‘I’m just going to go toe to toe with this fool and see what happens.’

The O’Bannon trial is over.  Now we wait for the judge’s ruling and the inevitable rounds of appeals, both to the courts and Congress.  Final word goes to the lead plaintiff:

To O’Bannon, his biggest surprise was that Wilken never threw out the plaintiffs’ claims all those years ago.

You know what, Ed?  I bet the NCAA feels the same way.

Saturday morning buffet

Hey, you get hungry on the weekends, too.

• ESPN will broadcast the top games of 2013 throughout July.  It looks like the SEC – and Georgia – will be well represented.
• This probably doesn’t help Jonathan Mincy’s chances with winning the 2014 Lott IMPACT Trophy.
• Indiana University announces that it will establish a “10-point student-athlete bill of rights.”
• Todd McShay, bringing the Dawg porn.
• Here’s a good breakdown of a player Georgia will see in the opener, Vic Beasley.
• “But now Auburn faces a dilemma”?  Pundit, please.  It’s a dilemma entirely of the school’s own making.
• Florida announces the formation of a Fan Advisory Council.  Be still, my heart.
• Paul Myerberg really thinks Tennessee, his #68 team, is going places.  Just not this year.
• David Hale notes that three ACC teams lost their leading passer, rusher, receiver and tackler this offseason, which is quite rare (only happened twice in the past six seasons).  The good news is that Georgia plays two of those teams.

Georgia keeps its scheduling powder dry.

Lots of understandable excitement about the just-announced Georgia-Notre Dame series.  The AJ-C has gotten some of the details in the contract the schools will sign and while I’m sure most will want to focus on things like buyouts and ticket allotments, here’s the part that struck me as the matter to be watched closely over the next few years:

However, there is a clause that would allow Notre Dame or Georgia to wiggle out of the game without penalty if either team is required by its respective conferences to play more league games. The Irish are currently obligated to play five ACC games a year under its new agreement with that association. The SEC recently decided to stick to eight conference games rather than nine for the foreseeable future.

Now, sure, that may be simply one of those “out of an abundance of caution” things lawyers do with contracts.  But that it’s there means it’s something on McGarity’s mind.  It’s pretty much a tell that the SEC isn’t totally sure how things will work out over the next few seasons with the new playoffs and with its television broadcast partners.  So you wind up hedging a few bets.

But it’s also a subtle way of sending a message:  see what’ll happen if you make us go to a nine-game conference schedule?  Of course, as the now-canceled Oregon series reminds us, it doesn’t have to take the threat of a nine-game schedule for Georgia to cancel.

Musical palate cleanser, you can find it all in the street edition

Bobby Womack, dead at 70.  “Across 110th Street” is one of my all-time R&B faves.

R.I.P., man.