Chiefs rookie Dee Ford to wear Derrick Thomas' college number 55

After signing his deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, rookie linebacker Dee Ford decided to pay homage to a great from Chiefs past.

Ford wore number 30 in college while at Auburn. He can't wear that number in the NFL so he chose number 55 in honor of  former Chiefs and Alabama great Derrick Thomas.  

Kind of unusual since Ford attended Auburn and Thomas went to Alabama. And we all know how deep the roots of the rivalry run.

Ford explained why he chose Thomas' 55.

"The opportunity presented itself," Ford said, via the Chiefs official website. "I'd play at any number, but of course 55 came available. This is Derrick Thomas' college number. It's all good. I'm not trying to be Derrick Thomas, but he's a guy that definitely inspired me."

Thomas played for Alabama before Ford was born, but that doesn't mean he didn't see film of one of the greatest defensive players in the game of football.  Even though Ford comes from the other side of the fence this is something that both Auburn and Alabama fans can get behind.

Auburn made the right call in hiring Bruce Pearl

When you think of Auburn basketball, you have to ask yourself how did Sonny Smith and Cliff Ellis have any degree of success. Sure Smith and Ellis were fine coaches but Auburn hasn't exactly been competing for SEC upper division finishes after their departures.

You almost have to feel sorry for former coach Tony Barbee. He had a major reclamation project and although the Tigers made strides this season, it wasn't enough. Barbee was fired by athletic director Jay Jacobs shortly after losing to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament. Jacobs moved quickly to hire former Tennessee boss Bruce Pearl.

Say what you want about Pearl, but the guy is a winner despite his somewhat checkered past. Yes there was the secret taping of a phone conversation during Illinois' recruitment of Deon Thomas. There were the lies he told to NCAA investigators about what amounts to secondary violations. Pearl has been called a rat, fink and a con man. He might be all of the above but man can he coach.

Pearl has proven that he can win at every level. He won at Division II Southern Indiana. He won at mid- major Wisconsin-Milwaukee and he revived a Tennessee program that had fleeting moments of success. Auburn will now see if Pearl can work his magic on the plains. My bet is that Pearl will win at Auburn. It might be a risk to hire Pearl, but the reward will be greater if he piles up high numbers in the W column.

Even though Pearl most likely won't be able to recruit until August, he can recruit high caliber SEC talent to Auburn. The Tigers might struggle on the court this season, but Pearl is a self and program promoter and will be a winner off the court. Auburn made the right call hiring Pearl to coach the basketball team. Tennessee fans are still pining for him and I bet the folks in Tuscaloosa are probably gnashing their teeth at the fact that Auburn will surpass Alabama on the court.

The question is will Pearl stay at Auburn for the long haul and build a winner or will he catch the next money train out of town when a bigger name program comes calling.    

Five college basketball programs that should be better

It's hard to explain cycles in college basketball. One day your a national power and in the blink of an eye a program can fall on hard times. I came up with a list of college basketball programs that should be doing a lot better than what they're current national standing is. I know that facilities and donors play a role, but I look at it from a pure wins and losses standpoint along with location and a little tradition. These five programs should have a better national standing than being afterthoughts.

1. DePaul Blue Demons- The Blue Demons were an Independent power in the 1970s and 80s under legendary coach Ray Meyer. The names Mark Aguirre, Skip Dillard, Dallas Comegys, Terry Cummings and Tyrone Corbin are glorious names from the past. The train kept rolling under his son Joey but you could tell that things were getting a little shaky under his leadership. With the emergence of Illinois in the mid 80s the program took a hit lot of good Chicago players heading to Champaign. Which leads me to this...How can you not be a good program with all the Chicago talent? The last coach to really tap into the wealth of Chicago talent was Pat Kennedy when he lured Bobby Simmons, Lance Williams, Quentin Richardson to Depaul.

No coach has had any sustained success since the Meyer's roamed the sidelines. Current coach Oliver Purnell is slowly getting things headed in the right direction and with a Big East that has less teams in the conference the Blue Demons might be competitive. Losses to Southern Miss, Arizona State, Texas and Wichita State show that the Demons still are pretty far from sitting at the big boy table. Losses to ASU, Texas and Wichita State were double digit losses.

There is no excuse for DePaul to be so noncompetitive and not get the top talent in the city. Purnell needs to straighten things out before the fans and administration figure that they've seen enough and fire him. They have lost five straight NCAA Tournament games and have won only two NCAA Tournament games since 1987.

