Who's next, Tulsa?

    The idiocy continues.
    Missouri to the SEC is a worse move for the conference than Texas A&M.
    "Hey, it brings the mid-Kansas market to the SEC."
    Silly.
    Missouri does fit better geographically. It's closest SEC program is only 5-1/2 hours away in Fayetteville.
    At this idiotic rate, the geographic center of the SEC is going to be Tunica.


PEACH STATERS
    Georgia is off, and no, Todd Grantham isn't participating in any decaf studies.
    Georgia Tech at Miami: The Hurricanes, despite all the crap they started the season with, have settled down and are a 3-point favorite.
    Tech's egg is still in Charlottesville, and Miami has better athletes than Virginia.
    Miami 31-21.
    Presbyterian at Georgia Southern: This is the game where personnel management is huge.
    Jeff Monken has to make sure he doesn't completely empty the bench and play those who will redshirt. This is a PTW game: Play The Walkons.
    GSU 60-14.
    Looking back, Georgia, for the 43rd time under Mark Richt, couldn't make an underdog wobble. Premature senility led to omitting a pick again, but I was figuring on about two or three touchdowns, pulling away a little bit late.
    Got to stop thinking like that.
    "There's still skepticism out there on Tech, most of it deserved because of a weak schedule and weak conference. Tech's schedule, as per Sagarin, is 99th, five better than Virginia.
    The Jackets are digressing, and making some games closer than some think they should be. Virginia sees that. But Virginia also saw itself with by one over Idaho."
    All rolling along there, until the pick of Tech 31-20. Those who were waiting for Tech to hit a telephone pole saw it happen a wee bit early.
    Furman was supposed to give Georgia Southern a game, and the Paladins did.
    And then the second half started, making 35-28 seem like a silly pick.

KICKIN' IT OFF
    Auburn at LSU: This is wacky series, regardless of what's going on.
    And we have LSU with more suspensions, and Auburn as a surprise team in the conference.
    It's a day game in Baton Rouge, which is worth a touchdown to the opposition.
    With LSU's issues and Les Miles, who knows? Line is 22.
    LSU 37-20.
    Mid-afternoon observations:
    The state of Georgia is a collective group of happy Ole Miss fans. The Rebels, who aren't good, are pounding Arkansas, which is good.
    Or was, until about noon today. And as I type, the Hogs are getting better, just breaking a long run to pull within 17-7 with 5:11 left in the half.
    I apologize for typing too soon.
    Clemson, yeah, I can buy Clemson, especially after seeing what wideout Sammy Watkins like: calm, personable, smart, hungry, a student of the game. He is some kinda silly good.
    But I'm not sure North Carolina should be giving the Tigers this tough a game, 24-17
    This week's Call The Bookie games (3:30 p.m. starts and later):
    Boston College giving 21.5ish to Virginia Tech: BC isn't a wretched 1-5 team, but it's still 1-5 with some embarrassing early-season wins.
    Virginia Tech has rebounded from the Clemson loss with some nice wins and knows it could go to bed in first place in the division with a win and a Georgia Tech loss.
    VaTech 42-17.
    Temple getting 12.5ish at Bowling Green: The Owls are pretty good, and have won two straight by a 76-0 margin.
    Bowling Green has lost three straight, and not looked good doing it.
    The Owls roll 35-14.
    East Carolina getting 12ish at Navy: The Pirates are struggling, and battered.
    Both teams are 2-4, and Navy has lost four straight. But the opponents were Rutgers, Southern MIss, Air Force and South Carolina.
    The Midshipmen are due, very, very due.
    Navy 44-20.

LOUGHDMOUTHINGS

    Did nobody else see in The Handshake that Harbaugh sort of yanked Schwartz past him at the end of it?
    I don't think Schwartz was all that upset at Harbaugh's general enthusiasm, but I sure saw a little arrogance on first glance and the yank.
    Enthusiasm is great and all, but a little class and composure can't hurt. The 49ers took the lead with 3:38 left, held the Lions to a three-and-out, thus sealing the game with a full 1:16 left, which, with timeouts, gave Harbaugh plenty of time to get excited before calming down for the four seconds it takes to shake a hand.
    Throw in the field goal and then first-down sack of Matthew Stafford after that, and yeah, Harbaugh could have chilled.
    Shake the man's hand and get silly and obnoxious with your players.
    Thus, Harbaugh is a guy you like, but don't mind it when his team gets pounded. ...
    Random Unrelated Thought: File the color Andy Griffith episodes as ones they shouldn't even show anymore. ...
    Oakland's Jason Campbell was a bit surprised to see his team trade for Carson Palmer. Moreso, to see his team give up so much a need he thought was to be a quality backup while he recovered from a collarbone injury.
    Oakland gave up a lot to fill in for six or seven weeks, especially since the Raiders' running game is so good, mortgaging was unnecessary.
    Kyle Boller has some legit NFL experience, but I could see testing the waters for a David Garrard, etc.
    Oakland's next six games aren't killers: Denver, San Diego, Minnesota, Chicago, Miami and Green Bay. Boller could certainly go 3-3 in that stretch, considering that Campbell - who I like - was having only a decent season, 18th in the NFL in QB efficiency.
    Boller can not lose games fairly well, too. But two first-round picks?
    Way too much. ...
    LSU's Tyrann Mathieu will still get my synthetic Heisman vote. ...
    Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times has a good idea for a baseball special:
    "First promotional night at a Tampa Bay Rays game next season: Occupy Tropicana Field."