If the SEC is able to complete a football season in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, Stella Self should be voted the conference's MVP.
Most Valuable Professor.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in recent months often has cited the advice of Self -- an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at South Carolina -- for helping him remain patient in making decisions about the season.
Sankey's approach is why the SEC is scheduled to open its season Saturday while the Big Ten and Pac-12 – which on Aug. 11 announced they wouldn't play football this fall -- are scrambling to try to begin playing in late October.
Self hasn't sought the limelight, but her name has been mentioned by some media outlets.
"I credit a faculty member, who never wanted to be known," Sankey said Wednesday when he spoke with reporters on a teleconference. "A biostatistician who encouraged me, provided me with a mantra, 'This is all new. So if you wait and take as much time as possible to make major decisions, we'll learn more every day. And therefore if you take that time, you'll have better information on which to base your decision.'
"I credit her guidance to me in mid-April."
All 14 SEC teams are scheduled to play Saturday, though there are more tests for covid-19 to be administrated to assure the safety of players, coaches and staff members.
"Despite what happens on Saturday, the opportunity to play seven games at the end of that day, there will be a bit of an emotional moment, I think," Sankey said. "Just to be through 10% of that conference schedule. I think that will be an accomplishment.
"Then we've got to reset, just like our coaches do, put the film away and focus on doing it again the next week."
The key, of course, is getting in the games to start the season.
"I don't know that I would call this a normal feel to Week One, but it feels like Week One as we're working through a lot of issues around our new environment," Sankey said. "There were probably some days back in March, and all the way through today, that you've been on a roller coaster. I think our coaches have been on a roller coaster. I give all of them a lot of appreciation for their patience and for the flexibility.
"You know what would be a beautiful day? It would be to have seven football games played successfully on a bunch of Saturdays. So I'm looking forward to seeing if we can make that happen."
Sankey, asked how he would define a successful season, replied being able to crown a conference champion at the SEC title game on Dec. 19 in Atlanta. But there is room for smaller gains to be made.
"Saturday can be a success," Sankey said. "The Saturday after can be a success. I mean, we're really redefining success at this point."
Leach in 'Death Valley'
Mike Leach's debut as Mississippi State coach Saturday at LSU will be the second time he's been with the visiting team at Tiger Stadium -- also known as "Death Valley."
The first time was on Oct. 17, 1998, when Leach was Kentucky's offensive coordinator and the Wildcats upset the No. 21 Tigers 39-36.
"That was one of the most exciting, thrilling games ever," Leach said. "I think that may be the best game-day environment as far as traveling to it. I mean, that was a heck of a deal.
"The grounds were all filled up. There were little old ladies with their grandchildren flipping off our bus. As you got closer [to the stadium], they'd start rocking your bus. Then the history and tradition of that stadium is really outstanding."
Leach said he stopped to see Mike, LSU's live tiger mascot, at his enclosure.
"I made sure somebody else was closer to the tiger than me," Leach said. "So that if the Tiger escaped, then he'd eat that guy before he got to me."
With restrictions on attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic, about 26,000 fans will be allowed at Tiger Stadium for Saturday's game.
"I won't have to wait for a guy to get to the sideline to yell at him if I don't like what I see," Leach said. "He'll be able to hear me out there on the field.
"I'm cautiously optimistic that maybe we can have full stadiums before the end of the season."
Coach O on '60 Minutes'
Who in a million years thought they'd see Ed Orgeron featured on "60 Minutes"?
The CBS news show, which has been on the air for 53 years, is known primarily for covering politics, science and business.
But there was Orgeron, the LSU coach, being featured on a segment Sunday night.
Orgeron, who led the Tigers to a 15-0 record and the national championship last season, said he likes to watch "60 Minutes," and that it was an honor to be on the show.
"I never thought I'd be on it," he said. "Just the power of LSU. Being at the right place at the right time with the right people."
The segment included the CBS crew visiting Coco Orgeron, the coach's mother, at her home in Lafourche Parish. She fed the visitors her homemade gumbo.
