That’s a solid choice for UT and it would more than likely be Cutcliffe’s final destination.

Stand by for more details.  It’s a fluid situation, but I trust this source.

We’re also hearing from a reliable source that at least two trsutees at UT were in fact in contact with former UT head coach Phillip Fulmer…  what did they talk about?  Fulmer becoming AD.  Yikes!

Mike Hamilton has to make a quick decision and Cutcliffe is a logical choice for Tennessee.  A lot of questions surround this situation- like whether Muschamp will decide to leave Texas for Tennessee.  If he does come to Knoxville, what happens when the job at the other UT does eventually come open?

You can say a lot of things about Hamilton and Lane Kiffin in this situation, but there’s one word that comes to mind with the way both parties have handled this:  class.  Hamilton has shown a lot of it and his former employee has shown a serious lack of it.

Again, Muschamp offered…. if he says no, it’ll be Cutcliffe at Tennessee according to a reliable source.

They’ve got catchy and well-written music videos, a commercial that’s a knock-off of the Geico caveman commercials, billboards and very well done web site to go along with the typical media mailings and other smaller touches.

Sounds like a lot, right? Probably cost a lot of money to do all of that, right?

If you guessed the UTAD spent more than $25,000 on all of that, you would be wrong. If you think they spent more than $15,000, you would be incorrect. They’ve only budgeted $10,000 for Berry’s bid and even that figure won’t be reached if certain benchmarks aren’t met. They might spend more if those benchmarks are met or exceeded- might being the key word. It’ll depend on the situation.

To this point, the University of Tennessee has only spent roughly $6,500, which doesn’t sound like a lot in today’s terms, especially when you factor in how much has been spent on college athletics in recent years.

The billboards were a bonus for the university’s “standard ad buy” for the year and most of the work on the campaign has been done by salaried employees, so costs have been kept low. Even the song and music videos were produced in-house.

The effect that small amount of money has had coupled with the wider coverage of Berry nationally is one that’s felt when Tennessee’s coaches enter a home. Without spending a lot of money and perhaps even without capturing a Heisman, Berry’s campaign will generate excitement on the recruiting trail.

“Obviously I would think that helps you tremendously in recruiting,” Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin said. “You want to go somewhere where you’re going to marketed when you do things right. I can’t think of a better guy to do it with than Eric, because he can handle it.”

The campaign is also helped out by all the national attention the Vols have received because of their head coach.

“I think it says a lot about the conference, the school and about what’s going on with us,” Kiffin said. “There’s a lot of energy around Tennessee football around the country with recruits and all the way down to eighth and ninth grade- the kids you’re going to be trying to recruit four years down the road.”

You’ve probably heard of athletics spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter, but if you haven’t, you’ve no doubt been exposed to her work. She puts out fires, answers media questions and this year is running Berry’s campaign for the ultimate college football award on a tight budget. She is running a much more modern campaign than the university ran for Peyton Manning in the 1990s. Of course it’s a much more modern time. The strategy is different for this campaign than others at other schools. Technology has changed the way Heisman campaigns are run- at least on Rocky Top.

According to Sports Information Director Bud Ford, he would be surprised if his office spent more than $5,000 on Manning’s campaign in 1997 when he finished second- to a defensive player.  That figure includes postage! It was less viral and more of a old-school campaign for Manning.  The strategy included notebooks and mailings with no internet videos and social network opportunities to play with.

But, how did Tennessee arrive at the idea of running a viral campaign for Berry instead of a more traditional campaign?

“It was looking at trends,” Carpenter said. “The people we’re looking at Social media is really big right now, especially with teenagers and 20-somethings and we were looking at a group that we really don’t have a target list on.”

A viral campaign works like it sounds- a virus. The idea of a viral marketing campaign is to spread the message from one person to another either by word of mouth or by using social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. The internet is a huge player in the Berry campaign- but how many Heisman voters are in the social media demographic? The schools are at a disadvantage because that’s information they don’t have access to when planning a campaign.

“They don’t give you a Heisman voter list, so we’re trying to find a way where we could create enough buzz for Eric Berry, who’s considered a dark horse candidate because he’s not a quarterback or an offensive player,” Carpenter said. “We’re trying to find a way to get people to talk about Eric Berry. ‘Who is this guy Eric Berry?’ To check him out because they’re interested in what they’ve seen on him.”

Berry is, indeed, a dark horse candidate. ESPN’s website featured a poll last wek of a group of college football experts at the network and two defensive players made the list: South Carolina’s Eric Norwood and Berry. Amongst all the offensive standouts on the page, the two SEC defensemen were the only players without links to more information.

