Recovered. Enjoying other people's disappointments. Perhaps, I could feel slighted when folks talk about the great exposing of the Rebels - and how embarrassed we all should be for daring to get excited about our football prospects - but the truth is that we, maybe not Barnhart or anyone else, knew this might happen in January. So, I am not just prepared, I am excited about the slap in the face that will come tomorrow. We deserve to be slapped. Also, the sting will be numbed because ...
Miami and California sucked the air right out of the "Ole Miss overrated" meme. While I saw the Miami bubble bursting, I was ready to buy, buy, buy on a California team and its star running back. One might toss out the old "parity" argument for college football, but I think "manic depressive" is probably more appropriate. And yet, somehow, LSU is undefeated.
Alabama is the number one team in the country. Florida is already up 24-0 on Kentucky. Congratulations. However, considering the Tide's body of work - now that everyone has a substantial amount of it - none of the top teams in the country can boast such convincing resumes. The season-opening win in Atlanta looks better and better every day. And the difference between Arkansas' offense against Georgia and against Alabama is almost unbelievable.
Did Dan Mullen really go for the jump pass on 3rd and centimeters? Showing an Orgeron-esque potential for taking risks at bizarre times, Comrade Dan must have been trying to spread the crazy. You have, allegedly, black Tebow on the sidelines and two chances against suspect rush defense, but, instead, you ask the worst quarterback in the conference, who is - by the way - somewhere on the order of three feet tall, to execute a semi-trick play and then run a vanilla quarterback sneak. I've seen stupid. I've seen it recently. I saw it on Thursday. But that kind of pissing-away is the kind that ought to be cause for more concern than it has been. Furthermore, that LSU needed that kind of bone-headed-ness to escape Starkville continues to prove that Ole Miss isn't the only SEC West team that needs to drop out of the Top 10.
The Cincinnati-South Florida game is suddenly relevant. I watched the Bulls beat the Seminoles, and I, consequently, am prepared to offer reserved, moderate praise. He isn't so bad. The Bearcats, having already "proven" themselves in a comfortable win at Oregon State, will likely be undefeated when they face the Bulls in three weeks. Between now and then, South Florida has Syracuse and bye.
Every week someone in the SEC looks human. It was Georgia and South Carolina in week 1. It has been Mississippi State, LSU, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee practically every week. It hasn't really been Auburn, yet, but they'll play someone with a pulse soon enough. It was even Florida against Tennessee. This week, the Rebels, Hogs, and Wildcats looked practically sub-human. When will it be Alabama?