The South has its advantages. First-year Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead, whose previous head coaching job was at Fordham University in the Bronx, knows this to be true. “Everything being wrapped in bacon, that’s pretty good,” said Moorhead, who had a successful two-year run as Penn State’s offensive coordinator before coming to the SEC, where it is not a stretch to say everything is wrapped in the legacy of Nick Saban.

2. After the Injury - Friday, July 20, 2018

ATLANTA – Early in last season’s Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night, Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald made a short run to his left, got hit, and crumpled to the Scott Field turf. His right ankle had been dislocated and his foot had been spun around as though on a swivel.

3. Freedom for All? Not if You’re A Back-up Center at Alabama - Friday, June 1, 2018

In 1969, the St. Louis Cardinals decided they wanted to trade seven-time Gold Glove outfielder Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood had helped the team win the World Series in 1964 and 1967. But the Cardinals believed his best days were behind him.

4. Cavs Need Road Win for LeBron To Make 8th Straight NBA Finals - Wednesday, May 23, 2018

And so now it’s LeBron James vs. the Boston Celtics and their home-court advantage in what is now a best-of-three Eastern Conference Finals.

James scored 44 points and became the NBA’s all-time leader in postseason baskets made as the Cleveland Cavaliers won Game 4 111-102 to even the series at 2-2. Neither team has won on the road in this series, which now shifts back to Boston for Game 5. If LeBron is to make the NBA Finals an eighth straight time, his team will have to find a way to win a road game.

5. Latest SEC Football Rankings: 1. Sexton. 2. Saban. - Friday, December 8, 2017

Fourteen schools play football in the SEC. Six of them, or 42.9 percent, now have a different man coaching their football team than they had at the start of the season.

That’s a lot of turnover. It suggests coaching in the SEC is often a battle against personal extinction.

6. Tennessee’s Hot Seat Finds a New Office - Friday, December 1, 2017

Tennessee football isn’t what it used to be. Nor is the attraction of being UT’s football coach.

It became more and more apparent this week as first-year UT athletics director John Currie tried to hire his first football coach as an AD.

7. Mississippi State Names Penn State's Joe Moorhead Next Coach - Thursday, November 30, 2017

Mississippi State has hired Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead as its football coach, bringing in another up-and-comer who is largely in the mold of previous coach Dan Mullen.

8. For Now, Memphis a College Football Oasis - Monday, November 27, 2017

Tony Pollard was taking another kick return from one end zone to another. Quarterback Riley Ferguson and wideout Anthony Miller were hooking up for an 89-yard touchdown on the Memphis Tigers’ first play from scrimmage. And safety Jonathan Cook was playing pick-six.

9. Josh Pastner Under NCAA Microscope - Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Former University of Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner has been accused of being complicit in extra benefits provided to at least two Georgia Tech players and to former Tiger player Markel Crawford.

10. Memphian Donald Gray’s Journey To Being MSU’s No. 1 Receiver - Friday, July 28, 2017

When Donald Gray was just a boy, not yet 10 years old, he played in a church basketball league. His father, Donald Gray Sr., remembers that his son had a good time playing with the other kids. It was fun, something to do.

11. SEC Hot Seat Index: From Saban to Sumlin - Friday, July 21, 2017

When it comes to Southeastern Conference football coaches, there are three kinds of seats – hot, hotter and hottest.

There is, of course, one exception. You guessed it.

Nick Saban. To quote the late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, Saban’s seat is as cool as the other side of your pillow.

12. Enough Expectations to Go Around as SEC Football Season Approaches - Thursday, July 13, 2017

HOOVER, Ala. – The countdown to the start of the next college football season is now measured in weeks, not months. But at an event such as SEC Media Days, the future is always framed by the past.

13. Sports Notebook: Grizz Moves Bring Tyreke Evans Back to Memphis - Monday, July 10, 2017

The Memphis Grizzlies continued changing their roster for the upcoming season by agreeing to a one-year contract with free agent guard Tyreke Evans.

Evans, according to ESPN, will make $3.3 million on the one-year deal. Evans, 27, played one year for the University of Memphis and then was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Sacramento Kings.

14. SEC Ready to Tee Up Media Days; UT’s AD Raises the Bar - Monday, March 6, 2017

It’s almost time to kick off the 2017 college football season. And by that we mean that SEC Media Days should again be flagged for encroachment on summer.

The conference has not yet jumped in front of the Fourth of July, but SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, continues to move ever closer to summer’s signature date.

15. Football Recruiting: Memphis, Mississippi State Move Forward - Friday, February 3, 2017

The top of the college football recruiting period looks like it usually does. Alabama pulled in the consensus No. 1 recruiting class for 2017 for the fifth time in six years and coach Nick Saban said the kind of ridiculous things that a guy presiding over a football factory says.

16. SEC Grades: ‘A’ for Alabama; UT, Ole Miss Should Be Grounded - Friday, December 2, 2016

Even as the Ole Miss football program was reeling from an NCAA investigation that gained momentum on the night of the NFL Draft when a former player said he received money from a staff member, optimism about the season ahead was still high.

