“He is an elite back even if he’s a little overweight.”

Dang, I guess they’re serious about that losing weight thing.

These kids think they’ve got it so hard.

You gotta love this:

• Mike Gundy reminisces fondly about his offseasons as a college football player – “There were still offseason workouts, but mostly ‘we hung out at the pool.'”
• He then professes sympathy for what he asks out of his players today – “We didn’t have near the time commitment these guys have. They put in tremendous work,” Gundy said. “It’s a choice they make. They go out on their own in the summer, they put their time in. I think it’s a great teaching tool for them in life. You’re’ only going to get out what you put into something, and these guys learn about discipline, structure and accountability.”
• And wraps it all up with the belief that college football will demand from them an even greater time commitment in the future – “I think the stock market in college football is going through the roof,” he said. “Four teams is going to draw more interest, and eventually it will go to eight because of the benefits and revenue that comes from the market for college football.”

They’d probably rather learn about how Gundy was able to parlay hanging out at the pool over the summer into a $30 million dollar contract.  Now there’s a life lesson.

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The incredible shrinking buyout

Remember all the speculation over how much Grantham owed UGA when he left for Louisville?  Turns out the actual number was a whopping $3,750.

Take It All In, Georgia style

Based on this promo clip, the SEC Network knows what works if you’re a Georgia fan.

You can see all fourteen promos here.

Tuesday morning buffet

Eat; you look hungry.

• StingTalk is always good for a chuckle:  “We should be getting great press about how there were over 2000 people huddled under the eaves for an off season scrimmage in the middle of a 45 degree torrential downpour, which was the actual truth. That’s a positive trajectory for Tech sports.”  Bless your heart.
• It occurs to me that it won’t be that hard to figure out the fair market value for college football players’ memorabilia, if it ever comes to that.
• And here’s a handy guideline to all the major stuff currently on the NCAA’s plate.  Yeah, Mark Emmert can handle that.
• This is actually a pretty good idea.
• Mike Slive says nobody’s talked to him about lowering the mandatory number of varsity sports required to be a Division I program.  (Jim Delany punches his speed dial after reading that.)
• Atlanta wants to host college football’s national championship game in 2018.
• Good stuff from Jeremy Fowler – anybody tells you they know what the consequences of unionization will turn out to be is making it up right now.
• Michael Elkon wonders how the mix of special admissions for college athletes, increased athletic demands on those same kids and the “scholarship ought to be compensation enough” concept can be sustained.

“With the future of the conference schedule still up in the air, Slive said no rivalry was sacred.”

Any bets on how this puppy’s gonna turn out?

A year ago I would have sworn Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee would be preserved, come hell or high water.  Now, I’m thinking it’s eight games and ditch the rivalries.  That’s what most of the coaches and ADs want, but they’ll tell us it’s for the fans.

It’s the natural culmination of what Slive has wrought over the past five seasons.  And they can always revisit the ninth game if they need a better TV contract or the playoff selection committee screws over the conference.

At least there’s no players union, though.  I’d hate to see what I love about college football tossed aside.

Always. Be. ‘Cruitin’.

Spring practice is over, but it sounds like Jeremy Pruitt will manage to stay busy.

Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt played a large role in the commitments already on board for Georgia in the 2015 class. Pruitt said his recruiting area will be Northeast Georgia and the Florida Panhandle through Jacksonville. He will also see as many defensive recruits that he can.

Turfwise, he’s duking it out with the Carolina schools and FSU.  Should be fun to watch.

Damn it, Palcohol.

You just had to brag about yourself.

I’ve got your competitive fairness right here.

The SEC, bastion of competition:

Next time you think about parity in college football, think about this: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee – six of 14 SEC members – have won the last 37 league championships. Kentucky shared the 1976 championship with Georgia. Before that, you have to go back to 1963, when Ole Miss won and 200-pound linemen roamed the earth. Not to mention that none of the four SEC expansion teams (Arkansas and South Carolina, 1992; Missouri and Texas A&M, 2012) has won the league.

College football has never been about equality and fairness, Mr. Emmert.  If it were, Alabama would be sharing some of this with its less fortunate SEC brethren.