Phil Steele on Georgia 2017: once burned, twice shy

22nd nationally, second in the SEC East.

“I actually picked Georgia second in the East this year,” Steele said. “I think they may be the preseason favorite to win the East when the SEC media votes, but I went with the Florida Gators No. 1 (in the East). I have the Gators No. 9.”

When it comes to the offensive line, I believe the technical term for this is “damning with faint praise”:

Steele feels that even though the Bulldogs’ offensive line has to replace three starters with a fourth switching positions from guard to center, the unit should show marked improvement in 2017.

“They underperformed my expectations last year,” Steele said. “I thought coming into last season, with 98 career starts coming back, they would have an outstanding offensive line. But they did not produce that way last year.

“They lose a couple guys off the line, but I am sort of looking at the fact that they almost have to be improved. They lose 120 career starts and only have 46 coming back. I have them rated my No. 48 offensive line in the country. That is not great – that is not one of my top 25 offensive lines, but I do think that they will have a little bit more potential. Generally, when you see an offensive line underperform like that one year, they come back the next year and play a little bit better.”

No where to go but up, bitchez!

We’re gonna need a bigger conference.

Whoa, baby.

That new Big Ten TV deal is working out. U-M projects a $51.1 million distribution for FY 2018 pic.twitter.com/zNYV0DL63W

— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) June 15, 2017

North of fifty million a year?  This aggression shall not stand, man.

Looks like Greg Sankey’s gonna need to follow in Slive’s footsteps and break a couple of broadcast deals again.

Making the possible impossible

Greg McGarity is frustrated about Georgia’s scheduling.  No, really.

“You just try to do the best you can,” he said on 680 AM The Fan. “You’re getting hit from all sides. You’re getting hit from fans. I know the coaches want to produce wins. You’ve got so many dynamics at work there. It’s just impossible to make everyone happy.”

Impossible?  Hardly.  A good place to start would be with a reset of the schedule with Auburn.

Start with the Auburn series. If the Tigers were visiting Sanford Stadium this year, it wouldn’t by itself make this year’s home schedule a great one. But it would help.

When Georgia agreed to the Auburn switch, it meant that every year it would have three prime opponents (Auburn, Tennessee and Georgia Tech) either all at home or all on the road. That means one year three stellar opponents at home. The next year? Maybe none.

There have been no indications that Georgia, Auburn and the SEC have discussed having the Tigers visit a second straight year to put the annual meeting back on schedule. UGA athletics director Greg McGarity has not responded to an email asking that question.

Maybe he’s too busy contemplating the next chapter of “The Final Word”.

I wanna rock ‘n roll all night, and hook ’em every day.

Kiss versus the University of Texas, another reason to love America.

Think of the reserve fund.

Greg McGarity emphatically does not approve of this message.

South Carolina athletics is undoubtedly a business as it expects to both bring in and spend more than $120 million in the 2017-18 fiscal year. Revenues are expected to increase but so are expense in the upcoming year, according to athletics director Ray Tanner, who gave his expected budget to the Board of Trustees on Friday.

South Carolina has expected revenues of $121,852,857 the upcoming fiscal year and are expected to spend $102,900,953 and transfer $18,254,306 back to the University. [Emphasis added.]

Not a penny retained?  Damn.  Makes you wonder if Georgia would pursue a uniform policy for all SEC athletic departments about profit retention.  Though I guess McGarity might settle for a state law…

Musical palate cleanser, “It’s all about the songs” edition

Steve Earle covering “Midnight Rider”… what else needs to be said?