FOOTBALL: Aggies get the last laugh

Looks like having Texas A&M on the schedule late didn’t help Texas. Oklahoma passes Texas in the BCS rankings. It appears theory of every weekend of college football being a playoff took a hit since Texas beat OU head to head in October.

— PA

FOOTBALL: Capital One Bowl comments

This is from Steve Hogan, the executive director of the Capital One Bowl, when I asked him about the bowl’s interest in Ole Miss following Georgia’s loss to Georgia Tech. The bowl is contractually obligated to take the SEC team with the best overall record — or within one game of that record — after BCS bowl selections are made.

— PA

STEVE HOGAN
There is some very sincere interest in Ole Miss for several reasons. First and foremost I have a lot of respect for Pete Boone, he’s a friend of many years, and there are great people there with an unbelievable fan base.

Second, is Houston Nutt. He has a lot of friends in Orlando. We have a lot of respect for Ole Miss. It’s exciting to see what the Rebels have done over the course of the year to be where they are.

There is sincere interest in Ole Miss, and there will be a lot of debate.

We’re no stranger to Western teams in Orlando. We’ve had Arkansas a couple of times, LSU and Alabama. We’ve had a variety of teams from the East and West. There’s no reason why Ole Miss would not make sense in Orlando. There is no impediment.

We try to look at the teams available based on the balance of their season. We don’t want to make it about (selling) every last ticket available. That would be easy to do. It might cost us a few thousand in sales, but we’re not there for every last person to come to Orlando if you will. We often take into account a team deserving on the balance of the year.

Personally, I’m very fond of Pete Boone, and obviously Houston is a good man and a great coach. We have a lot of respect for both of those men in Orlando.

We think the world of their athletic program there, and let everyone know they’re in our mix.

FOOTBALL: Poll watching

Here’s the link to the polls. Rebels up to No. 22 in the AP top 25 and cracking the coaches poll at No. 25. BCS list will come out later today. The thing to watch there will be if there’s any change between Texas and Oklahoma. If not, Texas is the Big 12 South champ, and OU will not play in the Big 12 title game.

— PA

FOOTBALL: Bowl picture

I am trying to get an official word from the Capital One Bowl folks on exactly how much interest they have in Ole Miss.

The Ole Miss-to-Orlando scenario still hinges on the SEC getting two teams in BCS games, but that seems like a realistic possibility.

I’ll post a Cap One response when I get one.

— PA

FOOTBALL/HOOPS: Morgan State game thread

Because I can’t believe this Morgan State game is on the minds of too many Ole Miss fans today, I ask this question. It appears MSU football coach Sylvester Croom has resigned. How does that impact Ole Miss? Is it good, bad or insignificant?

Leave your comments below, and we’ll talk some basketball along the way.

— PA

EGG BOWL: From the print edition

Game story

Notebook

Nutt’s first Egg Bowl

Dogs didn’t see it coming

Change must occur in Starkville

— PA

FOOTBALL: SEC Bowl Policy

I posted this as a response below, but I’m putting up here for easier viewing.

— PA

SEC BOWL POLICY
The Southeastern Conference has agreements to send nine of its member institutions to postseason bowl games following the 2008 season. The winner of the SEC Championship Game will automatically participate in the Bowl Championship Series comprised of the Sugar, Rose, Orange and Fiesta Bowls.

The Capital One (2nd), will then make its pick following the BCS selections. The bowl must select the team with the next best overall record or a team within one win of the team with the next best overall record.

The Outback, Chick-fil-A and AT&T Cotton Bowls will work with the conference office to determine picks 3-5. The Cotton Bowl has the first preference of teams from the Western Division and the Outback Bowl has first preference of teams from the Eastern Division. The Cotton or Outback Bowl can select teams outside of its divisional preference, but must not select them before the opposite bowl selects from its divisional preference. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has the selection of preference following the Cotton and Outback Bowls.

In selections 6-7, the AutoZone Liberty and Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowls will make their selections, not in any specific order, but in consultation with the SEC Office. The Bowls will rank available qualified teams in order of preference. If there are no similarities in the order of selection, the bowls will be granted its selection. If the bowls rank the same teams in preference, the team involved in the process would get its preference of which bowl to participate.

The Petro Sun Independence Bowl will receive the eighth selection and the Papajohns.com Bowl will have the ninth selection of available SEC teams.

PETRO SUN INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Dec. 28 • 8 p.m. ET • ESPN
Shreveport, La. • Independence Stadium (50,459)
Teams: SEC vs. Big 12

PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL
Dec. 29 • 3 p.m. ET • ESPN
Birmingham, Ala. • Legion Field (71,594)
Teams: SEC vs. Big East

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL
Dec. 31 • 7:30 p.m. ET • ESPN
Atlanta, Ga. • Georgia Dome (71,228)
Teams: SEC vs. ACC

GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL
Dec. 31 • 3:30 p.m. ET • ESPN
Nashville, Tenn. • The Coliseum (67,000)
Teams: SEC vs. ACC

OUTBACK BOWL
Jan. 1 • 11 a.m. ET • ESPN
Tampa, Fla. • Raymond James Stadium (65,657)
Teams: SEC vs. Big Ten

CAPITAL ONE BOWL
Jan. 1 • 1 p.m. ET • ABC Sports
Orlando, Fla. • Florida Citrus Bowl (65,438)
Teams: SEC vs. Big Ten

AT&T COTTON BOWL
Jan. 2 • 2 p.m. ET • FOX Sports
Dallas, Texas • The Cotton Bowl (68,252)
Teams: SEC vs. Big 12

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL
Jan. 2 • 5 p.m. ET • ESPN
Memphis, Tenn. • Liberty Bowl Stadium (62,338)
Teams: SEC vs. Conference USA

FOOTBALL: Egg Bowl postgame

The link is to the audio of Nutt’s postgame news conference. The Jamarca Sanford photo is courtesy of Brandon Speck, the Nutt photo courtesy of David Ferrell.

— PA

11-28-nutt-egg-bowl-postgame

EGG BOWL GAME THREAD

Leave questions or comments below and follow along.

— PA

FOOTBALL: Egg Bowl Linkage

Brad Locke caught up with longtime SEC broadcaster Dave Neal the other day. Neal has been a part of the 11:30 a.m. regional syndication game when it was sponsored by Jefferson-Pilot, Lincoln-Financial and finally Raycom, which broadcasts the last such game today. Regional syndication will take on a whole new look next year when the ESPN contract kicks in.

Also, the Egg Bowl has seen its share of classic finishes and games with bowl implications for one team or the other. I looked back at two such games, the 1983 wind-blown field goal block for Ole Miss and the 1998 win to clinch the West for MSU.

— PA