OPINION | WALLY HALL: Kentucky seniors on All-SEC list is shocking


It was not a surprise that media members picked Kentucky to win the SEC championship in basketball, nor was it that they picked Arkansas to finish second.

The stunner was the Wildcats have two first-team preseason All-SEC selections and both are seniors.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari has long had the reputation of coaching one-and-dones, but that changed a little when Duke started going after the same players.

The only freshman on the first team of the preseason All-SEC was Arkansas Razorback Nick Smith, who is projected as a top five pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Smith was the only player from Arkansas to make the first or second team.

Tennessee had the most players with one on the first team and two on the second.

Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky was named the SEC preseason player of the year.

. . .

Former Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski will receive the 2022 Heisman Humanitarian Award.

Krzyzewski's Emily K Center annually serves up to 2,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The center provides support in academics and was named after his mother.

Krzyzewski joins, among others, David Robinson, Kristi Yamaguchi, Joe Torre, Boomer Esiason, Ernie Els and Mia Hamm as honorees.

Krzyzewski retired as Duke's head basketball coach last April with 1,202 wins, the most in men's Division I history. He also won five national championships.

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This is not to promote betting but for information and entertainment only.

An oddsmaker has made Auburn's Bryan Harsin the favorite to be the next Division I head football coach fired. His odds are 10 to 11.

Two other SEC coaches made the top 12, and surprisingly they were Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher at 19-2 and Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz at 10-1.

In other interesting odds, after losing to Tennessee the Alabama Crimson Tide dropped to the sixth favorite to win the national championship at 9-4. The Vols are slightly better at 11-5.

The co-favorites are Georgia and Ohio State at 1-4. Clemson is third at even money and Michigan fourth at 2-1.

. . .

At this time last week there were 15 undefeated teams in FBS football. Today there are only nine.

Alabama, Oklahoma State, USC, Penn State and both Sun Belt teams, Coastal Carolina and James Madison lost.

All but Coastal Carolina were road games.

Of the nine remaining undefeateds, three are in the SEC with Georgia and Tennessee from the East and they face each other in Athens, Ga., on Nov. 5.

From the West and in Alabama's usual spot, atop the standings is Ole Miss at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in SEC play.

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A reader points out one of the reasons that NFL games take less time is the halftime, which is 12 minutes as opposed to 20 for the colleges.

It would make sense to shorten the college halftimes, but also something has to be done about all the long reviews.

Maybe referees should be fined if they -- not a coach -- call for a review and the call was correct to begin with.

College football games are just too long, and nothing will be done about the advertising that pays the schools millions of dollars.

. . .

Hudson Clark was not only the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette defensive player of the game after the Razorbacks' win over BYU, he was named the SEC's co-defensive player of the week with Kentucky linebacker DeAndre Square.

Clark had 11 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

Square had 11 touchdowns and an interception in the win over Mississippi State.

Incidentally, with egg on my face, Clark's mom is Jennifer Clark and she is from Helena-West Helena and a University of Arkansas graduate.


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