17. Fuente Succeeding at Va. Tech, Norvell Keeping it Rolling at Memphis - Monday, November 28, 2016

With a thrilling 48-44 victory over then-No. 20 Houston the day after Thanksgiving, Mike Norvell became the only first-year University of Memphis coach to win eight games.

Interestingly, his eighth victory came as Tom Herman coached his last game at Houston. Herman is the new coach at Texas, succeeding Charlie Strong. The coaching ladder in the American Athletic Conference can definitely reach into the Power Five.

18. Once QB Country, SEC Now Has Only A Few Proven Players at the Position - Friday, August 26, 2016

At SEC Media Days this summer in Hoover, Ala., the 14 head coaches brought along more starting offensive linemen (5) than starting quarterbacks (3). Such is the state of the most high profile position in the Southeastern Conference at the beginning of the 2016 college football season.

19. It’s Life After Dak for Mississippi State - Wednesday, August 24, 2016

In seven seasons at Mississippi State, head coach Dan Mullen has won 55 games and reeled off six straight bowl appearances. So, when Mullen addresses the state of the program there is much motivation to look at the big picture.

20. Safe to Scorching: SEC Coaches Feel the Burn - Friday, August 12, 2016

There are two kinds of football coaches in the Southeastern Conference: those that have gotten fired and those that haven’t gotten fired – yet.

This is a conference in a constant state of flux for football. The average tenure at their current schools of the 14 SEC coaches is 3.57 years. That’s right: Just making it through a full four-year recruiting cycle is tough.

21. Too Big To Ignore: The SEC and Its Ever-Growing Football Media Days - Saturday, July 16, 2016

HOOVER, Ala. – The SEC football preseason always has been loud. More than 30 years ago, the noise came via the Skywriters Tour and the rattle and roar of a DC-3 propeller plane carrying rumpled, hardworking – and often hard-drinking – sports writers to the 10 Southeastern Conference campuses for essentially unfettered access to the league’s coaches and players.

22. Eventually, MSU’s Mullen May Take the Hit - Friday, July 15, 2016

HOOVER, Ala. – After recent events, it’s good to remember that not everyone is a sell-out.

“I’ve always had a rule as a coach that, if you ever hit a girl, you’re finished,” Steve Spurrier said at SEC Media Days here last year when still a working head coach. “We’ve lost two at South Carolina.”

23. Last Word: At The Gates of Graceland, Domestic Violence at SEC Days and October - Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Black Lives Matter at Graceland on Tuesday – the latest chapter in a story arc that is moving fast.

24. MSU’s Mullen Defends Simmons At Media Days - Wednesday, July 13, 2016

HOOVER, Ala. – In another year and another circumstance, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen might have spent all his time at SEC Media Days answering questions about having to replace Dak Prescott at quarterback.

25. College Football’s Coaching Carousel Is Still Spinning - Friday, December 4, 2015

In an ideal world, a kid climbs aboard a carousel and it’s all fun and good times. But the reality is, sometimes the experience is dizzying – even nauseating.

And so it goes with the current college football coaching carousel.

26. Events - Monday, October 26, 2015

University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services will host an OnlineTNJustice virtual clinic Monday, Oct. 26. Volunteer attorneys and law students will help answer civil legal questions from vulnerable Tennesseans during this Pro Bono Month event. To volunteer, attorneys must be registered with onlinetnjustice.org. Visit tals.org/otjcalendar for details.

27. Events - Saturday, October 24, 2015

The Fall Mid-South Wedding Show & Bridal School will be held Sunday, Oct. 25, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center, 7300 Hacks Cross Road, Olive Branch. The event will feature vendors, multiple fashion shows, free engagement photos and more. Visit midsouthweddingshow.com for free ticket locations.

28. MSU QB Dak Prescott Learns He Can Be a Target Off Field, Too - Friday, August 21, 2015

The recognition has come, and it has been fun and, well, not so fun.

As a quarterback who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting last year, Dak Prescott’s game broke out and was a big reason Mississippi State reached No. 1 in the polls and finished with 10 wins.

29. Memphis Touchdown Club Scores With 2015 Speaker Lineup - Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Often, the lineup of speakers for the Touchdown Club of Memphis includes one or more coaches on the hot seat. But this season, University of Memphis coach Justin Fuente, Tennessee coach Butch Jones, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen all are coming off strong seasons.

30. Is the SEC Still the Best? - Thursday, July 16, 2015

HOOVER, Ala. – The first College Football Playoff was not supposed to be won by a Big Ten team. Nor was a player who began the season as a third-string quarterback supposed to lead the first College Football Playoff champion to victory.

31. Beach-Bound - Wednesday, December 10, 2014

“Miami here we come!!!” That was quarterback Paxton Lynch’s tweet, spiced up with sun and palm tree icons.

It summed up what has been a glorious football season for the University of Memphis: a 9-3 record, a 7-1 mark in the American Athletic Conference and the program’s first share of a league title in 40 years. So the Tigers are headed to the first-ever Miami Beach Bowl for a Dec. 22 game with BYU.

