A few items of note from around the net…

Football

Athlon and Lindy’s don’t like Alabama or Auburn. The Tigers rank 21 and 23 respectively, while Alabama isn’t ranked in either preview magazine’s top 25.

What would the week be like without a Scarbinsky scare column. This week he warns us the NCAA takes contact with athletes seriously outside the official contact period.

Around the SEC: It’s a real Nutt house in Arkansas

Samford University now gets its turn in the spotlight. Only, it isn’t the type of spotlight you want from national media outlets.

Media
Yesterday’s Birmingham News and Paul Finebaum radio show included talk of a Finebaum combination with Herb Winches. Tide Druid wonders if ego issues might hurt the proposed duo. My thoughts? Herb is a nice guy, but he doesn’t have the same level of journalistic credibility as Finebaum. And even if Herb is asked to join the A-Team again, he wouldn’t be the franchise player—that might not sit well with Herb. In any case, I hope things work out well for Winches. As I said, he is a nice guy, and an experienced broadcaster.

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Hoover Scandal
Coverage around the blogosphere continues on the Hoover saga. Eight In The Box takes a look at Dr. Wayne Flynt’s Sept. 2006 attack on Propst and the Hoover program. What Larry Flynt, errr, I mean Dr. Wayne Flynt says is that football is big and shouldn’t be as big as it is. Oh yeah, and Propst and the football emphasis at the school embarrasses Hoover teachers.

The Hoover scandal made the editorial page of the Birmingham News today. And the News’ analysis is correct. The allegations are troubling, but the teacher not getting tenure doesn’t concern me. It has become common in many schools (I don’t know about Hoover) for school boards to non-renew any teacher close to getting tenure. Why? Because tenure laws in Alabama prevent schools from getting rid of bad teachers, and boards have learned sometimes it is just better not to have lots of tenured teachers.

Basketball
Davidson has worked out with about half the NBA teams, and will soon find out if he gets drafted.