Link Gumbo - 1/27/14

2014 Preseason College Top 25 | Perfect Game USA - Perfect Game has LSU coming at No. 12 in their pre-season College Baseball rankings. The Tigers are the 4th highest ranked team in the SEC, behind Mississippi State at No. 6, South Carolina at No. 7, and Vandy at No. 11. Other SEC teams ranked are Florida at No. 15, Texas A&M at No. 19, and Alabama at No. 21. Virginia is ranked No. 1. LSU finished last season ranked No. 5.

Virginia Tops College Preseason Top 25 - BaseballAmerica.com - In Baseball America's Pre-season rankings, LSU comes in ranked at No. 9. They are the 3rd highest ranked SEC team, in a group of 4 SEC teams at 7-10. South Carolina is ranked No. 7, Mississippi State is ranked No. 8, the aforementioned Tigers at No. 9, and Vanderbilt at No. 10. The other ranked SEC teams are Alabama at No. 21, and a group of 3 SEC teams from 23-25, Florida at No. 23, A&M at No. 24, and Arkansas at No. 25. As mentioned in the link. Virginia is ranked No. 1, making them a consensus pre-season #1 by Perfect Game and Baseball America.

Individual Baseball tickets start going on sale on January 29 in 15-game packages, with the remaining individual tickets going on sale on Jan 31. Notable this year is that LSU has instituted the expected variable pricing structure this year, with certain SEC games going for $15 while some non-conf games will be down to $7.

Cam Cameron says he’s not leaving LSU after report of Browns interest | ProFootballTalk - Onto some football, and staff news. There were murmurings and a report yesterday from the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Cam Cameron was a candidate for the Cleveland Browns open OC position. LSU quickly came out with a statement from Cam saying he is happy at LSU and expects to be here for years to come. Looks like we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Mailbag: Sorting out the WR class in the NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - In this piece, Bruce Feldman answers questions about the WR class for the upcoming NFL Draft, and ranks Odell Beckham Jr. as the 2nd highest WR on his board behind Mike Evans. Feldman describes Beckham as a "fantastic athlete" is "really explosive" with some of the best hands in the draft. He also says that coaches at LSU told him that Odell "could of played any position in our Secondary and been a star there too". Feldman also says he feels Jarvis Landry is being undervalued and described him as "A shorter, faster Anquan Boldin in terms of his toughness and ball skills". We never had any doubts that Juice and ODB made the right decision in going to the NFL, and this proves it. Good luck guys.

Maryland hires former LSU OL coach Greg Studrawa - CBSSports.com - As the headline states, former LSU OL Coach Greg Studrawa, who was let go a few weeks ago, has been hired for the same position by Maryland. The Terps lost their OL coach Dave DeGuglielmo to the NFL after he had only been there a week. Stud certainly divided opinion, but I feel he did a pretty good job for the most part over his 7 years here, and I wish him all the best with Maryland. Have a feeling he'll turn out a bit better than the last ex-LSU OC/Staff member the Terps hired.

Report: New York Jets interested in LSU assistant Thomas McGaughey - ESPN New York - This is an interesting one, and one to watch out for. LSU ST coach Thomas McGaughey, who arrived in 2011, and has been very successful in his 3 seasons here, is receiving interest and reportedly is a candidate for the New York Jets open ST coach position. LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette said there's nothing to the reports, but I'd expect to here some more news in the coming days.

At the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl earlier this month, J C Copeland had about as spectacular a performance as an NFL FB can have these days, getting two goal line carries for two yards and two touchdowns. He also spent most of the game as a road-grading blocker, leading his National team to the win and earning the game's MVP award.

Copeland also had himself one hell of a sideline interview during the game.

College football announcing as we know it could be headed for a major shakeup as SI is reporting that ESPN is offering Brent Musburger the lead PBP role on the SEC Network, a move that could also see Chris Fowler move from Gameday to the booth. I like Musburger well enough, but after some of his struggles this season I'd have thought he was headed for retirement, not launching a new network.

Former Tiger WR Michael Clayton has a new autobiography out about his football career and there is a great profile of him in DIG Magazine.

In the first interview I've seen with him since the hiring, New LSU OL coach Jeff Grimes spoke to a paper in Virginia about his decision to leave VT and how hard it was to make the move.

Another brief note. There are tons of rumors and tweets and the like going on about the status of the LSU-Kentucky Men's Basketball game for Tuesday night at the PMAC. Kentucky says there following their usual routine, leaving after their team practice. Class has been cancelled by LSU, but not any athletic events. So for now, the game is on and will be played. The SEC is expected to make a final decision tomorrow.