Enjoy the morning’s offerings.
- Jerry Palm breaks down this year’s SEC schedules: “SEC teams are playing a whopping 78.5% of their non-conference games at home. No other league is even close to that. The Big Ten is second at 70.9%.”
- Georgia Tech defensive end Jabari Hunt-Days had his scholarship revoked after becoming academically ineligible. “Johnson said he won’t rescind a scholarship for performance-related reasons, but asserted that players still need to be held accountable on the academic end.”
- Hutson Mason on last season: “I thought I played better in the bowl game than I did against Tech.”
- A high school teammate of Mason’s is transferring in as a preferred walk-on at wide receiver.
- A cautionary tale? “Michigan athletics used to feel like something we shared. Now it’s something they hoard. Anything of value they put a price tag on. And what’s been permanently banished is any sense of generosity.”
- Here’s a statistical look at Tennessee’s 2014 opponents. Georgia ranks third, but it seems to me that Oklahoma’s ranked a little lower than it should be.
- Here are Phil Steele’s preseason All-ACC teams. I bring this up because he shows Clemson with no offensive players on the first three teams (and only two on the fourth team) and six on his defensive teams, including three first-teamers.
- Over at Rock M Nation, there’s a fun exercise ranking SEC football rivalries. You may be a little surprised to see which one comes out on top.
- When the 2014 season kicks off in late August, the Southeastern Conference will have four coaches who have been at their respective schools for at least 10 seasons.
Get The Picture 
Palm is basically right. However, had he checked the 2013 Out of Conference Schedules he would have seen that while the SEC played 80.3% of their OOC games at home, the B1G played 80.4%.
That being said, the SEC for the most part is guilty as charged. And of course we will hear that the SEC is so tough argument forever. But within the SEC, the West with the exception of LSU schedules pathetically. There may be some merit to the argument that Florida never leaves the state but at least the Gators play in Tally. During the BCS era Bama has played 4 true away out of conference games…FOUR (UCLA, OU, Duke and Penn State). Hell, Georgia played that many in 2003 and 2013 alone.
And now we get season ticket price increases just in time for Southern, UL Monroe and Georgia Southern. Can’t wait 😦
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Maybe Michigan could infuse some excitement with high-energy rap & Top 40 songs played loudly over their PA system… and by wearing all-black uniforms.
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As to the rivalries article, you had to know those 4 games would be the top ones. They form the backbone of SEC tradition.
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If you replaced “Michigan” with “Georgia”, the article would still be 99% accurate.
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True, I don’t see today’s students as alumni ever being patient enough or financially able to fight the fight that goes with live Saturdays of college football. Athletic administrators are like politicians, out of touch with real people but in touch with those who can pad their pockets.
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I would contend that a mere 7.6% difference between the SEC’s home non-conference games and the Big 10’s is VERY CLOSE indeed.
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Palm to forehead…
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“SEC teams are playing a whopping 78.5% of their non-conference games at home. No other league is even close to that. The Big Ten is second at 70.9%.”
What do you consider close then? 78.5 and 70.9 and very close where I come from.
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Schools don’t look at their alumni and students as their most loyal fans and supporters anymore. Now they’re the most loyal customers.
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The fact that there are 4 10 year coaches in the SEC is very surprising to me.
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Maybe money has a little to do with longevity.
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The rivalries article utilized a ranking by Mandel that hacked me off royally. He had the Dogs as second tier. In the first tier he had five teams (FL, FSU, Miami, LSU, and Penn St.) with fewer wins all time than us – all the teams except Texas and Oklahoma have fewer wins than us the past 17 years – only Alabama, USC, and Oklahoma have more bowl wins than us – we’ve won two national championships and had two Heisman winners – only LSU and USC have had more players drafted the last few years. I could go on and on. UGA is FIRST TIER!
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The Michigan story is really a college football story. The NFL has killed college football in area’s where they have a team. GT in Atlanta can only get the die hard alumni to show up now. Soon the colleges will end up killing themselves. Remember the 2008 season when the cumulative Hartman score needed was $10,000 to get new season tickets. Well that was the high water mark of UGA tickets. Since that season it has been, if you can pay the minimum annual Hartman Fund contribution and afford the tickets you’ve got them. The Michigan wait list of 30,000 to get tickets is gone, so is any wait list at UGA.
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Re: A high school teammate of Mason’s is transferring in as a preferred walk-on at wide receiver … Maybe we’re “loaded at receiver this year” (not necessarily my words), but I’ll take the addition, even if he’s a walk-on. Anyone know when the last time we had someone transfer in from a D1 school?
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