Calling Greg Sankey!

Hey, this is exciting news.

The Auburn men’s basketball team is set to play in the 2016 Cancun Challenge next season along with Purdue, Texas Tech and Utah State, Triple Crown Sports announced Wednesday.

The Tigers, Boilermakers, Red Raiders and Aggies make up the “Riviera Division” of the Cancun Challenge and will play in Mexico Nov. 22-23.

Mexico, eh?  I could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s on Auburn’s campus.  And if you haven’t guessed the punchline yet… yup, that falls smack dab in the middle of Auburn’s Thanksgiving break.

I await the SEC’s outrage and concern over this development.  Olé, Commissioner.

Advertisement

Go, Bert, go.

He may be a dick, but in this case, that’s probably a plus.

After early meetings & lift tomorrow with our players. Thinking about heading to watch an open practice tomorrow at IMG with the staff. #WPS

— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) March 2, 2016

Needless to say, you shouldn’t make promises you don’t intend to keep, but if he indeed shows up, that would be freaking awesome.

***********************************************************************

UPDATE:  Somebody wants to join the party.

Want to do lunch? #V4MSU https://t.co/5Us82hFySk

— Mark Dantonio (@DantonioMark) March 2, 2016

Cold beer here!

I’ll say it for the record:  beer sales in Sanford Stadium are a matter of when, not if.

Why am I so confident of that?  Because Greg McGarity just got cover from his mentor.

As the alcohol trend in college football continues to grow, Florida is the latest to jump on that revenue train.

In a press release Wednesday, the university announced that it will begin selling beer and wine at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium beginning with the 2016 football season.  The catch, though, is that the sale of alcohol will be limited to the premium seating areas of the stadium, specifically the Holloway Touchdown Terrace and Evans Champions Club. The O’Connell Center, the home of the basketball Gators, will also offer alcohol to its premium seat holders.

The school made sure to note in its release that the decision to allow alcohol inside its sports venues is exactly plowing new territory.

Beer and wine sales are commonplace on campuses across the country, including at softball and baseball NCAA Championships. At least 34 schools sell beer at football games, including at least 14 that limit the sale to luxury suites and/or club areas. UF football suite holders have been able to stock alcohol in their suites for several years.

Yeah, they’re keeping it from the hoi polloi at the start.  That won’t last, though, ’cause the great unwashed are where the money’s at.

In any event, stay thirsty, Dawgnation.  Beer is coming.

“I wanna find out who the best competitors are on this team.”

Hey, it’s March.

Preparing for #93KDay! #CommitToTheG pic.twitter.com/YOFdnMVJeH

— Coach Kirby Smart (@KirbySmartUGA) March 2, 2016

Musical palate cleanser, you wear it well edition

If there’s a song that instantly takes me back to my senior year in high school, it’s this one:

Nice hair, mate.

In my very humble opinion, “Madame Onassis got nothin’ on you” remains one of rock music’s greatest compliments ever.

I used to drive around all the time then with this song on the radio and remember arguing with a girl who hated the song because of what she referred to as Kenney Jones’ bashing.  I don’t think she appreciated my response of that being a feature, not a bug.

Anyway, I dare you to watch that clip without smiling.

“… and I’m really excited because Jim Chaney’s history against me as a defensive coordinator is he abused me with tight ends.”

Okay, after reading that, maybe it’s not the best choice of words, but you can see why Kirby Smart’s pumped about the group of tight ends he’s got to work with this season.  Of course, as Seth notes, there was the same kind of excitement about the position last season and we all watched how that turned out – a case of the flesh being willing, but the spirit was weak.

If there is a note of caution worth striking about last year’s experience, it’s that some of the lack of production there was dictated by needing the tight ends’ blocking to bolster an offensive line that struggled at times.  Given the state of flux on the o-line this season, Chaney might have to be forgiven for taking a similar tack, at least early on.

Having a great time in Florida. Wish you were here.

Somebody forgot to tell the Michigan players that Greg Sankey thinks they’re being exploited by their head coach’s selfishness.

“Not everybody on our team is going to take a spring break to get away,” Butt said after Michigan finished a four-hour practice Tuesday, just after sunset at the IMG Academy.

“We’re away. We’re down here in Florida. Beautiful territory. Sun shining. Not too hot. Nice breeze. Eating great food with our brothers. I don’t have anything negative to say about it.”

