Jumbo Package: Thursday 12 March 2015

SEC Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores - SBNation.com

The top three teams in the league -- Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia -- are playing for NCAA Tournament positioning, but after that, there are some teams with work left to do. LSU and Texas A&M are both on the bubble and could be looking at a quarterfinals matchup on Friday afternoon. Ole Miss did not receive a first-round bye and stumbled down the stretch, so a win or two in Nashville could help fans rest a little easier in Oxford.

Nice, detailed SEC Tournament coverage from the mother ship. Alabama tips off at noon CDT vs. Florida, look for BamaBrave4's writeup shortly.

Why nonconference scheduling matters for Power 5 college football teams - ESPN

There are 12 people tasked with comparing teams with similar résumés, and one of the criteria that "must be considered" is strength of schedule. There's no doubt the selection committee honored that mandate in its inaugural season. It's the reason Marshall was locked out of the committee's poll for weeks. It was a factor in all seven of the weekly rankings, as committee chairman Jeff Long consistently noted wins over the committee's top 25 teams as justification for where teams were slotted. It was one big reason TCU was ranked ahead of Baylor all season. TCU had a win over Minnesota. Baylor had a win over Buffalo.

Somewhere Art Briles just pulled out what's left of his hair. These people clearly didn't understand how long that flight was from Waco to Buffalo. There were rumors of turbulence too.

NFL great Cris Carter gives scouting report on Amari Cooper entering Alabama pro day | AL.com

"He's dominant in the slot," Carter said on SportsCenter. "You can't play bump and run coverage because he's so quick with great acceleration off the ball. He has great football speed. When he's on the football field, he's just as fast as he is in shorts doing the 40 time. "He typically always makes the first player miss. If you see him against SEC competition the last three years, he has destroyed the competition and most of the time, he has been the best player on the field. Lane Kiffin does a good job of moving him around, so he can retain a lot of information."

Nothing but glowing remarks here, obviously. As noted all season, we will be lucky to ever see a receiver of Coop's caliber again.

Phil Savage identifies Alabama players that helped, hurt draft stock at Pro Day | AL.com

I'm not sure exactly why he has not gotten a lot of attention this spring. He is a very good player. Two years ago when Georgia and Bama played in the SEC title game, you had Todd Gurley, Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon on the same field at the same time, and you would have essentially put them all in the same boat almost. I think T.J. can really fit with whatever need a time has. He's a big enough back to be a first or second down runner. He's a good enough pass receiver out of the backfield and good in pass pro, solid enough in pass protection that he can play on third down. So I think he may gain a little bit more attention after the Pro Day.

Been saying for some time, a team is probably going to get a steal when they choose TJ Yeldon in the middle rounds. I would put his versatility up against any back in the draft. He is not the biggest or the fastest but he is both big and fast, an excellent blocker and receiver, and his vision is phenomenal.

Notable workout numbers from Alabama's Pro Day | AL.com

Wide receiver DeAndrew White said some scouts timed him as fast as 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash. White said other scouts had him at 4.37. Either way, White was "tremendous" at the Pro Day, as fellow former Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper put it.

DeAndrew really helped himself yesterday, it seems. Hopefully he will shoot up some draft boards after spending the bulk of his career in Cooper's shadow.

Stanford Cardinal: An inside look at football's QB revolution | FOX Sports

"It was the first time I could actually visualize something like that," Shaw says. "'I was like, 'Wow, if we could actually put quarterbacks in a virtual world so we're not using extra practice reps, we're not extending practice at all — we're not messing with the 20-hour work week, we're just creating a library of things for a QB to learn something, that'd help your backup QB who's never gonna get as many reps as a starter and helps your starter get three reps on a play that he screwed up on and he can just watch the same thing over and over again and see everybody and feel like he's there.' When Derek started explaining it to me, I got really excited."

This looks awesome. Imagine a QB having the ability to use virtual reality to re-create a play. He can pause it and get a full pre-snap read in slo-mo, then watch each individual defender's movement at the snap to see where the coverage may have fooled him. Also, the backup QB can jump in and see exactly what the starter saw and why he read every play the way he did. Could be a game-changer.

Alabama Football Recruiting Offers of the Week | Bleacher Report

"That was really big," Johnson told 247Sports’ Shane Youngblood. "I am really, really happy about it. I have got to get down there to take a visit and check things out not too long from now. I am really proud of it. I am happy that they recognized my talents and think I can play there. "They are just a powerhouse program. They bring in the best. I am just happy that they see that in me. I just have to keep working hard and get better and better each day."

Veteran Alabama writer Marc Torrence updates you on the latest offers made on the recruiting trail.