College Football Play of the Day for 9/24/11

Alabama

Arkansas faces a tough task today as they travel to Alabama for an SEC tilt.

Even though Arkansas is ranked #12, they are getting 11 points from the Crimson Tide.

Nick Saban likes making a statement in SEC openers.  That and trends like 'Bama is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite of 10.5 or greater, and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 home games point to a pick win for the home team today.

Take Alabama and give the 11.

Storms Slam the South

Storms swiped through the South and the aftermath is mind blowing.  87 people killed in six states — including two people thought to have died in floods — and that number was likely to increase.

61 people are reported dead in Alabama as a result of the storm, including 15 in Tuscaloosa, a city of 93,000 and home to the University of Alabama. Sections of the city were destroyed and the city's infrastructure devastated, the mayor said, after a tornado hit the area.

Further north, a nuclear power plant west of Huntsville lost power and was operating on diesel generators.

The storms spread destruction from Tuesday night and Wednesday from Texas to Georgia, and it was forecast to hit the Carolinas before moving further north-east. Several states suffered power outages as well as property and infrastructure damage that could prove costly to repair. Floods were a concern throughout the storm-hit area, where rain compounded with melted snow to cause rising rivers and saturated soils.

Storms also killed people in Georgia and in Tennessee on Wednesday.

Mocking Cam Newton Gets 'Bama Staffer Fired

(It's a long video, go to the 9:30 mark to listen to the songs in question)

Is the Alabama/Auburn rivalry getting soft?  Alabama has fired an employee who mocked the Auburn quarterback with songs he played over the public address system before their game Friday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

“Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man” were played throughout the stadium in honor of Cam Newton and his Father who are under investigation by the NCAA for numerous reasons.

This from Alabama public relations director Debbie Lane: “Our processes require that all music and videos played in the stadium prior to and during every game be carefully scripted and approved by a senior administrator in the Athletics Department. The former staff member deviated from the script that had been approved for the game with Auburn, and the University took steps to immediately terminate his contract.”

I would've lost it if he had played Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" or "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits. 

College Football Play of the Day

A beautiful college football Satuday today and not one great game, but lots of good games are on tap.

Two SEC road teams from the state of Alabama are the play today.

The first will be Alabama playing at South Carolina.  The line is Bama -7 and I like the Tide to roll by two touchdowns or more.  The Tide are the class of college football and South Carolina won't cause them any problems.

The other play today has to be Auburn.  Auburn is going on the road at Kentucky and is only -6.  Cam Newton and Co. will pull away in the second half to cover that -6.

Two plays today, Alabama and Auburn.

Big College Game of the Week: Florida at Alabama

A SEC Championship Game preview? Maybe.

A pair of college football heavyweights collide in Tuscaloosa this weekend, as top-ranked Alabama plays host to seventh-ranked Florida at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

There is no rest for the weary in the SEC and the defending national champs know that better than anyone. Nick Saban's Crimson Tide opened SEC play last week on the road and were given all they could handle from nationally-ranked Arkansas, before posting a 24-20 victory to move to 4-0 on the year. It marked the 28th straight regular season win for Alabama, which also puts a 16-game win streak at home on the line in this one.

Meyer's team is no stranger to lengthy win streaks, as the Gators have won 24 straight regular-season affairs, including 13 consecutive on the road. Florida (4-0) made light work of Kentucky last weekend (48-14) to move to 2-0 in conference play.

Alabama holds a 21-14 edge in the all-time series with Florida, but just a 6-5 advantage in Tuscaloosa. These two teams have met in each of the last two SEC Championship Games, with the winner going on to capture the national title (Florida in 2008 and Alabama in 2009).

The Gators are coming off their highest scoring output of the season, ringing up 48 points on Kentucky. A lot of that came from freshman Trey Burton, who had five carries for 40 yards and five touchdowns, while adding a sixth score on five receptions. With the effort, Burton set the school-record for TDs in a single game.

I like the Tide in this one as they play their best in the most important games, but never count out the Gators.