2. Seton Hall Pirates- In the late 80s P.J. Carlesimo turned Seton Hall into a tough minded winning crew. He led the Pirates to the 1989 national title game and six NCAA tournament appearances, with a Sweet 16 and Elite 8 thrown in. Along the way he started reeling in top recruits to South Orange, New Jersey, not the easiest place to get a player to come to. Then after the 1994 season Carlesimo left for the NBA and things haven't been the same since.

Assistant George Blaney took over at the helm and he managed one NIT appearance. Enter Tommy Amaker who led the team to three NIT berths and a Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. He brought in some top flight talent but the team never meshed well. He ended up leaving for Michigan. Louis Orr or Bobby Gonzalez couldn't bring the Pirates enough consistency in the win column to justify keeping them on board.

Kevin Willard now has he task of trying to make the Seton Hall nationally relevant again. He has a current record of 49-49 entering this season. Not the kind of consistency Pirates brass was looking for.

I know times are different but why won't the top New Jersey/New York high school players consider Seton Hall. The Pirates do have a strong class next season headlined by shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead. Whether that will be enough to change the programs or Willard's fortunes remains to be seen. But the program has seen recent success in spurts so that's why they land on this list.

3. USC Trojans- When you think of USC you think of football and Tailback U. Basketball has become an afterthought a USC, until you start losing with regularity, which gets you fired. Why this program has never had any sustained success in beyond me. Never having their own arena and playing in the dark L.A. Sports Arena didn't help.

They're in sunny Southern California (Los Angeles), play in a major media market and have an abundance of top flight basketball talent. Talent that seemingly winds up across town at UCLA. Why can't the same talent wind up at USC?  Not being a consistent winner doesn't help your cause when the school across town is racking up national titles and playing in high profile games.

The Trojans have made the big dance,most recently 2007-2009,  and have had NBA caliber players (Taj Gibson, O.J. Mayo, Gabe Pruitt, DeMar DeRozan) on their roster before, but it's always been a one or two year run for this team before it heads back to the bottom of the Pac-12 standings.

New coach Andy Enfield was a splash hire and won the press conference with UCLA (hired Steve Alford), and Enfield hired super recruiters Tony Bland and Jason Hart to mine L.A.'s best talent.

Enfield prefers an uptempo attack and that will catch a player's eye. Whether he gets the talent and wins big is a different story. Things might be looking up for the Trojans but not this year.

4. Arizona State Sun Devils- Long hailed as a "sleeping giant" this program has never been awoke long enough to be a consistent winner. When you go down the line of coaches that have been in Tempe, you realize that the program has won games, but not enough to become a threat to in state rival Arizona. 

Back in 1989 many thought "stealing" Bill Frieder from Michigan would finally get the program on its feet. he won games and attracted talent, just not enough to be a big winner like Lute Olson. They've had NBA talent like James Harden, they have a beautiful campus and some lovely coeds. That hasn't been enough to get players to the valley of the sun. The Sun Devils best moments came in the early 80s with Byron Scott, Fat Lever and Alton Lister playing and Ned Wulk stalking the sidelines.

Current coach Herb Sendek is on the hot seat and probably needs to get the Devils back to the NCAA Tournament to save his job. With point guard Jahii Carson on board, Sendek has scrapped his slow pace and went uptempo, realizing this is probably his best chance to get back to the tournament . So far the results this season have been good with the Sun Devils off to a 10-2 start. Sendek needs to be a tournament regular at the very least if he wants to stick around.

5. Houston Cougars- Does anyone have an answer for a program that was a tournament regular from 1970-1984, made five Final Fours and two national title game appearances go from those high points to scuffling to make the CBI? The team that produced Otis Birdsong, Clyde Drexler, Don Chaney, Elvin Hayes and Hakeem Olajuwon and brought us perhaps the most entertaining team of all time "Phi Slamma Jamma" is now trying to capture past glory. The Cougs only have one NCAA appearance since 1992. That hasn't been a good run for the program. There are several theories: the end of the Southwest Conference, the lack of stability in the program after Guy Lewis’s retirement, a failure to recruit in the city limits and playing at a 44-year-old arena.

The Cougars were at one point "the program" along with Arkansas in the Southwest and are now competing to be the best program in their own state. Since 1992 the Cougars have been surpassed by Texas, Baylor, and recently SMU.