As a dark horse, is the nation taking the campaign seriously? Officials at Tennessee believe it is.

“You can look at that way that they’re not taking it seriously. I got a call today from ESPN wanting to know if they could show our videos during the game Saturday,” Carpenter said in an interview last week. “(ESPN’s College) Game Day called me last week wanting copies of the videos, CBS called Florida week wanting copies of the videos. I think they are taking it seriously and I think they’ve perked up about it because we’ve got a lot of national media talking about the campaign and that was our goal. “

Berry isn’t likely to win the award or even be invited the ceremony, but Tennessee is committing funds and man-hours to the campaign anyway. It’s impressed Kiffin.

“It’s big time,” he said. “It shows our university’s commitment to when players come here and do things right as student athletes and they perform well that we do promote them. We do give back to them and go the extra mile for them.”

But, what if Berry gets an invitation to New York or what if he wins the Heisman?

“It would be phenomenal,” Kiffin said. “We had three guys in four years (win the Heisman) at (Southern Cal) and that’s still paying dividends. Those kids now, that were in eighth grade at the time, for four or five years, they’ve wanted to go to S.C.”

Kiffin’s USC reference included quarterbacks Carson Palmer (2002 winner) and Matt Leinart (2004) and running back Reggie Bush (2005)- and their awards are still resulting in players trickling in to the program.

Kiffin said a Heisman victory for Berry would do the same thing for Tennessee.

“Anytime something like that can happen, it sets up a great future,” Kiffin said.

ESPN.com Heisman Watch List, updated, below:

Here it is, game-by-game, all the news fit to print in one place.

• #3 Alabama 38, Kentucky 20
  ESPN game page
  Opportunistic Alabama finds a way to roll past Kentucky (Mobile Press-Register)
  Tide’s big tight end enjoys big day (The Birmingham News)
  Not as good as Gators?  Crimson Tide takes talk in Stride (The Birmingham News)
  Kentucky turnovers ease Alabama victory over Wildcats (Mobile Press-Register)
• #4 LSU 20, #18 Georgia 13
  ESPN game page
  It came down to one play (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  Green has big, bittersweet day for Georgia (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  Celebration flag costly as Georgia loses to LSU (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  Georgia native Perry Riley savors LSU victory (The Times Picayune)
  Another ugly victory a beautiful thing for LSU (The Times Picayune)
  LSU Postgame comments (2TheAdvocate)
• #21 Ole Miss 23, Vanderbilt 7
  ESPN game page
  Vandy falls to Ole Miss stays winless in SEC (The Tennessean)
  Commodores searching for offensive consistency (Clarion-Ledger)
• South Carolina 38,  South Carolina State 14
  ESPN game page
  South Carolina powers up in 2nd half, defeats S.C. State (The State)
  Power goes out on television broadcast (The State)
  Pough’s gambling ways give game spark (The State)
• Arkansas 47, Texas A&M 19
  ESPN game page
  Razorbacks whip Aggies (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
  Mallett, Razorbacks lower hammer on A&M (The Dallas Morning News)
• #25 Georgia Tech 42, Mississippi State 31
  ESPN game page
  Ga. Tech beats Mississippi State (Clarion-Ledger)
  Nesbitt passes Tech past Bulldogs (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Auburn 26, Tennessee 22
  ESPN game page
  Auburned (Knoxville News Sentinel)
  Auburn enjoying 5-0 record after beating Tennessee (Mobile Press-Register)
  Saturday Night Rap (Mobile Press-Register)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jeff Schultz criticized Georgia this morning- and he had some pretty good points about the current state of the Bulldogs’ program.  Mark Richt, pictured at left, isn’t on the hot seat, but it seems like there are more than a few restless Georgia fans.

Schultz didn’t hold back this morning-

If Florida and LSU did not account for four of the last six national championships, and if Alabama wasn’t so clearly moving in that direction, maybe this wouldn’t even be a subject for debate. Everybody would be happy and content with the two SEC championships and five top 10 finishes in  the last eight seasons and not think, “We need more please.”

Here’s what I think.  The SEC East is a one horse race right now.  It used to be between Tennessee and Florida.  Right now, Georgia is the second-best team in the east… barely.  UGA is in a tricky spot- might they be left standing with no chair when the music stops?  If Lane Kiffin doesn’t turn Tennessee around and if South Carolina has lackluster seasons, then Georgia will hang on to that No. 2 spot in the East.  They’ll occasionally be better than Florida, but they won’t be going to Atlanta as often as they’d like.

