Like most Southerners, I love SEC football. A girlfriend broke up with me once over it — we dated just two seasons. She told me I loved college football more than her. To try to make her less upset, I told her I loved her more than ice hockey.
Ohio State is the team to beat this year, but the SEC is always in the mix. College football appeared right after the Civil War to give Southern and Northern states a safer way to keep on fighting.
Let me say up front that I like Lane Kiffin. I went to basketball schools, so I can be a fair arbiter here.
(IN THE NEWS: Lane Kiffin exits Ole Miss for LSU; Pete Golding takes over for Rebels)
Kiffin is one of a few head coaches with a sense of humor. He gives an interesting interview beyond the superficial platitudes most have been taught to spew. In leagues where coaches speak in measured tones of “process” and “culture,” he will push back and poke, all with a wry smile. He channels Coach Mike Leach, who was the greatest.