Shot.
Chaser.
I hope all you “eight is the perfect number for the CFP” folks aren’t too crushed. After all, you get a bigger set of brackets to play with!
My take? We’ll be revisiting the move to twelve sooner than you think. Sixteen will be the new twelve.
Filed under BCS/Playoffs
Adam Rittenberg’s take on Georgia’s future standing ($$) may be the apex of its kind. A small taste:
There are no more excuses in Athens. Georgia has the roster, both now and in the immediate future, to return to the CFP. If the Bulldogs’ four-decade national-title drought doesn’t end in the next three years, their fans should be massively disappointed.
What really earns his piece a chef’s kiss is (1) Georgia is only fifth on his list and (2) should rank third, based on its performance on the unit lists for quarterback, offense and defense. Which is a really sneaky way of admitting that it’s more likely than not Georgia has to go through Alabama twice to win a natty, unlike the three teams ranked between those two programs. Kirbs, get on that right away, will ‘ya?
Filed under Georgia Football
Swear to Gawd, you can’t make this shit up.
Shoot, why would a cartel choosing an entity to regulate — okay, limit — how much college athletes could be paid by third parties have legal concerns? I mean, it’s not like that kind of thinking has stopped them before.
Unless they’re finally getting tired of paying all those legal bills…
Filed under The NCAA
Oh, lawdy. Have at it in the comments.
Filed under Name That Caption
Or, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard…
A look at the official roster on GeorgiaDogs.com shows that seven of the eight new additions now have jersey numbers. The two most high-profile additions, Clemson transfer cornerback Derion Kendrick and LSU transfer wide receiver Arik Gilbert are among those players.
Kendrick will don the No. 11 on the defensive side. Redshirt freshman wideout Arian Smith wears that number on offense. Gilbert will use the No. 14, the same number worn by true freshman safety David Daniel on the defensive side.
Junior defensive back Tykee Smith, a transfer from West Virginia, will keep the same number he has worn the past two seasons. He’ll don the No. 23, the same one worn by walk-on wideout Jaylen Johnson on offense. Smith was the first of UGA’s transfer additions earlier this spring.
Alabama transfer defensive back Brandon Turnage isn’t yet listed on the official roster. Sources confirmed to Dawgs247 last week that Turnage had made his way to Athens.
Why do I have this nagging feeling there’s more to come on the transfer front?
Filed under Georgia Football, Transfers Are For Coaches.
Damn, it seems like college football these days is consumed with crises. There’s state NIL legislation, of course, where we’re told chaos will envelop the sport at the end of the month if the feds don’t do something about it. Then there’s playoff expansion, where we’re told if something isn’t done to let mediocre Pac-12 champions have a chance to get blown out by Alabama, fans will abandon the sport in terrifying numbers.
Then, there’s the new transfer rules.
As I mentioned yesterday, it won’t happen soon because there are enough coaches out there who know Nick Saban would game that for maximum benefit, just like he does with everything.
But there’s another reason not to rush into anything. 2020 was the mother of all outliers. Because of COVID, the NCAA granted every player another year of eligibility. That’s left us with a number of… um, marginal players who are now playing with house money. If you’re someone who’s been given an extra year you were never expecting and you know that won’t get you much in the way of on-field time at your current school, why wouldn’t you take a chance on the transfer portal to see what might turn up?
So, while the numbers might seem staggering — an average of 12 scholarship players, remember — they aren’t likely to be sustainable. It’s not sensible to rush into dramatic change (not that that’s the NCAA’s strong suit, anyway) when it’s too early to tell how the new transfer rules are going to play out.
Besides, I’m kind of enjoying Tennessee’s predicament. 25 to the portal is staggering.
Filed under Transfers Are For Coaches.
Yes, Tony weighs in on one of college football’s most contentious topics du jour and the results are… well, what you’d expect.
To the idea of an eight or 12-team playoff, I write a sentence I thought I would never write:
Bring it on.
I’m sure it’s pure coincidence that’s what the people running the sport want.
Filed under Mr. Conventional Wisdom
Shot.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Power 5 issued a statement reading in part: “Only Congress can pass a national solution for student-athlete NIL rights. The patchwork of state laws that begins on July 1 will disadvantage student-athletes in some states and create an unworkable system for others. As leaders in college athletics, we support extending NIL rights in a way that supports the educational opportunities of all student-athletes, including collegians in Olympic sports who comprised 80% of Team USA at the Rio games. We continue to work with Congress to develop a solution for NIL and expand opportunities.”
Chaser.
Several congressional aides told ESPN last month that it was very unlikely that Congress will pass any type of college sports legislation before July. The debate appeared to be no closer to the finish line during Wednesday’s hearing.
