The Morning Feed: Overall Champs

Dabo Swinney thinks the ACC is on the brink of producing the overall champs. Wait, not the clothing garment but the crystal ball or playoff or whatever.

Stats guru Nate Silver hired by ESPN. I certainly have my complaints about the four letter network, but they've made a number of great hires in the past year.

Nick Saban speaks another language. As part of ESPN's "car wash" of SEC coaches, Nick Saban broke down some game film from the BCS championship. Smart Football provides video and translation of Saban's defensive guru lingo.

Steve Spurrier was also quite entertaining during his stay in Bristol, CT:

Spurrier just greeted Bielema by walking up to him and repeating, "No no huddle, no no huddle."

— Travis Haney (@TravHaneyESPN) July 23, 2013

Ellis Johnson's 4-2-5 Defense. Auburn and Washington State will play each other this season in what should be an interesting clash of offensive philosophies between Gus Malzahn and Mike Leach. But our WSU blog Coug Center took some time to focus on new Auburn defensive coordinator and former South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson's 4-2-5 base defense in greater detail than I thought humanly possible.

Black Magic Weekend. South Carolina will have one of its more important recruiting weekends of the summer as a wealth of 2014, 2015, and 2016 recruits will descend upon Williams-Brice Stadium to participate in the Black Magic Showcase.

Saluda defensive lineman Dexter Wideman surprised everyone by committing to Florida State on Monday, but the Gamecocks are still thought to have a shot here. Wideman is expected to be in attendance for this weekend's event. The Gamecocks were long thought to be the clear favorites to land Wideman, but will now have to regroup and figure out a different gameplan at defensive tackle if Dexter sticks with his commitment to the Noles.

The interior defensive lineman that the Gamecocks are currently in the best shape with is Abu Lamin, who is planning to make an official visit to Auburn this weekend. Anthon Moten, who recently decommitted from Florida, is another option, but right now his most likely destination appears to be Miami (FL).

Hiwawatha, Kansas DT Peyton Newell has backed out of plans to attend the Black Magic showcase, citing a conflict with his grandmother's birthday weekend. I've given a lot of weird excuses for not showing up to things in my 26 years on this planet, and experience tells me that, despited Newell's protestations to the contrary, the writing is on the wall here. I'd be shocked if he doesn't end up a Cornhusker.

South Aiken Bo Baldwin will be in attendance for this weekend's event, and all signs are currently pointing to the athletic quarterback being offered as a grayshirt. Should Baldwin accept the offer, he would enroll in December and be counted toward the 2015 class.

SEC Running Back Power Rankings. Our Mississippi State blog, For Whom The Cowbell Tolls, is not high on South Carolina's running backs in 2013.

Miscellaneous. Adam Yates' $30,000 kick. Vampire Weekend did an awesome cover of "Blurred Lines".