game at Washington Saturday night a "setup game." Call it a blind date that nearly went terribly wrong.
Miles pointed out how LSU traveled the farthest it has ever been -- 2,550 miles to Seattle -- for a football game. He cited how the opener was played in rain and mist. He reminded fans the Huskies didn't have any distractions -- classes weren't in session last week -- and they returned a talented, experienced quarterback in Jake Locker.
"But we prevailed," Miles said. "We're 1-0 and looking forward to the rest of the season."
Wednesday, the annual circus known as the SEC Media Days kicks off in Birmingham, Ala. As college football has become a year-round sport, the three media days down in Birmingham have become the official launch date for SEC football fans, a time when our region's football obsession officially begins anew. Even if, you know, it never actually dies. Last season then-Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer arrived and was immediately served with a subpoena in a lawsuit brought by my favorite people on Earth: disassociated Alabama boosters. Getting disassociated from the Alabama football program is like being the only guy in a prison who no one will share a table with.
This season, 25 radio stations will be broadcasting live from inside the event, and over 800 members of the media have been credentialed. It's like Woodstock for people who use the word, goll-durn. And we'll be there for the ride. Goll-durn.
Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, Georgia), which pits Georgia Tech against LSU.
Overview/Matchup: Georgia Tech had a heck of a season under Paul Johnson in 2008 and they get rewarded with an upper tier ACC bowl. They get really rewarded because they don't even have to leave campus to play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Les Miles and LSU do, however, and there should be some pretty stout pressure on the Tigers to pull of a postseason dubya here, what with fans questioning Miles' ability to generate enough offense in the bayou.
Hotels: For luxury accommodation close to the stadium The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta is your best bet. The Westin Peachtree has a higher rating, but its sleek design borders on frigid and leaves many guests feeling more like they've entered a bank than a hotel. In the mid-range category the Embassy Suites Centennial Olympic Park is a few hundred yards from the Georgia Dome and offers excellent service for the price. The open atrium and waterfall don't hurt either. For the budget-conscious traveler the Holiday Inn Atlanta Downtown is the best hotel in the area that offers rooms for less than US$100 per night.
Restaurants: After your team wins the big game, or maybe before if you're feeling confident, head to Bone's for a thick, perfectly grilled steak. The prices are steep but the food is worth it. If you're staying in downtown Atlanta, and you need a reasonably priced meal that will fill you up, look no further than Gladys Knight and Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles.
Coaching searches are crazy and a lot of crazy stuff gets said during them, but come the heck on here:
Another rumor making the rounds is that the Huskies might be interested in LSU coach Les Miles, who interviewed at UW in 2004 when Willingham was hired.
That's right, kids: the Seattle Times is speculating that a guy coming off a national championship at a powerhouse SEC program and getting paid one dollar more than Nick Saban who turned down his alma mater last year will leave for Washington. Which is 0-12. And has no particular connection to Les Miles whatsoever. And is still 0-12.
So I ask you, commenters of FanHouse: has anything dumber ever been suggested? Did a newspaper ever claim that the corpse of Bear Bryant would be reanimated and take over at Auburn? Because that's all I got as far as more outlandish scenarios.
Give the Washington Huskies this: they're at least determined. (Or, "delusional", as some of us NC State fans have learned the word actually means when it pertains to a coaching search.) First they've been rebuffed by Jim Mora and then reportedly by Will Muschamp, both gentlemen who did not actually take another real job.
A year after heavy speculation surrounding Les Miles and a possible departure to Michigan eventually resulted in Louisiana State University negotiating a new deal for its head coach, Miles is back in the rumor mill again. The Seattle Times is reporting that Miles may be a candidate at the University of Washington.
The Times more or less simply mentions the possibility, but still, let's be rational here, people. Miles turned down a chance to coach at Michigan -- his alma mater -- and to make more money than the Big Guy upstairs; he did this knowing that if he stayed in LSU, he would still always be under the Saban-scope and that he have to play in the SEC every year instead of the cupcake Big 10.
So why on Earth would the guy bounce for Washington -- even if some LSU fans are getting a bit testy with him -- the year after he won a championship? Exactly. Let's settle down on this one before it gets started then.
Attention, SEC: Please make your way to the center stage, conveniently marked by a large Buckeye-shaped chalk outline.
After three weeks of the NCAA season, the top of the SEC is more jammed than Ed Hochuli's voicemail. Five teams are ranked in the top 10 – No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Florida, No. 6 LSU, No. 9 Alabama and No. 10 Auburn – and four (all but Alabama, who plays Arkansas) are on national television this weekend.
