Well, now.
If you don’t think Greg Sankey’s hearing about this from some of his presidents/athletic directors, you’re dreaming.
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Category Archives: SEC Football
This financial aggression will not stand, man.
Filed under Big Ten Football, It's Just Bidness, SEC Football
Matt Hinton’s top 100
Thought this would make for a good jumping off point for a blog discussion:
Some random thoughts:
- This is the year of the defensive lineman. Ten — count ’em, ten — of the top twelve Hinton lists play on the DL.
- How sorry do you feel for ACC offensive linemen? Clemson has four of those ten defensive linemen. Sheesh.
- Tua ahead of Jake. Sigh.
- As Matt himself notes, that Kyler Murray ranking seems a little aggressive at this point.
- Florida Atlantic has three players on that list. Florida has none. Ouchy ouch.
And here’s how the SEC shows out:
- Alabama: 7
- Georgia: 4
- Auburn, TAMU: 3
- LSU, MSU: 2
- Kentucky, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee: 1
- Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt: 0
No, élite talent isn’t everything. Depth matters, too. But every great program has its fair share of top-end players who elevate. I suspect there’s a reasonable (not the same thing as exact) amount of correlation between the order of that list and how the conference shakes out this season. Your thoughts?
Filed under College Football, SEC Football
Today, in will the SEC move to a nine-game conference schedule?
I think Finebaum is pretty spot on with this:
“Outside of Nick Saban’s office, there is none,” Finebaum said of support for a nine-game schedule. “I don’t see it. There are a lot of reasons for it. I think from their standpoint they are very concerned it would create more difficulty filling the bowl alignment, in terms of the number of SEC schools that go to bowl games. So, when you add another game, do the math: it’s another loss somewhere. I think the feeling at least of the coaches right now is they don’t want that. I think it’s easy to look at the other side, and frankly, I’ve always agreed with Nick Saban that nine conference games offer many positive things, especially for athletes playing to be able to see other teams in the league. Right now, you can go seven, eight or nine years and never see anyone else (cross-divisional teams) outside of the SEC Championship Game.
A ninth conference game that replaces a cupcake match means seven coaches take a loss they weren’t saddled with before. When you’re making $4+ million a year, that could be a problem. So, yeah, there’s always going to be significant resistance.
This part, though, I think Finebaum overstates.
“I also think it creates a degree of negativity outside the league,” Finebaum continued. “David Shaw from Stanford made a big deal about this a couple of years ago. The Big Ten continues to take shots. And I think the SEC leaves itself vulnerable by only having eight conference games.”
Nobody in the SEC gives a rat’s ass what David Shaw thinks. As for vulnerability, last year saw two SEC teams reach the CFP (and play for the national championship); it’s not unreasonable to think there’s a realistic possibility of a repeat in 2018. Could that change down the road? Sure, but if there’s one thing conferences are comfortable doing, it’s putting off worrying about something until it’s a real threat.
Barring expansion, we’re not getting nine conference games any time soon.
Filed under SEC Football
SEC win totals
Here are the latest Vegas SEC 2018 win totals, courtesy of South Point Casino:
- Alabama: 11 (Over EVEN, Under -120)
- Georgia: 10.5 (Over -115, Under -105)
- Auburn: 9 (Over -110, Under -110)
- Mississippi State: 8.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
- Florida: 7.5 (Over -120, Under EVEN)
- Missouri: 7.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
- LSU: 7 (Over -110, Under -110)
- South Carolina: 7 (Over -120, Under EVEN)
- Texas A&M: 7 (Over EVEN, Under -120)
- Arkansas: 6 (Over EVEN, Under -120)
- Ole Miss: 6 (Over -110, Under -110)
- Kentucky: 5.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
- Tennessee: 5.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
- Vanderbilt: 4 (Over -110, Under -110)
And a one-sentence reaction to each…
- Alabama: Whom are they losing to?
- Georgia: Which team gives the Dawgs their second loss?
- Auburn: Looks about right.
- Mississippi State: I lean towards the under, just slightly.
- Florida: If Mullen has a functional quarterback, over, barely.
- Missouri: They won seven last year, so at first glance this doesn’t seem like a stretch, but Derek Dooley…
- LSU: The Tigers won nine in 2017, so you’d have to think a two-game fallback would be death for Coach O, and looking at the schedule, I don’t know that I’d feel so good if I were him.
- South Carolina: It’s really weird how much more pessimistic Vegas is about SC’s chances than the pundits and public are.
- TAMU: Eight wins is not a reach, but anything more than that is.
- Arkansas: I get that the schedule is soft, but there’s no team in the conference with a bigger mismatch between personnel and scheme than the Hogs, so take the under.
- Ole Miss: Hey, they won six last year, so I can see a repeat.
- Kentucky: Weird, but this is one of the toughest calls on the board, which means that’s not good for Stoops.
- Tennessee: If the Vols wind up bowl eligible, Pruitt will have done a good job this season.
- Vanderbilt: Sad, but true.
Your thoughts?
Filed under SEC Football, What's Bet In Vegas Stays In Vegas
Today, in ringing endorsements
Hoo, boy.
SOD does bring a solid shower hygiene game with him, though. So there’s that.
Filed under SEC Football
Cream of the crop
It seems the SEC’s sports information directors aren’t overly impressed by Georgia’s top end talent this season. The Georgia players voted to their first-team All-SEC offense and defense?
One: Rodrigo Blankenship.
Two: Deandre Baker.
Of course, picking Lamont Gaillard as a second-team offensive tackle may explain some of that. It’s tough to excel out of position.
Filed under SEC Football
SEC non-conference scheduling: it just means less.
Welp, this is harsh.
SEC football has it figured out. The SEC has produced a consistent scheduling philosophy that guarantees every team in the league three virtually automatic victories a year.
The SEC scheduling model is locked in:
* Four non-conference games;
* One game against a fellow Power-5 Conference opponent (Arkansas notably abstains this season from challenging itself even once). To the SEC’s credit, that one game is usually a doozy, against the likes of Clemson or Florida State or Notre Dame, and if it’s not a name-brand power, it’s usually a really good team, like West Virginia or Kansas State;
* One game against a Division I-AA opponent;
* Two games against mid-majors who are no threat to win. Boise State and Houston need not apply. Memphis and Arkansas State pass for the best mid-majors on SEC schedules.
In 2018, every SEC team except Arkansas follows that exact model…
It’s all controlled scheduling, and it bolsters college football’s best conference.
That’s not a point of pride, Hogs.
14. Arkansas: Eastern Illinois, at Colorado State, North Texas, Tulsa. The Razorbacks are up to their old tricks. No fellow power-conference opponent.
Not that we should be throwing any rocks their way.
13. Georgia: Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, Massachusetts, Georgia Tech. Not much here. At least Georgia plays Auburn and LSU from the SEC West.
Filed under SEC Football
