This is pretty good.
He’s got a point there.
Filed under Arkansas Is Kind Of A Big Deal
My apologies for forgetting and leaving this feature on the back burner until this morning. Anyway, here it is for this week and Vanderbilt. Lay out your needs in the comments.
Also, while we’re talking about buying game related items, I have a personal request. For some reason, my group is finding it much harder than usual to buy parking passes for the Cocktail Party. Does anyone know if there’s a general problem and what that might be, along with some suggestions about where to find some passes? TIA.
Filed under GTP Stuff
Hey, remember the good ol’ days when the NCAA predicted an apocalypse was imminent?
The NCAA, in the groundbreaking O’Bannon v. NCAA case, opposed the granting of NIL rights because it was “necessary to preserve the amateur tradition and identity of college sports.” Its chief legal counsel, Donald Remy, declared it a “scheme” that “threatens college sports as we know it.”
NCAA president Mark Emmert testified during the trial that NIL would “be tantamount to converting [college sports] into minor league sports and we know that in the U.S. minor league sports aren’t very successful either for fan support or for the fan experience.”
In the separate NCAA v. Alston case, attorney Seth Waxman argued to the Supreme Court that “the cost of labor” was a “differentiating feature” for college sports. Without it, he said, interest would decrease.
Waxman even cited an NCAA-funded study that “tested people’s reaction to giving [athletes] … a $10,000 academic award [which concluded that] something like 10% of the respondents said they would be less interested and would watch less if that’s the case.”
How’s that working out so far?
Last Saturday, some 90,887 fans packed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to watch the Florida Gators play the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was the fifth-largest home crowd in UF history.
Across the country, 7.9 million tuned into the CBS broadcast, which is 10% higher than the 2019 average of 7.1 million for the network, which itself was the highest in nearly three decades.
That’s one game, of course, but just hours later 109,958 people saw Penn State defeat Auburn in person while 7.6 million watched on ABC. A week prior, Oregon-Ohio State put up 100,482 and 7.73 million, respectively. The week before that Clemson-Georgia delivered 8.8 million television viewers and Notre Dame-Florida State got 7.6 million…
ABC said its daylong Week 3 programming was the most watched for that week since 2016. Across all networks, it took 11 weeks during the 2019 season to produce three broadcasts with at least 7.5 million viewers. This season has already delivered five such games, plus six more with audiences of 4-plus million.
No doubt this is all about to come to a crashing halt once it really sinks in with the viewing public that these games are being played by college athletes who are getting paid for their social media presence. Ah, if only we could return to simpler times when nobody but college administrators were allowed to cash in, all in the name of doing it for the kids.
Filed under The NCAA
Kirby throws cold water at yesterday’s presser:
On Broderick Jones potentially moving in at left tackle and when that might happen…
“He’s played, right? I know he played the last two games. He played in the rotation No. 1. I think it helps Jamaree’s conditioning. No 2, he’s a good football player and he’s earned the right to play based on how he’s practiced in spring ball and through camp. We’re not ready to say he’s a starter right now. He still has some mental hiccups and mental busts. He’ll be the first to tell you. He went in during the UAB game and Stetson threw a touchdown pass and he completely botched it, didn’t even block a guy. Stetson got the ball off before the guy could get there. He blocked the wrong guy on Kendall Milton’s fumble. The guy was unblocked. Didn’t block his guy. He’s got to clean those things up and get better. One thing I like about Broderick is he’s always trying to get better. He’ll come ask you what can I do better? What can I do here, what can I do there? He’s competing. We’re going to put the best five out there. It’s also Jamaree we feel like right now is playing better at tackle than he has at guard. It’s a lot more to it than what everybody thinks. I think everybody thinks you just plug and play, but we’re trying to get the best combination of guys out there. That’s the work in progress.”
I can’t speak for whom Kirby thinks he’s directing those comments to, but I’ll say there’s more to this than just who plays left tackle. In other words, even if Jones is not yet up to Salyer’s level at the position, does the reshuffling make the o-line as a whole better, because of which player comes out? And if Vanderbilt isn’t a good opportunity to make that kind of evaluation, what game coming up is?
Filed under Georgia Football
A reminder that the SEC doesn’t really care if the CFP expands:
“If [the 12-team model] is rejected, we’ll have to think about process and if there’s a need for a new format,” Sankey says. “But keep in mind, we can keep the four best teams. As I’ve said repeatedly, consistently, vocally, four has worked just as it was intended, it is working and it can continue to work.”
Now, maybe he’s drawing on his inner Jim Delany and seeing how far he can push a bluff. If that’s the case, it looks like he’s about to be tested, according to Dennis Dodd.
College Football Playoff expansion may not only be delayed as expected, but the CFP Board of Managers — those necessary to vote on adopting a 12-team playoff — may be asked to not even fly to Chicago for the previously scheduled meeting on Sept. 28, sources tell CBS Sports.
The differences are so vast among stakeholders at this point that the possibility of getting a unanimous vote from the board — consisting of university presidents and chancellors — next Tuesday seems like a longshot, sources tell CBS Sports. It’s gotten to the point where even holding the meeting at all may prove a worthless endeavor.
