It's a magical week. Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season which retailers started before Halloween. We have exactly two weeks left in the college football regular season and it is also officially Rivalry Week. This means that on Thanksgiving, Auburn fans will hold hands with their Alabama fan brother and 48 hours later their relationship resembles that of Silky Johnson and Buck Nasty at the Playa Hater's Ball...
But rivalries are what make college athletics resonate with so many people. Ohio State fans can hate Michigan fans every day of the year. Wisconsin and Minnesota can go to battle on the football field every year to claim the ax of an American myth. UGA can retire the jersey of a player whose most meaningful contribution to the history of Bulldog football was scoring a TD that broke a losing streak of 8 games to their hated rival, Georgia Tech.
College football rivalry games have names like The Iron Bowl (Alabama/Auburn), the Civil War (Oregon/Oregon State), the Holy War (BYU/Utah), the Egg Bowl (Mississippi/Mississippi State), and Bedlam (Oklahoma/Oklahoma State).
Coaches lose their jobs when they don't win rivalry games. Ask John Cooper or Bill Curry.
However, with conference realignment we are in danger of losing some of the great rivalries across the country and have already lost some of them Pitt and Penn State no longer play in what was once a great rivalry. Pitt also played against West Virginia in what was dubbed the "Backyard Brawl" for many years. Texas and Texas A&M have sacrificed their great rivalry to focus on more money. I hate to see these games go by the wayside and as conferences get bigger and more spread out they become more and more endangered. Of course, new rivalries will be formed. But that takes time and some of the history behind some of the current rivalries is just too good to give up. For instance, Georgia Tech once watered their field for days leading up to their clash with Georgia in order to slow down their dangerous backfield. It worked. Tech won in a big upset.
In 1954 prior to the Oregon/Oregon State game, some Oregon fans snuck onto the Oregon State campus and lit their traditional celebratory bonfire off early. Around 25 were captured and held "prisoner." Their heads were shaved, they were painted Orange and Black and one was forced to to march through campus with sign that read "I'm a Dumb Duck."
Alabama and Auburn refused to play each other for 40 years because they couldn't agree on a per diem for players or where they could find neutral officials. The Alabama House of Representatives had to pass a resolution encouraging the teams to play in 1947 before they met each other on the field again. And stories like this are common.
So on this Thanksgiving week, I'm thankful for the hate that flows between schools once a year for a week (though year round in some cases). It makes for great memories and great games.
1) Damn Good Dawg - Like a lot of UGA fans, I'm also thankful for Aaron Murray this week. His career came to an end last week against Kentucky when he tore his ACL on a designed run. Of course, he wouldn't come out of the game and played two more series and threw a TD before collapsing to the turf and being helped off the field. He has been a great player, a great representative of my alma mater, and from all of the stories coming out in the wake of his injury, an even better person.
I hate to see him go and wish him luck in whatever his future holds.
2) You Just Never Know - I'm thankful for the unpredictability of college football. You truly never know what is going to happen. A team that was averaging over 60 points a game (Baylor) was held to 17 and blown out by Oklahoma State this past weekend. The Cowboy inexplicably have lost one game to a West Virginia team that will not go to a bowl. The Mountaineers dropped a game to Kansas who hadn't won a conference game in 2 years. A team that has a chance to play for the SEC Championship (South Carolina) lost to one of the worst Tennessee teams in recent memory. Once great Florida dropped it's 6th straight game to Georgia Southern this past weekend. Arizona beat Oregon. Auburn scored on a miracle against Georgia. Wisconsin beat Arizona State because the officials couldn't spot the ball in a timely manner. Every weekend brings something remarkable to the table and I can't wait until I see whatever unfolds this weekend.
3) Ground.Rule.Huddle - I'm thankful for the ability to bring you this blog. Brian and I started it as a way to keep talking sports once he graduated and I continued to work on my degree and it's been a lot of fun. We have had people read from all over the country and more and more look in every week. I don't know if this will ever be anymore than "just fun" for us, but if it never gets any bigger, we'll keep doing it. Please give us your feedback so we can keep improving it. I'm also thankful for our Guest Pickers and other contributors. JD, Lord McFather, and The Bear are real people with real influence on us and they help to make things a lot of fun.
On to the SEC Power Rankings:
14) Arkansas - They lost in the playoff for the worst team in the SEC this past weekend after blowing a 4th Quarter lead. Not sure it's going to get any better for a while.
13) Kentucky - The bad news: they just got beat by 50. the good news: it's basketball season.
12) Tennessee - 2nd straight loss to Vandy who have officially passed them as the best program in the State.
11) Florida - The scary thing is...they could be ranked lower.
10) Mississippi State - With wins over Arkansas and Kentucky, they climb the rankings.
9) Vanderbilt - The 9th best team has beaten UGA, Florida, and Tennessee which would normally be a great season but only UGA was a solid win.
8) Ole Miss - It's a little scary that Ole Miss is the 8th best team in the league. They've only lost to #1 Alabama, #4 Auburn, # 5 Missouri, and #19 Texas A&M.
7) UGA - If Aaron Murray was healthy, I'd rank them above A&M but he's not.
6) Texas A&M - Their defense is atrocious and LSU made Johnny Manziel look human this weekend. That's not a good combination because Missouri's defense is better.
5) LSU - Solid performance against A&M. Should win the Golden Boot easily.
3b) South Carolina - I know they beat Mizzou but they don't control their own destiny.
3a) Missouri - Lost to Carolina but are a win away from Atlanta. Plus, they have their QB back.
2) Auburn - A road loss at LSU early in the season is the only reason they aren't undefeated. Wow.
1) Alabama - Still 10 points favorites in the Iron Bowl. Bigger Wow.
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