Kentucky at Louisville Set for Sept. 4 at 3:30

The Joker Phillips era of Kentucky football will kick off at Louisville on Sat. Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by ABC Sports.
The game will be part of an ABC three-way regional telecast. The other two games that will be regionally televised are UCLA at Kansas State and Connecticut at Michigan.
The UK-Louisville contest will be the first game for the new head coaches at both schools, Joker Phillips at Kentucky and Charlie Strong at Louisville.
Kentucky leads the all-time series, 13-9, and the Wildcats have won the last three games of the intrastate rivalry.

Times Set for First Two Gamecock's Football Games

The University of South Carolina will play its first two football games of the 2010 season on national television, it was announced today.
The Gamecocks will open the season on Thursday, September 2 when they host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. That game will be televised nationally on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. That game will be the first meeting ever on the gridiron between the two squads. It will also mark the sixth straight season in which the Gamecocks will play a Thursday night contest on ESPN and the fifth time in the six years under head coach Steve Spurrier that Carolina opens its season on a Thursday night. The Gamecocks are a perfect 4-0 in season openers on Thursdays under Coach Spurrier.
Carolina will open Southeastern Conference play on Saturday, September 11, when the Gamecocks entertain the Georgia Bulldogs at Williams-Brice Stadium. That contest will be televised nationally on either ESPN or ESPN2 with kick time slated for Noon ET. The Bulldogs hold a 46-14-2 advantage in the all-time series, including a wild 41-37 win in Athens last season. The Gamecocks are 7-19-2 when hosting the Bulldogs in Columbia.

Tide's Ingram Dodges a Tackle about issue of leaving early for NFL

Alabama running back Mark Ingram added an award to his growing collection that includes the first Heisman Trophy in school history. He was recognized Sunday night in Birmingham as the Alabama Sports Writer Association's 2009 Amateur Athlete of the Year.
He met with a small group of reporters for a few minutes before the awards dinner and was asked if his upcoming junior year will be his last season at Alabama. It apparently was the first time he has been asked the question directly. It might seem like a foregone conclusion that he will turn pro in 2011, but Ingram has not commented on his future intentions.
"My main focus right now is being the best player I can be for this team and helping this team win games and win another championship," he said. "Anything else is not necessary to talk about."
Is it conceivable that you could play two more years of college football?
"Like I said, my main focus is just to every single day get better as a player and help this team win games."
Told he had just done a nice job dodging a "tackle," Ingram grinned.
"That's what I do best," he said.

Conference expansion would ruin SEC's gold mine

They didn't make a big deal about it, but some of the CEOs of SEC schools caught the expansion bug. South Carolina President Harris Pastides told reporters last week that he saw some merit to expanding into Texas "and maybe beyond there." A handful of others are of a like mind. Then the SEC handed out the checks. And Pastides said any expansion was "appealing to me as a backup plan."

"If we keep things the way they are, that's what I'd like to do," he said. Money talks. And it talks loud enough to drown out any serious expansion talk around the SEC, for the time being.

On Friday, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced that the league was distributing $209 million in revenue to its 12 members. That averages about $17.3 million per school. The thought of splitting up the pie with another two or four schools suddenly did not seem quite so appealing. While the 58 percent boost in revenue-sharing from the previous year was attributed in large part to the new TV deals with ESPN and CBS, member schools are still allowed to negotiate their own deals for things like coaches' shows and spring game broadcasts. At some schools, those generate considerable profit. With that kind of money being thrown around, the SEC has taken a wait-and-see approach to expansion. Slive said only that his approach remains "strategic and thoughtful" as this plays out.

Shocker... The SEC is freakin' Loaded

According to figures released this afternoon, the conference generated $209 million in revenue for the 2009-2010 school year. With each member of the school receiving an even split of the pot, that means that every school will receive in the neighborhood of $17.4 million apiece, minus the $50 annual dues each pays to the conference, of course.
For 2008-2009, the total revenue was $132.5 million, with each school receiving $11.1 million. By our calculations, that's a nearly 57-percent increase per institution.
Of course, each member of the Big Ten will reportedly receive $22 million for the same time frame, but there's little doubt that, on the field and at the bank, the SEC remains the premier conference in the country.

Gooch grows into the center position for VOLS; ready to come to Knoxville

Gooch arrived at Butte last fall as a 225-pounder from McQueen High School in Reno, N.V. He gained enough weight to play for Butte at close to 260 pounds as a freshman.
After a spring dedicated to working out and eating right, Gooch's weight topped more than 300 pounds.
'I gained a lot of weight, got better and kept my quickness up,' Gooch said. 'I did what I needed to do.'
His work paid off in the form of a scholarship to UT.
Gooch had received interest from Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Boise State and Arizona, but UT was the only school to offer a spot this fall.
'It's a big SEC school,' he said of UT. 'I'm the first kid from my high school to actually go to an SEC school so I'm really excited about that.' Gooch will have an opportunity to play immediately as the Vols continue to look for help at center."

