R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Two inevitabilities from the end of last season didn’t take long to surface:

• The Mountain West wants a guaranteed slot in the BCS.
• The Urban Meyer renegotiated contract watch has begun.

My sympathies lie with the Mountain West, but, honestly, one great year doth not a great conference make.  However, if the conference kicks the Pac-10’s butt for another year or two, and the Big East keeps sending the likes of Cincinnati to the Orange Bowl, who knows?

Doubtless Meyer will get his money.  And he does deserve to be better paid than the Hat of Baton Rouge.

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Monday morning buffet

Get your juices flowing this morning with these tidbits:

• Is there a new trend on how to fill graduate assistant slots?  If so, it seems like Notre Dame’s model is a lot more admirable than Tennessee’s.
• Matt Melton takes a statistical look back at the last four years in the ACC.
• I’ve gotta admit it would be pretty cool to see a wide receiver catching a TD pass in front of the ivy.
• This is one of those posts on a subject that I never really thought much about – how scholarships and stipends work – that wound up piquing my interest.  Good stuff.
• On the other hand, here’s a post from David Hale that I was sure would be of interest to me.  And it was, in spades.   If you’re a Georgia fan who’s not reading his blog regularly, shame on you.

Spend it if you’ve got it.

If you’re trying to figure out where this new SEC arms race of escalating assistant coaches’ salaries is headed, here’s a clue:

… SEC officials have told league athletic directors, for budgeting purposes, to expect an additional $9 million or more a year to come from conference revenue sharing. The hike is going to come from the league’s recently renegotiated TV deals with ESPN and CBS.

Mr. College Football opined before the 2008 season that the new TV deal would lead to a recruiting bonanza for SEC teams. (Although schools are still limited to 85 total scholarships.)

This from GoVols.com:

The increased salaries for assistant coaches will be offset somewhat by an anticipated increase in funds distributed by the SEC in 2010, the first year of a new blockbuster television deal with CBS and ESPN.

Last year, UT received about $10.6 million in shared revenue from the conference. (UT Athletic Director Mike) Hamilton declined to provide an estimated amount UT would receive in 2010, but said it was important to reinvest in football, which is responsible for roughly 85 percent of UT’s $87 million athletic budget.

So by that measure, each school’s cut of conference revenue will almost double with the new TV money.  You do the math.