PIG'S PICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wont lie to you, last week was tough on Pig's Picks in the SEC. I missed some games but I have regrouped and you are still up in money for the year if you have gone with me every week. I apologize for last week and lets make back your money.

Game 1: Ole Miss vs. Awwwwburn (Ole Miss by 6 1/2)




Who would have predicted this line at the beginning of the year? Ole Miss favored by almost a touchdown over the awwwwburn Lambs? Ole Miss comes into this one after a big SEC West win over improving Arkansas last week and the Lambs come in after an embarrassing blowout loss last Thursday night at West Virginia. Ole Miss has lost four games but could have won all of them, including the Alabama game. That is the good and bad news. The good news is they are good enough to be in every game and have a shot at the end. The bad news is they usually find a way to lose. I have diagnosed this Mike Shula disease as he made this strategy famous (see about every game against the upper tier SEC teams in his tenure). Anyway the game is in Oxford and Houston Nutt has owned Tommy Tuberville in the past. Auburn is reeling and looks like they may have thrown in the towel for the 2008 season. Plus Tuberville hosed Ole Miss with the way he left them years ago. Sure it was a long time ago but the Rebels have not forgot the way he left or his terrible choice in clothing. Lets go with the Rebels.

PIG'S PICK: Hoddy Toddy


Game 2: South Carolina vs. Tennessee (South Carolina by 5 1/2)

Steve Spurrier returning to his home state next year to save the Vols from despair? I just completely made up that rumor but feel free to run with it if you want. I think a more likely scenario is the 'Ol Ball Coach wanting to stick another L on his old nemesis Fat Phil Fulmer. Everybody is taking their shots at Tennessee this year, as they are just plain bad. The Vols need to go 3-1 in their next four to become bowl eligible. The good news is the tough part of their schedule is over with as they have already taken their licks from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, all of whom are in the top 10 nationally. You will hear how Tennessee is desperate for a win and will come out and play hard but once again, it wont really matter. The Vols just do not have the playmakers to move the ball consistently on the Gamecock defense. While I do not think South Carolina is the greatest thing since sliced bread I think they are good enough to beat this Tennessee team by at least 5 1/2 at home.

PIG'S PICK: Go Cocks

Game 3: Mississippi State vs. Kentucky (Miss. St. by 2 1/2)



I did some research and yes, both of these teams are still in the Southeastern conference playing football in 2008. I will keep this one short and sweet as I know you do not care about this game or its outcome. The game is in Starkville, MS so all 57 people at the game will give the Bulldogs a decisive home field advantage. Kentucky comes into this one with 5 wins and just needs one more to become bowl eligible. Mis-Stake enters this game with 3 wins and is probably close to giving up on coach Sly Croom and the 08 season. Kentucky got CRRRRUSHED last weekend by Florida and has guys like me starting due to the 493248903284320 injuries they have suffered. With that said I still like Grumpy Ol Rich Brooks and think he can rally the troops and get that elusive sixth win this weekend.

PIG'S PICK: Big Blue

Game 4: LSU vs. Tulane (LSU by 25)





The battle of Louisiana. Well not really because Tulane has turned out to be bad. LSU is coming off its second loss of the season (neither one of them being close games) and has a huge game next week against #2 Alabama and Nick Saban. LSU should roll in this one with the only exception being if they completely overlook the Green Wave. This is a huge line but I think it happens, barrrrrrrrrely.

PIG'S PICK: BAYOU BENGALS


Game 5: Tulsa at Arkansas (Tulsa by 7)






The Hogs a touchdown dog at home against the Golden Hurricane???? Wow, what a crazy season. I have to admit I have not seen Tulsa play this season so I have no idea if their record and top 25 record is legit or not. I am picking with my guy here and saying Coach Bobby Petrino and his Hawgs step up and at least cover in this one.

PIG'S PICK: PIG SOOIE


Game 6: Georgia vs. Florida ( In Jacksonville) (Florida by 6)






The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. A huge game in its own right, and even bigger this year as both teams are playing for the SEC Title and a chance to keep their national title hopes alive. Urban Cryer and Mark Richt both seem like arrogant jerks but are also great coaches. The Dawgs snapped the Gators streak over them last year with a big whipping and a famous personal foul call as the entire team stormed the field to celebrate the game's first touchdown. That is big news right now but won't be when the game starts. Georgia looked good against LSU last week but they are playing a better Gator team tomorrow with a lot to play for. I like future anger management patient Tim Tebow and the boys from Gainesville in this one BUT only by a FG...thus I like the Dawgs to cover.