SEC's Slive singing same expansion song

SEC's Slive singing same expansion song CollegeFootballTalk.com: "SEC commissioner Mike Slive has preached a reactive rather than proactive approach to the unstable environment.
So, if you thought this latest round of rampant speculation would change Slive's tune, you're mistaken.
Speaking as his league was wrapping up it's annual spring meetings, Slive maintained that it's status quo, at least publicly as far as the SEC and expansion is concerned.
'We discussed it as you would expect us to discuss it, and we're not going to say anything more than I've said all along, so there's really nothing more I can add,' Slive said according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer."

More cowbell: Miss. St. gets to keep making artificial noise

More cowbell: Miss. St. gets to keep making artificial noise from CollegeFootballTalk.com: "'Traditional' artificial noisemakers will be permitted during appropriate times, with Kyle Veazey of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger explaining that those times are during pregame, halftime, between quarters, timeouts, after scores and during possession changes.
The tweak in the rule has been implemented on a one-year, trial basis.
Needless to say, the school is very pleased by this development, as evidenced by the statement credited to president Dr. Mark Keenum released by MSU:
'College football is such a popular sport in part because of its rich traditions. There is not a more unique example of that tradition than the cowbell at Mississippi State. I appreciate the willingness of the SEC's athletic directors and presidents to work with us to find a way to preserve a great tradition and still remain within the framework of SEC rules and regulations."

Mopeds Gone Wild: UK's Locke breaks arm in accident

Mopeds Gone Wild: UK's Locke breaks arm in accident from CollegeFootballTalk.com: "Running back Derrick Locke, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports, suffered a broken left forearm in an accident involving a moped.
'He was on his moped last night,' UK spokesman Tony Neely told the paper. 'He lost his balance. He was reaching down, caught himself with his left hand. In the process he sustained a slight break in the ulna bone of his left forearm, near his wrist.'
At this time, Neely added, surgery will not be required. Instead, Locke will have his arm in a splint for the next four weeks. Barring any type of setback -- i.e. surgery -- Locke will have plenty of time to recover before the start of summer camp in early August.
Last season, Locke was an all-purpose machine for the Wildcats, leading the team with 907 yards and six touchdowns, and 639 yards returning kickoffs with yet another score. His 31 catches, 284 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns were all good for third on the team.
All told, Locke's total of 152.5 yards per game was good for second in the SEC."

'Bama, Penn St. to square off under the lights

One of the most anticipated non-conference match-ups of the 2010 season will likely be the Alabama-Penn State game in Tuscaloosa on the second weekend of the year.
And, as expected, the traditional powers are being showcased by ESPN.
In an announcement made by the SEC, the two schools will face-off in a nationally-televised, prime-time affair on the WWL. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
The two schools last faced each other in 1990, and the Tide owns an 8-5 series lead.

Arkansas' QB Mallett to resume cannon firing this week

Arkansas quarterback and 2010 Heisman candidate Ryan Mallett hasn't really been able to let it rip at all this spring.
Speaking at the SEC spring meetings Wednesday, head coach Bobby Petrino said Mallett is on or slightly ahead of schedule in his rehab and will be able to resume firing the howitzer that sits atop his right shoulder in very short order..
"He's running straight ahead, and he'll be throwing starting this week," Petrino told ESPN.com SEC blog. "He's doing well. He's excited. We're excited. We just have to make sure he doesn't do something he's not instructed to do."
While he won't be 100 percent as he leads his Razorback teammates through voluntary June workouts, Mallett is expected to be fully recovered by the time summer camp rolls around.

Ex-Auburn RB Aycock eyeing USF

Former Chamberlain star Dontae Aycock, seeking a transfer after spending one season as a running back at Auburn, said Tuesday that he is interested in playing at USF but has not had any contact with Bulls coaches.
"That's a school I would be interested in," said Aycock, home in Tampa after finishing spring classes at Auburn. "I would love to be back home, and I don't have a problem with sitting out a year."
Aycock was a coveted recruit last year, rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com (No. 16 RB in nation) and a three-star by Scout.com. He said he did not seriously consider USF out of high school because he knew he wanted to get away from Tampa. In his short time at Auburn, he said he never felt like he fit in with the Tigers.
"I just didn't like the atmosphere," he said. "I don't know if it was just me being homesick, but It didn't seem like I fit well there."
Auburn announced his departure as a dismissal for an unspecified violation of team rules, but Aycock said he isn't aware of him breaking any rules. He said he went to coaches and asked if he could transfer out of the program. He said he left Auburn in good academic standing with a 2.8 grade-point average as a freshman.
Aycock said he's only heard from two small schools -- Division I-AA Mississippi Valley State, where former USF safety Charlton Sinclair is expected to transfer this summer; and Coffeyville Community College, a junior college in Kansas. After redshirting his only year at Auburn, Aycock would have three years of eligibility after sitting out this season at a I-A program, or all four years at the I-AA level.

