Congratulations to these Bulldogs basketball players who shone through a disappointing season to earn SEC postseason awards:

• Sundiata Gaines: Second team All-SEC, SEC All-Defensive Team
• Dave Bliss: SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year with a 3.45 grade-point average in Political Science and Real Estate
• Jeremy Price: SEC All-Freshman Team

Also congratulations to Vanderbilt’s Shan Foster for being named SEC Player of the Year. Kevin Stallings said it would be a "travesty" if someone else won the award, and I agreed. Lofton’s a great player, but Foster really carried his team.

Last week Josh over at the NCAA’s Double-A Zone linked to an LA Times article illustrating the lack of success for bubble teams (seeds 9-12) in recent NCAA Tournaments. The premise is right – bubble teams create a lot of excitement during the homestretch of the regular season as teams jockey for the last few at-large bids, but they really matter very little when it comes down to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond.

But at that point, it’s not really about championships or even advancing very far. Winning games in the tournament is great, sure, but marginal teams outside the higher seeds care mostly about access – entry into the club.

That’s why people like Jim Boeheim are so vocal about expanding the tournament. It’s not that a Syracuse team at .500 in its conference is a legitimate national title contender. It’s that a bid to the tournament is the basic status symbol in college basketball. You hang banners, put it on your coaching resume, flaunt it in front of prospects, and make as big of a deal over it as you can. There is enormous media exposure at stake in everything from the games themselves to countless previews breaking down the brackets. Go far enough and it can transform a school, but just being a part of the process is enough for many schools.

In the eyes of fans, a bid to the NCAA Tournament is the baseline for a successful program. It’s relevance and legitimacy. The seed might not be what you’d like in a given season, but you’re still at least a part of the picture. Miss the tournament once, and it’s a problem. Miss it a few times, and it’s time to look for a new coach.

Football fans are familiar with this issue: playing in a BCS bowl is a big deal. A playoff would be an even bigger deal for those teams invited because those 8 or 16 teams would have access to the hype surrounding a national title chase. It’s not hard to see why bracket creep is so attractive to those on the outside of the club.

You remember Joey Waldrop – the massive walk-on who became an unlikely fan favorite on the basketball team in 2003-2004. He left the basketball team to concentrate on his acting, and it seems as if that was a great decision. His acting career is starting to gain momentum, and he just finished a television pilot. Here’s hoping that the “dumb jock” thing doesn’t become a typecast for him. He’s actually pretty bright.

You probably remember that Georgia conceded the removal of the Sanford Stadium hedges in order to host soccer events for the 1996 Olympics. The field had to be widened at the corners to meet specifications, and the hedges were in the way.

That decision produced a minor outcry, but officials reassured the public that replacement hedges would be grown offsite and ready. In fact, they claimed, the existing hedges were facing trouble from parasites and would need to be replaced anyway. With those assurances, Georgia fans were placated, and the new hedges did indeed grow back in thick and full…until the 2000 Tennessee game.

It looks as if they pulled one over on us.

At a recent roast for former Athens mayor Gwen O’Looney, the conspiracy that reached all the way to the top of the Athletic Department and University was revealed:

While supporters said (O’Looney) brought a new openness to government, she was a party to at least one white lie. Former University of Georgia President Chuck Knapp recalled bringing an Olympics official, "a Middle Eastern potentate," to Sanford Stadium to convince him to play soccer there at the 1996 Atlanta games.

The official loved the stadium, but there was a catch.

"There is one minor problem," Knapp quoted the official as saying. "You’ll have to remove those bushes."

O’Looney, Knapp and former football coach Vince Dooley, after consulting UGA horticulturalists, made up a fib that nematodes, a parasitic roundworm, had struck the famous hedges, and they had to be cut down.

Apparently Dooley was still living the lie two years later at a University Round Table in 1998:

The athletic director recounted the uproar among alumni over the advent of women’s Olympic soccer in the stadium and the quest to cure the hedges of killer nematodes infesting the famous privet.
”We sent a couple of nematode experts over there,” he said. The hedges were removed and regrown with cuttings. ”We replaced them with Hedges II,” he said.

Michael Adams had some comments in a Chattanooga Time Free Press look at the "arms race" in college athletics and a new fundraising drive at Tennessee. Adams has made headlines not only for his playoff proposal but also for speaking out against the increased commericalism in college sports.

“I do believe there are some (athletic) programs that are heading toward a cliff, and I’m not sure these kind of increases in spending can be sustained,” he said.

Georgia is not one of those programs.

“We are very fortunate at the University of Georgia to have a loyal fan base that allows us to remain on the plus side of the ledger and to actually have a surplus of funds (in the athletic program) even though we don’t use any taxpayer dollars” (Adams) said.

While the article touched on the struggles of smaller programs like UTC and their reliance on student fees to fund athletics, academics like former UTC Chancellor Bill Stacy have their heads in the clouds.

“But I also long for the day when Tennesseans are as eager to see a poetry reading or hear an academic lecture as they are to go to a football game,” he said.