PIG'S PICK: Georgia to cover, Florida to win


Game 7: # 2 Alabama vs. Arkansas St. (Alabama by 22 1/2)

Homecoming in Tuscaloosa. The 2nd ranked Crimson Tide step out of SEC play to take on the Arkansas St. Red Wolves in this one. I will keep this preview short and sweet. Alabama is better and should win by multiple touchdowns. Arkansas St. is not completely terrible however and has shown they can score (83 points in their second game) and has the top ranked defense in the Sun Belt Conference. They have lost three games this year but have not been blown out of any of them. They have also not played a team like Alabama yet. Alabama will win, but the question is will they let an inferior team hang around and let the game be closer than it should be? I hope not, but am going with history on this one, but I hope I am wrong.

PIG PICK'S: Arkansas St. to cover, Alabama to win.

Ramma Jamma in Neyland Stadium...What a Sweet Sound

I realize we have moved on from the 29-9 win over Tennessee last week but I think you need to see this video. The Million Dollar Band playing "Ramma Jamma" at the end of Alabama's blow out win at Neyland Stadium. So make sure your volume is turned up, check out all the crimson, and enjoy Tide fans....


Ramma Jamma in Knoxville

Famous Arky State Alums

We are introducing a new feature today on Inside the Tide...famous alumni from the schools we play. Many of you might not know a lot about Arkansas State University so here is an introduction to a few celebs who have spent time on the beautiful (or it could be awful, I have no idea) ASU campus in Jonesboro, AR.

1. Mike Beebe- Current Arkansas Governor. Maybe he can follow in the footsteps of other former famous Arky govs Bill Clinton (President/womanizer) or Mike Huckabee (Presidential candidate/TV talk show host) I am not kidding I saw a commercial for Huckabee's show the other day.



2. Jeremy Biggs- Professional Racquetball champion. There is pro racquetball?

3. Ray Brown- Former NFL Lineman that still holds the NFL record for playing 3498290348032 years in a row and started a game at age 104.

4. Rodger Bumpass- Voice of Squidward on SpongeBob Squarepants (Goat's favorite show). A true celebrity here.


5. Cleo Lemon- Greatest name and QB to ever play in the NFL. Cleo almost pulled off the impossible in trying to lead the 2007 Miami Dolphins to a winless season. Unfortunately, they ended up winning a game or two. Lemon currently holds 16 records for Arkansas State.

6. Debbye Turner- Former Miss America and current news broadcaster. You know we can't leave a Miss America off the list!

Game 9: Arkansas St. Preview

The # 2 Alabama Crimson Tide football team continues its quest for a perfect season this week as they step out of SEC play to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves of the Sun Belt conference. If you are reading this a little confused about the name Red Wolves you should be. Arkansas St. was formerly the Indians, but was forced to change their name when the NCAA apparently got bored, needed something to do, and made colleges with Native American type nicknames change them, unless they could get support from a particular tribe in the area. Apparently, the Native Americans around Jonesboro, AR did not go to bat for Arky St.

My knowledge of the state of Arkansas or wolves is not vast, so I have no idea if their are Red Wolves running around the state or they just put some names in a hat and Red Wolves won out. Enough about their name, lets take a look at their team.

Arky St. enters the game with a 4-3 record overall and is 2-1 in the Sun Belt conference. Arky St. is coming off a bye week and in their last appearance the Red Wolves dropped a tight game to the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragun Cajuns 28-23. Arkansas St. does come to Tuscaloosa with a fairly impressive resume this season, including a season opening win at Texas A&M.

After the Texas A&M win, Arkansas St. hung 83 on Texas Southern, in a 83-10 win. That was not a misprint....they scored 83 points. While I realize Texas Southern is not full of All-Americans, anytime you score 83 points on somebody you have an offense. In their three losses (Southern Miss, Memphis, and La-Lafayette) Arkansas St. is yet to really be blown out. Their largest margin of defeat was against Memphis 29-17, and that was a two point game with 3 minutes left.

Statistically the Red Wolves rank at the top of the Sun Belt Conference in most categories. On offense they are averaging 436 yards per game which is good for 3rd in the league and average 33 points per game, which is also good for 3rd in the Sun Belt and 22nd in the country. Junior QB Corey Leonard leads the Red Wolves offense with 1474 yards on the season and has thrown 11 touchdowns. He brings a very impressive 137.98 quarterback rating into Tuscaloosa. On the other side of the ball, they are ranked first in the Sun Belt in overall defense and give up the fewest points in the league giving up 335 yards per game and surrendering 21.6 PPG.