These days, you have to compete for championships. Georgia has a ton of talent, but they have to win games like the one they played this weekend to take that step.  Keeping today’s loss in mind, take a look at the following selections from the Schultz column.

On Saturday, Georgia plays its biggest SEC game of the season thus far, hosting LSU. If the Dogs want people to believe they belong, this would be a good time to show it. Because I sense  faith may be going in the other direction.

During Richt’s tenure since 2001, four programs have won SEC championships: LSU (three), Florida (two), Georgia (two) and Auburn (one). During that same eight-season span, the Dogs and Tigers are tied with the most top-10 finishes in the final AP rankings (five). That’s ahead of Florida (three), Auburn and Alabama (two each), and Tennessee (one).

The body of work is impressive.

The question: Is the body of work enough any more?

A very good question.  With today’s short attention span, the simple answer is no it’s not.

Funny comments from the AJC:

Karma Police:

Nice article, Jeff. The SEC was easier to navigate when Phil Fulmer, Ron Zook, Lou Holtz and Mike Shula were the competition. I still wouldn’t trade CMR, but he has to upgrade his assistants. I believe he will this off-season, because we’re about to start a stretch of games that will probably embarrass us again.

Joey:

God bless you Jeff. Seriously. If sportswriting were gymnastics, you just did a perfect routine and scored a 10.

I would agree.

“To me, if you’re losing a game and it’s late in the game and it looks like all hope is lost and you get down the field and you score a touchdown, I think that probably was the right amout of celebration,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

“I don’t know if it was excessive for the moment. … I didn’t think we went too crazy.”

“I’m sad that it happened.”

Yes, we all are.  First, LSU shouldn’t be undefeated.  They’ve played with fire more than once this season and we’ll see if they get burned next weekend against Florida.  Granted, LSU got a similar penalty on it’s next score, but Georgia wasn’t able to return it to the LSU 38 to get a 38-yard scoring drive like LSU had to retake its lead.

The Southeastern Conference put out a pitifully weak statement from the referees.  The league sent a statement to AJC, and basically said that Green made a gesture toward the crowd to draw attention to himself.  Ummmmm… hello!  He scored what should have been a game-winning touchdown!

The officiating crew said, in a statement provided by the SEC later Saturday night, that “following a brief team celebration, Green made a gesture to the crowd calling attention to himself,” thus drawing the flag.

That’s just weak.  Suspend the ref who made the initial call.

>>Vols score at end…  nice ending to game for Vols… too little, too late.  This will go down as a 26-19 loss, but it wasn’t that close.

>>Auburn giving up a big play… Lane Kiffin looked ticked off about something just then.

>>AU hits a field goal, leads 26-16, :39 left in game.  My prediction this week was Auburn by 11.

>>Auburn close to a fifth-straight win over Tennessee in the series.

>>A friend posted on her facebook- “wonders what “knowledge” Kiffin gets from his waffle house menu?”  Very good description of that chart he holds.

>>McCalebb with a big time return.  Ben Tate compliments with nice play, too.

>>Vols settle for three inside the 20.

>>Crompton looking like a QB here late in this game.

>>Crompton with a big play to Hancock.  Nice job by #8 with the pass on fourth down… is it too little too late?  Hardesty down to the 15.

>>Finally, a big completion for the Tennessee Vols.  Tennessee working a 10-play drive so far.

>>Even the national media now recognizing that Crompton stares down one receiver.

>>Savion Frazier with a big hit and a nice stop to hold Auburn to a 3rd and 7.  Vols hold after nearly letting Auburn have the first down.  Auburn’s receivers catch balls for Todd that UT receivers drop.  That’s been a difference tonight.

>>McCalebb with a good return… again, he’s good.

>>Montario Hardesty takes it to the house on a 31-yard screen pass.

>>Gerald Jones makes a nice catch… barely.  The Vols are showing signs, but it might be too little too late.

>>Auburn scored.  They’re pretty good under Gene Chizik.  I criticized the hiring of Chizik preseason.  Changing my opinions.

>>Tennessee’s defense seems tired and they look it too.  The ESPN guys can’t stop talking about how tired and fatigued the UT defense is.  Three and outs do more than just keep you off the scoreboard, they keep the defense on the field all night.  I can see why they’re pooped.

>>Auburn is about to score again.

>>Hold up four fingers… the Fourth quarter is here.

