Most of you are past the point of becoming nauseated when various announcers, most notably Jesse Palmer and Craig James, genuflect in reference with each mention of the SEC.
And it's not just "SEC." It's ESSSSSS ... EEEEEEEE ... SEEEEEEEEEE.
So they can be carrying on a normal conversation, then the topic will turn to the next week's game between, say, Auburn and Clemson.
Palmer: "Boy, Craig, you really wonder how Clemson is going to handle that ESSSSSSS ... EEEEEE ... SEEEEEEEEE speed."
James: "You betcha, Jesse. Clemson is going to have to do a really good job of accounting for Auburn's ESSSSSS ... EEEEEEE ... SEEEEEEEE speed, or Auburn's defense is going to just pin its ears back."
No doubt a lot of folks who've grown tired of this are a bit amused at the current plight of the SEC East.
Here's a look at the standings:
1. South Carolina 4-2, 2-2
2. Florida 4-3, 2-3
3. Georgia 3-4, 2-3
4. Vanderbilt 2-4, 1-2
5. Kentucky 4-3, 1-3
6. Tennessee 2-4, 0-3
In light of this epic tumble by a division that's accustomed to being a powerhouse, we're no longer calling our weekly ACC rankings the ACC power(less) rankings.
Because, hey, when the ACC Atlantic might be better than the SEC East, you gotta give some benefit of the doubt to the AAAAAEEEEEEEEEE......SEEEEEEEEEEEE......SEEEEEEEEEEE.
1. Florida State (last week-1)--Not a tremendous surprise that the Seminoles struggled with Boston College. Hard to sustain the emotion from the smoking of Miami a week earlier.
2. Virginia Tech (LW-2)--Hokies are averaging 36 points per game. That average could get a boost Saturday against Duke's woeful defense.
3. Miami (LW-3)--Hurricanes are 0-3 against former coach Butch Davis the past three seasons. Tar Heels visit South Florida on Saturday in a game Miami has to win.
4. North Carolina (LW-5)--How good would the Tar Heels be with all those suspended studs?
5. Clemson (LW-6)--Convincing win (sort of convincing) pushes the Tigers up a spot.
6. N.C. State (LW-4)--Wolfpack's pass defense was sliced to ribbons at East Carolina.
7. Georgia Tech (LW-7)--This just feels too low for the Yellow Jackets. They can't stop anyone, but can anyone stop them?
8. Maryland (LW-8)--Can I file a worker's comp claim after watching this week's game against Boston College? U-G-L-Y.
9. Boston College (LW-10)--Yeah, moving the Eagles up after a loss. Feeling charitable this morning.
10. Virginia (LW-9)--Hey, at least Al Groh can say he never lost to North Carolina at home.
11. Wake Forest (LW-11)--Deacons are giving up 37.7 points a game. So much for the argument that the bottom of the ACC is decent.
12. Duke (LW-12)--Devils are giving up 37.8 points per game. So much for the argument that the bottom of the ACC is decent.
Heather Dinich presents her power rankings, and the top three are the same as mine. But she has Georgia Tech fourth. Can't totally argue with that, because the Jackets' win at North Carolina is looking better every day. But we still don't really know how good Paul Johnson's third team is. We'll find out Saturday.
Rob Daniels of The ACC Sports Journal offers his power rankings.
Speaking of Dinich, she notes that the ACC's quarterbacks are underperforming given all the preseason hype.
Boston College QB Chase Rettig had a game to build on Saturday at Florida State, even if he posted some ugly numbers (9 of 24, 95 yards, no TDs).
Hard to when in Tallahassee -- or anywhere, for that matter -- when you don't score a touchdown.
North Carolina TE Zack Pianalto is lost for the season.
Georgia Tech's defense has improved statistically over the last three games.
“I don’t want to put any limits on [the defense],” Groh said. “We prepare for the game, we try to play the game the best we can, we grade the game, we make the corrections, we make the reinforcements, we go back and prepare again, we grind away and we try and get better. That is part of our identity on defense and we have five more weeks to do that. It is pretty clear, in order to accommodate that level of competition what the progress has to be.”
Paul Johnson has this to say about Georgia Tech's trip to Death Valley:
"I'm sure they are going to be welcoming us with open arms in Death Valley. We have to get ready to play our best game of the year."
Here's a piece on Jerrard Tarrant, who was a nemesis for the Tigers in both of the games last season.
In the same story, CB Dominique Reese explains the Jackets' transformation:
“You were just trying to fly around and play hard, but you’ve got to fly around, play hard and do your job,” Reese said. “We’re finally doing the job part.”
Speaking of flying around, we'll close with one of the coolest videos you'll ever see.
LW
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