http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/cfb/entries/2008/05/27/the_secs_deepes.html Destin, Fla.-Good morning from Destin where the SEC Spring Meetings are scheduled to begin this afternoon. Everybody knows that the SEC has five coaches who have won national championships in football. But in the course of doing research for a story that will run this week, I discovered how deep the lineup of coaches in this league really is. Of the 12 head coaches in the SEC, 11 have won a conference championship at some point in their careers. Seven have won SEC championships. Four others won championships in other leagues. Three have won championships as a head coach in two different conferences. And the one man who has not won a conference title as a head coach, Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom, has been around championship football all of his life, as you will see below. Here is a rundown of the 12 SEC coaches and their experience with championship football. I’m sure I may have missed a championship connection or two but you get the picture. In fact, you could argue that this is the deepest lineup of coaches that the SEC has ever had. The early 60s has always been considered the golden age when the league had Bryant (Alabama), Dooley (Georgia), Vaught (Ole Miss), Jordan (Auburn), McLendon (LSU), Dickey (Tennessee), Graves (Florida) and Dodd (Georgia Tech). All are in the College Football Hall of Fame. Tony Barhart Atlanta Journal-Consititution 5/27/08

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080527/SPORTS0202/805270324/1026/SPORTS02 BATON ROUGE — The University of New Orleans is the first in-state school invited to an NCAA Regional hosted by LSU that already has two wins over the Tigers in the same season. LSU and UNO will play should No. 3 seed UNO (42-19) get by No. 2 seed Southern Mississippi (40-20) at 6 p.m. Friday and if No. 1 seed LSU (43-16-1 and a national No. 7 seed) beats No. 4 seed and Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament champion Texas Southern (16-32) in the opener at 1 p.m. Friday. Such a LSU-UNO pairing would happen at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Privateers defeated LSU 8-6 in Alex Box Stadium on March 26 and 6-5 at Privateer Park in New Orleans on April 16. It took 15 innings, but LSU managed to beat UNO 7-6 on May 13 at Zephyr Field in Metairie in the Wally Pontiff Classic. Shreveporttimes.com 5/27/08

http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=8381319 They came up just short in the SEC championship game...but the season is not yet over for the Ole Miss Rebels. The Rebels advance to their sixth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, as the third seed in the Miami Regional. They'll open with Missouri on Friday. The SEC leads all conferences with nine berths into the NCAA baseball tournament. wcmtv.com 5/27/08

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/triplecrown08/news/story?id=3413650 NEW YORK -- Big Brown was back on the track a day earlier than expected, and trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said he looks as good as ever -- maybe even better. The Triple Crown hopeful went out for a 1½-mile jog around Belmont Park on a rainy Tuesday morning, the first time since Friday the unbeaten colt was out exercising since a quarter crack was discovered on the inside of his left front hoof. "I was very happy with this move," Dutrow said outside barn 2, where Big Brown was being walked around by exercise rider Michelle Nevin. Asked if he looked as good as he did before winning the Preakness on May 17, Dutrow said, "He might look better." Big Brown will attempt to become the first Triple Crown champion in 30 years, since Affirmed in 1978, in the Belmont Stakes on June 7. On Monday, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay treated the three-quarter inch crack, stitching it up with stainless steel wire. By Monday afternoon, Dutrow and McKinlay spoke and decided if the hoof looked good Wednesday morning, the trainer would make the call on how to proceed with his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. ESPN.com 5/27/08

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3413244 Vince Young is known for escaping pressure. The quarterback almost took that to extremes. The Tennessee Titans 2006 Rookie of the Year told NFL.com in an interview posted on Monday that he considered retirement after his first season. "I really thought long and hard about it," Young told the Web site. "There was so much going on with my family. It was crazy being an NFL quarterback. It wasn't fun anymore. All of the fun was out of it. All of the excitement was gone. All I was doing was worrying about things. "My teammates helped lift me out of it. I prayed really hard. And I began to focus on God's calling for me. Play football. Be a role model." ESPN.com 5/26/08