CHICAGO --- First, I walked about 500 miles today in addition to the 26.2 I ran, so this will be the shortest 10 Thoughts in the history of 10 Thoughts. Forgive me. I'll make it up with some longwinded dissertation another week. However, for now, here are my thoughts from the weekend that was, one that saw Ole Miss solidify its position as a national championship threat, courtesy of Oxford-based RE/MAX Legacy Realty agent Harry Alexander.
1. Ole Miss whipped Texas A&M, 35-20, Saturday night in College Station. I wasn't there, so I won't pretend to add some sort of commentary to the fabulous job my colleagues, Chase Parham and Jeffrey Wright, did from Kyle Field. The Rebels were dominant in all areas; that was obvious on television
Here's what I will say: Ole Miss is now a favorite, not just a contender, to make the first ever college football playoff. The Rebels play host to Auburn and Mississippi State in November. Their remaining road trips are to LSU and Arkansas. Frankly, I think Ole Miss will be 8-0 when Auburn comes to town on Nov. 1, and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if the Rebels are 11-0 for the Egg Bowl.
Much will be made this week about rankings. They're great talk radio fodder, but THEY SIMPLY DON'T MATTER. If the season ended today (it doesn't, by the way), Ole Miss would be in the college football playoff. That matters. The Rebels, as Bo Wallace said a week ago, control their own destiny.
2. Speaking of Wallace, he's quietly inserting himself into the Heisman Trophy race. Make no mistake, if the season ended today (again, it doesn't), Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott would win it. Prescott would likely deserve it, too, though it's amazing that he's not held accountable by the national media for his mistakes the way Wallace is his. Regardless, Oregon's Marcus Mariota would be a major player for the award as well. After that, who's a shoo-in for an invite to New York? Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon? Probably. Alabama's Amari Cooper? Doubtful. Georgia's Todd Gurley? Not anymore. Florida State's Jameis Winston? Laughable.
If Ole Miss keeps winning, Wallace will have the national stage on several more occasions. If his numbers continue to stay steady, his candidacy will become more and more real. Bet on that. And if Ole Miss wins the Egg Bowl, the narrative involving Prescott could change. That's a lot of ifs, sure, but Wallace isn't far from an invite to New York now, and there's still half a season left.
3. At the halfway point, here's my ranking of the SEC:
1. Ole Miss --- I just think the Rebels' defense makes them a tougher out.
2. Mississippi State --- Swap the two if you'd like. They're the two best teams I've seen this season.
3. Alabama --- It's shaky, but the Tide's defense gives them a chance to win every Saturday.
4. Auburn --- Gus Malzahn got too cute in Starkville. That insistence of being the smartest guy in the room cost him Saturday.
5. Georgia --- Give the Bulldogs credit. Winning 34-0 at Mizzou two days after losing Gurley was impressive.
6. Texas A&M --- Here comes the falloff. It's precipitous.
7. Arkansas --- Just a hunch.
8. Kentucky --- The Wildcats probably should be unbeaten, and they're playing with confidence now.
9. LSU --- Remember when LSU-Florida was must-see TV? Not anymore.
10. Florida --- A week after salvaging something at Tennessee, the Gators blew a chance to beat LSU. See ya, Boom.
11. Tennessee - I guess. The bottom of the league is bad.
12. Missouri --- A 34-0 home loss doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
13. South Carolina --- Yeah, I've soured.
14. Vanderbilt --- At least the Commodores are honoring history and consistency.
4. Again, it's too early to take these seriously, but here are my SEC bowl projections through the first half of the season:
AllState Sugar Bowl (Playoff semifinal) --- Ole Miss
Capital One Orange Bowl --- Mississippi State
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl --- Alabama
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl --- Auburn
TaxSlayer.com Bowl --- Georgia
Outback Bowl --- Kentucky
Belk Bowl --- Missouri
Franklin American Mortgage City Music Bowl --- LSU
AutoZone Liberty Bowl --- Florida
Advocare V100 Texas Bowl --- Texas A&M
Duck Commander Independence Bowl --- Arkansas
Birmingham Bowl --- South Carolina
5. Some quick thoughts from around the college football world:
A. Nick Saban looked really frustrated Saturday night in Fayetteville during Alabama's 14-13 win over Arkansas. His quarterback play is shaky. He's lost confidence in the Crimson Tide's wide-open offense, and now he's having to deflect criticism from former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron on a Tuscaloosa radio station. You really screwed the pooch, Texas.
B. Baylor's Bryce Petty (he belongs on the Heisman list above, by the way; do it for me, please. I'm too tired to cut and paste) rallied the Bears back from a huge fourth-quarter deficit to beat TCU and remain unbeaten. Crazy stuff in Waco, and a loss the Horned Frogs will never forget. It was season-defining stuff for both teams.
C. No one's beating Baylor now, at least in my opinion. Why not? The Big 12 stinks (looking at you, Oklahoma).
D. I took the El up to Wrigley Field Saturday to kill some time. I had lunch on Clark Street, watching Iowa-Indiana football at a bar taken over by Hawkeye fans. The Big Ten isn't all that exciting either. The tacos were good, though.
E. Notre Dame and Florida State play each other later this season. The good news is one will lose. The bad news is one will win. Neither would finish higher than fourth in the SEC West.
