So the above image is the bottom end of the latest coaches poll.
And "bottom end" is an apt description in this case.
It doesn't take long to see that there's, uh, something wrong with this picture.
Auburn received eight freaking votes. Eight.
Wow.
A few Monday links:
-- Speaking of Auburn, I'd bet that at some point in the last few days it was uttered in the press box:
"Gosh, the only thing worse than this football meltdown would be if they decided to fire the baseball coach."
Oh wait, that just happened.
Auburn baseball coach Sunny Golloway has been fired.
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs confirmed the move via a statement Sunday afternoon.
"I regret to announce that earlier today I dismissed Auburn head baseball coach Sunny Golloway with cause," Jacobs said via a release. "My commitment will always be to provide the best student-athlete experience in the nation, and we will not accept anything less."
The firing arrives amid compliance concerns under Golloway's watch, according to sources familiar with the situation.
When reached by AL.com, Golloway said he "absolutely" did nothing wrong, but declined to go into specifics. Associate head coach Tom Holliday has also been placed on administrative leave, according to sources.
"All of the the players met me at my house and I told them to honor us by doing a good job and being respectful in playing because they're going to be very good," Golloway said. "It's a really good baseball team."
The school announced assistant coach Greg Norton will be in charge of baseball operations until a new coach is hired.
Auburn does not expect to owe Golloway a buyout, which would total $1.25 million if he was fired without cause.
-- Alabama is an underdog for the first time in 73 games.
There’s been a lot of talk around college football lately wondering whether or not Nick Saban‘s Alabama dynasty is finally over. And while it’s too early to declare a verdict one way or another, it’s undeniable that the Crimson Tide armor Saban’s charges have worn into battle over the past eight seasons is beginning to show some rust.
First, consider Alabama is just 2-5 against Top 15 opponents since Auburn’s Kick Six in November 2013. You may not have known that stat, but the sharps in Vegas do. And on Sunday they installed No. 8 Georgia, not No. 13 Alabama, as early favorites as the Tide visit Athens on Saturday.
That ends an unprecedented streak of 72 straight games that Alabama was installed as a betting favorite. Alabama hasn’t stepped on the field as an underdog since the 2009 SEC Championship, a game the Tide won, 32-13.
So if the Crimson Tide wins Saturday, they can say after that they shocked the world.
-- Andy Staples with a good recap of a wild weekend in college football ... including that utter meltdown by the Vowels in Gainesville.
The coach was asked about the two-point conversion chart. His team had scored a touchdown to go up 12 points early in the fourth quarter, and he had ignored the mathematical wisdom of the chart and kicked an extra point. His team wound up losing, 28–27. Here is his answer to the question.
"I don't go for two early. If we missed it, a touchdown and two field goals would beat you."
Wait. That's not what Tennessee coach Butch Jones said Saturday after his team fell by that same score at Florida. So, who said it?
It was Bobby Bowden in a press conference after his Florida State team lost at Miami in 2002. You probably don't remember that game as Bobby Didn't Go For Two Up 12. You may, however, remember it as Wide Left.
Bowden's decision ended up contributing to a loss that was ultimately decided by a ball drifting just outside a goalpost upright. That's exactly what happened to Jones Saturday. Tennessee sophomore kicker Aaron Medley's 55-yard field goal attempt barely skimmed past the right side of the right upright. The difference between agony and ecstasy was less than a foot. The 2002 blunder didn't hurt Bowden's career much. So, why could the same decision to kick an extra point up 12 in Saturday's fourth quarter harm Jones in the long term?
The answer lies in something Jones said a few minutes after the question about the two-point conversion chart. (Jones said the Volunteers have a standard chart, but if they do usethe one made famous by Dick Vermeil, they ignored it at Florida.) Jones was trying to explain how his team would bounce back from the loss when he said this: "It doesn't define who we are."
Except that, unfortunately, it does.
Not a gambling man, but I'd bet the farm that there will be murder committed by at least a few fans of the losing fan base after this week's Tennessee-Arkansas game.
And how about these apples:
-- Dan Wolken of USA Today gives his weekly Misery Index.
1. Oregon: Besides the fact Utah did literally whatever it wanted on Saturday and exposed the Ducks as pretenders, there’s a larger problem for Oregon. Its defense continues to be really, really bad, which means its offense will have to win shootouts to make any headway in the Pac 12. Oregon has given up 42 points to Eastern Washington, 31 to Michigan State, 28 to lowly Georgia State and now 62 to a Utah team that has never been described as explosive.
Meanwhile, Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams was pulled in favor of Jeff Lockie, which exposes another problem for the Ducks. They essentially recruited Adams off Eastern Washington’s campus as a graduate transfer, thinking he would be a one-year bandage to bridge the gap between Mariota and whomever they anoint for 2016. But Adams has struggled, which isn't surprising when you consider he couldn't practice with the team all summer because of academic work he had yet to finish at EWU.
It looks like a miscalculation all around for the Oregon coaching staff, which finds itself one-third of the way through the season still trying to get its arms around the most important position on the field. Without a functional quarterback, Oregon’s offense dies. This year, without a good defense to bail them out, that means Oregon dies.
-- David Teel of Newport News says this loss to East Carolina was more troubling than last year's.
But contrary to Beamer's post-game spin, non-conference games such as Saturday's are not "exhibitions," and telling players otherwise is a con game. Losing to East Carolina may not affect Tech in the ACC standings, but players and coaches should hurt nonetheless.
And here's guessing they do. Here's guessing Beamer was merely trying to remind the locker room that goals such as division and conference titles and a major bowl bid remain in play.
Perhaps Saturday's most promising Tech development was Motley's continued progress. He passed for 281 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 85 and another in his third start in place of injured Michael Brewer (collarbone).
Moreover, Motley had the most appropriate demeanor among the Hokies who appeared for interviews.
He was angry.
-- Well FSU fans aren't going to like the media digging this up:
-- And we close with a Tiny Desk Concert from Jackson Browne:
LW