Alabama enters this game relatively healthy with nose guard Terrance Cody the only real notable starter not able to go in this game. While Arkansas State comes in with a big win over a power conference team, the Crimson Tide should be able to handle the Red Wolves on Saturday if we come to play. The challenge for Alabama is to keep focus against an inferior team coming off a big road win at Tennessee last week and a chance to wrap up the SEC West title next week at LSU. Hopefully Coach Saban can get through to his team that there is a lot to play for Saturday and can point back to the La-Monroe game last year as a point of reference as to what can happen when we just show up and don't come to play.

# 3 Penn St. is off this week and either # 1 Texas or # 6 Texas Tech will remain unbeaten after Saturday night, so Alabama can not afford to slip up to this team if they plan to play for it all in January. With only four regular season games remaining, I think the Tide realizes the importance of every game at this point in the year.

Titanic Victory

I know this website caters to Alabama athletics and hardly ever leaves life in the SEC, but today is going to be different for two reasons. One, we are playing Arkansas St. this week, we should win the game going away, and there is not that much exciting information out there on the Red Wolves.

Second, Goat and I are big Tennessee Titans fans and they won a HUUUUGE game last night on Monday Night Football against the superpower that is the Indianapolis Colts 31-21.

For what seems like a lifetime the Titans along with the Jaguars and Texans have looked up at the Colts as they have dominated the AFC South year after year. 2008 appears to be different however as the Titans quest for perfection continued as they improved to 7-0 and now have a four game lead over the rest of the division as the Colts, Jaguars, and Texans are all 3-4.

Anyway, I wont ramble on but congratulations to the Titans on a huge win both in the standings and for the mental state of the team and their fans. Everybody now knows the Titans ARE better than the vaunted Colts. Plus, its always nice to beat ex-Vol Peyton Manning. Below is a real article about the game from a real writer.


Titans Beat Up Colts

# 2 Tide Holds off JoePa, Penn St. in Latest BCS Rankings

All week long the talking heads of college football debated that if # 3 Penn St. went to # 9 Ohio St. and came out with a win and Alabama did not look impressive in Knoxville the Nittany Lions could jump Alabama in this week's BCS poll.

Luckily for us, Alabama did look impressive in a 29-9 win at Tennessee and held off Joe Paterno's team in the second BCS poll released earlier tonight. While Penn St. did close the gap behind Alabama this week their remaining strength of schedule will make it tough for Penn St. to catch Alabama unless we lose. The Nittany Lions have three games remaining against Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan St, none of which will be big enough to vault the Nittany Lions over either Alabama or Texas. Also, the Big 10 does not have a conference championship game unlike both the BIG IX and SEC.

The entire BCS poll is linked below:

Latest BCS poll

# 2 Alabama Blows Out Vols in Knoxville 29-9

Before the game, I had many conversations with fellow Tide fans and the consensus in each one of those was that if we did not turn the ball over and give points to Tennessee, we would win the game. That said, you can imagine how excited I was from my top row seat (literally, I was sitting on the top row) when Javier Arenas fumbled a punt and gave Tennessee the ball on the 5 in the first quarter.

# 2 Alabama (8-0, 5-0) held the the Big Orange to a FG on that possession and dominated the game from that point in route to a 29-9 victory over Tennessee (3-5, 1-4) in Neyland Stadium Saturday night. It marks the second straight victory for the Tide over Phil Fulmer's bunch as the Tide routed the Vols 41-14 last year in Tuscaloosa.

QB John Parker Wilson did a great job of finding open receivers all night finishing 17-24 for 188 yards and added a rushing TD. He was efficient and did not put Alabama in a bad position at any point during the game. Wilson's favorite target was freshman phenomenon Julio Jones who finished the game with 6 receptions for 103 yards, which equated to a 17.3 average per catch.

If you read Inside the Tide earlier in the week you learned that Tennessee safety Eric Berry was the only Vol who would probably start for Alabama and that theory rang true Saturday night. As the game progressed it was evident that Alabama just simply had better, stronger, faster players. The only dark spot on the evening was special teams play which produced the above mentioned Arenas fumble and a partially blocked punt that put Tennessee in another good spot to score before half, but a combination of good defense and Vol penalties led to a missed FG attempt as the first half ended.

For the first time in the last few outings, the Crimson Tide dominated the second half outscoring Tennessee 16-6 and the six the Vols scored were garbage points with Alabama leading 29-3 at the end of the game against our second team defense. Alabama opened the second half with a FG and then drove down the field later in the 3rd quarter and scored on a QB sneak from Wilson. The game went downhill from there for the Vols as Alabama cruised to an easy win.

Alabama now turns its attention to next week's non-conference homecoming game against the Arkansas State Indians. With LSU's loss at home to Georgia yesterday, Alabama now just has to go 2-1 in its remaining three SEC games against LSU, Mississippi St., and Auburn to move on to the SEC Championship Game as the SEC West Champion.