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| For SEC opponents, Ron Zook is a welcome change from Steve Spurrier. AP |
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Tennessee
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Florida
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Georgia
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LSU
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Alabama
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South Carolina
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Auburn
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Mississippi
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Arkansas
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Mississippi State
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Kentucky
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Vanderbilt
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Times Georgia has beaten Florida and Tennessee since 1990 -- and that's including wins over the Vols each of the last two seasons.
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"I'm just waiting to see if there's a guy out there that can even contain me. I'm going to be explosive this year and going to put on a show for a lot of people."
--
Tennessee sophomore WR Kelley Washington
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By Chris Low, Special to CNNSI.com
The SEC without Steve Spurrier? Hard as it is to fathom, Florida's visor-throwing, quick-witted master of the passing game is gone.
Think about it for a second. It's akin to The Supremes without Diana Ross, macaroni without cheese and politics without finger-pointing.
"I can tell you this: I won't miss him," joked Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer. "I'm glad he's in Washington."
Fulmer's Vols probably stand the most to gain with Spurrier no longer around. They've spent the last decade chasing the Gators and have actually won more games overall (52 to 49) during the last five years. But Spurrier's 7-3 record against Fulmer kept some mighty talented Tennessee teams from playing a prominent role in the national championship race.
"I honestly don't think it's going to make as big a difference at Florida as a lot of people seem to think," Fulmer said. "They still have great players."
The ominous task of replacing Spurrier falls on the shoulders of Ron Zook, who takes on his first head coaching job after spending the last two years as the New Orleans Saints' defensive coordinator. Zook spent the early '90s on Spurrier's staff at Florida and knows what's coming. He will be compared to Spurrier with each step, each snap and each coaching decision.
Ultimately, though, all that will matter is his record on the field.
"I learned a long time ago that I have to be me," Zook said. "I can't come in here and try to be somebody else. Now whether that's good or bad, we'll find out."
Zook's energy has endeared him to the players. He talks as fast as senior receiver Taylor Jacobs runs and works at a pace few can match. One of his favorite sayings is that the two biggest wastes of time are eating and sleeping.
The other thing the Gators have going for them, according to junior quarterback Rex Grossman, is the rest of the conference feeling they're less of a threat without Spurrier.
"I think a lot of people are thinking that, and we want them to think that," said Grossman, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy last season. "They can think the Gators have slipped a little bit all they want."
One of those teams hoping to make a move in the Eastern Division is Georgia, which gets Tennessee in Athens this season and faces Florida in the annual Jacksonville affair. Mark Richt, in his second year as the Bulldogs' head coach, is another one who doesn't mind seeing Spurrier taking his shot at the NFL.
"I think the transition at least gives you a chance to get a wedge in there and change the way things have been going the last few years," Richt said. "Florida is still going to be Florida. They have great players, and Coach Zook will do a great job. But if there is a time to beat them, now would be the time."
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As a high school senior in Perry, Ga., Dontarrious Thomas was one of those players who nearly slipped through the cracks. Until Auburn swooped in late and offered him a scholarship, Thomas had all but decided to walk on at Georgia Southern.
In fact, his only scholarship offer was in basketball from South Carolina. Nobody really wanted a 6-foot-3, 183-pound linebacker.
Some 40 pounds later, he's regarded as one of the top outside linebackers in the country after recording 122 tackles a year ago. Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville has compared him to former Miami linebacker Jessie Armstead.
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HOT: Florida WR Taylor Jacobs
No longer in the shadow of others, he's primed for a monster season.
NOT: Georgia TB Musa Smith
He's been a magnet for injuries. Can he finally stay healthy this season?
HOT: Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning
He has it all -- the pedigree, the strong right arm and the smarts.
NOT: The probation/investigation posse
Count Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State and Tennessee among this bunch.
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Two of Arkansas' best players, TB Cedric Cobbs and DB Ken Hamlin, are paying their debt to society for run-ins with the law. But when it comes to paying their debt to the football team, there won't be one.
Despite previously expressing frustration on the matter, Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said Wednesday that neither player will be suspended and that he's ready to put their legal problems in the past. Last month, Hamlin pleaded guilty to second-offense driving while intoxicated and was sentenced to 10 days in jail. Cobbs was found guilty on July 11 of marijuana possession, driving while intoxicated and speeding, charges resulting from a Jan. 8 arrest.
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 Tennessee QB Casey Clausen
No player in the league improved as much from his freshman to sophomore season. Clausen was masterful in the rout of Michigan.
LSU head coach Nick Saban
Steered the Tigers to their first SEC championship since 1988 last season despite crippling injuries in the championship game.
Georgia LB Boss Bailey
Still standing after a glut of injuries. Has the ability to dominate games and ranks as one of the best pure athletes in the league.
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For once, it's not Florida vs. Tennessee that gets top billing. This year, it's Georgia vs. Tennessee on Oct. 12, and the game's in Athens -- which is good news for the Bulldogs.
The Vols have to get by Florida at home on Sept. 21, and Bulldogs have a harrowing trip to South Carolina on Sept. 14. The Gamecocks have been hard on the Bulldogs the past couple of years. Even so, there's still a decent chance that both Georgia and Tennessee will come into their showdown unbeaten and ranked among the country's top 10 teams.
Georgia has won the last two in the series, including the "hob-nailed boot" thriller a year ago in Knoxville. But before 2000, it was all Tennessee. The Vols won nine straight in the series, dating to the 1989 game.
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Georgia TE Ben Watson, penciled in as Randy McMichael's replacement, recently bench-pressed 535 pounds. … Mississippi State head coach Jackie Sherrill isn't sweating the recent visit by NCAA investigators. "We have a lot of people throwing mud, and I have always said when you throw mud, some of that mud is going to stay with you," Sherrill said. "I've always believed that the people that point their fingers the most or accuse the most are the ones who have the most to hide." … Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt's first-year head coach, jokes that he's been mistaken more than once for comedian Steve Martin. … Alabama can't go to a bowl game this season because of NCAA sanctions, but the Crimson Tide came up with a nice alternative -- a season-ending game at Hawaii. … Guy Morriss, entering his second year as the Kentucky head coach, doesn't have a buyout in his contract if he is fired.
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