The glory years of coach Guy Lewis are long gone, but having a good program shouldn't be. The Cougars shouldn't have to leave the city to recruit high level players or stray outside the state borders. The team has tradition and history on its side but that doesn't seem to matter to high school players theses days.  

“In the grand scheme of things we stopped recruiting Houston-area athletes,” Vern Lewis a guard on his father’s first two Final Four teams at Houston, in 1967 and 1968. said. “If you recruit within a 50-mile radius of the city, you’ll win the national title.”

Greater Houston basketball has produced the likes of T.J Ford, Daniel Gibson, Emeka Okafor, Rashard Lewis, Stephen Jackson, Kendrick Perkins and DeAndre Jordan. They all should have looked hard, if not signed, with UH. None did. That's a shame that the program has sunk so low.

Coach James Dickey looks like he might have the program going in the right directions as he has recruited the city and state of Texas. Getting Danuel House and Danrad "Chicken" Knowles was a start. If Dickey can keep the local kids around and convince them that going to Houston is the way to go he might be the one to bring the program back to respectability. 

Honorable Mention

 Georgia Tech- It seems s long ago since that national title game appearance. They haven't built off that success.

Alabama- This team hasn't done much since Wimp Sanderson left town.

Tulane- They probably wish Perry Clark was back on the sidelines. Too much homegrown talent leaves their backyard.

St. John's- They don't keep the elite NYC talent at home.

Georgia- This program should aspire to be something greater. Mired in mediocrity for a very long time.

Detroit- This team should be able to win with the local talent.

Auburn- The ghost of Sonny Smith couldn't win with the hand the current staff has been dealt. The basketball needs some of the 'prayers from Jordan-Hare' to be successful.

SEC commissioner hoping for a Michigan State win Saturday

As it stands, the Ohio State Buckeyes are locked into the number two ranking which means they'd be facing the Florida State Seminoles for the BCS national title, barring a massive collapse against Duke in the ACC championship game.

That would leave one loss Auburn or Missouri on the outside looking in. Also being left out would be one loss Alabama, which I don't see leapfrogging anyone right now.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive is hoping that he can still get one of his teams in the championship game. He's taken to openly rooting for Michigan State to knock off Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game so the Auburn-Missouri winner could possibly claim a spot to represent the SEC against Florida State.      

“I’m planning on wearing a green tie (to the SEC title game),” Slive told FoxSports.com writer Clay Travis. “I’ll be a Spartan for a day.”

My guess is that a one loss SEC school will most likely play for the title if the Buckeyes lose. If not, they can thank Auburn for breaking the conference stranglehold on the championship.

Charles Barkley says none of Kentucky's players are ready for the NBA

Former NBA and Auburn star, Charles Barkley was in attendance for the Kentucky-Auburn basketball game Saturday. While the Tigers got hammered by their superior SEC foe, Barkley went on the telecast for a few and explained why he doesn't like the one and done rule and that none of Kentucky's are ready for the NBA, while slamming the agents and family members that steer kids to go pro.


"John Calipari's a friend of mine. I love him as a friend. There ain't one player on this Kentucky team who should go pro early. I hate the one-and-done rule in college basketball. Just 'cause there's a rule does not mean you have to do it. Listen, Anthony Davis played well enough for him to go pro. ... I wish some of these parents would talk to their kids."

"I would love for guys to stay three years," Barkley said. "I think the best we can really get is two years. ... The family members are greedy, the agents are pigs, also. So they tell these kids, 'Go to college for one year.' ... It's driven by the agents, to be honest with you, and listen, it's a corrupt system. ... These agents are such scumbags, and yo know that, they just want their percentage of the money. Matt (Doherty), you know that. They don't care about these kids, how well they do in the NBA."


Are you listening Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin?

Shaquille O'Neal came out and said that a player should be removed three years from his high school class to enter the NBA draft, similar to the NFL draft rule.

Personally there should be a two year rule, that way you can see if a kid is all potential or possibly the real deal. Currently, this draft class is looking pretty weak, so Noel, Poythress, and Goodwin are looked at as possible top 10 picks this year. I just don't see a surefire star coming out. There are good players out there but no difference makers to help an NBA team.  Maybe when the NCAA tournament starts we'll see the cream rise  to the top.

Trooper Taylor Gets A Presidential Chest Bump

Auburn's Trooper Taylor had to be the most visible wide receivers coach of all time. Seriously, he got just as much face time as Cam Newton. I swear that he was the glory hound, not Newton.

