Mark Ingram was injured for the first two games of the season, and Trent Richardson did a superb job filling in for him. Both are tremendous running backs for Alabama. I think this is a tough question and I'm not sure who is the best of the two. Who do you think is Alabama's best running back, Mark Ingram or Trent Richardson?

Adam France

Ryan Mallett and previous Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram, are both on everyone's short list for the Heisman trophy. The two come head to head this Saturday, and this game will most likely influence Heisman voters.

Will Mallett be able to pick Alabama's young secondary apart, or will Mark Ingram find a way to weave through the Razerback front 7?

Statistics:
Ryan Mallett: 70 pass completions; 100 pass attempts; 1081 passing yards; 70% completion percentage; 10.81 yards per pass attempt; 9 touchdowns; 2 interceptions; 186.5 passer rating 

 Mark Ingram (injured for first two games): 9 rushing attempts; 151 yards rushing; 16.8 yard average per carry; 50 yd long; 2 touchdowns

Heisman Trophy

Both Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, ESPN's top 2 NFL Draft analysts, have the 2009 Heisman Trophy Winner, Mark Ingram, as the best running back in the draft. 

WhosRight-Crimson Tide

The Florida Gators were finally able to emerge from their offensive slump as Freshman Trey Burton took over their game against Kentucky and scored an SEC record of 6 Touchdowns over the passed weekend. The Gators had struggled offensively in their first three games of the season, something unprecedented and unexpected in the Urban Meyer Era. However, it seems as though they may have resolved their offensive struggles just in time as they go into Tuscaloosa to take on the Tide this Saturday. It will mark the first game the Gators enter as underdogs since 2007.

Alabama, on the otherhand, did not seem as dominant as they had in the first three weeks of the season against the Arkansas Razorbacks. If Ryan Mallett did not throw two ill-advised interceptions when the Hogs had the lead with less than six minutes to go, then Alabama may have lost its first regular season game in 3 years. Ironically, the last time they lost in the regular season was to Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators. Mallett seemed to be able to exploit Bama's young DB's for much of the game, but they were able to pull it together when it mattered the most.

Who will win this weekend? Will Trey Burton be able to take over the game against Alabama and go Touchdown Crazy, or will Mark Ingram and the Tide wear out the Florida D and continue their regular season winning streak?

Brian Johnson

Posted by Adam Jacobi

For college football enthusiasts, there's no more anticipated video game than EA's NCAA Football series, released during the interminable off-season and resurrecting fans' anticipation for the upcoming season. The changes in gameplay have become more incremental over the years, but what people are most interested in are the ever-expanding dynasty mode and EA's updated rosters and ratings.

Oh, and then there's the prestigious honor of the annual cover athlete.

Unlike EA NCAA Football's pro counterpart in the Madden series -- made famous for its "Madden Curse," which routinely afflicts its subjects with terrible, injury-addled seasons -- the NCAA Football cover is usually a harbinger of upcoming pro success. Sure, it started off slowly with Tommie Frazier and Danny Wuerffel, and EA would probably like to take those Joey Harrington and Chris Weinke covers back, but it has also honored such luminaries as Shaun Alexander, Ricky Williams, Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, DeSean Jackson, and Tim Tebow, among others. Not bad company, really.

This year, EA Sports put the NCAA Football 12 cover role up to a vote between four athletes: Auburn DT Nick Fairley, Oklahoma RB DeMarco Murray, Alabama RB Mark Ingram, and Washington QB Jake Locker. Unsurprisingly, the voters chose the only athlete of the four who won a Heisman trophy: Ingram.

Astute observers probably noticed a conspicuously absent name from that list: Auburn QB Cam Newton. Newton, of course, won the 2010 Heisman Trophy and won the BCS Championship with Fairley this past January. EA Sports didn't divulge why Newton wasn't among the four finalists for the cover -- a lack of popularity doesn't exactly seem plausible, as he'd probably have beaten Ingram for the top spot -- but endorsements are always tricky business, to say nothing of the as-yet unresolved situation with Newton's recruitment and the NCAA's investigation thereof. Suffice it to say the arrangement didn't work for at least one of the two sides, so it'll be Ingram and that's that.

Of course, nothing about the cover athlete affects anything about the game itself past the opening screen; remember, these guys are all off to the NFL, so they're not actually in the game. But college football, more than any other sport on any level, prides itself on its awards and honors, and the EA cover is no exception.

Thoughts on the cover? Great? Terrible? The right call?

Jeff Evans

I'm not going to break down all the major flaws with this ridiculous logic...I'm just going to mention the 800 pound gorilla people ignore when talking about the "Heisman Trophy Curse." And that's the SEC. Both the Florida Gators Tim Tebow and the Alabama Crimson Tide's Mark Ingram won a Heisman and National Championships. Tebow won one the year after winning his Heisman, and Ingram won both in the same year. 

Auburn Fans

In the final weekend of the regular 2011 college football season, the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide will travel to Auburn, AL to play the #24 Auburn Tigers in the 76th Iron Bowl. Currently, Alabama leads the series 40-34-1. 

Auburn Fans

Mark Ballas put the moves together for Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ first dance as husband and wife.  When asked about it Mark remarked that news travels fast and it’s going to be beautiful.  He said he cooked up “a little somethin’ somethin’ but I can’t tell you that stuff, it’s Kim’s business.”  He will be attending if he is in town and when asked if he will be taking Pia Tuscano, he agreed with reporters that she would be the best date in town.  I think Kim and Kris are lucky to get Mark’s expertise for their dance -I’m sure it will be special.  And I think Mark and Pia are lucky to be dating one another.  Do you think Mark and Pia are a good match? 