32. SEC Title Game One Chapter in Great Season - Tuesday, December 2, 2014

In this, the last of the season’s weekly college football notebooks, we take a quick spin around the SEC now that the regular season is finished.

SEC championship game: Sure, a lot of people picked Alabama to be in next Saturday’s game at the Georgia Dome. But be honest now, did you have their lone loss coming at Ole Miss? No, didn’t think so.

33. Mississippi State’s Historic Season Continues - Tuesday, November 11, 2014

No doubt, Mississippi State’s season turns on what happens next Saturday at Alabama. But for a moment, let us consider what the Bulldogs have done so far in running out to a 9-0 start, 5-0 in the SEC, and claiming the top spot in the national polls.

34. South Dominates First Playoff Rankings - Thursday, October 30, 2014

The first College Football Playoff Rankings were released this week and if the playoff started today Mississippi State and Ole Miss would hold seeds one and four respectively, with Florida State No. 2 and Auburn No. 3.

35. Mississippi State Finds Itself in Historic Times - Wednesday, October 15, 2014

In the 78-year history of the Associated Press college football poll, it had never happened. A team that was unranked at season’s start had never ascended to the top spot.

Now, Mississippi State has made that history as the Bulldogs climbed to No. 1, leaping from being tied at No. 3 with Ole Miss to go in front of former No. 1 Florida State. This was the reward after beating then-No. 2 Auburn 38-23 last Saturday.

36. Football Dreams - Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Call the doctor, the sports doctor. Because the collective temperature of Mid-South college football fans is at unsafe levels.

Mississippi State and Ole Miss are undefeated and tied for third in the Associated Press poll. The historically downtrodden University of Memphis football program just blasted preseason American Athletic Conference favorite Cincinnati on the road and hung with both Ole Miss and UCLA.

37. Presenting the Wild, Wild SEC West - Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Historic stuff. Unbelievable stuff. That’s the short description for Ole Miss and Mississippi State sharing the No. 3 ranking in this week’s Associated Press poll and the top spot, with Auburn, in the SEC West standings.

38. College Football Notebook: September 23, 2014 - Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The University of Memphis had lost three straight games to Middle Tennessee and five of the last six. Getting beat by the Blue Raiders each year had become commonplace and another sign of a program in perpetual struggle.

39. Bigger, Better, Louder - Saturday, August 16, 2014

“When it comes to college football, the South has no equal, because the Southeastern Conference has no equal. Find me a conference with a better commissioner, better players, better head coaches, better staffs, better game-day atmospheres, better-looking coeds – better anything.”

40. The Press Box: Mississippi State, Prescott Set High Expectations - Friday, August 8, 2014

Confidence does not always take the predictable path.

The 2013 Mississippi State Bulldogs were heartbroken over the one that got away at Auburn, and reveled in the one that didn’t in the Egg Bowl victory over Ole Miss in Starkville.

41. SEC Media Days Notebook: July 15 - Wednesday, July 16, 2014

HOOVER, Ala. – South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier has been at this college coaching game a long time. He also had a stint in the NFL. And a college program’s big boosters, he said, are “similar to an owner in the NFL because they put the money up.”

42. College Football Season Brought Many Surprises - Friday, December 13, 2013

It seems like just yesterday that temperatures were stifling and everyone who really mattered in the college football world – the SEC’s coaches and top players – had met in Hoover, Ala., for that little party known as SEC Media Days.

43. College Football Notebook: November 15, 2013 - Friday, November 15, 2013

It has been a challenging season at Mississippi State. And it’s about to get more challenging with No. 1 Alabama invading Starkville for a 6:45 p.m. game this Saturday.

“Alabama is a team that leads the nation in just about everything,” Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen said.

44. SEC Gaining Reputation as QB Factory - Friday, September 13, 2013

When No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Texas A&M clash in College Station this Saturday, much of the pre-game hype will fall on the starting quarterbacks. Forget, for a moment, the off-the-field stuff with the Aggies’ Johnny Manziel. Just think about on the field, him running around and making plays, him winning the Heisman Trophy last season as a freshman.

45. Area Teams Set Sights on Dream Seasons - Friday, August 23, 2013

When last we saw the University of Memphis football team, the Tigers were finishing Justin Fuente’s first season on an inspiring three-game winning streak. They checked out of Conference USA with a 4-4 league record. They provided hope as they start play this season in the new American Athletic Conference.

46. Back to the Gridiron - Monday, August 27, 2012

It was the last day before fall practice would begin. First-year University of Memphis football coach Justin Fuente couldn’t wait to get started.

“This is the longest day of the year,” he said.

47. Archived Article: Memos - Wednesday, October 25, 2000
Victor Mills was named as the general manager of the Peabody hotel Victor Mills was named general manager of the Peabody hotel. He joined the Peabody Hotel Group in 1990 through the Peabody Orlando hotel. During his tenure, he earned the Peabody Gro...