>>Auburn’s Onterio McCalebb with a nice run.  Anyone else think this guy is a great runner?

>>Montori Hughes with an almost interception.  That won’t stand up… he trapped it.

>>”Not a vintage Eric Berry night” and a series of highlights of missed plays by Berry on ESPN.

>>The Vols must stop throwing behind receivers.

>>Tennessee unable to convert another third down.  Great job by the Auburn defense to bring down Gerald Jones.  Kiffin will go for it on fourth and one on own 29 yard line.  Crompton to Stocker for a play action pass on fourth down.

>>Down 16-6, I can’t help but think that Tennessee should only be down 16-10… Special teams…

>>Auburn has had 23 more snaps at this point than Tennessee.  That’s significant.  6:03 3rd quarter.  Draw play on 3rd and 6 and Auburn converts easily for 12 yards.

>>Third down, Crompton rushes short of the first down.  Five possessions tonight for the Vols that result in a three and out.

>>The Vols hold Auburn on 3rd and goal… Great job, Monte!  Field goal when the Tigers should have come away with six.  Now, Tennessee needs to focus on not giving up plays to this Auburn offense.

>>The ball just isn’t bouncing Tennessee’s way tonight.  Tigers gain 2 yards on a fumble.  3rd and goal coming up.

>>Another bad looking Auburn play develops into a great play.  Huge gain after a bad pitch.  Ben Tate takes it to the five and sets up a first and goal.  Running a very fast offense.

>>Auburn holds Tennessee and the Vols 4th three and out.

>>Tennessee forces Auburn to punt on first drive of second half.  Kiffin told ESPN that offense must step up.  Lane Kiffin changed shirts at the half and told Erin Andrews that it was superstition.  Andrews just used the word “rotisserairy.”  Is that a word?

>>Ben Tate with a nice return to start the second half.  Only two plays of 20+ yards in first half for Auburn… Vols defense did a nice job.

>>Auburn 13-Tennessee 6 HALFTIME

>>Maybe Crompton will get some momentum built up after that drive.

>>Jonathan Crompton hasn’t played well at times, but when he does make a good throw, his receivers can’t make the catch.  Great throw to Luke Stocker- and a follow up with Montario Hardesty.  Touchdown next play to #2!  PAT blocked.

>>Frank Wilson gave it to his receivers after all the drops earlier… Brandon Warren had to be separated from his teammates and Wilson after arguing with them acc. to ESPN.  Crompton needs not to throw behind his wide receivers.  On the other hand, receivers DO need to catch catchable passes.

>>An Auburn miscue- and finally a near miss for Todd that missed.  Loose ball stops Auburn drive.  Field goal is NO GOOD.

>>Dennis Rogan with good coverage.  3rd and 5 for Auburn… Can UT hold?

>>Ben Tate just laid out Eric Berry- knocked him nearly to the ground.  That was one hell of a hit.  I don’t think we’ll be seeing that at Berry4Heisman.com.

>>AU moving the ball… just converted a third and short.

>>You know things aren’t going swimmingly when Eric Berry misses a tackle.  By the way, a great post coming this week regarding Berry’s Heisman campaign and the aount of money Tennessee is spending on it.  It’s going to be informative. The staff at HardKnoxSports.com got a sneak peek at it and they liked it.

>>Auburn completes passes that other teams haven’t this season against Tennessee.    Auburn 134-9 passing yards at this point.

>>Kiffin looked disgusted after that last play- hit Hancock in the ear hole on his helmet at about 100 mph.  Get that kid a Tylenol after that pass.

>>Quentin Hancock needs to make that catch.  That one isn’t on Crompton.  This entire offense needs to improve around Crompton.

>>Good to see Hardesty is back in there.  Hope he stays healthy.  Really good guy.

>>Todd Blackledge ate a ton of food this week at Chandler’s deli.  Oh my goodness, what the heck is he thinking.  That’s got to be about 10,000 calories.  Looked good though.  Never eaten there, but will try it on one of my “I get to be bad days.”

>>Ben Tate scores to cap an efficient Auburn drive with a few big plays.  That’s the Auburn offense we’ve read about here in Knoxville.  13-0 2Q.

>>Auburn makes some great plays (yes, we’ve blogged this before tonight).  That play was failed but Auburn throws it and makes a huge gain.  And… by the way… Onterio McCalebb is a really talented guy.

>>Chain gang dude just got leveled on the sideline.  Ha!

