Living up to it

It’s no great surprise that the media’s preseason predictions at SEC Media Days aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.  As Barrett Sallee observes, the media has predicted the eventual SEC champion just seven times in the 27 years since the divisional split in 1992.

Sallee goes on to break down the predictions versus results by team for the seven seasons since the last round of expansion.  Alabama’s pretty much spot on, because Alabama.  I’m amused to see the same people who loudly proclaim what a great coach Dan Mullen is have consistently underrated the chances of his Mississippi State teams.

As far as Georgia goes,

(-4) Georgia has matched its hype five times over the last seven seasons. The two misses were in 2013 and 2015, when they finished third after being picked to win the SEC East. All three of Kirby Smart’s teams have matched their prediction.

He labels Georgia over-hyped, but that’s a little unfair.  If the media had known in advance about the rash of injuries that hit the team in 2013, the Dawgs wouldn’t have been the preseason divisional favorites.  That leaves one season out of seven in which Georgia under-performed the media’s expectations.

I expect after this one, it’ll be one season in eight.

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1,504,512 cherries

Just in case you were wondering, Forbes has compiled a list of the top twenty schools with the biggest athletic food budgets.

1. University of Arkansas: $3.5 million
2. Ohio State University: $3.1 million
3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: $2.8 million
4. University of Iowa: $2.8 million
5. Texas A&M University, College Station: $2.7 million
6. University of Texas, Austin: $2.6 million
7. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities: $2.5 million
8. University of Kansas: $2.2 million
9. University of Tennessee, Knoxville: $1.9 million
10. University of Washington, Seattle: $1.9 million
11. University of Georgia: $1.7 million
12. University of Oklahoma, Norman: $1.7 million
13. University of Maryland, College Park: $1.7 million
14. Auburn University: $1.5 million
15. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: $1.5 million
16. Pennsylvania State University: $1.4 million
17. Virginia Tech: $1.4 million
18. University of Louisville: $1.4 million
19. University of Oregon: $1.3 million
20. Indiana University, Bloomington: $1.3 million

I have to say I’m a little surprised by the relatively low showing from SEC schools there.  Although that Arkansas budget — I can only wonder what Willie Williams might think.

Your Daily Gator got into the Kool-Aid again.

Geez, this isn’t even a message board post; it’s from one of the Swamp247 dudes.  And it’s spectacular.

“I look at the macro sense of where Florida’s at as a program, where Georgia’s at as a program and I say that 2019 is the year Florida has to capitalize,” I said on the podcast. “I don’t think there’s any way around it.

“I think Florida right now, Florida’s success with Dan Mullen is going to be viewed through a Georgia lens. When Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain were coaching at Florida, even when Will Muschamp had his 11-win regular season, Florida State was clearly building. And then the very next year they go and they win a national title. So despite the fact that (Florida) had success, they were viewed in this lens where you’re also looking at one of your biggest rivals and clearly they’re outdoing you.

“I think in the same way this year, even if Florida has a great year, if Georgia goes and finally breaks through, it’s going to leave Florida fans a little bit disappointed. Florida’s got to beat Georgia eventually. I don’t even know if that has to happen head-to-head. But I think this year is the year where you have to see Florida really, really kind of put their stamp down and say, ‘We’re not going anywhere.'”

If you think about it, ‘We’re not going anywhere’ makes for a great double entendre.