…

“When we’re not practicing, like yesterday, we were at the beach, eating fish tacos,” offensive lineman Mason Cole said.

It has been sunny and in the 70s so far in Bradenton and that’s the forecast for the rest of the week.

…

And with the beach, a spring training baseball game and bowling, there is plenty to keep the players entertained without breaking the budget.

“We’re doing a lot of stuff here,” Mason said, “which is fun.”

It’s also interesting to see that the NCAA is on the mother.

And for those suspicious of Michigan spending a week on a campus that is home to one of the best high school football teams in the country, maybe this will alleviate some of those fears: Two NCAA representatives are also in Bradenton this week, keeping tabs on the Wolverines.

“Michigan reached out to the NCAA national office for guidance in preparation for its spring practice,” the NCAA said in statement given to the AP.

“As discussed with the school, NCAA staff is present this week at IMG Academy to monitor and serve as a resource for the school.”

If Michigan finishes the week squeaky clean with the NCAA and suffers nothing worth complaining about other than a few sunburns, it sure is gonna be fun listening to the clucking from the SEC.

Sun Belt shrinkage

The NCAA’s decision to deregulate conference championship games puts the first wheel in motion.  But that wheel isn’t the Big 12 or the ACC.  It’s the Sun Belt Conference.

Idaho and New Mexico State will no longer be a part of the Sun Belt Conference after the 2017 football season, a source told FOX Sports on Tuesday morning.

The Vandals are 6-29 the past three years and 5-18 in their two seasons in the SBC. The Aggies are 7-29 the past three seasons and 5-19 in their two seasons in the Sun Belt.

The announcement is expected to be made official later Tuesday afternoon.

“We are disappointed by the Sun Belt’s decision,” Idaho president Chuck Staben said in a statement, confirming that the Vandals were voted out of the conference. “But we are optimistic about the options before us, and we are continuing to diligently consider our future affiliation as an opportunity to find the stability and full participation we have not experienced in the Sun Belt. We will make a decision in the coming months.”

Yeah, good luck with that, Chuck.  I’m sure you’ll find all sorts of D-1 conferences falling all over themselves to have you join.

It’s an entirely sensible move on the part of the Sun Belt.  Those two schools are outside of the conference’s geographic footprint and were added for the purpose of having twelve teams in order for the Sun Belt to have the option of its own championship game.  Remove that rationale and it’s hard to justify the expense of a sprawling group of schools.

The NCAA’s deregulation of conference championship games figured into the Sun Belt’s decision according to commissioner Karl Benson. The Sun Belt can now proceed with a league championship game — if it prefers — with 10 teams. Previously, leagues needed at least 12 teams split into two six-team divisions to stage such a game.

Benson said the earliest the league could add a championship game is ’17 but more likely would come in 2018. No decision has been made on venue. The Big 12 and Sun Belt remain the only FBS leagues not to have championship games.

“This will bring it to a head,” Benson said of the championship game decision.

It’s not only logical from the expense side.  Kicking out two teams means cutting the revenue pie into fewer slices.

Benson said a 2013 financial decision by the Group of Five schools drove the move. That year, the Group of Five conferences decided each of the leagues would receive up to $12 million in College Football Playoff distribution based on a maximum of $1 million per school.

That maximum was later changed to $10 million which made it easier for the Sun Belt to shrink its membership. With Idaho and New Mexico State, the Sun Belt has been ranked last among the Group of Five conferences in recent years, Benson said.

Is this likely to be the only such move by a mid-major conference?  Given the math involved, I suspect not.

Welcome to Tuscaloosa.

Nick Saban just added Mike Locksley to his support staff.  Or as he’s usually referred to, embattled Mike Locksley.

Obviously, Locksley’s not being brought on board because of any perceived coaching acumen.  It’s because he can recruit the Washington, DC area like a sumbitch.

It’s nice to have the resources to bring on a specialist like that.  Although it’ll be interesting to see how he and Pruitt hit it off, so to speak.

One thing’s for certain:  when it comes to assholes, Alabama’s got a deep bench.

This is what passes for frugality now.

As I mentioned before, Greg McGarity spent more than forty grand for a search firm to rubber stamp his choice of Kirby Smart to be his new head football coach.  Considering that Missouri paid about eighty five large to a search firm (h/t) to support its call to promote the defensive coordinator to head coach, you’d have to say that almost looks like a bargain.

Ass covering ain’t cheap these days, which makes this a good time to be an SEC athletic director.