UGA OT Boling to resume workouts in a 'matter of weeks'

UGA offensive tackle Boling was in a walking boot over the weekend, but should be able to resume workouts in “a matter of weeks,” coach Mark Richt said Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings.
The senior is a third-team preseason All-American by The Sporting News.
“It was nothing serious,” Richt said. “His ankle was giving him an issue and he had a scope just to clean it up. It’s not a long-term thing at all.”
Georgia’s offensive line is considered a strength of a team coming off an 8-5 season.
“I feel as good going into this year as we had in a while,” Richt said of the line, “but I felt good going into last year and we had some stuff happen. If everybody stays healthy, we have at least eight different guys that have started.”

UGA AD Evans says Richt's 'not on a hot seat'

Coming off a very un-Richt-like 8-5 season, some in the media have placed Georgia head coach Mark Richt on their preseason list of coaches on the hot seat.
Speaking at Day Two of the SEC's spring meetings, Richt's boss said such a scenario couldn't be further from the truth.
"I don't pay that stuff any attention," athletic director Damon Evans said according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "People like to talk. Mark is a good football coach. I'm glad he's our football coach.
"Mark has been here, what, 10 years, nine years. He's had a great track record here. I think when they see a little adversity, people want to just jump on it and attack it. There is no need for that, because he's not on a hot seat. Mark is in a good place with us, and I'm glad he's here."

UT's Dooley says 'a good headline in March' won't 'win you any football games'

During his first appearance as Tennessee's head coach at the SEC spring meetings, Derek Dooley spent a good amount of time praising the head coach of the reigning national champs. And also found time to take a lil' jab at the "vocal stylings" of his Volunteer predecessor.
The first-year coach was asked if he followed the drama created by Lane Kiffin's first and only offseason as UT's head coach while he was still the sideline boss at Louisiana Tech.
"Of course, I did," Dooley said according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. "He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, I watch other coaches, how they handle themselves in tough situations.
"It wasn't my style. That's Lane's style. I'm not here to criticize his style. Everybody is a little different.
"But I don't think it helps you to win football games, getting in verbal attacks with each other. At the end of the day, a good headline in March isn't going to win you any football games."

Ex-UGA QB Mettenberger might be taking the JUCO route

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former Georgia QB Zach Mettenberger appears to be headed to Butler County (Kan.) Community College. Neither Mettenberger nor Butler coach Troy Morrell have responded to messages seeking comment but a UGA official confirmed last week that move is likely. Because Georgia did not place any conditions on Mettenberger’s scholarship release, he could have gone anywhere, even another SEC school, according to UGA compliance director Eric Baumgartner. But the junior college route seems like an ideal one for Mettenberger. Not only is he immediately eligible, he’d have to sit out a year at another Football Bowl Subdivision school (Div. 1) but Butler is a powerhouse program that has won four JUCO national titles in the last 13 seasons. And Mettenberger (6-5, 240) will have three years of eligibility remaining if he plays just one season at Butler and transfers back to D-1. You’ll recall another former UGA quarterback took that route. Marietta’s Daniel Cobb went from Georgia to Butler to Auburn.

A 'tanned and healthy' Urban Meyer surfaces at SEC meetings

Meyer also seemed relaxed and dismissed the tumultuous weeks in which he took a sabbatical from the Florida program, only to return almost immediately, a day later in preparation for the 2010 season.
The Florida head coach attributed the entire episode to "esophageal spasms."
"I wanted to find out what the chest pains were," Meyer said. "Once we found out they were esphogeal spasms and got them under control, everything goes forward. It all relates to that one thing, waking up with a toothache in my chest every morning for two years. But it was taken care of in late January and I feel fantastic now."
Meyer also said he did attempt to restructure his off-time, taking a family vacation to Italy and accompanying his daughter to the Masters golf tournament among other diversions.
"I talked to quite a few coaches," Meyer said. "Most of them do take time off, it's just not on the front page of the paper.
"When I was first hired at Florida, I had two kids in bunk beds. Now one is in college and the other one is getting ready for that. So I needed to learn to enjoy that family time more. I have heard some coaches say that they missed 20 years of raising children, and I am not going to do that."

Saban staying at 'Bama, facing pressure head-on

University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Tuesday that he has one objective on his mind when dealing with pressure. He plans to stay in Tuscaloosa and deal with it.
"It's always a difficult decision to leave any place, and it is a decision I am never going to make again," Saban said when asked about coaches moving from one job to another. "I am where I am. If they get a football team at Lake Burton, I might go there. Otherwise, I am where I am."
Saban seems to thrive on pressure, even the pressure of being the current BCS champion. It came through clearly as he and University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer gave back-to-back press briefings at the Southeastern Conference's annual spring meeting at the Sandestin Hilton.