The season is on the line.

If you think college football is a cynical business, then this is quintessential college football, 2020 edition.

Yep, you read that correctly:  the MVC is shutting down conference play for 2020, but if its member schools want to hit the road to pick up that sweet guarantee fee from a P5 foe, more power to ’em.

A one-game season for a paycheck.  It doesn’t get more academic experience than that.

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The suspense is killing me.

Stay tuned for further updates.

There has been some social media chatter that the process has been held up because Alabama and Florida complained about being scheduled to play each other, so that’s something to keep an eye on.

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UPDATE:  Here are the additional games.

SEC Schedule Release
• Added Opponents

Bama- UK, MIZ
A&M- UF, UT
LSU- MIZ, VU
AUB- UT, SC
Miss- UK, SC
MSST- UGA, VU
ARK- UF, UGA

UF- A&M, ARK
UGA- MSST, ARK
UT- A&M, AUB
UK- Bama, Miss
MIZ- Bama, LSU
SC- AUB, Miss
VU- LSU, MSST

— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) August 7, 2020

Looks like ‘Bama and Florida got their wish.

Today, in fun with stats

Here’s one to enjoy.

War Eagle!

“I’ve always said it’s the modernization of the scholarship.”

Look who’s changing his tune.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he supports requests by Pac-12 players for revenue sharing in college football, as long as it’s tied to graduation.

Swinney has long been a critic of paying college players, but he said Thursday that, among other issues raised by a number of players from both the Big Ten and Pac-12 in open letters demanding changes in college football, he would be in favor of a plan that would offer financial payouts to players upon graduation.

“I’ve always been in favor of giving guys a lump sum,” Swinney said. “I just want to tie it to graduation.”

Sure, Dabo.  And Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

If you’re wondering what’s caused his heart to open…

Swinney has been criticized for his outspoken stance against paying players outright; he once suggested he might move to the NFL if college players were paid. However, in recent years he has said that he would be open to payment for name, image and likeness rights, and he said Thursday that Clemson already has hired an outside firm that can help with marketing players should an NIL rule come to pass.

Recruiting is undefeated.

TFW the anecdotal doesn’t care about the statistical

Shot.

Chaser.

It’s a good thing Travis doesn’t have a sense of shame.  His business model can’t afford one.

Today, in #WeAreUnited

Welp, the players and Pac-12 leadership met and it went about as well as you might expect.

The players, who have threatened to boycott the season unless a series of demands are met, raised the issue of sharing 50 percent of the football revenue — the most controversial of their demands.

Representatives of the conference responded that such an arrangement was “not something the schools were supportive of” because it would create a “path to the student athletes becoming employees.”

Funny way of saying “we don’t wanna”.

No follow-up meeting was scheduled.

Larry’s still working the stall, but he wants the kids to know his heart is in the right place.

Meanwhile, in the mid-majors…

Football players from the Mountain West Conference on Thursday became the latest group to unite and publicize a list of conditions to ensure their health and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mountain West players followed similar groups from the Pac-12 and Big Ten in outlining their demands. They began posting a graphic Thursday night on Twitter with the hashtag #MWUnited.

The players praised their coaches for adjusting to the pandemic, but said they “do not feel comfortable playing teams from other states.”

“It is difficult to believe that hundreds of 17 to 22-year-old college students are capable of social-distancing effectively enough to travel state-to-state for 10 weeks,” the players’ statement reads.

A player told ESPN that #MWUnited includes more than 300 Mountain West players and came together through a group message in only one day.

Gosh, for some reason, lots of players are skeptical of that whole your-health-is-our-number-one-concern shtick.  I wonder why.

“Let’s give the fans what they want.”

Shot.

The Florida-Florida State rivalry might not be dead this year, after all. At least not if Gov. Ron DeSantis gets his wish.

During a news conference in Jacksonville about the importance of sports, DeSantis brought up the Gators-Seminoles rivalry twice and said he “may be working” on something to make the matchup happen.

“I just want to say that, as the governor, I would like to see a way for that game to happen,” DeSantis said. “I think this is a very fluid situation, but it’s an epic rivalry.”

“And I think the Gators’ prospects look good. I think they played LSU better than any team did (last year, when LSU won the national title)…”

Chaser.

One potential option would be if the two teams could meet in a bowl game. The Gator Bowl in Jacksonville would seem to be the most likely candidate, based on existing bowl-conference agreements.

‘Cause that’s where national title caliber teams always finish their seasons…

“How about I worry about my team and you worry about yours?”

Let’s get ready to rumble!

During a conference call among Big Ten coaches on Monday, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh reportedly interrupted Ohio State’s Ryan Day and accused the Buckeyes of breaking rules regarding on-field instruction.

Harbaugh asked Day about a photo that purportedly showed Buckeyes assistant Al Washington working with Ohio State’s linebackers. NCAA rules don’t permit on-field instruction until Friday.

“How about I worry about my team and you worry about yours?” Day told Harbaugh, according to Bucknuts.com.

During an Ohio State team meeting later Monday, according to Bucknuts, Day purportedly told his players that the Wolverines better hope for a mercy rule this season because his team was “going to hang 100 on them.”

Talk about your meteor pissing match.  The real enjoyment I take from that cat fight is knowing that somewhere out there Corch regrets not being in the mix.

Musical palate cleanser, middle of nowhere edition

One of the best closing credits songs I can think of, listen to Dwight Yoakam’s “Thousand Miles From Nowhere” play as Red Rock West comes to an end:

Pretty much a perfect match…