Wednesday morning buffet

Eat, eat…

• “The top ten most talented teams in the country last year were Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Notre Dame, Florida State, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Texas, and Michigan.”
• You know the old joke about someone being so incompetent he could screw up a one-car funeral?  That would be Rutgers’ AD.
• According to his dad, Pennsylvania’s D’Andre Swift was really impressed by the G-Day crowd:  “To be able to walk into the stadium and be a part of it and walk down and watch the guys coming through the ‘DawgWalk’ and see all the tradition that Georgia has was just remarkable. I’ve never seen how a town shuts down for a game. That city is a college football town, and everybody embraces that tradition and the football program fully. That, to me, was just remarkable about Georgia in every way.”  If you were there, take a bow.
• The ACC is already trying to figure out what to do if Clemson, FSU and Louisville all wind up 11-1.
• Good point in this post — if Missouri is an improved team in the SEC East, don’t forget that Florida and Tennessee both have yet to play the Tigers.
• Hugh Freeze notes one difference between Kirby Smart’s defenses at Alabama and Georgia:  “He’s playing a lot more odd front. I’m sure he’s adjusting to what he thinks is best for his team. It’s been different from what we expect from them, but the results are well for him.”
• Cool game management, Clay Helton.  You’re lucky Stanford didn’t have a two-point trick play up its sleeve.

If you know me, you know I hate this.

Nothing good will come of this… at least not for me.

Georgia has been selected to return to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in four years.

The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game decided to pair Georgia and Virginia for  one of its opening games in 2020, which will take place on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Ah, well, it’s been a while since my loyalties were divided.

The NCAA takes a bathroom break.

North Carolina had to know this was coming.

Basketball-crazed North Carolina has lost its next chance to host NCAA men’s basketball tournament games along with several other championship events due to a state law that some say can lead to discrimination against LGBT people.

And the fallout may not be over.

After the NCAA announced it is pulling seven championship events from North Carolina for this year, Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford – whose league hosts many sporting events in the state, including its football championship game – said the ACC’s council of presidents were set to discuss the law at a previously scheduled meeting later this week.

Without NCAA cover, you’d expect the ACC to follow in its footsteps.  Banning the ACC basketball tourney from the state, even the watered down version that exists today, is gonna sting.

The cognitive dissonance in the corner of the law’s defenders is about what you’d expect.

Gov. Bryant (R-MS) on the NCAA: "Ridiculous… the NCAA ought to stay with sports and worry about the graduation rates of their athletes."

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) September 13, 2016

Of course, he might be complaining about more than just who’s going to which bathroom with that.

HB2 was signed into law by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory earlier this year. A spokesman with McCrory’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday evening, but a spokeswoman with the state Republican party blasted the NCAA’s decision in a statement, saying it is “so absurd it’s almost comical.”

“I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor,” spokeswoman Kami Mueller said Monday night.

I bet you do, girl.  It’s probably a coincidence that I can’t find a single other public utterance of your concern about what happened at Baylor.

But now that you mention it, Baylor canned its president, AD and head coach in the wake of its scandal.  What’s North Carolina got to offer to get the NCAA off its back?

Okay, it’s not QBR, but…

Thought the passer ratings from Saturday night were interesting.

• Jacob Eason:  185.87
• Greyson Lambert:  119.20
• Mitch Trubisky:  92.76

Georgia averaged 9.3 yards per pass attempt; Trubisky averaged 3.9 yppa.  Given that the Heels averaged more than 8 yards per rush, giving Hood and Logan a combined 16 carries while letting Trubisky throw the ball 40 times was coaching malpractice.

“That guy was a god in Atlanta.”

He may have worn out his welcome with the Georgia fan base (okay, maybe not all of the Georgia fan base), but Mark Richt is a boffo, box office smash in Coral Gables.

Georgia’s loss has been Miami’s gain. Richt has come home, and South Florida has embraced his return.

“His arms are open to former players and the community, and it’s just beautiful,’’ said former UM cornerback Tolbert Bain, 52, with whom Richt conferred about his plan to regularly visit youth football programs throughout South Florida. “I want to send the Georgia athletic director a fruit basket for doing us this great favor.’’

Among the many ways UM has benefited even before Richt’s opener against FAMU at 6 p.m. Saturday:

▪ Season-ticket sales are expected to reach 40,000.

▪ Hurricane Club membership has exceeded 10,000 for the first time and reached an all-time high $12 million through its annual fund.

▪ Fund-raising for a $28 million to $30 million indoor practice facility, for which Richt pledged $1 million, has been strong.

▪ Former players are reinvigorated by Richt’s insistence on their inclusion in UM’s events and culture.

▪ Overall fan exuberance, with Richt’s avid support of the community, is palpable.

“It’s the direction we want to go — back toward the top,” UM athletic director Blake James said. “Since last Dec. 4, when we announced Mark’s hiring, there has been a real wave of energy around the program.”

Said Richt of the “outpouring” of support: “It has been a little overwhelming.”

Maybe you can go home again.  After all, everybody has hope.

Tuesday morning buffet

Eh, there are always a few tasty morsels ready to fill the chafing dishes.

• Here’s a handy guide to the new rule changes.  (h/t)
• If you’re interested, here’s a little more detail on the low blocking zone rule change.  After hearing the talk there about tight ends, I wonder how much Georgia will be affected by this.
• This probably won’t help BYU’s chances of joining the Big 12.
• Admittedly, this has nothing to do with college football, but I simply couldn’t help myself by linking to it.
• Big talk from Hugh Freeze:  “It hasn’t stolen our joy at all.”
• Wonder who the best and worst coaches are in close games?  Here you go.
• Pro Football Focus gives a preseason look at North Carolina.  They’re fairly impressed, although at least Kirby won’t have to worry about defending an athletic quarterback in the opener.
• Thomas Brown on Mark Richt:  “When he released the opportunity to be the OC and call the plays and take over the head coaching role only (at Georgia), it took some of the competition out of him.”

Feeding the broadcast beast

Will the ACC go with an eight-game conference schedule, or a nine-game version?  One possible answer may surprise you a little…

Speaking at Tech’s media day, Bobinski brought up an intriguing alternative to the nine-game league schedule – keeping the league schedule at eight games but requiring that teams play two non-conference games against power-conference teams. The ACC already has a mandate that goes into effect in 2017 that league teams play one such game.

… but the reason surely won’t.

The impetus for the discussion is the desire to provide inventory for the ACC Network, whose 2019 launch was made official in July. The channel will broadcast 40 regular-season games annually. The conference has already agreed to expand its basketball conference schedule from 18 games to 20, starting in the 2019-20 season.

Gotta have product, man.

Between the playoffs and the networks, it’s getting to be a tougher world for cupcakes.