College Football

Alabama and Texas A&M will play on Sept. 14, and it was announced that kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on CBS. That's no surprise at all, considering that is the prime time slot for the SEC on CBS, and that is the premier game on the schedule for the 2013 season. We just wanted to post the video that Texas A&M produced in anticipation of the game and remind everyone again that college football is coming, soon. The season is less than 100 days away now. There's no matchup more worthy of looking ahead almost four months than Alabama trying to get revenge against the Aggies for its lone loss last season. And imagine how amped Kyle Field will be that afternoon. Can't wait. Here's the SEC on CBS schedule that has been announced so far: Sept. 14, Alabama at Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m. Oct. 19, SEC doubleheader, 12 p.m., 3:30 p.m. Nov. 2, Georgia vs. Florida, 3:30 p.m. Nov. 9, SEC doubleheader, 3:30 p.m., 8 p.m. Nov. 29, Arkansas at LSU, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 7, SEC championship, 4 p.m. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

Tide-Aggies kicks off 2013 SEC schedule on CBS

Ed O'Bannon isn't the only person to wonder why his likeness was one of the featured aspects of a video game being sold for $59.99, yet he wasn't seeing any money off of it. According to SNYRutgers.com, former Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart can pursue a lawsuit against EA Sports after winning an appeal, which reversed the dismissal of his original lawsuit against the video game company for using his likeness without permission. Hart was Rutgers' starting quarterback in 2004 and 2005. This issue has already become a serious one for the NCAA, with the O'Bannon lawsuit still pending, and now the Hart lawsuit will bring more attention to the issue if he decides to keep battling EA Sports. The lawsuit centers around what anyone who has played one of EA Sports' college football games knows as a common fact: The players in the game don't have the names, but they have all the other likenesses of the real players. That anyone would rule otherwise is intellectually dishonest, and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals saw through it: “The digital Ryan Hart does what the actual Ryan Hart did while at Rutgers: He plays college football, in digital recreations of college football stadiums, filled with all the trappings of a college football game,” Judge Joseph Greenaway said, according to SNYRutgers.com. “This is not transformative; the various digitized sights and sounds in the video game do not alter or transform the appellant’s identity in a significant way.” Video game companies such as EA Sports argue that they can use likenesses under the First Amendment of free expression. A federal judge in 2011 ruled in EA Sports' favor on that basis, but the appeal overturned it. It's hard to feel too bad for the NCAA or EA Sports in these cases. The NCAA and its member schools have already made billions off of unpaid players, and peddling video game rights to make a little bit more money off of them is greed at its finest. It has always been obvious that the avatars in the game were exact replicas of the players, just with their names omitted. Perhaps they never thought the players would fight back. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

Here’s what’s out there so far: Sept. 14              Alabama at Texas A&M                3:30 PM Oct. 19               SEC Doubleheader                        12:00 NOON;  3:30 PM Nov. 2                 Georgia vs. Florida                                3:30 PM Nov. 9                SEC Doubleheader                         3:30 PM; 8:00 PM Nov. 29               Arkansas at LSU                             2:30 PM Dec. 7                SEC Championship                         4:00 PM I’m not really sure what the magic is on October 19th.  There is a full slate of conference games that day, but none look like marquee matchups today. November 9th is all about Ole Miss-Arkansas… just kidding.  CBS wants another Alabama-LSU prime time game.  The rest of that day is kind of meh. The 9/14 game won’t have much hype going in, right? Filed under: SEC Football

Toledo is the latest school to study the financial benefits of adding beer and wine sales to its concession stands during football and basketball games. Athletic director Mike O’Brien announced this week that school officials would explore the financial opportunities of adding alcohol sales for all of its of age guests. Previously, alcohol was only available in the press tower at the Glass Bowl and in the suite area in Savage Arena. If Toledo does add alcohol sales, it would be the 12th college football stadium and 23rd stadium that houses college football to attempt to make money off booze, according to the Toledo Blade. Minnesota reported in March that it lost more than $900,000 in sales last year thanks to start-up costs with its vendors, equipment and extra security. However, Minnesota is confident that it can recoup those costs this year because a lot of their expenses were due to one-time expenses. Currently, three other Mid-American Conference schools sell alcohol at sporting events — Bowling Green, Akron and Kent State. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

