MEMPHIS – Last weekend was a wild one in college football. Six of the top
sixteen teams caught an L, which included four of the top eight teams. This
traditionally means a big shakeup among the top 25, and this week’s rankings are
no different, with several teams rocketing up the standings, while the losers
settle into less lofty digs.
But there’s one team we should probably recognize at the top of this week’s
Lang’s World rankings, and I personally thank them for their lack of volatility,
for their ability to somehow stay above the fray. The elephant in the room this
year and every year is the Alabama Crimson Tide, who have been in the number one
spot all season long. Last season, Alabama opened as the number one team and,
even after a brief dip down into the not-top standings, they still managed to
finish as the number one overall team.
We live in a topsy-turvy world, where very little is constant. My phone is
forever buzzing and bleeping and showing me something new. Every time I turn on
my PS4, it seems like there’s some game or app that requires an update. I’ve
only been a homeowner for a few months, but it feels like the upkeep required is
endless. I spent all day on Sunday doing projects around the house, and at the
end of the night when I pulled out my trusty old Weber grill to cook some fish
fillets, I discovered a teeming colony of mold inside. My shoulders sagged.
Really? Can’t something just work the way it’s supposed to work? Is this what
getting old is all about?
Which is why I appreciate Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. I don’t *like*
Alabama – I’m a UGA fan for goodness sakes – but I can respect and appreciate
them for what they represent. Which is a bit of constancy in this ever-shifting
world. They’re mostly boring and generally plodding, but man if they don’t stay
winning.
2. All that being said, Alabama plays at Tennessee this week, which seems like a
perfect time to revisit one of the greatest viral video clips of all time…
“They low down, they dirty, they some snitches.” That would be a fantastic
yearbook quote. I also appreciate that this man managed to insult Tennessee for
ninety seconds while keeping his rant clean, which is easier said than done for
many SEC fans.
3. I guess we should address my UGA Bulldogs losing at LSU on Saturday. This was
easily the toughest test UGA has faced thus far, and man did they fail with
flying colors. UGA looked terrible in all facets of the game, and LSU
quarterback Joe Burrow, who was a career backup at Ohio State before
transferring to the bayou for his final season, was lights-out. Conversely, UGA
quarterback Jake Fromm, who was so good last season as a true freshman, was
16-for-34 passing the ball and could not generate anything for the Dawgs.
This game was exactly what I worried was going to happen to UGA this season.
They graduated most of their defensive starters from a year ago, as well as
their two top offensive threats (Sony Michel and Nick Chubb). But they started
the season winning, and they kept winning, and they entered the LSU game ranked
number two in the country.
Then reality bit. LSU made UGA’s defense look toothless, and UGA offensive
coordinator Jim Chaney called a game that did Fromm few favors, although Fromm
also missed several wide-open touchdown throws that were available.
For LSU, it’s a big win for Coach Ed Orgeron, especially coming off a loss to
Florida the previous week. The Tigers will still have to prove themselves on
November 3 with a game against – who else? – Alabama. But this is a game from
which they should be able to build.
As for UGA, they’re still undefeated in the SEC East. And if they can knock off
Florida in two weeks and then beat Kentucky, they will put themselves in
position to win the SEC in the championship game.
So keep tagging me in your trash-talking tweets and sending me your taunting
emails (yes, I mean you, Karen Merritt). There’s still a long way to go.
4. Elsewhere around college football, by which I mean elsewhere in the South,
Memphis lost to Central Florida in a really close game played in the rain.
Memphis could fall to 4-4 this weekend with their game at Mizzou, which is
especially disappointing considering the expectations that have been built
around the Tigers’ program the last few years.
5. Catch of the week goes to Towson’s Jabari Allen. I’ve watched this a dozen
times and I’m still not sure if or how he caught this, or what exactly
happened…
How in the world!?(via @Towson_FB) pic.twitter.com/cEuin3VLnr
6. The NBA put a concerted effort into eradicating flopping, and perhaps the
NCAA should look into it as well. As we saw this weekend during the Ole
Miss/Arkansas game, if at first your flop doesn’t draw a flag, just keep
flopping until you get one…
Ole Miss players required drama class paying off. pic.twitter.com/V7nIkWwfrs
7. This is the coolest thing Ohio State – sorry, THE Ohio State – has done in a
while…
Ohio State’s band brought out the backpack kid… kind of
pic.twitter.com/BpE9EvL4J4
8. LSU gave us perhaps the most viral moment of the weekend when defensive end
Breiden Fehoko and his father prepped for the game by performing the Haka, the
traditional Maori posture dance.
Breiden Fehoko (@breidenfehoko4) joined his dad in the #Haka this time and it
was even more awesome #LSU pic.twitter.com/PSqFAAkfS5
Need to get the whole team to do it next week.
9. I went on a short vacation two weeks ago all over Northern California, where
my family visited several cities over the course of several days. This meant we
stayed in four different hotels, and while no hotel was perfect, they were each
fine in their own way.
But what I was not prepared for was the avalanche of email I’ve received since
the trip asking me, no, begging me to go onto various websites and give great
ratings to these hotels. I have already paid these places hundreds of dollars
for allowing my family to spend a night there. I checked out and gave you money.
We had a transaction. I got a receipt. Our business should be over.
I get it if you send me one email and ask me to perhaps help you out down the
road by writing a good review. But if you keep sending me these emails, I’m
eventually going to just write a bad review. GET OFF MY LAWN!
(And, no, I’m not in a bad mood because of UGA’s loss.)
10. Last weekend was particularly brutal in the Grind City Media Pick’Em Pool,
as many of us battled just to stay near .500. Here are this weekend’s records
with our overall marks in parenthesis. Still time for someone to make a run!
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis
Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Lang Whitaker are solely his own and do not
reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations
staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known
to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the
access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the
media.
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ball-chaos-crimson-tide-consistently-rises-above-fray-181016
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