Colleges

SEC notebook

By Antonya English
Published August 31, 2007

Happy birthday

The SEC turns 75 this season, and the league plans a year-long celebration to commemorate the event. Its most visible campaign will be television, radio, Internet and print ads featuring the life stories of 75 former student-athletes. The stories will be told through the voices of prominent people who have attended or have an affiliation with an SEC school, including: television anchor Deborah Norville (Georgia), former president Bill Clinton (Arkansas), actor Ashley Judd (Kentucky), Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts (Mississippi), Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning (Tennessee), author John Grisham (Mississippi State) and political strategist James Carville (LSU). The league began with 13 schools from the then-Southern Conference in February 1933, 10 of which remain. The others were Sewannee, Tulane and Georgia Tech.

During the league's inaugural year, Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd President, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, the first major league baseball all-star game was played and the first electronic TV receiver was developed. Also, the game of Monopoly was developed and concrete was poured for the Hoover Dam.

Tiger fever

On paper, they have one of the most talented teams in football, so it's not surprising that LSU fans are revved up in record numbers for the upcoming season. A consensus top-three pick, the Tigers have sold a record 68,230 season tickets. Last year, LSU sold 67,700 season tickets. During coach Les Miles' first season in 2005, the Tigers sold 66,100 season tickets.

"We've sold every season ticket that we can sell," Brian Broussard, assistant athletic director for ticket operations, told the Associated Press.

The Tigers' first home game is Sept. 8 against Virginia Tech.

Last year, LSU averaged a school-record 92,212 fans for its eight home games.

Just another game? Yeah, right

It's one thing to try to convince us global warming isn't real. It's quite another to try to make anybody who knows SEC football believe that this year's LSU-Alabama game won't be the biggest game of the year - regardless of the records. But give LSU coach Les Miles credit for trying. Miles, who took over for Nick Saban, who has now moved to Tuscaloosa, bristled at the notion that it's any bigger than any other game just because Saban is now on the other side of the field.

"I can tell you that's one game on our schedule, no more than one," Miles said. "I can tell you that we really have not changed anything. There will be no bearing on what we do that's different."

Did we mention that one of Saban's former staff members at LSU got her tires slashed when she attended a wedding in Baton Rouge?

What hot seat?

Tennessee hasn't won an SEC championship since 1998 and has finished 14-10 the past two seasons, but don't you dare call Phillip Fulmer a coach on the hot seat - at least not to his face. Fulmer, now in his 16th season with the Vols, said his career should be judged by the overall body of work.

"I'm not silly," he said. "I know that our expectations are high because we created those. I also know I just got a contract extension. ... My athletic director gave my coordinators three-year contracts, (my) assistants, two-year contracts. We've never had an NCAA violation in 15 years. Our APR is in great shape. There's a lot of positive things. But nobody wants to win a championship more than I do. Nobody. We're going to work like heck to make that happen."

By the numbers

6.5-million - People who attended SEC football games last fall.

4 - Current coaches in the league who have won national titles: Steve Spurrier (Florida, now the South Carolina coach), Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee), Nick Saban (LSU, now the Alabama coach) and Urban Meyer (Florida).

8 - Cents, the amount needed to purchase a loaf of bread the year the SEC was formed.

Antonya English, Times staff writer

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 10:19:32]