"One of my favorite parts was for them to go down there and interview my mom," Orgeron said. "Everybody gets to see where I get my enthusiasm from. And they got to eat that great bowl of gumbo."
Orgeron got his first coaching job at a major school in 1986 as a graduate assistant for the University of Arkansas weight room staff. He told "60 Minutes" that when he got the call about the job, he accepted it -- even though he didn't know where Arkansas was -- and tossed away the shovel he was using on a shrimp boat.
Orgeron clarified on the SEC coaches call Wednesday that he knows the state of Arkansas is just north of his native Louisiana, but that he didn't at that time know where Fayetteville and the UA campus were located.
"I didn't know how to get there," he said. "I'd never been across the Louisiana state line into Arkansas. I know where the state of Arkansas is, but the University of Arkansas? I had no clue."
Morris fitting in
Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said Chad Morris is "hitting it off" with quarterback Bo Nix and fitting in well in his first season as the Tigers' offensive coordinator.
Morris joined Malzahn at Auburn after being fired as Arkansas' coach, where he had a 4-18 record.
"Chad's developed really good relationships with our offensive players. Really, our whole team," Malzahn said. "I can just tell that our offense, they're extremely excited about what he's bringing.
"So far, so good. I just think we'll have the ability to have a good offense and have a chance to improve each game with his leadership."
Malzahn said Morris will call plays from the sideline.
"I feel very good about that," Malzahn said. "He's done that a lot during his career, and obviously being a former high school coach like myself, that's what he did.
"He likes being down there where he can kind of look the offense in the eye and specifically communicate with the quarterback on a personal basis."
Generation gap
One of the country's oldest Power 5 conference coaches will be matched against one of the youngest when Alabama plays at Missouri on Saturday.
Tide Coach Nick Saban, 68, is the second-oldest Power 5 coach behind North Carolina's Mack Brown, 69. Tigers Coach Eli Drinkwitz, 37, is the second-youngest Power 5 coach behind Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, 36.
"Coach Saban has got more years of head coaching experience and the guys on his staff than I do age," Drinkwitz, an Alma native, said of Alabama's staff, including former head coaches Steve Sarkisian, Batesville native Charlie Strong, Butch Jones, Mike Stoops, Kyle Flood and Major Applewhite. "With age comes wisdom. It's going to be a tough challenge. They've been through similar things that I haven't experienced yet.
"The only thing I know to do is work hard, soak up as much information as I can, try to prepare myself for the task at hand and do the very best I can with the opportunity ahead of us."
Blow your whistle
On the recommendation of the NCAA, SEC teams have used electronic whistles for some practices.
But when SEC teams open the season Saturday, expect the game officials to use old-school whistles that you blow into for the high-pitched sound effect that signals the end of a play.
"I'd say we're in the final moments of looking at a different strategy," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said when asked about the electronic whistles. "So just another reason to tune into the games on Saturday, to see exactly how we start and stop play. Perhaps with something that's not electronic."
Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz said he has talked to SEC administrators about electronic whistles not being loud enough.
"I think they're dangerous," Drinkwitz said. "It's going to be prone to late hits and piles, which is what we're trying to take out of the game."
Sankey said several SEC coaches have made their concerns known to the conference office.
"Eli's feedback is consistent with what what we've heard from officials, what we've heard from coaches and what we've observed in other games," Sankey said. "We have to understand there's a health and safety implication for stopping the game. Late hits, extra hits, none of that's good."
Creating space
Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said that when the Wildcats play at Auburn on Saturday, you won't see receivers running free as has been the case in some other college games this season.
"I know when you play a Kevin Steele defense, you have to create that space," Stoops said while referring to the Tigers' defensive coordinator. "You have to get open. That's something we will see each and every week.
"Some of that football you see in other leagues, you are not going to see Saturday. There is going to be nobody open. You have to work leverage, and the quarterback has to throw it in small windows.
"We play 10 SEC games, and I can promise you you're not going to see that stuff where there is green grass all over the place, easy throws and guys running wide open."
