I was surprised to see this much coverage from ESPN. Here are a bunch of articles linked today from ESPN. The first is the best. "Tigers too good to ignore" Pat Forde http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=1665640 The big argument in college football centers on who most deserves to play Oklahoma for the national title: Ohio State or Southern Cal. And then there's the other one-loss team, LSU, conveniently ignored in that raging debate. The dominant storylines in the Southeastern Conference at present are Eli Manning's quest to finally put Mississippi over the top in the West and the three-way controversy in the East between Tennessee, Florida and Georgia. And then there's LSU, holding the highest ranking of any SEC team but not necessarily the highest visibility. (click link for rest of story) "Mauck wants to play in the NFL -- but when?" AP http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1665865 BATON ROUGE, La. -- He's got the offense running full-throttle, has thrown at least one touchdown pass in nine straight games, lost only two games in his college career, and leads the Southeastern Conference in pass efficiency. Yet on Saturday night, LSU quarterback Matt Mauck knows the attention will be focused on the other quarterback, Mississippi's Eli Manning. Come the NFL draft, it'll be the same thing. That's why Mauck's keeping his options open. (click link for rest of story) "Saban psychology vs. Manning mystique" Bill Curry http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=curry_bill&id=1666315 Langston Rogers is the sports information director at Mississippi, but he is much more than the normal SID. He knows Ole Miss Football better than anybody alive. I called Langston to see where this week's match with LSU in Oxford ranks in the pantheon of big games in the little college town that will be the center of the Southern football universe this Saturday. As usual I assumed I knew the answer, and as usual I was wrong. "Surely this is the biggest game since 1959, when Billy Cannon's punt return won the game and won Cannon the Heisman Trophy in Baton Rouge?" I asked. "Nope, that's not it," Langston replied. "Well then I know it has to be the rematch of the same two teams in the Sugar Bowl following that season, when Ole Miss got its revenge, 21-0," I re-inquired. "Wrong again." He was enjoying this so I went silent and waited. "The year was 1952!" he enthused. I asked what could have happened in '52 that was significant. "Maryland was ranked third in the country, came down here in November that year and we beat them 24-14," Langston said. "That game established Johnny Vaught and the Ole Miss football program. This is the biggest moment for us since that day!" Let's see, we've had three wars, 10 presidents, and a civil rights revolution since that game. We have seen football's size, speed, systems, talent and publicity explode. It occurs to me that everything has changed except for one abiding constant: Football matters in these parts. (click link for rest of story, it also has keys to the game)