Tera Simons

The SEC is generally considered the best conference in the nation. This year will be no different. After the first week of games, who do you think seems to be the best player in the SEC? 

Mark Ingram finished the pre-season poll with the most votes, but can he do it again when he isn't playing? If he was not a Heisman trophy winner, he would have been taken off the list like AJ Green.

Green is out due to a suspension and was unable to play last week. A player that misses the first two weeks is going to have to open eyes the first week he's back to get placed on the list again...after all, you can't objectively vote on a player if you don't get to see him play.   

Ryan Mallett is still on the list. In his first game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, Mallet went 21/24 gaining 301 yards. Three of his completions were for touchdowns and one was an interception.

Patrick Peterson is also going to remain on the list. He played solid on D against the University of North Carolina, and took returning kicks to the next level--probably the last time he'll be kicked too. He returned 4 punts for 157 yards scoring a TD on an 87 yard return. He also returned 3 kickoff's for 100 yards. He might be the most dynamic player in the conference this season.

The last person to secure his spot on the list is Julio Jones. He had 6 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in the opening weekend.

Our first new addition to the list is Cameron Newton. In his 1st game, he racked up 171 rushing yards on 15 carries and 2 TD's. He was also 9 of 14 for 186 yards and 3 TD's passing. If anyone disagrees with the 5 I have chosen tell me who you would have put on the list in the comments. I'll take them into account for week 3.

College Football, Week 1: Who's the best player in the SEC?
 

Brian Johnson

The Dawgs are 2-4 so far this season and looked awful in both their wins and losses.

The score from their recent game against Tennessee may suggest a beat down, but if you actually watched the game you know it was sloppy. The win against UT may calm the calls for Mark Richt's job, but they are far from gone. This team has too much talent every year to not be competing for National Championships regularly.

If you follow recruiting, then you know exactly what I mean. Even if you don't believe recruiting sites are accurate, they aren't this off either. Multiple top 10 recruiting classes tend to yield championship caliber teams, however, this has not been the result for Georgia.

The Dawgs have had good teams, but never a team with a realistic shot at a BCS championship. Yes, they finished second in the polls one year, but weren't in the Championship game because they didn't win the SEC. One of the year's the Dawgs did win the SEC, they were beat down by West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl.

Something just isn't clicking and I believe Mark Right is to blame. He may be a great man and this should be acknowledged. The fact he adopts so many needy children is something to be admired by us all. However, this is college football and he's paid millions to bring the Dawgs Championships. There is too much talent on that team to be 2-4.

I think it's time the Dawgs should part ways from Mark Richt!!! Am I right or am I wrong?

Brian Johnson

Spokane won big and easy in the Big Easy.

The visiting Shock crushed New Orleans 75-54 on Saturday night for their third straight win. Spokane (7-7) had failed in two earlier chances to reach the .500 mark, but it cashed in against the hapless VooDoo (2-12).

Kyle Rowley, the opening-day starter who lost the job to Bill Stull last month, had four touchdown passes and one rushing TD in his first game back since being activated from injured reserve. Stull, also activated from IR earlier this week, had a pair of TD passes and one TD run.

More game details here.

Jeff Evans

Michigan State is coming off a terrific 2010 campaign in which they finished 11-2. Mark Dantonio went from a hospital bed to the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

The Spartans are loaded with a bevy of talent returning to East Lansing, and they are favored by many to win the Big Ten Championship outright.

What are some realistic expectations for this roster?

If everything goes according to plan, this could be a monumental season for the Michigan State Spartans football program.

Here are 10 dream scenarios for 2011.

Begin Slideshow

Jeff Evans

Finish will mark the highest in program history

Jeff Evans

Posted by Jerry HinnenRemember a couple of years ago, when Mark Ingram flashed the Alabama logo printed on his gloves after scoring a touchdown, and it was kind of cool but also kind of scary, because you could see a future where basically every touchdown celebration in the country became a de facto Nike commercial? And then the officials at last year's Ohio State-Michigan game seemed to put the kibosh on it by calling the glove-logo display as an unsportsmanlike penalty, which -- ridiculous a decision as that might be -- maybe could accidentally end up doing something for the greater college football good?

Yeah, nevermind any of that "kibosh" talk. More and more teams have spent this offseason signing up for the branded gloves, potential for penalties or not. Just this week Notre Dame running back Cierre Wood debuted the Irish's version on Twitter:

And the official Nebraska equipment staff put two different glove styles on their Twitter feed, including this model dedicated to the Huskers' traditional "blackshirt" defense:

(Note that both teams are outfitted by Adidas.) On the one hand, we can appreciate that this remains a very, very cool idea. On the other, college football is one of the few sports where uniform gimmickry has, generally, been kept to a minimum; if gloves like these wind up being the first step down a slippery slope that ends with Penn State wearing metal lion claws on their shoulders (a la Oregon's emo wings), this is not going to be trend we'll remember fondly at all.

But what there's no debating is that these gloves are now officially a trend ... and given that it's here to stay, let's hope the officials can keep the flags in their pockets if they're put to use when the game is on the line.

Jeff Evans