>>Montario Hardesty with a nice run of 20+.  The Vols need him to keep that up- they’re having a tough time throwing it tonight.  That rush put him over 500 yards on the season acc. to ESPN.  ”He looks more than winded” on the sideline.  Bryce Brown is in the game now.  Another punt.  Monte’s

>>Savion Frazier getting a few mentions on the national tube for sliding into the MLB role.

>>First quarter over.  What happened to Kenny Chesney’s song?

>>ESPN- “Jonathan Crompton just caaaaaaaaan’t get it cranking.”  ”Those are throws that a quarterback in the SEC just has to make” on second and third downs.  UT to punt again. The network commenting on his body language as well, saying it doesn’t look confident.

>>Did the ref just tag Nick Stephens with a personal foul?  What the heck?

>>Nice to see Tennessee’s defense step up again and stop the Tigers.  Todd has cooled off for Auburn.

>>Did it look like Todd was over the line on that forward pass?  Sure looked like it.  Not sure how accurate that ESPN line is.

>>Fans seem to be booing the Tennessee offense after that incomplete pass.  Chad Cunningham on to punt again.

>>Tennessee coughs it up on the first play of the drive.  The offense MUST, MUST do a better job of taking care of the football.  Auburn with AWESOME field position. Vols hold Tigers to a field goal.  Nice save, Monte!

>>44 yards, 10 plays for AU’s scoring drive.  Will Tennessee answer?

>>Auburn executes so well offensively.  That end around pass was well done.  They seem to be moving a little less rapidly.  Cody Burns is still the man- did anyone see that little video clip from this summer?  Auburn from last play to next play gets everything called and situated within 25 seconds… and that’s slow?

>>Crompton nearly intercepted… Auburn gets it back.

>>Auburn going for it on fourth down… quick kick into end zone. That’s old school football.  Will Tennessee’s offense be able to drive 80 yards?

>>LaMarcus Thompson just laid out one of Auburn’s players.  Auburn’s offense is very explosive.  UT is going to have to keep up with them, unless they stop themselves.  That penalty was a big, big break.

>>Tennessee receives the opening kick… NuKeese Richardson 41 yard rush on first play from scrimmage… Vols offense stalls out after a great first play and good kick return.  Daniel Lincoln misses field goal.  That was not a good start to the game.  At all.  Auburn looks pumped on their sideline.

Tennessee in all orange tonight.

The Playoff PAC, launched by Utahn Matt Sanderson and several other sports fans, plans to raise cash and then donate to candidates and incumbents who support busting up the BCS, a system of polls and computers that doles out bowl game spots to the winners of six major conferences and four other teams.

Maybe we do need a political action committee to fight the BCS.  In fact, according to the story, there’s a lot of money already being thrown around by lobbyists in Washington.  BCS conferences and the bowls have spent at least $720,000, compared to the Mountain West Conference, which has spent around $200,000 to try to get a playoff instituted.

Both sides of the argument, though, are shelling out big money to Washington lobbyists. The conferences backing the BCS as well as the Football Bowl Association have spent $720,000 on lobbyists so far while the Mountain West Conference, in which the University of Utah and Brigham Young University play, has spent $200,000.

Who are we kidding?  College football is big time business.

I can’t control what goes on outside . . . I’m extremely proud of a football team for putting everything that’s been said outside behind them and not paying any attention to it and working to try and win a game, regardless of the distractions. And that’s what this is. It’s a distraction for a football team. . . . I guess somebody reported I had agreed to a buyout last night. For those people that would like for that to happen let me make sure you understand. I have never quit anything in my life and I will not quit this.

(on his critics) I can’t worry about people that aren’t in the arena with me. I feel kind of sorry for some people. They get their kicks by going on the Internet without a name or a face or anything and telling lies. This (talk of a buyout) is a boldface lie.

I’m glad to be the coach at Memphis and I intend on being the coach at Memphis.

We’ll see.  Sometimes these things work out the way they’re reported.  I mean, seriously- there’s no way he can admit to this and if he stays quiet, it’s like an admission.  Plus, all coaches are good with the lie.  It’s often their number one audible.

According to sources, some of the names being tossed around are former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, former Alabama coach Mike Dubose, Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzhan, Terry Bowden and  former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville.

The Star goes on, “Bellman said he’ll require any buyer to sign an affidavit claiming to be a fan of the Missouri Tigers and won’t sell them to, say, operatives from Kansas or Nebraska.”

If I ever work there, I’ll be using my own personal cell phone. And by the way, if they were iPhones, they could remotely wipe the phones clean.