The NCAA has reversed its decision to vacate Oklahoma’s eight 2005 wins. Despite the use of two ineligible players for the entire 2005 season, Oklahoma’s “cooperation was a significant factor” in the NCAA’s revised penalty. Consistent? Arbitrary? Who cares?! 8-4 lives again.

So celebrate, Sooner fans – you are now officially allowed to remember that 42-14 win over Okie State, but unfortunately the 45-12 beating from Texas stands too.

The Big East has always been a bit of a Frankenstein conference with its membership changing depending on the season. Dick Weiss has some interesting thoughts about whether the Big East has grown too large for its own good.

Though the scope of the article is mainly about basketball, Weiss speculates than when commissioner Mike Tranghese retires, “we project this league will break up and go back to normal size with the seven football schools — excluding Notre Dame — going in one direction and the eight basketball schools forming their own league”. From a football perspective, you have to wonder what that will mean for emerging football programs at schools like Cincinnati and Connecticut who are enjoying the exposure of playing in a BCS conference as they make a name for themselves. Will a school like UConn be pulled in the direction of football or basketball?

It looks as if today’s the day: Kelvin Sampson could be out at Indiana.

As a Georgia fan who suffered through the end of the truncated 2003 season, what matters to me is the fallout. Will Indiana pull out of the postseason as a preemptive measure? It’s a promising season for the Hoosiers, and they’re very much in play for the Big 10 title. Or is Dan Dakich the next Steve Fisher (h/t Deadspin)?

Several players are threatening to walk out if Sampson is removed. Though that’s probably just raw emotion at this point, will there be any attrition either from the current roster or the current recruiting class if there is a change? Will there be sanctions for a program that his historically kept its nose clean?

I know that the Internet has turned the whole "never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel" aphorism on its head, but I still don’t know if it’s the wisest move for Phil Fulmer to get into a war of words with columnist John Adams.

Make no mistake, he’s in a fight to remain in control of the program. Let’s not forget that early in the 2007 season things were so shaky in Knoxville that former players had to take out a full-page ad in support of Fulmer. Though a much-needed win over Georgia placated the masses, an embarrassing loss at Alabama got the torches fired back up. Had the Vols not pulled out close wins against South Carolina, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt and won five straight games to win the SEC East, there’s no telling how ugly things might have become.

Now with his offensive mastermind gone to Duke and arguably his best recruiter gone to Oklahoma State, Fulmer is left to rebuild his staff with a new quarterback while fending off increasingly loud dissenters like Adams.

You can tell that Fulmer is struggling to keep it together when he goes right to the "doing it for the children" defense of his program. That’s often the last refuge of a coach who has little else to lean on.

It’s a mistake that while defending his character and leadership he seems most secure in his on-the-field record. Every coach is a mentor. Every coach wants to see his players graduate and go on to wonderful careers in law enforcement. He isn’t feeling heat because of his track record educating and mentoring his players. Since Linda Bensel-Meyers came forward, the portrayal of the Tennessee football program as anything but a football factory is good comedy, and Tennessee fans were more than willing to look the other way while things were going well.

Tennessee might have won more games than 95% of other teams as Fulmer says, but he is feeling heat because the perception is there of a program in decline. Though they have three SEC East titles in the 2000s, they haven’t won an SEC title since 1998. They haven’t been in the national title picture since 2001. Fulmer might want to think twice about inviting criticism of his on-field performance. Coaches aren’t replaced in the SEC because they don’t mentor well enough.

UPDATE: In the meantime, we have news about another future Knox County sheriff’s deputy.

Congratulations to Georgia Tech. On the eve of the start of college baseball, they found a way to have a college basketball game rained out. They will try to reschedule the game, but it might have to happen after the regular season and before the conference tournament.

You almost feel sorry for these fans, but then you remember that they were going to watch Tech basketball.

Once the PA announcer told fans in a less-than-half-filled arena that the game would hopefully be rescheduled and to hold onto ticket stubs, Tech fans Jeff Reeves and his son Lee were not amused.

They drove five hours from Demopolis, Ala. After Lee’s first chance to see a Tech game was drowned out, he said, “It sucks.”

Paul Hewitt’s joke that the team “finally caught a break” at home makes me wonder if this rainout came via the Crash Davis method.

You want a rainout?

Georgia broke a losing streak with a convincing win over South Carolina on Wednesday. They couldn’t turn it into a winning streak and came just short of upsetting #4 Tennessee in Athens. The Dawgs head out for consecutive road games at Kentucky and Vanderbilt this week. Given Georgia’s road woes, it could be a brutal two-game stretch, but Rupp Arena always seems to get Dennis Felton’s best shot.

Though the bottom half of the SEC West is a mess, Mississippi State did a lot to clear up things at the top with a win over Arkansas. The Bulldogs have a solid two-game lead, and the Razorbacks seem to be in control of the #2 position. In the East, Kentucky got drilled by Vanderbilt but hold a half-game lead over the Commodores. Florida is hanging on to postseason chances with a 6-5 conference mark, but they still have games left against Mississippi State, Tennessee, and at Kentucky. Do they need to win one of those to have a chance to defend their title?

