Sportsfrog.com

EAST

1. Florida — Ok, honestly, what else can be said about Florida and Mr. Tebow that hasn’t already been repeated 30 times? Oh yeah, an a certain sideline reporter that generates a lot of pageviews–no, it’s not Rob Stone–also went there too, in case you didn’t know. However Tebow has overshadowed the defense, which returns all 11 starters and could hold opponents to under 10 points a game. (They were at 12.9 last season) If Florida wins the National Championship, it’s going to be because of the defense, and not the quarterback.

2. Georgia – With the departures of Stafford and Moreno, the defense–which returns eight starters–is going to have to step up for the Bulldogs. The defense also returned eight starters last year, but ended up giving up more points per game despite giving up fewer yards and completions than in 2007. And hey, the Dawgs will have the distinction of having the biggest crowd–once again–at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium this year.

3. Tennessee — What’s the reception going to be like for Lane Kiffin when he walks into The Swamp on the 19th? Will he get hit with a 9 volt? And will Tennessee lose by less than 25? The Vols are third only because the SEC East is the Big XII North of the SEC. But it should be good enough to get them to a bowl game.

4. Vanderbilt – Bobby Johnson returns 17 starters from last season’s team, and there’s a possibility that Vandy will be going bowling for the fifth time in school history. But barring an upset, that bowl eligibility could come down to the final game at Tennessee. That could be fun.

5. Steve Spurrier — Steve Spurrier looked horrible last night, and given their schedule–the toughest in the country according to Phil Steele–bowl eligibility isn’t in the cards for the Cocks this year.

6. Kentucky – Sorry AB and Bensell, fifth is the highest that the Wildcats can think of achieving this season.

WEST

1. Ole Miss — If Jevan Snead doesn’t transfer to Ole Miss, how close are the Rebels to being in this position? And does Snead ever see the field in a meaningful situation at Texas? Given the schedule, it’s not inconceivable in the slightest that Ole Miss could run the table, setting up an apocalyptic showdown of two undefeated teams in the SEC title game. But, this is the SEC, and given the wackiness in college football over the last few years, I wouldn’t put money on the Rebels running the table in the regular season.

2. Alabama — The Crimson Tide get knocked down to second only because the game against Ole Miss is on the road. They also draw three weak teams from the East, so they too could go through the conference schedule undefeated. But again, this is the SEC. And ‘Bama could easily lose tomorrow night, not that it matters in the conference.

3. LSU – LSU may be as good as Ole Miss and Alabama, but is behind the schedule eight ball as they get to play Georgia and Florida. That means that the Tigers would potentially have to beat both Ole Miss and ‘Bama, which is a pretty tough task considering that both are road games.

4. Arkansas – The Hogs should be heading back to a bowl this season, as they return 18 starters, including 10 on the defense. That should mean a drastic defensive improvement, because Arkansas gave up over 31 ppg last season and saw its opponents’ completion percentage rise almost eight percent.

5. Auburn – Yeah, I know Gene Chizik is a former Auburn assistant, but I wonder if he’s ready for the pressure at Auburn given that he won five games at Iowa State and hardly heard a complaint from the mellow fanbase. And that pressure is going to come quickly in a loaded division.

6. Mississippi State — 10 returning starters on a team from a team that went 4-8 last year? Thankfully Dan Mullen will have a bit of a grace period because this is going to be a rough season in Starkville.

This is a Florida preview.    And why does the SEC get two previews, one for each side?  Oh wait, new media contract.  Right.  Is anyone else annoyed by how this is clearly going to play out?  One team gets all the press, all the buzz because their coach is the hottest thing around and all the buzz because they go two deep at every position and have some hotshot young kids and blah blah blah.  Cause if that is how things are going to shake out, I’ve had it with ESPN’s coverage of the SEC.

At least until basketball season.

You want to read a fantastic article about the Southeastern Conference’s recent decision to ban fans (!) at games from facebooking and tweeting, then check out what Michael Kruse of the St Pete Times wrote on Sunday.

Here’s a quote, and when you’re done, come back here and finish reading this simple little blog post.

Many are saying this makes the bosses of the SEC look like fuddy-duddy technophobes — that they don’t “get” new media.

They get it. The language of the conference’s policy suggests they know all too well the high-stakes fight that’s just beginning.

Ok, welcome back. You’ve just witnessed – probably for the 103rd time today – the power of the hyperlink.

It’s the most basic, most fundamental value of the New Media world. And it’s just the beginning of a giant shift in the way news is distributed and how it will be paid for.

Inside that shift, there is a clear divide forming; the ‘those’ and the ‘those-nots’.

On one side, there are teams like the New York Jets – who are fast becoming the poster boys of social media (mostly because they are in NY, many pro sports teams are doing what they are doing.)

For another example, take this story from TechCrunch about a new startup called FanChatter. It has partnered with a few pro teams (Twins, Wild, and others) to set up a way for fans to take photos and video of themselves at a game and upload it to a place where people who work for the team can post the photo/video on the scoreboard (at best) or (at worst) on the web site. It’s basically the exact opposite to the idea as the SEC had.

So when I read about morons at the SEC, or like at the Associated Press, who think they’ll be able to figure out a way to control the flow of this tide, I just laugh at the level of Fear I see on display.

What all this does… the actions of the AP, the SEC, ESPN… is take regular everyday developers like me, and regular everyday users like the guy next to me, and turn us into an army of hackers. All ready to see the latest wall that is built for us to scale.

Their only weapon is enforcement.

And since technology is now the enemy of closed, the future is on the side of the open.