Be still, my heart. I can’t believe some of these idiots are willing to tank an arrangement that clearly benefits the Pac-12, Notre Dame and the G5, but I certainly won’t stand in anybody’s way if they want to do so.
Hell, I may have to take back every bad thing I’ve ever said about Greg Sankey if the other girls stay mad enough at him to leave the playoffs at four teams.
Filed under BCS/Playoffs
Lest we forget there were two great SEC moral victories this past weekend, please enjoy this masterpiece of rationalization. It’s truly epic.
My favorite part:
Officiating was stupid and bad both ways, but in crunch time it was stupid and bad towards Auburn. That’s a fact. It’s always a bad pass interference call or non-call that matters late, and Auburn got two in the final three minutes. So, again, it always “evens out” — even though it doesn’t — but Auburn’s half came at the worst time.
If you want to talk about Penn State being shorted a down in the 1st half, sure, they were. But it would’ve been 3rd-and-11 on a drive that the Auburn defense had locked down, so it’s very likely that they would’ve been punting the next play anyway.
The down count screw up immediately followed the worst intentional grounding call I’ve ever seen, but, sure, man, it was Auburn the SEC refs screwed. I guess I lack the requisite brain power to appreciate their work.
Filed under Auburn's Cast of Thousands
While we’re on the subject of playing Alabama, close or otherwise, here’s a take on Georgia’s chances against the Tide this season.
Georgia
When they play: Not scheduled; could meet in SEC Championship on Dec. 4 or CFP
Why Georgia can win: As South Carolina coach Shane Beamer put it Saturday, Georgia has “like a hundred five-star football players on their defense.” The Bulldogs’ loaded defense is reminiscent of a vintage Alabama defense. Georgia’s offense started slowly but was missing wide receiver Kearis Jackson and tight end Darnell Washington. This offense should function at a higher level come December.
Why Georgia should be concerned: We’re not living in the same college football era as when LSU beat Alabama 9-6 in 2011. No matter how good a team’s defense is, it’s going to have to score at least a few touchdowns to beat the Crimson Tide nowadays. Alabama’s defense proved to be vulnerable against Florida’s ground game, but that was partly because of quarterback Emory Jones’ running ability and Alabama’s struggle to defend the speed option and read-option. Bulldogs quarterback JT Daniels isn’t a running threat, and Georgia’s pro-style offense is easier to prepare for than Florida’s system.
There is some truth to both points there, but I would note that as far as easier to prepare goes, even against Clemson’s defense, which has performed at a much higher level so far this season than has Alabama’s, the Dawgs offense (which was missing several key performers and had a hobbled Daniels taking snaps) still managed 4.2 yards per play and was able to close out the last five minutes of the opener for the win.
Alabama is still Alabama and Saban is still Saban, so I’m not even close to predicting a Georgia win if the two face off in the SECCG, but I see no reason to think the Dawgs can’t play well enough to surpass what Florida almost accomplished.
Filed under Alabama, Georgia Football
If playing Alabama close but losing is a measure of greatness, then Georgia’s been great since the 2017 season, dude.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
To a man, the Dawgs claim there’s no bitterness from Vanderbilt’s decision to bail on what should have been last year’s Senior Day game.
“There’s no resentment,” Georgia defensive back Christopher Smith said this week in a news conference. “COVID last year put a lot of teams in difficult positions, and I know they had a lot of things going on. I’m just looking forward to playing them this week.
“It’s another SEC East opponent, and we know it’s most important for us on our journey.”
Georgia and Vanderbilt first met in 1893 and had played annually since 1968.
Last year’s cancellation was announced five days before kickoff, with the SEC citing that Vanderbilt’s squad size and position availability had fallen below roster minimum requirements. The game was declared a no-contest, which led to the Bulldogs taking a 7-2 record into the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Cincinnati and the Commodores finishing 0-9, their first winless record in program history.
Vanderbilt, before having to cancel, had come off losses to Missouri and Tennessee by a combined 83-17 and already had fired head coach Derek Mason.
“It was pretty disappointing that we didn’t get that last game for the seniors,” Smith said, “but we all took it in stride and got ready for the next game.”
Said redshirt junior tight end John FitzPatrick: “It was disappointing, because we were excited to play. It happened, and we moved on.”
Following Tuesday’s practice, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked if his players were angry when Vandy had to cancel.
“I think frustrated is the better word,” Smart said. “Guys were just frustrated with the whole process. It was a long year, and this was at the end of it.”
Well, I’m thinking it’s just as easy to take out your frustrations Saturday as it is to work off resentment. I don’t think this team is going to have any noon fuzziness to shake off in Nashville.
Filed under Georgia Football
At least for the moment…
The cupcakes come early, my friends; there’s no Charleston Southern bringing up the rear in November. There are only four games in opposing stadiums, so that’s well managed.
The biggest thing is that Georgia gets another break on the cross-division game, playing Mississippi State while Florida draws Texas A&M.
Of course, toss all that out the window if Oklahoma and Texas show up for next season.
Filed under Georgia Football
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