When it's football season that tends to be what I concentrate on in the Brain Droppings segment. However, I feel as if I need to comment on the mess that is the Atlanta Hawks right now. In case you haven't heard, the controlling partner of the Hawks, Bruce Levenson, has self-reported a "racially insensitive" email and will sell his portion of the team. The problem is, from a national standpoint, this isn't a story. In fact, Kareem Abdul-Jabar said the comments from Levenson weren't racist. My initial reaction is that Levenson just wants an easy way to explain why he is selling the team. However, racism, while not as blatant here as it was in the Donald Sterling incident, is still a story here. Levenson's email was about the fan experience at Hawks games and ultimately was wondering how to get more people in the seats. Sadly, Atlanta is still a hot bed of race, especially when it comes to sport and though I am unfamiliar with other cities I am sure it is not the only one. One thing I can predict though in terms of getting people in seats is if you put a winner on the floor, people will come. The Hawks have failed to do that and that's ultimately why people don't go to their games.
On to football...
1) Thuds - The Big 10 - Michigan State played a hard fought game which ended with a score not indicating the competitiveness involved, but other than that, the Big 10 flat out sucked. It has made the playoff contention that much easier to predict because there will only be 4 power conferences represented and we can narrow that down to 5 of 6 conferences. Even if the Spartan run the table, who will they have beaten? Ohio State? Michigan? Pretty sad state of affairs up there. Vanderbilt- The web domain www.firederekmason.com was just purchased by a Vandy fan who will start a blog on it. Any chance that blog will merely talk about the good ol' days of 2011-2013. James Franklin has proven you can win at Vandy. Derek Mason better get to figure out the formula before the administration remembers that. It's one thing to lose your first two games as a head coach, it's another to not doing anything of note on either side of the ball in those games. Texas - Under the radar in this part of the country was the Longhorn's annual drubbing by BYU. This game was the reason Charlie Strong was brought into Texas. Granted, he didn't have his starting QB, but the problem is no one else on his team showed up either. Texas A&M has become the gold standard in the state of Texas and all they had to do was join the SEC and hire Kevin Sumlin.
2) Studs - Atlanta Matts - Normally I speak CFB on here, but the display Matt Ryan and Matt Bryant put up on Sunday to lead the Falcons to victory over the Saints was pretty awesome. I pegged the Falcons as an 8-8 team and that doesn't change a whole lot. Their defense is suspect at best and I'm still not sold on their o-line. But they had to beat the Saints on Sunday to wash last year's taste out of their mouth to have any chance of a playoff run. With 450+ yards and two half-ending scoring drives (the first half one in 20 seconds), Matt Ryan reminded us of why he was a number 1 pick and Matt Bryant drilled two 50+ yd FGs at the end of regulation and in OT to give the Birds a huge win. Marcus Mariota - For two and a half quarters it appeared another more physical team would get the best of the Oregon Ducks and this time on their home field. Then this guy turned it on and his team raced to a 19 point win (thanks for the late TD for the cover btw). Coupled with UCLA's tough first two outings, the Ducks are the clear favorite in the PAC-12. Steve Spurrier - As a UGA fan, it's tough to give props to the HBC (especially this week). However, Steve Spurrier cracks me up. He also happens to be probably the 2nd greatest coach in SEC history (sorry Vince). Today, he makes the list because of his answer to a question he fielded at his weekly press conference. The last question involved the Ray Rice incident in the NFL and Coach Spurrier questioned any coach that doesn't have a rule against hitting women for their team (not that they should need a rule but you catch my drift). If you want to hear all of the HBC had to say, check it out here.
3) Playoffs - Still way too early, but my playoff prediction is: (1) Texas A&M (2) Oregon (3) FSU (4) Oklahoma. A&M still has the most impressive win of the young season. I saw a lot of people put Auburn in the playoff from the SEC, but wins against Arkansas and San Jose State don't convince me. This is about who you beat as much as it is about how often you win. Oregon moves to #2 after beating what is a good Michigan State team. The problem is I don't know how good they are because they compete in the watered down Big 10. FSU has struggled early but has a good win against Oklahoma State and a yawner against The Citadel. Oklahoma and Baylor will be playing for the Big 12 when they meet on the field later this year. Baylor's QB is hurt so the Sooner's get the nod. If UGA can get the win against Carolina this week, they jump into the mix for sure.
4) Next Week - UGA and Carolina are the big game next week. The winner takes the inside track to the SEC East crown. Don't count the Gators out as their offense showed up in a game against Eastern Michigan. They play against perennial SEC doormat Kentucky this week. Not a lot on the line nationally. USC will follow their big win against Stanford with a trip across country to play BC in a game that might have mattered 15 years ago. Other than that, it's another early season yawner. However, that's when I've noticed things seem to happen.
5) SEC Power Rankings
14) Vandy - Awful. That's it.
13) Arkansas - You beat Nicholls State. Congrats.
12) Kentucky - Not a bad win against a usually competitive Ohio team. We'll see what they got against the Gators this week.
11) Miss State - Beat UAB but defense looked shakey.
10) South Carolina - This is low, but their defense is still struggling. Don't think they can't beat UGA this week though. Plenty of talent.
9) Tennessee - Arkansas State is no slouch but UT slides back to the middle of the pack.
8) Florida - Big win but against a team they should win big against.
7) Mizzou - Impressive easy win in the Glass Bowl against a Toledo team that could've given them trouble.
6) Ole Miss - Vandy is bad and the Rebels did exactly what you need to do against a bad team. Their D is legit too.
5) Alabama - Did what you are supposed to against inferior opponents.
4) Auburn - They have a ton of talent. Let's see how that talent looks against a real team.
3) LSU - Sam Houston State doesn't tell me much except Leonard Fournette is an idiot.
2) UGA - A bye before Carolina: Does it help or does it hurt having everyone tell you how great you are?
1) Texas A&M - This week's awful slate of games and they retain the heavyweight ranking after beating some guy named Lamar.
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