The Greatest Football Coach in the History of the South

Here are the records of two Alabama coaches.  It's close, but there's a clear difference:

2007-2023:  Nick Saban:  Overall record 206-29 (.877)  Conference record 120-18 (.870).  Six AP national titles (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020).

1958-1982:  Bear Bryant:  Overall record 205-42-9 (.818)  Conference record 125-25-5 (.823).  Five AP national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1979)

The Alabama folks are going to miss Nick Saban a lot.

NFL Power Rankings and Survivor Pool, Week 3

Here is the latest top ten from ESPN's NFL power rankings:

1.  Buffalo:  2-0

2.  Philadelphia:  2-0

3.  Green Bay:  2-0

4.  Baltimore:  1-1

5.  Detroit:  1-1

6.  Los Angeles:  2-0

7.  San Diego:  2-0

8.  Kansas City:  0-2

9.  Washington:  1-1

10.  Tampa Bay:  2-0

Miami is Number 28.

I don't really like any of the Survivor Pool options this week.  I think Green Bay will beat Cleveland, but the Packers are on the road.  I think Tampa Bay will beat the Jets, but the Bucs are offensively challenged.  I think the Chiefs will beat the Giants, but the Chiefs are on the road -- and are also offensively challenged.  And so I am going to take the Bills to beat the Dolphins.  I don't like a lot of things about this game -- it's a division game, it's on Thursday night, and it's exactly the sort of game Buffalo has had trouble with in the past.  But Buffalo is the best of a bad lot, and I'm taking them.

Past survivor pool picks (home teams listed first):

Week One:  Denver 20 - 12 Tennessee

Week Two:  Baltimore 41 - 17 Cleveland

MLB Update

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Clinched division:

Philadelphia

Clinched playoff spots:

Milwaukee

Chicago

Eliminated:

Pittsburgh

Washington

Colorado

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Clinched division:

None

Clinched playoff spots:

None

Eliminated:

Baltimore

Oakland

Los Angeles

Minnesota

Chicago

In reality, we've known for months who is going to the playoffs.  In the NL, the other three playoff teams will be Los Angeles, San Diego, and New York.  In the AL, the six playoff teams will be Toronto, Detroit, New York, Houston, Seattle, and Boston.

1978: What's on TV Friday Nights?

I was disappointed to learn that Donny & Marie have ditched the ice dancers for Season 4.  

But the truth is that 1978 me was probably moving away from that perky show for my TV79 Friday nights, anyway. NBC has my 7/7:30 Central eye wandering with new sitcoms showcasing Broadway Joe and Chachi!

As GoHeath noted, TV79 is not going down as a proud-as-an-anything moment in NBC history.

But there's a pretty good chance I'll give Channel 6 the benefit of the doubt with its new entries bookending old-standby Rockford Files Season 5.

And if I lose the Channel 6 steam by Eddie Capra at 9, I will happily flip to Flying High on Channel 12. I caught the preview pilot the other night, and that thing feels like it is poised to deliver the absolute best kind of made-for-TV movie (no guns/killing, more laughs than drama, familiar faces, lots of love) every freaking Friday night.

But, just to be clear, none of us is watching any of that stuff on this particular Friday night in 1978.

Well, I guess 27 percent of us were watching something else at 7 Central Sept. 15, 1978. Per the Associated Press, "The biggest audience ever for a televised sporting event watched ABC’s broadcast of the heavyweight championship rematch between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks live from New Orleans. ABC estimated the audience for the 15-round fight at 90 million and said that meant 73 percent of the sets in use at the time were tuned to the fight."

MaxPreps Kentucky Rankings

After four weeks of high school football, we have enough data to use the MaxPreps rankings for the KHSAA.  Here is the top 20:

1.  Lou. Trinity:  3-1

2.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  4-0

3.  Lou. St. Xavier:  3-0

4.  Boyle Co:  3-1

5.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  3-1

6.  S. Warren:  4-0

7.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  1-3

8.  Cooper:  2-2

9.  Franklin Co:  4-0

10.  Scott Co:  4-0

11.  Lou. Manual:  3-1

12.  Corbin:  3-1

13.  Lou. Male:  2-1

14.  Beechwood:  3-0

15.  Cov. Catholic:  2-2

16.  Pad. Tilghman:  3-1

17.  Bowling Green:  0-4

18.  Johnson Cent:  4-0

19.  Ryle:  2-2

20.  Woodford Co:  3-1

And here are the Power Eleven for western Kentucky:

16.  Pad. Tilghman:  3-1

29.  Mayfield:  3-1

30.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  4-0

42.  Union Co:  2-2

58.  Murray:  4-0

59.  Henderson Co:  1-2

61.  Graves Co:  1-3

73.  McCracken Co:  1-3

81.  Hopkinsville:  3-1

105.  Caldwell Co:  3-1

111.  Crittenden Co:  2-2