Albert Banks

Let me preface this with full disclosure, I’m a University of Florida grad and huge Gator fan. With that said, the proof is undeniable. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) East division is the best division of any conference in all of college football. Let’s take a look at the teams:

#7 South Carolina (5-1)
The Ol’ Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier is winning with running and defense. The Cocks already defeated Georgia and gave the LSU Tigets a run for it’s money in Baton Rouge.

#13 Florida (4-2)
Despite being a very young team (60% underclassmen), the Gators destroyed Tennessee and held a 10 point fourth quarter lead on #1 LSU. It appear Florida has a dominant leader in Tim Tebow.

#17 Kentucky (5-1)
This isn’t the same old Cats. Kentucky now has some football players. Clutch QB Andre’ Woodson is a Heisman candidate who lead UK to a miraculous upset of then #9 Louisville.

#24 Georgia (4-2)
Backed by a tough defense and after finally finding a leader in QB Matthew Stafford, Georgia continues to be a road warrior under coach Mark Richt. But can the win in “neutral” Jacksonville?

#25 Tennessee (3-2)
Despite the blowout loss to Florida, the Volunteers played current #2 California to the wire on the road and recently knocked of Georgia by 21 points. If their defense remains stout it will be a tough out.

Vanderbilt (3-2)
The Commodores are the perennial division cellar dweller, but they always hangs tough particularly at home. And they have a winning record…

The body of work speaks for itself. With five ranked teams and every team with a winning record, despite competing in the most difficult conference in the country, the East is a beast to be feared.

Last Saturday night, leading 31-14 at halftime, Michigan State allowed 19 Notre Dame points in the last 8:18 of the fourth quarter in which quarterback Drew Stanton turned the ball over 3 straight times including a go-ahead pick-six. After the remarkable “choke job”, a MSU Radio Host, Mike Valenti, of The Sports Inferno goes off for nearly 16 minutes. Take a listen, It’s priceless.

Did you feel that cool breeze this afternoon? Did a leaf fall from above? Did you wake up this morning feeling more alive? The answers must be yes, because today is the start of a new College Football Season! Tonight the season officially gets started with an SEC clash between Spurrier’s South Carolina Cocks and Croom’s MSU Dogs. Not exactly a thriller, to be sure, but it’s not baseball. This weekend is the launching point of my favorite time of year. One final look at the checklist:

Beer – of course
Couch – broken in
2nd TV in living room – setup saturday
Gator shirts – cleaned (thanks Katie!)
ESPN GamePlan – ordered
Message Boards – perused and participated
Preseason Polls – read and ignored
BCS – already pissed
Kram Yam (Mark May) – still hate him

Ben Troupe is the backup TE for the Titans. When his teamate and starting TE, Erron Kinney, went down with an injury Troupe backed him up on the field… and off. Aparently Kinney had taken a role in the Nashville Ballet’s version of “The Nutcracker.” Now injured (knee), he asked Toupe to fill in. So, Ben joined the cast in the role of Mother Ginger, a large hoop-skirted woman.

Nice to see this bond, especially between Gators. Makes me wish I had a backup. Maybe next time I tweak my knee, Alex Brown will take out the trash for me.