Taylor got a little more face on Auburn's visit to the White House to visit President Barack Obama. Him and the prez engaged in a little chest bump.



Hopefully this will be the last time I see him taking up any valuble camera time from one of the players.

Charles Barkley Is The Number One Auburn Legend

Here's Charles Barkley in a radio interview with KJOX in Birmingham, Alabama talking about his All-Star weekend and more importantly his place in the Auburn athletic pecking order. And he wasn't shy about letting Cam Newton know where he stood.

Here's what he said to Cam Newton about his place at Auburn.

"You know, I finally got a chance to meet him. Since I keep getting him tickets to all these events, I joked with him, 'I keep hearing I'm getting you tickets to all these events.' I finally got a chance to meet him. He came over, we were actually staying at the same hotel and he came over and said hello to me. And I just told him how proud I am of him and the Auburn team, and what a great season they had. ... Then I said I love you, I'm proud of you, but you can't ever go any higher than No. 3 on the list behind me and Bo [Jackson]. No matter what you accomplished, I said if you had stayed another year and did what you did this year I might have moved you up. But right now, I'm No. 1, Bo [is] No. 2, and you're No. 3. And I felt bad that I had to move Frank Thomas down to No. 4."

We get what your saying Charles your the man at Auburn and always will be.


 

Newton Declares For NFL Draft

Days after leading the Auburn Tigers to the BCS championship over Oregon, Heisman winning quarterback Cam Newton has decided to take his talents to the NFL. This was a no brainer. Everyone knew Cam was out soon as the pay for play scandal broke involving his father. Winning the BCS title just set it in stone. With his star at its brightest right now and the NCAA still not done with him he really had no other choice except to leave.

Where he lands in the draft will depend on what happens at the combine.Newton can play the game, no doubt about that. But NFL personnel men will be looking at other things. Like his ability to read a defense, his throwing motion, and how he thinks the game. Also do they think of him as a Tim Tebow type or a Michael Vick type? Or is he a Vince Young clone, someone that seemingly has the tools but has yet to harness his ability. I would have to say he's closer to Vince Young right now. Someone will take him in the first round. Where, I don't know. For whoever drafts Newton, they better hope he's not the next JaMarcus Russell.

As for Auburn, everyone's just waiting for the other shoe to drop. On the bright side we wont get anymore Trooper Taylor face shots.

Oregon, Auburn Unveil Uniform Wrinkles

Oregon and Auburn will both have some fancy new duds to trot out for the BCS championship game.

Auburn will be going with new cleats designed by Underamour.

Oregon will be going with something a little more familiar, except for the socks.

As you can see, around the numbers is a brighter green. Just like those loud socks.

Uniforms won't make a difference. just ask the Cincinnati Bearcats when they strolled out in the storm trooper outfits for last year's Sugar Bowl against Florida.

I don't think they've worn those again after the beatdown the Gators put on them.

Chizik Can Feel Complete Redemption If He Wins Title

Remember when Gene Chizik was named the head coach at Auburn? I do. The decision was ridiculed from coast to coast. The "experts" thought he was the wrong guy. Charles Barkley even chimed in saying they should've hired Turner Gill and said Gill wasn't hired because he was black. They said he couldn't and wouldn't beat Nick Saban. Personally I thought it wasn't a good choice based on his 5-19 record at Iowa State. Especially since things got worse in Ames after he arrived. 

Well, Chizik is close to having the last laugh. He's headed to the BCS title game with the probable Heisman Trophy winner in tow. Everyone that said he wasn't the right choice and that Saban would rule the state of Alabama are now eating crow. Chizik will feel complete redemption if he wins the national championship. The Tigers have surprised everyone, including me. I knew Cam Newton was a difference maker, but damn, this kind of difference maker. Who knew? I know what everyone is saying now. Cam Newton has "made" Gene Chizik. Even though Newton has led the Tigers on some memorable comebacks, it's been a good marriage between the two. More specifically Newton and Chizik's most important hire, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

Of course for this story to have a happy ending they'll have to get by Oregon. Not impossible, but considering everything they've been through and what they've done all year I wouldn't doubt them now.

Quote Of The Week: Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley to an Alabama radio station about the Cam Newton situation.

"First of all -this is a joke now- first of all I don't know what happened about that, but if that guy only asked for $200,000 for Cam Newton, they should fire him anyway."

Even when he's chipping in about his alma mater, the Chuckster is always good for a laugh.