Brain Droppings...Atlanta Suicide Watch

Ok. So I normally like to pontificate about college football in this weekly column, but last night was such a horrendous night for Atlanta sports that I feel the need to comment. I've cheered for the Braves and Falcons all my life and last night ranked right up there with the worst moments in Atlanta sports history. Jim Leyritz stunning Mark Wohlers, drafting Aundray Bruce with the #1 overall pick, Eugene Robinson getting arrested and Brooks Conrad kicking the ball all over the infield were all dark days but last night might have been the worst. There is a simple reason...expectations. When the Braves and Falcons stunk for so long it was easy to shrug off a loss because that's what Atlanta sports was all about. This year the Falcons were supposed to be "Super Bowl or Bust." Guess Roddy was right. Bust. The Braves held the lead needing to get 6 skinny outs and had the league's best closer in the bullpen. He never saw the field when the set-up guy, who admittedly had been brilliant all year, gave a 2 run jack in the 8th. Perhaps worst of all, the Atlanta dream were beaten in the WNBA championship series. I don't know exactly what happened but I'm sure they choked it away like their football and baseball brethren. Bleck.

1) This Might Not Be Over - The weekend had such promise too. UGA was up 17-3 and looked to tack on another score to put an undermanned Tennessee team away. Sure, the 2nd string running back had already been lost for the game but there were still plenty of offensive weapons and the defense and special teams had been solid up to that point. Things looked good. Field goal doinks off the upright, starters get freak injuries, punt blocked for a TD, and defense collapses only to be saved by a fumble on what otherwise was a sure TD. The Dawgs escaped but they're battered. Don't look now but here comes an undefeated Missouri team. I still like the Dawgs to win at home, but I'm a lot more nervous about this game all of a sudden.

2) Not That I'm Dwelling - Speaking of the Dawgs this whole run of "bad luck" (call it what you will) in Atlanta may have started with them 5 years away from a national championship appearance in the SEC Championship game last year. I'm glad Chris Conley seems to have put that play from his mind and was spectacular on Saturday but since that ill-advised catch just 3 yards from the endzone, the Falcons came up 5 yards short in same endzone against San Francisco and have now fallen apart, the Braves choked away a late lead in the playoffs, and the Dream lose in the WNBA finals. Dammit!

3) Can Anyone Stop Baylor - I watched Baylor play my wife's beloved WVU Mountaineers on Saturday night. I know WVU isn't trotting out Pat White and Steve Slaton but they did beat Oklahoma State last week. Before I blinked it was 28-7. Baylor has 56 before halftime and over 70 by the end of the game. I don't want to get ahead of myself here but do you really think Baylor has that tough a schedule. I know Kliff Kingsbury is dreamy and all (love that 5 o' clock shadow) but is Texas Tech going to stop them? What about TCU or Texas? Do you have that much confidence in Oklahoma? Watch out for Baylor, they're stacked.

4) I Don't Get It - I don't think Notre Dame is very good. Yet, they managed to win one I didn't think they had in them on Saturday. This along with a slipping Ole Miss team, a strong showing by Washington, and a horrendous backdoor cover caused me to go 0-4 in the picks this week. There is no point in this blurb other than me sulking.

5) Fear the Turt...Nevermind - Just when you thought Maryland might be for real. Their win against West Virginia looked better after the Eer's went out and beat the Cow Pokes. Oops, then they got housed by Baylor. Then Maryland went out and looked like my cousins under 14 year old team against the Noles. Seriously, my cousin's team has a pretty solid running back that I think could have found more holes in the FSU defense than Maryland did. The kid also plays middle linebacker and probably could have tripped up at least one Seminole for a tackle, something that the Terps couldn't do. By the way UGA fans, FSU jumping you in the poll is bad news. Now the winner of FSU/Clemson in two weeks stays ahead of you unless they slip up somewhere. Uh oh.

6) The Weekly SEC Power Rankings

14) Kentucky - Only because their close loss against Carolina wasn't as impressive as...
13) Tennessee - Close loss against UGA was more impressive than UK's
12) Mississippi State - Close loss against LSU keeps them from slipping further
11) Arkansas - I like what Brent is doing here but they're just not ready for the big boys yet.
10) Vanderbilt - Honestly, I thought about making them lower. They have three wins against Austin Peay, UAB, and UMASS. I think Coach Humpty wishes he was back in 1990

9) Ole Miss - Freeze is blowing his chance at the Texas job. Better step it back up.

8) Auburn - Gus Malzahn has this team headed in the right direction. Impressive win against the Black Bears on Saturday.

7) Florida - I still need to see the new QB against a legitimate team. Oh, they play LSU this weekend?

6) South Carlolina - This drop may be temporary but the Cocks do not look good right now. Drunk Steve Spurrier, hurt Jadaveon Clowney, only winning aginst UK by 7?

5) Missouri - They are putting it together right now. Very interested to see them in person on Saturday against the Dawgs.

4) Texas A&M - Looking forward to their shoot-out with LSU

3) LSU - I want to see if the old LSU shows back up this weekend. I get the feeling it won't be quite as good as it was but it will look better than it did against UGA.

2) UGA - Had the not beaten LSU then they would have slipped just because of the injuries. The defense and special teams just have not be good enough to be a championship caliber team.

1) Alabama - Still truckin'