F. Arizona couldn't handle prosperity. Oregon beat UCLA. Blah, blah, blah. Let's call this now: Two SEC West teams, Baylor and the Florida State-Notre Dame winner make the playoff. Just stop the debate.
6. I got back to my hotel Sunday afternoon to learn that Oklahoma City star forward Kevin Durant has a broken bone in his foot and will miss 6-8 weeks. I'm 23 floors over Wacker Avenue as I type this. No, I'm not jumping. It'll be OK. Why? The Thunder still have Russell Westbrook and my prediction is he's about to go off and put up some crazy stats. Remember last May when Durant said Westbrook would one day win an MVP? Well, while I think that's hyperbole and too strong a statement, Westbrook is a top-five player in the NBA. Don't be shocked if he shows it in the first month or so of the NBA season.
7. I didn't see a lot of NFL Sunday, though the Bears fan holding the sign around Mile 23 in Chicago asking us to hurry because kickoff was approaching made me laugh at a time when my legs were threatening to make my cry. However, here are a few thoughts from the weekend that was in the NFL:
A. Dear Lord, the Giants' loss to the Eagles Sunday night was awful. The Giants' offensive line, so good the past few weeks, was manhandled. Eli Manning had no chance. That was ugly.
B. Dallas' win at Seattle, meanwhile, legitimizes the Cowboys as a playoff contender --- and maybe more. It also should take the heat off Jason Garrett and further calm the Kevin Sumlin-to-Dallas talk.
C. Bears fans in Chicago were pleased with their team's win over Atlanta Sunday. However, what I saw was a Falcons team that looked lost. Atlanta isn't far from a couple of campaigns' worth of contention. On Sunday, the Falcons looked like a team without an identity.
D. Andrew Luck threw for 370 yards and three touchdowns in the Colts' win over Houston Thursday night. Get used to it. He's not far from being the best quarterback in the game.
E. Carolina and Cincinnati played to a 37-37 tie. Is there no room for penalty kicks?
8. The Kansas City Royals, a team with limited power and Ned Yost in the dugout, are two wins away from the World Series. The morale of the story: Chase your dreams, no matter how far-fetched they might seem. Just wow. Suddenly, the Royals can't lose, and they're consistently hitting the ball out of the ballpark. My good friend, Miami Marlins general manager Dan Jennings (there I go, name-dropping), once told me, "Just make the tournament, Neal. Anything can happen once you're there." Witness the Royals as proof.
9. Ole Miss' magical season just keeps getting better. The Rebels' newest, most famous fan, Katy Perry, just landed a really big gig in the wake of her fantastic performance at ESPN's College GameDay in Oxford earlier this month.
As Yahoo's Eric Edholm (a former guest on the Oxford Exxon Podcast powered by RebelGrove.com; more name-dropping is fun) reported, Perry actually scoffed at the idea of the NFL's reported pay-to-play system for its Super Bowl halftime act during her appearance in Oxford (on the stage, not at Funky's). However, it appears that issue --- if it even was one --- has been resolved.
Perry is supporting her "Prism" album with her Prismatic tour currently but doesn't start the 2015 European leg of it until after the Super Bowl --- Feb. 16 in Barcelona. Her "Roar" song has been the biggest hit single from the album, and it has made its way into some football stadiums as an anthem. As Edholm reported, her stage show is quite family-friendly, which would make the image-conscious NFL quite happy.
10. I ran the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, completing the 26.2-mile course in 4:03:40. I wanted to cross the finish line in less than four hours, but I began to cramp at the 19-mile mark and then locked up completely somewhere in the 24th mile. All the Gatorade in the world wouldn't let me go harder the rest of the way, so I jogged to the finish line a little off my desired pace.
Still, Sunday was a big deal for me. I've battled depression most of my life, serving as my own worst enemy more times than I care to admit. Throughout training, I've battled the urge to quit, to drop out of the marathon, to call myself a loser/failure and forget about it. I've said things to myself I wouldn't say to another human being.
I traveled alone to Chicago on Friday, knowing the depression would take its hold when I got here. It did just that on Friday. I was so fearful that I'd fail on Sunday. I struggled to sleep Friday night and got nothing more than a brief nap Saturday night.
On Sunday, within the first two miles, I felt foot pain. Those voices in my head, the ones which sense exactly when and how to attack, went for the kill. However, I enjoyed a victory of sorts. I thought about all of the people who had contributed to my cause and all of the friends who had reached out to me over the past few days with words of encouragement and I pushed those negative thoughts aside.
From Mile 3 to Mile 19, when the cramps kicked in due to dehydration (proper nutrition hasn't exactly been a strong suit for me during training), I had fun. I interacted with the crowds lining the street, talked to other runners, etc. It was a morning I'll never forget. It was also a huge personal victory for me, if I'm honest, one that many of you helped make possible via your contributions and support. I'll be forever grateful.
I'll quit talking about now; thanks for listening to marathon talk for the past six months. Thanks to St. Jude for their support, to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon for putting on an incredible event and to the people who reached out to me in Chicago and kept me company this weekend.
Mostly, once again, thanks to all of you who contributed to the cause. We raised more than $21,000 for the kids at St. Jude, money that will be used for research, treatment and support for kids who are stricken with cancer and the families that love them.