Toledo hopes to sell beer, wine at 2013 games

They were highly rated prospects, and they will make an instant impact this fall

The dynamic at Penn State is among the most interesting in college football. We touched on it last week as Sports Illustrated wrote an expose on Penn State making changes in its medical staff, a story that didn't seem as salacious as it was presented to be but still left coach Bill O'Brien answering to it in an angry and frustrated 22-minute teleconference. It also left us wondering if at some point this drama, possibly brought about due to a chasm between the old guard at Penn State and the new era, could mean O'Brien starts thinking about NFL jobs sooner rather than later. In a very well thought out and insightful piece, David Jones of the Patriot-News wrote that he thinks "a group of self-appointed experts and charlatans feeding off them" championing the cause of whether Joe Paterno was treated unfairly could be in the process of driving O'Brien out of Penn State. Jones also introduces a word for that group that probably will have some legs: "Joebots." Jones paints a picture of O'Brien as a coach who wants to focus solely on football having to regularly stamp out brush fires from various off-field issues, and Jones wonders is the fan base is completely behind O'Brien. Jones also writes about Jay Paterno taking what he perceived to be a shot at O'Brien during an interview with CBSSports.com: "When they fired Joe, I think they [the university] were going to make it very tough for themselves to go out and get some of the head coaches they were going to get. There was a lot of, like, ‘You fired Joe? What chance do I have?" It's an interesting piece, and an interesting subject. The current Penn State situation is unique given the lofty place Penn State's program has in college football history, the horrible scandal, the awkward removal of a legendary coach and the harsh sanctions. O'Brien and his future at Penn State is one of the more interesting subplots to it all. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

The Dawg Sports staff is looking back at the 2012 season. Today we'll look at game 7 against Kentucky. You can find the previous installments here (Buffalo), here (Mizzou), here (FAU), here (Vandy), here (Tennessee) and here (REDACTED). I've said many times on the podcast that this 2012 UGA team reminded me so much of the 2007 UGA team which I have said is the best all-around Bulldog team I've ever personally witnessed. What was so key for that 2007 team was a late fumble against Vanderbilt that gave the Bulldogs the ball and the opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal. That fumble woke UGA up, and was the turning point of a disastrous season into a successful one. Truthfully, Georgia should've lost that game in 2007 against Vandy, just like they should've lost against Kentucky. The main difference between that Vanderbilt game and this Kentucky game was that it wasn't until that next Monday after Kentucky that UGA had their moment to turn things around. Shawn Williams stepped out in front of the press that Monday afternoon and called UGA's defense "soft." Not only soft, but he named names. He hurt feelings. He basically said what only the fans had been grumbling about all season long. Williams didn't say what he said because UGA had a bad practice. He said what he said because UGA could have, and probably should have, lost to Kentucky. Not a bowl-eligible Rich Brooks Kentucky team (not that it's much better), but a Joker Philips, 2-10, 0-8 in the SEC Kentucky team. This team was terrible. There were a lot of positives in this game from an offensive standpoint. Granted, our running game was less than stellar, to say the least, garnering only 77 yards on 32 carries. However, Murray made up for the lack of production by throwing four touchdown passes for over 400 yards of offense. Tavarres King also had his best game as a Bulldog, with over 188 yards of receiving and two touchdowns. That's really where the good news stops, though. Marshall Morgan still had problems hitting extra points. He missed a big one in the first half that put UGA behind the 8-ball before redeeming himself with a field goal to give the Bulldogs the lead 16-14 at halftime. Kentucky hit a field goal in the third quarter that gave them a 17-16 lead, but Murray hit Chris Conley for a score to put the Dawgs ahead at 22-17 (the two point conversion failed), and the Dawgs didn't relinquish the lead again. The big problem with this game was the underwhelming feeling that played out those 60 minutes. Any Dawg fan in the stadium or watching from home (as I was) had to have been sitting there with this "I shaved my legs for this?" feeling. You never really thought that UGA would lose, but as the game went along, the possibility became more real, and you were so embarrassed that you knew that even a win would hurt you on the national stage, especially after the whipping you took at REDACTED the week before. Look, I don't care who you are, but if you give up 206 rushing yards to Kentucky in 2012, you deserve to be embarrassed. It's even worse when those yards came right up the gut. While this game isn't the one of which we do not speak, and it certainly wasn't the offensive display that was the Tennessee game, it was instrumental to the Bulldogs' success in 2012. Sure, that turnaround didn't happen on the field, but at least Kentucky played a role in it. If you don't believe me, just ask Shawn Williams. Until next time kids. Be safe.

Is Auburn in decline?  Bill Connelly’s chart would seem to suggest so. If you’re looking for the English translation, If you completely remove 2010 from the chart above, you get a pretty clearly defined, seven-year downward trend. That Auburn not only bucked its trend and played at an elite level in 2010, but won a national title, is still just the damnedest thing. Of course Matt Hayes would tell you that’s just the result of playing Georgia every year. Filed under: Auburn's Cast of Thousands, Stats Geek!