John Clay’s Sidelines

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Dan Fleser of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes about the Tennessee Lady Vols’ home-court loss to Virginia. “Tennessee’s points didn’t equate to enough poise and the result was an 83-82 loss to the Cavaliers before a stunned crowd of 11,627 at Thompson-Boling Arena.”

• News-Sentinel columnist John Adams writes that the Lady Vols need time to mature. “You knew this was coming. You just didn’t know it was coming so soon. You thought Tennessee could at least make it to Thanksgiving without missing superstar Candace Parker and all the other departed veterans from back-to-back national championships. But that was before you got a load of 16th-ranked Virginia and junior guard Monica Wright, who delivered a Parker-like performance in the Cavaliers’ 83-82 victory at Thompson-Boling Arena on Monday night.”

• Bryan Mullen of the Tennessean writes that the appeal of the Tennessee football job is hard to measure. “The tradition is storied, the facilities are elite, and the job pays millions.Being the coach of the University of Tennessee football team certainly has it perks. But according to some experts, the job may not be as attractive as others because of its unique challenges.

• Tennessean columnist Joe Biddle writes that Vanderbilt football is now sailing into uncharted waters. “Smith’s tears were shared with former players in the program who have waited for this moment a long time. They were shared with what has to be one of college football’s more resilient fan bases, many of them sticking with the team for every one of the losing seasons since 1982.”

• Ray Melick of the Birmingham News writes about Alabama being undefeated. “There are a lot of ways to explain it. You can argue that the SEC isn’t as good this year as everyone thought it would be. You can point to Alabama’s schedule, currently ranked 94th by the NCAA (Florida’s strength of schedule is 11th; Texas is second, Oklahoma is sixth, Southern Cal’s is 60th).”

• The State columnist Ron Morris writes about how South Carolina is trying to bridge the gap in the SEC East. “As the new athletic campus gets off the ground, Hyman has been visiting athletic facilities throughout the Southeast. On his visits to Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida, Hyman occasionally has brought along members of the board of trustees and USC administrators.”

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Wally Hall writes that Arkansas basketball shows promise, but needs more from its bench. “The problem Friday, and one that might plague the Razorbacks this season (along with the inexperience ), was they got very little help from the bench. Montrell McDonald, a junior college transfer, got seven big points and sophomore Marcus Britt scored five. That was the sum total of bench scoring.”

• Perryn Keys of The Advocate writes about a former LSU tight end who is donating a kidney to his ailing father. “At 8 a.m. in New Orleans, inside the sprawling Tulane Medical Center, a surgeon will cut open a small crease near the navel of 50-year-old Greg LaFleur, the former LSU tight end and current Southern athletic director. Slowly and carefully, the surgeon will push aside some of Greg’s major organs, remove one of his kidneys and place it inside Gervis, his 74-year-old father.”

• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger writes that Ole Miss faces an LSU team with some holes. “Not only is Ole Miss playing much better than in years past, already eligible for a bowl for the first time since 2003, but LSU has struggled by its lofty standards. The Tigers were blown out twice this season, giving up more than 50 points to both Georgia and Florida.”

• Tim Tucker of the AJC writes that Georgia coach Mark Richt continues to rave about freshman receiver A.J. Green. “The SEC was sufficiently impressed by Green’s latest game-winner to name the 6-foot-4 flanker the league’s Freshman Player of the Week on Monday. Green had five catches for 81 yards against Auburn”