John Clay’s Sidelines

SEC links for Wednesday:

• In the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Bob Holt previews Arkansas coach John Pelphrey’s return to South Alabama, where the Hogs play tonight. “At Gottfried’s suggestion, a clause was put in Pelphrey’s contract that if he left South Alabama to coach at a school in a major conference, he would schedule a home-and-home series with the Jaguars as a buyout clause rather than incur a financial penalty. ‘It’s tough for us to get SEC teams in our building, so this is much better for us than a buyout,’ Gottfried said. ‘But John easily could have bought his way out of this, and he kept his word.’”

• The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Bruce Pearl’s name has been mentioned in connection with the NBA opening for the Washington Wizards. Actually, the mention comes from the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonell, who wrote, “I heard an interesting name Monday as a potential candidate for the Wizards job down the road: Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. Grunfeld is a Tennessee alumnus and was also around Pearl when he coached Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Grunfeld was running the Milwaukee Bucks.”

• In the Gainesville Sun, Kevin Brockway reports on Florida’s win over Washington in the CBE consolation game. “With No. 17 Florida struggling to hold on late against Washington in the consolation game of the O’Reilly Auto Parts/CBE Classic, the Gators turned to an old standby to bail them out Tuesday. Senior guard Walter Hodge broke an 81-all tie with a 3-pointer with 1:01 left, allowing Florida (4-1) to hold on for an 86-84 win against the Huskies to salvage third place in the tournament.”

• In the Mobile Press-Register, Paul Finebaum writes that the odds are stacked against Auburn on Saturday. “Others have wondered if it’s true that Nick Saban has considered resting his starters against Auburn so nobody would get hurt before the SEC title game.Or will he simply let the seniors play for a series or two so they can get a standing ovation from the adoring crowd? What chance does Auburn have of pulling the upset? Two shots: Slim and none.”

• Birmingham News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky writes that Auburn’s challenge is to go down with a fight. “You know times are tough for the Auburn football coach when the best public compliment he’s gotten in ages comes from the Alabama football coach. And it comes five days before the Iron Bowl. We’re a long way from Ray Perkins vs. Pat Dye.”

• In the Tennessean, Bryan Mullen reports that first-year offensive coordinator Dave Clawson admits the Vols never grasped his offense. “Dating to their first team workouts in April, the Volunteers’ offensive players never quite seemed to get their brains around the new system, a problem that persisted during fall camp and throughout their 4-7 season.”

• Also in the Tennessean, Maurice Patton reports that Vandy’s bowl payout will be about $1.1 million. “Winning six games and becoming bowl eligible already has paid off for Vanderbilt in prestige — now it figures to pay off in dollars. With more Southeastern Conference bowl tie-ins than eligible teams, Vanderbilt is virtually assured of a postseason appearance. And for a program that hasn’t played in a bowl game in 26 years, Vanderbilt (6-5) stands to gain an estimated windfall of more than $1.1 million just for showing up.”

• Chip Towers writes in the AJC that this could be the last call for Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno at Georgia. “After fielding several questions about Georgia’s seniors, who will be playing their last game in Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Richt was asked if he thought it could also be the swan song for tailback Knowshon Moreno and quarterback Matthew Stafford. The draft-eligible underclassmen are reportedly coveted by NFL scouts.”

• Meanwhile, AJC columnist Mark Bradley writes that Georgia and Georgia Tech have traded places. “Last season Georgia played against Georgia Tech with part of its focus elsewhere. Had Kentucky beaten Tennessee that day, Georgia would have played LSU for the SEC championship. (And Mark Richt believed his team could have beaten the Tigers, who would win the BCS title.) So, in the grand scheme of things, the Vols’ game was huge.”

• In the Clarion-Ledger, David Brandt reports that Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead is practicing despite a bad shoulder. “Coach Houston Nutt said he was pleased with the quarterback’s progress. Snead was sacked by LSU’s Rahim Alem late in the first half and whisked away to the locker room just before halftime ended. But the sophomore returned in the second half and threw well. For the game, he completed 16 of 25 passes for 274 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.”