This should end well.

“We are always mindful of the voices around college athletics,” Remy said. “and we strive to do the right thing.”

The NCAA has formally opened an investigation into how Michigan State handled Lawrence G. Nassar’s serial sexual assault of female athletes.  Why do I have the feeling this is more about Mark Emmert’s ego responding to the obvious comparison of this situation to his epic mishandling of Penn State in the Sandusky matter than about possible violations of organizational bylaws?  Speaking of which, why should anyone expect Emmert to do any better the second time around?

I ask none of this because I think the MSU administration is beyond reproach.  Quite the contrary.  But I fear we’re about to be reminded again how ill-equipped Mark Emmert is to dispense meaningful justice within the confines of established rules and procedures.  Not that he’s likely to care.

Establishing the 2018 parameters

It’s January.  The shape of this year’s recruiting classes hasn’t been finalized, let alone has the first snap of spring practice occurred, but a pundit’s work is never-ending.  If you’re looking for early hints on the Georgia narrative, the most optimistic one I’ve seen so far is that of CFN’s Pete Fiutak, who’s got the Dawgs going 11-1, 7-1 in the regular season and coasting to an easy divisional title (he predicts no other SEC East team will post a winning conference record).

On the flip side, SI.com’s Chris Johnson identifies Georgia as one of five teams likely to backslide in 2018.  Why?  Well, because Georgia:

Georgia is clearly trending upward under Kirby Smart, but unlike Alabama, it needs to string together multiple seasons like the one it had in 2017 before it can be trusted to reload and compete at the sport’s highest level no matter how extensive its personnel turnover.

We’ve already talked about roster turnover.  Yes, there’s a lot of leadership that just left town and Roquan Smith is a rare talent who will be next to impossible to replace.  But roster change is a fact of life in college football, not just at Georgia.  The complementary issue is how well a program continues to stock the talent pantry on the recruiting front and it would appear based on Smart’s three classes (or at least what’s been reeled in so far) that Georgia is in better shape to withstand its losses than most teams in the SEC.

There’s also the matter of a schedule that on its face appears friendlier than 2017’s was.

What’s your head/heart telling you about Georgia’s outlook for 2018?

They’re bad and they’re back.

With regard to the Florida players who were suspended last year for their collective foray into credit card fraud, do you really need to know more about their fates than this?

“All of our players understand the standards and expectations we have of them to be members of the Florida football program,” Mullen said.

Hey, who would know more about those standards and expectations than the guy who was once Corch’s right hand man in Gainesville?

If you’re not already amused by the news, here’s an added chuckle-worthy note:

A source told ESPN that the four players will go through workouts, spring practice, summer workouts and fall camp, but there is no promise that they will play in the first game of next season.

Uh hunh.  Right.  Florida opens against Charleston Southern.  Easy virtue.  Let’s see how many of those four play the next week, against Kentucky.

Musical palate cleanser, horn-y edition

With the news of the passing of Hugh Masekela, the South African trumpeter, I have to post my first experience hearing his work, the immortal Byrds hit, “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star”.

There’s a lot of brilliant musicianship packed into that two minutes and thirteen seconds… McGuinn’s guitar work, Hillman’s bass line and, of course, that sinuous trumpet.  Great, great song.

When you’re hot…

What is it with preseason Heisman hype and quarterbacks from the state of Alabama?

Heisman odds via @BovadaLV:

Bryce Love 7/1
Johnathan Taylor 8/1
Khalil Tate 9/1
Tua Tagovailoa 10/1
J.K. Dobbins, Jake Fromm, Jarrett Stidham & Will Grier 12/1
Justin Herbert & Kelly Bryant 15/1
Trace McSorley & McKenzie Milton 18/1
Cam Akers & Jake Browning 22/1

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 23, 2018

Tagovailoa has never started a game in his college career — nor has he been named as the 2018 Alabama starter — and he’s fourth on the odds list.  Jesus.  We can’t blame this one on Gus, either.

“He’s a first-round talent, so that’s on him.”

If Carlton Davis had only known Auburn was playing in a national title game, he would have suited up for the Peach Bowl.

Y’all go on without me.

One of the fantastic things about this past season for me was checking off not one, but two, cherished bucket list items, the trips to Notre Dame and the Rose Bowl.

In that light, I just want to make clear that if this one comes up for Georgia, I’ll take a pass.

” EEEEE EEEEEEEE “

In honor of Jordan Peele garnering an Oscar nomination for Get Out, I thought I’d share something topical from “Key & Peele” that’s always made me laugh my ass off.

Saying the quiet parts, right out loud

Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Vrabel, new head coach of the Tennessee Titans:

“The NFL has the greatest farm system in the world. We pay our farm-system coaches $10 million to develop players,” Vrabel said. “[Alabama coach] Nick Saban is our farm system. [Ohio State coach] Urban Meyer is our farm system.”

The sentiment is no surprise, at least it shouldn’t be to any sentient being who follows college football, but WTF is with that “we”?  Are Saban’s and Meyer’s salaries being underwritten by the NFL and nobody told us about it?

“It’s hard to be confident when you’re getting your butt kicked.”

One of the less pleasing aspects of the Process is the “speak with one voice” approach that hides the assistant coaches from the public except for the rare times when their presence is mandated by higher ups.  That’s a shame, because it’s always nice to get a little insight from the assistants about what’s worked and what hasn’t.

Take Sam Pittman’s appraisal of Isaiah Wynn’s two years under his tutelage.

“Isaiah Wynn meant everything to our offensive line,” Pittman said. “If you look at him last year to this year, it’s night and day. He gained 20 pounds, and he gained way more than that in confidence. He may only be 6-2, but he’s good football player — make that a really good football player. He wasn’t as a junior, and very rarely do you see a player who wasn’t great as a junior turn into a wonderful player as a senior.

“That usually doesn’t happen, but he got stronger and bought into the techniques. Once he got confident, he poured over everybody else.”

Pittman’s made Wynn a lot of money this season.  I’ve seen NFL mock drafts projecting him all the way into the late first round, which is something nobody would have expected after the 2016 season.  Yeah, Wynn will be seriously missed this season, but I’m looking forward to seeing what Pittman can do to polish Andrew Thomas’ game in 2018.