In an article worthy of footballcoachscoop.com – except that it’s presented on a legitimate TV news station website – we learn that the Pac-10, Big XII and Mountain West conferences are on the verge of upheaval… if, um, well, “It could happen”… it’s so close, even though, er uh, “This is all speculation…but sources are telling ABC 4 Sports…” okay, they’re unnamed sources, but it’s so happening… if, uh, “Several dominoes have to fall first, but here’s how it could all play out…”
If these folks get paid by the “if”, they’re gonna be very wealthy one day. Fine reporting, gents.
… Belin’s results are undeniable. This season, two of his linebackers were in the top 10 in the SEC in tackles — Chris Marve (second) and Patrick Benoist (eighth) — and Marve made the All-SEC second team. In each of the last five seasons, Belin has put one of his linebackers on the first or second team All-SEC teams.
That is a feat former linebackers coach John Jancek never accomplished.
For Georgia Tech, more and more, it’s looking like Andy McCollum.
When you haven’t played in a bowl game in two years, scheduling two 1-AA teams in the same season doesn’t seem like the brightest move.
This has to be a record: “The Gophers football team under coach Tim Brewster the past three years has had six coordinators.” Best of all, the AD thinks it’s some kind of coincidence.
Oversigning at Florida? No problem – Meyer… er, Addazio… er, somebody will take care of it.
Today’s musical question: “So if we’re more certain that Alabama was the best team in college football than we are that the Saints were the best team in the NFL, which system is really closest to fair?”
Fun facts about 2010 SEC/Georgia recruiting: (1) Georgia (the state) provided more SEC signees than Florida; (2) Georgia only signed kids from three states (Tennessee and Vanderbilt signed kids from twelve different states); and (3) On a percentage basis, no SEC school signed more recruits from its home state than Georgia did.
And while we’re on the subject of Georgia recruiting, yours truly was asked to answer a few questions about it over at The ACC & SEC Blog. Feel free to critique.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but GTP’s second poll is all about the D-1 football postseason and which format you’d prefer to see. For the purpose of this exercise, don’t worry about the horsetrading it would take to get where you want to go. I simply want to see what everyone likes the best.
Here are some details on your choices:
Blutarsky’s eight-team, conference champs only playoff: reduce D-1 to eight ten-team power conferences, with some judicious rejiggering to balance out conference strength.
Eight-team, current conference champs only playoff: Troy would be in, Florida would be out. So would the polls and computers, though.
A: I’ve got an easier road to win a national championship than I do going to a playoff. Five years ago, people said the TCUs of the world, Boise and Utah would never play in a BCS game and be successful. Now we’re doing that. It’s only a matter of time before the other stuff’s going to happen. You’re going to find a team that’s going to get a chance to be there.
Q: How does that happen?
A: Keep winning. Start high in the polls, play good people. People are figuring out the Mountain West Conference is a tough league. We gained the respect, and that helps us with the respect down the road with the computer rankings. There’s only one way you can make a point and that’s not to whine about it, not to complain about it, just to go out there and prove it on the field. That’s what we try to do at our program. I think that’s why people around the country have taken TCU as one of their favorites this year because we tried to do it the right way. That’s what it’s all about, trying to do it the right way…
The man obviously doesn’t have a clue. Maybe Hatch and Barton can talk some sense into him.
Those of you who consider the Georgia program to be in the throws throes of a death spiral might do well to read this article to get some idea of how the program is received by observers of some of its poorer relations.
You might also reflect upon the data from these charts:
Perennial recruiting powers
The following schools were ranked in Rivals.com top 10 recruiting classes in the country the most times for the period 2000-2009:
School
No.
Florida State
8
Georgia
8
Southern Cal
8
Florida
7
Oklahoma
7
Texas
7
Miami
6
LSU
6
Tennessee
6
Alabama
5
Michigan
5
Perennial football powers
The following schools were ranked in the final Associated Press top 10 the most times for the period 2000-2009:
Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but is it possible that Corch Meyers is setting this whole leave of absence thing as a defense in case things don’t go well enough in Gator Land in 2010? I mean, when you read that Notre Dame assistant Corwin Brown is a possibility as Florida D-coordinator (and, please, please, please, hire that man), you can almost hear the excuses being formulated.
Or, more likely, the blame. I hope Coach Addazio has a very sharp sword to throw himself on should the time come, so at least the end will be brief.
… According to FSU, renewal of booster memberships is up 90 percent compared to early 2009, while monetary gifts have jumped 17 percent.
Florida State’s ticket office has reported an 80 percent increase in new sales and ticket renewals have skyrocketed. By this time last year, the ticket office had 423 renewals. This year, they have 2,327, a spike of 450 percent.
"I don't know even the faces of the guys yet, I'm still learning," (Scott) Lakatos said. "I'm watching them in the workouts and trying to figure out which one is which." (AB-H, 2/9/10)