Losers Limp
Posted September 23rd, 2009, 8:09 AM ET

I know we're only a few weeks into another fun college football season, but I've been entertained with some of the whining taking place on and off the field.

The Lane Kiffin - Urban Meyer pre and post-game barbs have been classics. The coaches' cheap shots were more entertaining than the game between the respective schools.

Even after the Gators' 10-point win over the Vols, Kiffin gave Gator Nation one more to sleep on. The Mouth of the South claimed that in the Florida locker room, there are some frustrated guys. Because they had higher expectations about what they were supposed to do.

Vintage Kiffin.

Meyer in his post-game rambling claimed that Kiffin's plan was to play it safe and not try to win. Keeping the score reasonable was his main goal.

Kiffin countered that the next time his team didn't play well or execute properly he could blame the flu.

Meyer and his Gators won on the scoreboard....but Kiffin and the Vols have found a way to get under the king's skin.

How about Pete Carroll and his USC Trojans?

Every year, you can count on Southern Cal to punish the Big Ten's best and follow that up with a sleepwalk loss to a non-ranked Pac 10 team.

It happened again this year, when the Pac 10 beast marched into Columbus and won, and then followed it up with a lackluster performance and lost to Washington.

I can only imagine that Buckeye Nation cringed after seeing the final score from Seattle. The Columbus Dispatch had the audacity to make this claim:

"I'd rather be pegged as overrated (Ohio State) than as an underachiever (Southern Cal)."

And you wonder why people like to make fun of the Buckeyes?

There should be a simple rule in college football....noon kick-offs should be outlawed.

I hate them.

There's nothing positive about kicking it off at high noon. Fans are still half-awake from the night before. It's too early to crank up the massive tailgate party. And depending on your game location, some fans just don't bother showing up until late in the first half....(and you know who you are).

Every year when I plan the Southern Fried Football™ Tour schedule, I try to hold out as long as possible for the TV times. I try to avoid noon kick-offs at all costs. Even great football venues are affected by the ridiculous kick-off time. You can single-handedly blame TV for this abysmal concept.

It should be mandated that the earliest kick-off time is at 1pm, followed by 4pm, and then of course primetime. Every school in America should be mandated to pick either a 1:00, 4:00 or primetime start.

Then let the TV suits figure out the best games.

We're off to Columbia for the South Carolina - Ole Miss game on Thursday night.

The Rebels are ranked 4th in the country, and it's their highest ranking since 1970. I'm still not sold that they are Top 10 material, but they are talented enough to be a factor in the SEC West.

One of the amazing stats about this match-up is that the Gamecocks are 1-31 in their history against teams ranked in the Top 5.

1-31!

The lone victory? A win against the Tar Heels, back in 1981. Ironically, it opened the door for their arch-rivals (Clemson), as they won the national title.