“Two words — Donald Trump.”

According to Dennis Dodd, Tommy Tuberville is thinking about running for governor of Alabama.

PAWWWLLL!!!

Maybe he could urge passage of a law requiring the state to recognize Auburn’s 2004 national championship.

“Someone’s going down at some point.”

If Nicholls could produce a nail biter last year in Athens, just imagine what Appalachian State might be capable of doing.

You can go home again.

At least if you aspire to being a P5 athletic director, according to Andrea Adelson.  What’s the key attraction from the school’s perspective?  C’mon, dog.

But in these specific cases, it’s completely understandable why so many of these programs opted for somebody with long-standing ties. Especially since an athletic director’s job increasingly relies on fundraising and tapping into the community and alums for more and more support.

It has worked for Miami. James got his very first job working in ticket sales at Miami. Before he was elevated to athletic director, Miami went through two athletic directors over a four-year span. Now, the Hurricanes have much-needed stability at the top.

In the end, that’s what any athletic department wants. Someone familiar with the fabric of a university’s culture may be better suited for the job.

Shakin’ the money loose.  It’s Job One.

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Are Sanford Stadium improvements a zero-sum game?

Bulldog Illustrated asks the musical questions,

It all depends on one’s perspective. On the one hand, there is indeed an issue with long lines at the facilities on game day at Sanford on the north side, and by half-time or the end of the game, the conditions in the restrooms are not the most pleasant. So fans do have a point here. Then on the other hand, the football team has been in need of new locker rooms for a while now and that along with having an area to host recruiting prospects on game day at the stadium will help the football program in the recruiting war. Infusing more talent into the football team’s roster and the ability to keep recruiting at a high level to keep the rosters stocked with talent is part of the recipe for a championship program.

And it’s not like fans are not happy to hear about and see the renovations, but the question is why cannot both needs be addressed? We would like to hear your thoughts and opinions. Are you happy with the proposed renovations? Would you rather the north side facilities be addressed first?

Why, indeed, can’t both needs be addressed at the same time?  It’s certainly not a matter of resources.  The athletic department is awash in money and donors have repeatedly stepped up to the plate to provide additional funds for major capital projects like the JPMIPF™.  You would also think there would be certain efficiencies to be gained by having a general contractor work on both projects together, rather than at separate times.

Is it a matter of not feeling confident about walking and chewing gum at the same time, that B-M can only focus on one stadium job at a time?  (Given that this is the same bunch who couldn’t keep track of a condom provision in a rapper’s contract, don’t be so quick to dismiss the possibility.)  Does McGarity think there’s a financial advantage in spreading the work out, that maybe donors will contribute more generously if the requests for contributions are spaced in time?  That’s certainly an issue to which he can bring laser-like focus.

Or is there really no choice at all here, and the notion of upgrading the facilities on the north side of the stadium merely a pipe dream of the fan base as opposed to an item on the B-M to-do list?  I know what Occam’s Razor suggests.

He’s not saying that’s the case. He’s just saying.

Tennessee sports writer hears “rumors” about one of the candidates for the open UT AD gig and decides to disseminate them in an column.

Anytime I asked someone, “What’s wrong with Blackburn?” I got rave reviews on what a great hire he would be. But I also heard rumors.

“I heard he has a drinking problem,” someone who doesn’t know Blackburn told me.

“I think he has health issues,” someone else who didn’t know Blackburn told me.

Then, someone who does know Blackburn said, “I think he has diabetes.”

“Some people think he’s too nice a guy to make tough decisions,” said someone else.

Gosh, I wonder who would try to start a whisper campaign like that.  It’s not like Phil Fulmer would stoop to that kind of thing to win a job, is it?

SEC officiating — NEW! IMPROVED!

Steve Shaw takes a victory lap.

The SEC improved officiating accuracy by nearly 8 percent in 2016 thanks to having more eyes on the replays, SEC officiating coordinator Steve Shaw told CBS Sports.

Eight per cent!  That’s awesome.  And just how did Shaw come up with the math for that?

Last season was the first in which the NCAA let conferences use people other than the stadium replay official to assist on reviews. The SEC had three replay officials at a command center in Birmingham, Alabama, to help the stadium replay official for all reviews. Shaw said he determined that collaboration helped 18 of the 226 reviews produce a correct outcome. The SEC declined to specify Shaw’s methodology for how he evaluated that a correct outcome was due to collaboration.

Greg Sankey could tell you, but then he’d have to kill you.

Mockery aside, if collaboration is really that great from an accuracy standpoint, shouldn’t somebody be insisting on a nationwide application?  I mean, who could be against getting more calls correct?

The Pac-12 experimented with a command center in 2016 to monitor replays only for Oregon and California conference games. No decision has been made yet on whether the Pac-12 will use collaborative replay full-time in 2017, league officiating coordinator David Coleman said.

“It was a good experience for us,” Coleman said. “It gave us an opportunity to advise and consult and make sure our replay staff in those two locations was considering everything they needed to get a call right. We see the possibility of it growing in the future. Obviously, there are costs involved. That has to be considered.”

Yeah, we all know that times are tight in P5 conferences.

There are other reasons why centralizing reviews makes sense:  consistency and a reduction in bias, as the Big Ten’s officiating coordinator explains.

But Carollo expressed concerns that command centers located in conference offices create conflicts of interest.

“I don’t like the structure of a collaborative center down the hallway from the commissioner because the conference may have something to gain if a certain team wins or loses – money-wise, playoff-wise, bowl-wise,” Carollo said. “Of course the conference wants certain teams to win. Conferences don’t make calls, but there is some pressure. That’s why we separate our officials away from the conference office. I want neutrality. That’s what the coaches want.”

“Of course the conference wants certain teams to win.”?  I bet that gets a memo from Jim Delany.  Carollo may be the most honest person in college football.  A somewhat low bar, I know.  But he’s right, and the best way to remove that pressure is to take reviewing out of the hands of conference officials entirely.  It would also save money.  Man, you’d think that’s about as win-win as things get for CFB.