Why is that? Because Emmert’s gonna Emmert and Congress is gonna Congress.
During the hearing, Emmert declined to reveal whether the organization would file injunctions against states to delay their implementation of NIL law, saying the organization has taken no position but it has been “widely discussed.” Emmert acknowledged that it would be “very challenging” for a school to file suit against its state.
Meanwhile, the NCAA is expected to pass its own legislation by the month’s end, Emmert says, after the Supreme Court rules in the Alston case. The NCAA’s legislation will differ from state laws and it could trigger a wave of litigation—two reasons that the organization is encouraging Congress to create a uniform standard.
That’s where the five-member Senate working group comes in. Cantwell, Booker, Blumenthal, Wicker and Blackburn are attempting to find a middle ground between two noteworthy and diametrically opposing college athlete bills already introduced in Congress: (1) Booker and Blumenthal’s College Athletes Bill of Rights, a somewhat radical and sweeping legislation that includes revenue sharing, long-term medical care, lifetime scholarships and unrestricted endorsements; and (2) Wicker’s narrow bill focused only on NIL and featuring NCAA protections and athlete restrictions.
A compromise bill would be more broad than Wicker’s but not quite as expansive as Booker and Blumenthal’s, all while providing athletes with enough freedoms to satisfy both sides.
So how close are the five lawmakers to agreeing on a proposal?
Now there’s a question.
The hearings on Capitol Hill related to this issue aren’t over. Cantwell suggested that there will be more and that the next hearing’s witness list will include current college athletes—a key group that’s been missing from these discussions.
To summarize, the NCAA is paralyzed until it finds out if the Supreme Court is going to give it an antitrust exemption and Congress isn’t anywhere near being able to reach a consensus by month’s end. Business as usual, in other words.
Filed under Political Wankery, The NCAA
TJ Callaway is always tickled when sees college athletes at the University of Georgia sporting Onward Reserve, a men’s apparel brand he launched 10 years ago.
A UGA alum and diehard Bulldogs fan, Callaway is now poised to connect with college athletes in a way he couldn’t have fathomed a decade ago: paying them to endorse his products. Onward Reserve will offer a handful of standout UGA athletes after midnight on July 1 — the date Georgia law says athletes can officially cash in on their name, image and likeness.
“This is a no-brainer,” Callaway told Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Small companies, like Onward Reserve, can now capitalize on the large followings of student athletes. Callaway will send opportunities next month to UGA athletes: track and field star Matthew Boling, quarterback Brock Vandagriff, placekicker Jack Podlesney, golfer Trent Phillips and baseball player Connor Tate.
Onward Reserve is slated to be the first Georgia-based business to sign college athletes to endorsement deals.
The deal was facilitated through Drew Butler’s company, Icon Source.
“It’s a very natural fit,” said Butler. “These student athletes shop in their stores and use their e-commerce website and speak authentically to what Onward Reserve represents.”
And, as to the question I’m sure you’re asking,
Callaway declined to divulge the value of potential contracts with UGA athletes. He did say they are “low cost.”
The Thomasville, Ga. native says social media analytics will help gauge his return on investment. He’s also considering whether to ask athletes for in-store appearances on gamedays. Maybe he’ll put them in seasonal Onward Reserve catalogs.
Who knew that appealing to preppie chic would be the beginning of the end of college football as we know it?
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UPDATE: The ABC may have jumped the gun a wee bit. Here’s more from Marc Weiszer.
Former Prince Avenue Christian quarterback Brock Vandagriff and former Oconee County High baseball player Connor Tate were among names the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported Wednesday the company is eyeing.
TJ Callaway, the founder and CEO of Onward Reserve, stressed to the Athens Banner-Herald that contracts have not been written yet but he did confirm interest in working with Vandagriff, Tate, star track sprinter Matthew Boling, kicker Jack Podlesny and first-team All-SEC golfer Trent Phillips.
“What’s actually going on is we’re preparing to present contracts to really a lot of different people including the ones that were mentioned but there’s a good many more,” said Callaway, a 2007 UGA graduate.“We can’t even have any conversations with those guys until July 1. We’re planning on putting contracts out for a proposal on July 1. There’s no certainty that we will work necessarily with them but we certainly have an interest in doing so should they be interested.”
Vandagriff’s dad has the money quote:
Greg Vandagriff likes that college athletes can take advantage of the new rules, but wants his son to approach it with “moderation. Nobody wants to pimp my ride so to speak, meaning you’re just going to sell out to the almighty dollar.” He said Brock likes hunting so “if there’s some hunting company that wants to give him a bunch of stuff I’m sure he’d be more than excited.”
Filed under Georgia Football, It's Just Bidness
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