So he’s saying there’s a chance?

Dave Bartoo makes a list of long shot teams for conference titles and the playoffs.  You may have heard of his selection for the national title game.

National Title Game: Few are giving the Georgia Bulldogs (25-to-1 odds to win national title) much of a shot at a conference title, let alone a national title appearance. Of all the big underdogs to win it all, this team has the best profile to do it (I had Auburn on the list in 2010). Georgia is the only top 10 recruiter of this century to not make and win a national title. Are they due when no one expects it?

Stranger things have happened in the world of college football, I suppose.

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PAWWWLLL, he ain’t no Lane Kiffin.

Definitely in the “for what it’s worth” category…

Gary Danielson told us that the two toughest SEC coaches to replace in 2015 will be Mike Bobo & John Chavis

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) June 30, 2015

“Riding around with football agents”

This Laremy Tunsil fracas is getting weirder by the day.

By the way, as this post points out, it’s not necessarily a rules violation for Tunsil to meet with agents.  But you have to wonder what caused everyone to go medieval on each other if it was simply an innocent get together.

Georgia – Georgia Tech tickets are Chantastically priced.

That’s right, campers.  You can buy a three-pack including the Georgia game for a hundred bucks.  And considering you have a choice of tickets to the North Carolina, Pitt and Virginia Tech games which you can certainly resell on line to fill out the pack, you ought to be able to come out at the end with a Georgia ticket for a very reasonable price.

If they’re gonna play like Georgia is the home team, they might as well charge like it, too.

(h/t decatur dawg)

The new amateurism

Andy Schwarz catches this article with a hilarious quote from FSU Athletics Director Stan Wilcox about the COA stipend the school will start forking over to players… and perhaps more:

Wilcox noted the NCAA is appealing the ruling in the O’Bannon case, in which an additional $5,000 a year would be put into a trust fund for athletes after graduation.

“We hope they win that appeal because this (stipend) is as far as I think we ought to go — or it will change the paradigm (of college athletics) and get us into a pay-for-play situation,” Wilcox said.

Unless FSU plans on giving every student enrolled there an extra $4500-6000 a year, dude, you’re already in a pay-for-play situation.  You just don’t want to admit it.

CFN’s Georgia preview…

… could stand some better editing – there’s a reference to Jacob Park being in the mix for quarterback and some strange mention of LSU in the section about the schedule that’s a clear whiff – but it’s hard to argue with this:

Okay, so we know what Georgia is.

This is once again going to be another really, really good team that should flirt with a top ten ranking. There’s going to be a ton of NFL talent on both sides of the ball, there will be some moments when this looks like one of the best teams in college football, there will be talk of a Mark Richt hot seat despite all the success, and once again, Georgia is going to come up with a heartbreaking loss or two that keeps it from finally turning the corner.

Consistent winning seasons aren’t always enough for some programs – ask Nebraska – but coming up with three campaigns in the last four years with ten wins or more is impressive by any measure, especially in the SEC. This year’s Bulldog team might not have anything special compared to past Richt squads, but someday all the right breaks have to go this program’s way.

But the team has to make its own good fortune, too.

There was nothing that could’ve been done about the rash of injuries in 2013, but last year the Dawgs lost a shootout to a mediocre South Carolina team, and was inexplicably trampled over by Florida. They did what they needed to do against Arkansas, the destroyed Missouri in Columbia, and they destroyed Auburn. They were good enough, and they were certainly better than a Mizzou team that won its second straight East title. But that’s the way it is in the SEC world – being very, very good isn’t necessarily going to be good enough.

Or this:

But even though there’s enough in the bad to win the East, and even though the team should be just good enough to think about going go the playoff, it’s Georgia.

It’s going to win ten games, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch on both sides of the ball.

And then 2016 will supposedly be the year.

Lather, rinse, repeat, etc.

If you want to stop reading stuff like this about yourselves, there’s an obvious solution, Dawgs.

Greg Pyke, gettin’ the love

You saw his name on the conference SID SEC First Team list, now here’s an article at NFL.com about which guards and centers are already attracting the attention of pro scouts, with Pyke’s name at the top.  Details:

1. Greg Pyke, Georgia

Maybe it’s my background in an offensive line family, but watching tape of Pyke absolutely made my day! In fairness, I don’t live the most exciting life anymore, but when I see a guard mash his opponents with pure power, good footwork and timing on combination blocks — that makes me happy. Pyke uses quick, choppy steps to get himself in position and then plays with a strong base to lock defenders out. And he loves to scrap on every snap. I’m getting fired up just typing this. He bends at the waist too often and needs to play with a little better pad level, but he’s going to open plenty of holes for Nick Chubb this year.

A good example of that mashing can be found at about the 1:05 mark on this clip of Chubb’s game against Auburn.  It’s the play where Richt changed his mind and decided to go for it on fourth down – perhaps the key play of the game.

Pyke actually lined up outside his usual guard position there, but if you watch what he does on that play, he basically destroys everyone in his path.  Chubb lines up on his inside shoulder and just follows him into the end zone.

Should be plenty more of that to watch this season.

“I would not have built that stadium.”

This is sad.

The attendance at University of Akron home football games wasn’t just bad last year, it was the worst among all 125 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

The Zips, who play at 30,000-seat InfoCision Stadium, reported drawing a total of 55,019 fans for six games, according to data the NCAA recently released.

It was the lowest number reported by the university since 2005, when the team attracted 54,464 and played at the decrepit, off-campus Rubber Bowl.

It’s also expensive.  The stadium was built in 2009, at a cost of more than $60 million.  And that’s not the only expense the school suffers.

… With the university subsidizing the football operations by about $8 million, it’s not good that fans and their much-needed cash are staying away from games.

That has forced the university — already making annual debt payments of $4.3 million on the stadium — to dip deeper into its own pocket to drive up attendance artificially.

The NCAA requires universities to average 15,000 fans in actual or paid attendance over a rolling two-year period to remain in Division I. In 2013, the school bought 56,710 tickets valued at $10 each.

I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Then again, with fans like these…

“I don’t know what it is about Akron,” LaBate said. “If you live in Columbus, you kill to go to an Ohio State game. It’s the way you grow up. That culture doesn’t exist in Akron. I don’t know why.”

… there are probably a lot of things that seem like good ideas.  Maybe they need to think about adding WiFi.

(h/t)

Big ass screen

This is how much larger Auburn's new scoreboard is than before. pic.twitter.com/y3Frt8dJz0

— Justin King (@JustinKing) June 28, 2015

At least I’ll be able to see something from the crappy seat Auburn’ll sell me this year.

All in, Vegas style

Look at the money falling on Auburn!