12/07 Tailgate Quickie

*Auburn over Mizzou, Ohio State over Michigan State -- and, absurdly, the SEC will be shut out of the national-title game.

*Northern Illinois: That's why you play the whole schedule. (And why you never know with Michigan State.)

*World Cup draw: Ouch. Yikes. Yeesh. That said! I predict we will beat Ghana (finally) and draw with Portugal, putting us in a position to advance to the knockout round.

*Cano did what he had to do: He'll regret not playing on a championship team, but -- then again -- it's not like he was playing on a championship team in New York.

*Malzahn staying at Auburn: In the absence of a not-forthcoming offer from Texas, he might as well lock it in while the getting is as good as it gets.

*Texans fire Kubiak: Anyone not see that coming? Good for Houston for dumping him now and giving themselves a running start to find a replacement. I'd try to hire Kevin Sumlin from Texas A&M (who just signed an extension but clearly would not be begrudged for leaving for the NFL), but that's just me. Trade the No. 1 overall pick for a couple of 1sts (hello, St. Louis) and pick Manziel plus Best Available (probably not in that order).

*Kentucky hoops: From what you can see, they don't look like an elite team that will be able to win six straight in March. They are certainly not last season's debacle, but they are much closer to the uber-talented Wall-Cousins-Bledsoe 2010 team that fell well short of a national title than the Davis-MKG team that won one in 2012.

*Can't wait for Kobe's return tomorrow.

-- D.S.