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
Rank;team;comment
1;Alabama;Saban begins hunt for 7th national championship
2;Georgia;Kirby hopes to ruin buddy Sam's Arkansas debut
3;LSU;Tigers open national title defense vs. Leach
4;Florida;Is this the year Gators stop Georgia's East title run?
5;Auburn;Gus and Chad together on the Plains
6;Texas A&M;Aggies might be ready to make a move in the West
7;Tennessee;Pruitt has been restocking Vols' roster
8;Kentucky;Has become consistent winner under Stoops
9;Ole Miss;Kiffin relishes being back in SEC
10;Missouri;Alma's Drinkwitz makes SEC debut vs. Alabama
11;Mississippi State;Leach will try to upset LSU in Tiger Stadium
12;South Carolina;Muschamp is on the hot seat after 4-8 season
13;Arkansas;Hogs open nation's toughest schedule with Georgia
14;Vanderbilt;Commodores have new coordinators on both sides of the ball
PLAYER TO WATCH
MISSISSIPPI STATE RB KYLIN HILL
New Bulldogs Coach Mike Leach is known for his "Air Raid" offense, but for Mississippi State to be able to pass effectively at LSU on Saturday, senior Kylin Hill needs to run the ball well, too.
Hill, 5-11 and 210 pounds, is the SEC's top returning rusher with 242 carries for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
LSU held Hill to 34 yards on 15 carries last season, but the Tigers have a lot of new starters on defense.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Mississippi State at LSU, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS)
WHERE Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge
RECORDS Both teams 0-0
RANKINGS LSU is No. 6 in the AP poll
LINE LSU by 17
LSU has a 16-game winning streak that began with a victory over Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl to cap the 2018 season. Then the Tigers went 15-0 last season and won SEC and national titles.
LSU lost a lot of players who left to play in the NFL, and in recent weeks players have decided to opt out of the season to focus on the 2021 NFL Draft.
But Tigers Coach Ed Orgeron is one of the best recruiters in the country, and the Tigers have a roster full of young, talented, hungry players ready to show they're the next stars at LSU.
Other games
No. 23 Kentucky
at No. 8 Auburn
WHEN 11 a.m.
SERIES Auburn leads 26-6-1.
TV SEC Network
LINE Auburn by 7 1/2
No. 5 Florida at Ole Miss
WHEN 11 a.m.
SERIES Ole Miss leads 12-11-1.
TV ESPN
LINE Florida by 13 1/2
No. 4 Georgia at Arkansas
WHEN 3 p.m.
SERIES Georgia leads 10-4.
TV SEC Network
LINE Georgia by 26
No. 2 Alabama at Missouri
WHEN 6 p.m.
SERIES Alabama leads series 4-2.
TV ESPN
LINE Alabama by 27
No. 16 Tennessee
at South Carolina
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
SERIES Tennessee leads 26-10-2.
TV SEC Network
LINE Tennessee by 3 1/2
Vanderbilt at
No. 10 Texas A&M
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
SERIES Texas A&M leads 2-0.
TV SEC Alternate
LINE Texas A&M by 30 1/2
BY THE NUMBERS
1978 – The last time a coach made his Missouri debut against a ranked opponent. Warren Powers' Tigers won 3-0 at No. 5 Notre Dame to open the 1979 season. Eli Drinkwitz and his Tigers open against No. 2 Alabama on Saturday.
398 – Consecutive games in which Florida has scored, a national record. The Gators last were shut out, 16-0 by Auburn, on Oct. 29, 1988.
OVERHEARD
"I still am in the hold-my-breath moment a bit."
– SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on this Saturday's games being played.
"I'm trying not to peak too soon, but I am excited."
– Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz on Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference about his anticipation level for his SEC head coaching debut against Alabama.
"I want to strike fear in my opponents."
– Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses, who is back to lead the Crimson Tide defense after missing last season after suffering a knee injury in practice.
"Y'all paying the bills over in Birmingham?"
– South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp, joking when there was a momentary malfunction on the SEC coaches teleconference.
