Around the SEC (7/8)

A few links to pass along as Lady Vols coach Pat Summit tells Bruce Pearl he needs to work on his abs on ESPN...

The Tennessean scoured through five preseason magazines and the forecast does not look good for the Volunteer state.

Tennessee's average finish is third in the SEC East, while Vanderbilt is unsurprisingly picked to finish in the cellar.

"It's no surprise," said Mitch Light, editor of Nashville-based Athlon Sports, which publishes Athlon Sports College Football. "They lost a lot of talented players and I think they will be very good on defense, especially in the secondary. But from a preseason look, there are just too many holes on offense to fill…There are too many unknown factors on offense to be competitive in the East."

Knoxville deserves to be a finalist in ESPN's "Titletown USA" promotion, but it shouldn't win, writes The Knoxville News Sentinenl's Mike Strange. I agree.

Redshirting remains rare in college hoops, writes rivals.com's David Fox. Only four members of the Rivals150 for the class of 2007 redshirted by choice, one of them being Vanderbilt's Festus Ezeli, who is quoted in the story.

David Price has "it," according to Prattville columnist Jimmy White.

ESPN.com's Chris Low has a few questions to ponder in the SEC East, including "Can Georgia's overall talent overcome a brutal schedule?" and "Will Tennessee win another SEC championship under Phillip Fulmer?"

Low also picks the Commodores to finish last in the SEC East and here's what he had to say:

Similar to Kentucky, Vanderbilt suffered major personnel losses from a year ago, and those losses weren't confined to just one side of the ball. The Commodores have made tremendous gains the past few years, and Johnson deserves a tremendous amount of credit. But getting to five or six wins this season would be his best coaching job yet. Mackenzi Adams and Chris Nickson will battle for the quarterback job. Both are likely to play and will be operating behind a revamped offensive line. The defense also took some big hits, but safety Reshard Langford is one of those players who makes up for others' mistakes. The Commodores will need a bunch of younger players to come through if they're going to win at least four games for the fourth straight year.

Seems like a pretty accurate assessment to me, although I think cornerback D.J. Moore deserved mention.

Who pays coaches' ridiculous salaries? You, of course. [h/t Mr. SEC]

Shan Foster has his work cut out for him this summer as the Mavs have a number of young swingmen vying for a couple of spots.

Also, Derrick Byars scored a team-high 15 points for the Orlando Magic in their 86-74 loss to the Nets.
Photo [SI.com]