You know that whole thing about sports being an escape?

You can run, but you can’t hide, college football fans.

ESPN will kick off an effort to allow more political ads on college and NFL football programs in October and November, according to a report…

… Thus, in the crucial two months before the November election, viewers can expect their shotgun formations and weak-side blitzes to be occasionally peppered with pitches for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, among other candidates.

Be still, my heart.  Stay close, my clicker mute button.

Hey, you think anybody will use Craig James as a spokesman?

(h/t Awful Announcing)

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Waiting for that nine-game conference schedule

I share John Pennington’s position on the SEC’s conference scheduling – nine games makes way too much sense on too many levels to dismiss – but I’m not sure I share his confidence at this point that the folks running the show will eventually see the light on that.

The two big motivating factors would seem to be creating more broadcasting product to peddle and dealing with the postseason perspective of being the only power conference not engaged in a nine-game conference schedule.  As to the former, the SEC doesn’t seem too concerned at this point, as it’s sticking to its eight-game guns even as it negotiates new deals with ESPN and CBS.  If the latter backs down and throws more money in the pot, there’s even less to worry about.

As for the strength of schedule issue, that’s a matter for the selection committee and we don’t know how that will shape up.  The composition of the membership and the… um… flexibility the members are given to create the playoff pool will tell the tale there.  And you can bet your bottom dollar that Slive will roll up his sleeves and work those rules to favor his conference as much as possible.

I just don’t see much pressure to move on this issue right now.  Slive’s been on a roll with the remaking of his conference and the postseason.  It’s hard to see where he’s lost a significant battle so far.  If he and his presidents are arrogant about the course of things, it’s understandable.  Singleton’s talk strikes me as little more than keeping options open, options that aren’t really needed now.

If you’re looking for a tell that things have really changed, keep an eye on out of conference cupcake scheduling.  The McGaritys of the conference didn’t want to shell out cancellation fees for ditching those games to accommodate a larger conference schedule immediately, but if you see less of those matchups being arranged down the road, that may be a clear indication that the SEC is really hedging its bets.

High expectations, in one sentence

After reviewing Georgia’s 2012 schedule,

Georgia – with a loaded defense that will be as good as any in the SEC and a tremendous quarterback in Aaron Murray who’ll make up for most issues on offense – is better than Buffalo. It’s better than Missouri. It’s better than Florida Atlantic, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. It’s better than Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Auburn and Georgia Tech. It’s probably not better than South Carolina and probably won’t win in Columbia, but considering the Gamecocks have to go to LSU and Florida and have to play Arkansas, an 11-1 Georgia will almost certainly get back to the SEC championship game…

CFN‘s Pete Fiutak delivers the punchline.

Unfortunately, at this point going 11-1 and playing for the SEC title still wouldn’t be enough for a program that’s way overdue to go 13-1 and win the national title.

That’s a pretty good distillation of how many people feel about Mark Richt’s program these days.

Tuesday morning buffet

Today’s buffet tries to show more staying power than Vince Dooley thinks Isaiah Crowell had.

• One thing about Missouri’s defensive line to keep in the back of your head:  “The average weight of the projected starters heading into fall camp is 262 pounds.”
• Mark Emmert’s no amateur, that’s for sure.
• Michael Elkon wonders why ESPN can’t take the same approach to broadcasting college football as it does with Euro soccer.  He’s got a point – it’s a long way down from Ian Darke to Jesse Palmer – but it could be worse.  Just ask Fox Sports.
• Karl Benson is one wild and crazy commissioner.
• cocknfire presents a well-reasoned argument on why a four-team playoff is just the right size and all I could think of as I read it was this.
• Welcome back, Brandon Burrows.
• And The Valley Shook posts an instruction manual for our new SEC brethren.  My favorite bit of advice:  “DO develop a hatred of the color orange. A&M already has a leg up in this area, so to help Mizzou out, we are sending 20,000 Tennessee fans to your campus. You’re welcome.”
• Evidently Georgia’s backup quarterbacks can kick every other SEC program’s backup quarterbacks’ asses.  ESPN’s bloggers rank Aaron Murray as the second-best quarterback in the conference, but have Georgia’s quarterback group as tops in the SEC.
• Patrick Garbin offers us 20+ minutes of Munson’s classic broadcast of the ’75 Cocktail Party.

Notre Dame, the bowls just can’t quit you, baby.

Here’s more of what settling things on the field is going to look like, post-BCS style:

Notre Dame officially confirmed discussions with the ACC about entry into the league’s anchor bowl game in the new college football postseason landscape, which is perhaps a slight departure from athletic director Jack Swarbrick’s initial vision of flexibility in bowl destinations.

“Since the development of the new plan for post-season football, the ACC and Notre Dame have had discussions relating to the Orange Bowl,” spokesman John Heisler said Monday. “While presidents have been consulted, the discussions have been between ACC conference staff and Jack.”

You should see this as the ACC’s version of the Champions Bowl alliance.  As such, it’s a brilliant move.  It makes the Orange Bowl relevant from a marketing standpoint – and don’t forget, the ACC controls that now.  It also forges a tie with the school that every conference wants.

That the game itself will often match little more than a couple of better than average teams, at least based on recent history, pales in comparison.  People will watch.  And that’s the kind of performance that’s the coin of the realm these days.