We don't expect an embarrassment like last weekend's Buckeye blowup. Then again, it's probably impossible to get embarrassed like Ohio State did for the third time last weekend. Just to recap, Ronaldo admitted he picked up three transvestites but didn't want to admit he was laying money on Ohio State. Scientology thinks people will find it weird if they find out they picked the Buckeyes. Chris Cooley photoshopped little Chris Cooley over a Buckeyes logo in his infamous lap shot because he thought it would be less embarrassing.
(He was right.)
And we wouldn't even bet that the league's elite are headed for more than one (required) loss. If we had to play a parlay where losing the bet meant getting the stall next to Larry Craig's at Minneapolis-St. Paul International, we'd probably take the 'Dawgs, Gators, Tide and, uh, Tigers.
But Saturday's SEC "opening day" could be something less of a another great chapter in sports television and something more like Air Bud. Two. (Air Bud: Golden Receiver)
Here's why it could go wake-up-after-a-bender-married-to-Pam-Anderson wrong.
West Virginia defensive back Sidney Glover, right, and defensive lineman Scooter Berry react after Colorado's 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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West Virginia quarterback Pat White, right, rushes past Colorado linebacker Shaun Mohler for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Colorado's 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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West Virginia kicker Pat McAfee reacts after missing a field goal against Colorado in over time of Colorado's 17-14 victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado tailback Rodney Stewart, front, is tripped up by West Virginia defenders after a long carry in the fourth quarter of Colorado's 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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West Virginia wide receiver Jock Sanders drops a pass against Colorado in the fourth quarter of Colorado's 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart reacts after his team failed to convert against Colorado late in the fourth quarter of Colorado's 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado kicker Aric Goodman turns to his bench and celebrates after kicking the winning field goal against West Virginia in Colorado's 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado kicker Aric Goodman, left, reacts as he makes a field goal against West Virginia to give Colorado a 17-14 overtime victory in an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008. Holder Scotty McKinght, right, looks on. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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BOULDER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Linbacker Reed Williams #47 of the West Virginia Mountaineers returns an interception of a pass by Cody Hawkins #7 of the Colorado Buffaloes in the second quarter at Folsom Field on September 18, 2008 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Reed Williams
Getty Images
BOULDER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Fans of the Colorado Buffaloes support thieir team as they face the West Virginia Mountaineers at Folsom Field on September 18, 2008 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
[Herbstreit's report] was wrong on so many levels. As a former player, unless I spoke to that coach and he told me it was cool, I would never have done that because he was still coaching a team that's about to play in a (SEC) championship game. ... His team, the first thing they saw when they woke up was that report. It was not fair to him and not fair to the players.
He's got a point given that he's on Michigan's search committee and literally spends every Saturday with Herbstreit. All it would have taken was a simple call to a well-placed colleague to add another layer of proof.
I'll be curious to see if there's any fallout from this one. Herbstreit really is the face of Game Day at this point and is clearly being groomed to take over as ABC's lead commentator for college football, if he isn't already. He's the golden boy and Howard just took him to task.
The World Wide Leader in Sports is known to have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to dissent. Desmond is a good, but by no means irreplaceable commentator. It will be interesting to see if Desmond's comments do more than just kick a dead horse.
OK, so we know that Tim Tebow has been cleared to act like Tim Tebow. He can go to class, he can watch TV and game tape, he can tolerate bright lights and he doesn't have a headache. That was Florida coach Urban Meyer's latest medical update Monday concerning his recovering quarterback as the top-ranked Gators prepare for Saturday's showdown at No. 4 LSU.
Here's the top lesson from Saturday: If you're a major program, never schedule a game you can lose as your season opener. Period. This should be a rule. Why? Because we fans sit around for nine months waiting for the college football season to return, and then, in one sixty minute game, the entire season is ruined. It's just not worth it. You roll out of bed the next morning and effectively the wildest dreams of the offseason, that your team could run the table and contend for a national championship, is over. 
It was a good win, but not good enough for LSU's expectations. In fact, 
Wednesday, the annual circus known as the SEC Media Days kicks off in Birmingham, Ala. As college football has become a year-round sport, the three media days down in Birmingham have become the official launch date for SEC football fans, a time when our region's football obsession officially begins anew. Even if, you know, it never actually dies. Last season then-
Turkey Legs to Go
Coaching searches are crazy and a lot of crazy stuff gets said during them, but 
Give the Washington Huskies this: they're at least determined. (Or, "delusional", as some of us NC State fans have learned the word actually means when it pertains to a coaching search.) First they've been rebuffed by 
Attention, SEC: Please make your way to the center stage, conveniently marked by a large Buckeye-shaped chalk outline. 
... as the knives are sharpened in Bristol ...