SEC Men’s Basketball Power Rankings

1. Tennessee: Winning the close games builds valuable experience.
2. Miss. St.: Won a big battle over Arkansas
3. Vanderbilt: Solid at home over Kentucky and Florida.
4. Kentucky: Destroyed by Vandy and just hung on against LSU.
5. Arkansas: Missed a chance at West title in Starkville.
6. Florida: Are they on the bubble?
7. Georgia: Only one win to show for it, but playing much better.
8. South Carolina: Picked up 4th SEC win against Bama.
9. LSU: Playing inspired ball since coaching change.
10. Auburn: Wishes every game was against Ole Miss.
11. Ole Miss: Lost 6 of last 7.
12. Alabama: Stuck on two conference wins.

Lady Dogs

For the first time since late January, the Lady Dogs have put together consecutive wins. They completed a season sweep of Florida on Thursday, and they survived turnovers for a close win at Mississippi State to finish the week. The Lady Dogs stand at 6-5 in the SEC with a week of rest before a very important game with Auburn on Sunday. Auburn ran away with an easy win when the teams met in January, and Georgia’s NCAA Tournament chances might depend on winning the second meeting. A Georgia win could also move them into a tie with Auburn for 5th place.

After 14 points at Mississippi State, Tasha Humphrey is now tied with Kelly Miller as the #3 career scoring leader at Georgia. She is only 18 points behind Katrina McClain at the number 2 spot. With a 20-point performance against Auburn, Humphrey could become the program’s second-leading career scorer behind only Janet Harris. With over 2,600 career points, no one is catching Harris any time soon.

LSU left no doubt about the current best team in the league with a resounding win in Knoxville. Vanderbilt had a chance to force a tie for second place, but Tennessee held them off in Nashville.

SEC Women’s Basketball Power Rankings

1. LSU: Clear sailing to regular season title.
2. Tennessee: No 0.2 seconds to bail them out against LSU.
3. Vanderbilt: Six-game winning streak snapped against Tennessee.
4. Kentucky: Two of three remaining games should be wins.
5. Georgia: A week to rest before a revenge game against Auburn.
6. Auburn: A win at Georgia could wrap up the #5 seed.
7. Florida: Bounced back from Georgia loss to hold off Arkansas.
8. Miss. St.: Playing very tough over the past three games.
9. Ole Miss: Continue to look bad against good teams.
10. Arkansas: In bad shape.
11. South Carolina: Gave Auburn trouble.
12. Alabama: Two SEC wins in three years.

Sundiata Gaines has been on fire lately, and he was accordingly recognized today as the SEC Player of the Week. The SEC notes that Gaines “leads Georgia in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, minutes played, FTs made, and FTs attempted” (though we know of four free throw attempts he’d rather have back from Saturday’s game). His three-game total of 82 points is the most since Jumaine Jones ripped off 87 over a three-game span in 1998.

Gaines is making a serious case for All-SEC honors. First team.

I’m among those who think that we’re all safer when Congress concerns itself with frivilous pursuits like getting to the bottom of what exactly Roger Clemens did or did not inject into his backside. When this whole steroids thing is over, we offer a few suggestions for other investigations to keep their plate full well past Election Day:

• The clock operator at Thompson-Boling arena. Even Don Imus thinks that Rutgers got jobbed.
• Where exactly is Marquis Elmore’s car these days?
• The location of the Vince Dooley statue on Georgia’s campus. Is it too much to ask for the thing to be placed at midfield?
• Brokering a peaceful solution between Georgia and Florida over vanity license plates. The Supreme Court might have to get involved.
• When does 32 equal 25?
• Bizarre injuries to Georgia student-athletes: everything from Odell Collins’ hamstring to Chris Barnes’ mysterious eye ailment (yikes).
• Alternate ideas for reducing the length of college football games (other than banning FOX from broadcasting games).
• Is waterboarding torture? What if it’s Al Ford or Penn Wagers?

Chip Towers is right: you can’t mention Vince Dooley without the whole Dooley vs. Adams thing starting all over again. Now a $1 million planned tribute to the former coach and athletics director is not enough, petty, and part of (another) Adams plot to keep Dooley’s legacy as far away from Sanford Stadium as possible.

OooooooooooooooK.

Still, for those who would like to see the tribute placed closer to the stadium rather than across the street from a Kangaroo, there is a good option. When the Tate Center Expansion is finished in a few years, there will be a greenspace leading to the stadium from Lumpkin Street. It’s not a huge space, especially on a crowded gameday, but it looks as if it could serve as Georgia’s “National Mall” where statues of Dooley and any other past greats could dot the landscape.

Thomas Brown, Marcus Howard, and Kregg Lumpkin have received invitations to the NFL combine. According to a Buford source on the DawgVent, Mikey Henderson wisely decided that his 150 lb. body wasn’t exactly cut out for the NFL and declined an invitation.

I’m kind of surprised not to see Fernando Velasco on the list. Other seniors like Brandon Miller or Sean Bailey might have earned a spot too, but I can see how they could get passed over. Velasco was Georgia’s only senior on the All-SEC team, so you’d expect him to be at the top of the list.

An easy predicition: workout warrior Thomas Brown tests off the charts at the combine. Events like this were made for him.