But his criteria…

Perhaps you remember this quote from Barry Alvarez I posted a couple of days ago.

But when our league is left out of the playoff for three years in a row, I’m not happy with that. I don’t think that we have followed the criteria set by the commissioners in naming those four teams.

Let ESPN, of all places, explain about the criteria to you, Barry.

Though Georgia — which also is bringing back a known quantity at QB in Jake Fromm — is a longer shot to reach the playoff than Michigan, Georgia has a better chance of actually winning the national championship. It makes sense: Most (including FPI) would agree that the Bulldogs are better than the Wolverines, but their path the top four is more complicated with Alabama and LSU in the same conference.

If the Big Ten can’t put a team in the semis this season, then, yeah, it’s time to give Alvarez what he wants, because it may never make a four-team playoff again.

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The cream rises to the top.

Shot.

SOURCE: #LSU will be looking for a new AD. I can confirm that Joe Alleva is expected to step down, as the Baton Rouge Business Report first reported.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) April 17, 2019

Chaser.

This will make Georgia's Greg McGarity (currently signed through June 2020) the SEC's second-longest serving A.D., after Mitch Barnhart at Kentucky. https://t.co/xipmHJNkVA

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) April 17, 2019

I wonder if he’ll hang on as long as Richt managed to.

Your 4.17.19 Playpen

I’m not a golf fan.  I don’t play.  I don’t watch it on television.  As a general sports fan, I follow it just enough to know most of the big names on tour, but that’s about it.

Except for the Masters.  Part of that’s because I’ve been in person a few times, of course.  Part of it’s the tradition.  And part of it’s because when there’s drama, it tends to be oversized.

When it comes to Tiger Woods, I’d characterize myself as more an admirer of his skills during his prime than a fan.  I didn’t choose to follow him around the course those times we were both in Augusta, but you look at what he accomplished there, starting at age 21, and it’s impossible not to be impressed.  That being said, I found him a little too corporately swallowed to ever allow myself to be emotionally invested in him.

Then came the fall from grace, mostly self-inflicted.  Then came the body that seemed to desert him.  Together that left the rest of the world besides his fan base to abandon all thought that he could regroup and play at an elite level.

That changed last year at East Lake, but I never thought Woods could do what he did last weekend.  The comeback story was emotionally charged, no doubt, but what really impressed me was how his play illustrated the tactical nature of tournament golf, especially in such a setting.  Watching him plug away, knowing where he could best pick up a stroke here or there (or, perhaps more importantly, considering what happened on the 12th hole Sunday, knowing where it was best to avoid losing a stroke), was a master class in how to play the game.

Really, just a remarkable feat for someone who literally willed himself back into relevancy.

What did y’all think of it?

TFW you want to believe it’s all about the coaching

Shorter Mark Bradley:  I thought Justin (“… for all his hype, hasn’t done a thing as a collegian…”) Fields would become Georgia’s starting quarterback in 2018, but I’m not so sure about him at Ohio State now.

More than a feeling

I’ve told you before that for me, this year’s Roquan premonition has fallen on Jermaine Johnson.  From Jake Rowe’s practice report from yesterday comes this:

– Lastly, the outside linebacker were working on dropping into coverage and defending crossing routes while we were out there. I watched each of them go through this drill and it wasn’t Adam Anderson or Nolan Smith, the two guys you’d expect, standing out. It was 6-foot-5, 250-pound Jermaine Johnson. He’s really fluid in space for a guy that big.

Sorry, I’ve got to go find a napkin now to wipe the drool off my chin.