he’s got a great running back, great offensive line, great receivers. That helps a lot." - o_O That almost seems like Bo isn't so much commenting on Alabama.

Please leave politics out of this. If Coach Saban is positive the rest of the team has been exposed. Quarantine is required, correct?

So the entire team is required to quarantine because science, right?

Hold my beer. - Elon Musk

Yeah, I don't necessarily disagree, but if teams are designed around it and constantly playing that way to always try to prevent the other team from substituting or trying to get cheap yardage by catching a kid as he's running off the field? I have no real problem with it. Uptempo occasionally used like a trick play is what I'd prefer. Using it as your offensive strategy? Fake away, opposing teams.

I've never understood this complaint. Up tempo is perfectly legal poor sportsmanship, so why wouldn't teams figure out a perfectly legal way to counter it? Don't want it? Ban up tempo and let the kids line up and play the game.

First and most importantly, **** Tennessee. There, now that that's out of the way, I hope it's a humiliating defeat for Auburn, but it's never a given. I've never seen a luckier team, and even when they're not that good by SEC standards they're still a talented team full of voodoo. We laugh at them, but they'd be in the conversation for the NC year in and year out if they were in any other conferences. See also: Clemson and Ohio State.

I more than once saw Kentucky players appearing to engage Alabama players in a positive way after some plays. That was nice to see, because usually things lean more towards the fighting side of the spectrum when the score gets lopsided. They're probably friends, but it's still pleasant to see signs of good sportsmanship occasionally.

Reads that Ohio State played their toughest competition of the year yesterday. (looks at who they played) Huh. Not even Cincinnati.

I suspect even the other conferences know you could drop almost any SEC program - and maybe even Vandy - into their conferences, and they'd immediately be in the conversation for the conference championship and playoffs. It makes just as much sense to include every SEC team in the rankings as it does to pretend UNC or NC state should be there. Remember last week or so when UNC was #5?

At least the committee can finally lay the silly "strength of schedule" nonsense to rest once the playoff spots aren't filled solely and entirely by SEC teams this season.

There's no reply option under the last comment, so I'm having to reply to my own. Sorry. - "That would be more prevalent in third world counties that have poor hygiene." I don't think you appreciate how nasty your fellow Americans are. It's why very non 3rd world cruise ships are constantly having outbreaks. CDC, 2018 "only 31% of men and 65% of women washed their hands after using a public restroom" Regarding the bars, the fecal-oral route of people drinking beer and using the bathroom fits better than adults sneezing on each other. Remember when the specialists stated they were removing individuals with a respiratory virus from homes with only one bathroom? FWIW, Alabama's contact tracing page suggests a separate bathroom, too. That's not because people are sneezing in the bathroom.

I don’t know where the 15 minutes comes from. Someone with the virus could sneeze on you at any time. It doesn’t take 15 minutes for the particles to travel six feet. - It's because you need adequate exposure of an adequate concentration for an adequate amount of time to possibly maybe potentially contract the virus. The WHO even stated that asymptomatic transmission is very rare. People aren't catching it because someone sneezed in the one way aisle at the Walmart. Again, I think once the panic is over and we can discuss the actual science we'll learn that it's a fecal-oral route more than any other method of transmission.

Police are making arrests and issuing citations for people not wearing masks in public in a state where it is written-down illegal to wear a mask in public? Wow. This sums up so much about our decline as a free country in so many ways. If the law needs to be changed, change the law. Don't pretend it doesn't exist.

I'm still interested in the science explaining how a super contagious cold virus moved through a major international trade city in China in November but waited until March to reach the United States while 10k+ people traveled back and forth every week.

I suspect that people are beginning to hear that the CDC and individual states believe it takes at least 15 minutes of exposure to potentially maybe possibly catch it. (I personally think it's tied to fecal matter and good hygiene is more important - remember the cruise ship when this all started in the US? Wash your hands, folks.) Regardless, go to alabamapublichealth dot gov contact tracing page for Alabama's statement, mask or not: "close contact means you were within 6 feet... for at least 15 minutes." It certainly doesn't help that people who insist others wear masks will remove their own as soon as they think the TV cameras are turned off.

I guess the SEC Championship will be the de facto national championship this year.

All of which nibbles around the edges of the real reason, which is the NCAA randomly enforcing ejecting starters via arbitrary targeting rules against defensive players while simultaneously encouraging high scoring offensive strategies like the RPO and being able stroll three to five yards downfield whenever you want. We should be grateful we were able to watch some outstanding defense-oriented football while it was allowed to exist. Sadly, it's gone the way of traveling fouls being called in basketball.

I'm looking forward to a season with limited practices, workouts, nutrition monitoring, etc. It will be fun to watch nationally and could provide some Cinderella wins.

I'm very pro Jalen and am glad to see him achieve the next step towards his goals. This next statement is separate from Hurts: High 2nd round pick as a backup NFL QB might be one of the best jobs in the world.

Every rule favors the offense. - I think this has become true in a general sense. From arbitrary targeting rules aimed at neutering shutdown defenses to the 3 yard downfield rule that encourages the RPO craze of the last decade, there's a reason the Saban has taken on the speedball air raid approach. Do it or lose, because the NCAA wants good TV ratings, and shutting down offenses is boring (and probably viewed as unfair) to every other conference. I think it was Gus who summed up the NCAA pro-offense view a few years ago. "It's what people want to see."

It’s no coincidence that the rise of faked injuries coincided with the rise of up-tempo offenses. - Yep. If the poor sportsmanship of speedball is legal and encouraged, then the legal method of countering that strategy will be employed. Go figure.

That when you are talented people want to hire you.

Pruitt, Pruitt... That name sounds familiar. Is he the Pruitt that was employed by Alabama and left for a position at Tennessee?

Bullet status: [ × ] Dodged

Thanks. For some reason I was thinking Howell (who is no slouch) had been there longer.

I suspect there will be ample non-racist watchdogs keeping their eyes open for that woman in hopes of publicly ruining her life in a completely non-racist way.

It's probably a good call. UNC is a good school academically, he could potentially start every game of his college career, and he'll likely be seen as a superstar playing in the ACC. There is no downside that I can see for someone who isn't interested in high level competition.

No, I didn't miss the point at all. That is exactly how we, and the government, should view all Americans. Punish criminals after crimes. Let free people remain free. But again, that ship has sailed. We've been conditioned to accept pre-crime assumptions about our neighbors (and ourselves) and that toothpaste sizes will keep us safe on airplanes. There's no coming back from that.

We'll end up finding out that the locked container it was in was 0.5" too wide in one direction.