Another business decision

Sadly, I suspect Mike Gundy is correct about this.

Ahead of the 116th edition of Bedlam, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy not only suggested that Saturday’s meeting between the seventh-ranked Cowboys and No. 10 Oklahoma could be the last in Stillwater for quite a while, but revealed pessimism about the rivalry continuing on at all after the Sooners leave for the SEC.

“I don’t think it’s a realistic thing that it’s going to happen based on the business side of Power 5 conference football, the Big 12 or the SEC,” Gundy said Monday. “That’s just my opinion on it. I could be wrong. I’m not getting that from anybody.”

Gundy cited finances, the future of a 12-team Big 12 and nonconference schedules planned years in advance among the reasons he doubts the football rivalry that dates back to 1904 will go on with OU no longer in-conference.

“I don’t think it will (continue),” Gundy said.

It’s another decision in a long line of decisions made by the people running the sport to reject the regional passions that have driven college football’s popularity in favor of a more national focus manufactured by conference realignment and postseason expansion.

It pains me to say this, but there is one way I can see to maintain the rivalry, and that would be for the SEC not to go to a nine-game conference schedule.  Bedlam could then join the other existing non-conference rivalry games that Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina already play.  But I don’t think that would be as good for business.

SEC Net YPP, Week 12

In the conference’s penultimate week of the regular season, there were two kinds of games:  those against cupcakes plus Vanderbilt, and everything else.  (As always, stats via cfbstats.com.)

1. Georgia 3.22 (6.91 o; 3.69 d) [NC: +.21]
2. Alabama 2.07 (6.90 o; 4.83 d) [NC:  +.02]
3. Texas A&M 1.50 (6.07 o; 4.57 d) [NC: +.22]
4. Florida 1.43 (6.89 o; 5.46 d) [NC: -.10]
5. Ole Miss 1.14 (6.68 o; 5.54 d) [NC:  +.13]
6. Tennessee 1.13 (6.43 o; 5.30 d) [NC: +.25]
7. Kentucky 1.07 (6.46 o; 5.39 d) [NC: +.46]
8. Auburn:  .83 (6.14 o; 5.31 d) [NC:  -.04]
9. Arkansas .76 (6.31 o; 5.55 d) [NC: -.36]
10. Mississippi State .59 (6.05 o; 5.46 d) [NC: +.51]
11. LSU -.13 (5.31 o; 5.44 d) [NC: -.05]
12. South Carolina -.35 (5.17 o; 5.52 d) [NC: +.09]
13. Missouri -.40 (6.00 o; 6.40 d) [NC: 0]
14. Vanderbilt -2.15 (4.54 o; 6.69 d) [NC: 0]

Turnover margin, after week six:

• +12:  Ole Miss
• +8:  Alabama
• +5:  Arkansas
• +4:  Missouri
• +2:  Georgia
• +1:  South Carolina, Tennessee
•  0:  Mississippi State
• -1:  LSU, Texas A&M
• -2:  Auburn
• -3:  Vanderbilt
• -8:  Florida
• -14:  Kentucky

Observations:

• Georgia reclaimed the top positions in both offensive and defensive ypp.  I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict they’ll hang on to that after this week’s game.
• In case you couldn’t tell, Alabama played a phenomenal offense game against Arkansas.  They remain over the 2.0 net figure to be CFP worthy.
• Kentucky is mid-pack in net ypp and abysmal in turnover margin, yet will finish second in the SEC East.  I have no idea what regression to the mean will be for the ‘Cats next season.
• Along those lines, Mizzou and SC are both bowl eligible, despite negative net ypp figures.
• Tennessee, despite all the roster turnover and a radical change in scheme, is sixth in net ypp.  Heupel’s done a respectable job this season.
• Florida, on the other hand…

“Everybody is going to do this, for sure everybody in the SEC…”

The wages of Alston:

Allen Gordon has accomplished plenty in his life to this point and he’s not yet out of college.

The senior Ole Miss long jumper is an All-American. He was a finalist for the U.S. Olympic Trials, and his shirtless dancing moves on TikTok have turned into nearly 1 million followers.

On Friday, he scratched off another achievement: He made history.

Gordon was the first Ole Miss athlete to pick up a $2,990 check that the school is disbursing to its players.

It is believed to be the first such payment as part of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling granting schools the right to provide athletes additional financial support for academic achievements, up to a maximum of $5,980 per year. Ole Miss, the first known school to start cutting such checks, is splitting the distribution into two payments—one in the spring and one in the fall.

Gordon was able to receive the payment because he was academically eligible — Ole Miss athletes who met those academic requirements the previous semester and who are on an active roster (walk-ons included) meet the criteria for this academic bonus.

The ramifications of this are interesting.

These academic payments are seen as a significant recruiting advantage in equivalency sports—an extra financial incentive for an athlete and his family. For instance, a full Ole Miss scholarship for an in-state athlete is worth about $25,000 when factoring in tuition, fees, books, boarding and other expenses, according to the university’s website. A baseball player on a 25% scholarship (roughly $6,500) who received the nearly $6,000 in academic bonus payments would, essentially, have half of his scholarship covered. Only 25% of that would count against the team’s athletic scholarship allotment.

The payments will also be an advantage in the recruitment of walk-on players at every sport, including football, where recruiting battles over walk-ons, though somewhat unreported, do unfold.

And let’s not forget the “R” word.

All schools won’t follow Ole Miss’s lead. Some, like Iowa State, are planning to deposit the payments into a trust to be disbursed to athletes once they graduate—an incentive to obtaining a degree but also one that might put the program at a recruiting disadvantage. Other programs are debating whether to distribute only a portion of the money immediately.

Some schools are exploring ways to create more stringent criteria, such as a tiered approach based on an athlete’s GPA.

“Coaches are all going to want the (Ole Miss) model,” says one Power 5 administrator, “but you’ve got to find the money somewhere.”

They just need to ask themselves a simple question:  what would Greg McGarity do?  (Grumble, and then do whatever Kirby Smart said to do.)

Every SEC team will be doing this by next spring is my prediction.

SEC Power Poll Week 11

All I can say is, if you’re a Georgia fan and you’re not seriously enjoying this season, why exactly are you a Georgia fan in the first place?

1. Georgia.  As chaotic as this season has been, it’s remarkable how consistently this team has played, week after week.
2. Alabama.  It’s a little strange to see the Tide clinch the West two weeks after Georgia punched its ticket to Atlanta.
3. Ole Miss.  The Egg Bowl is gonna be lit.
4. Texas A&M.  The conference’s most inconsistent team pounded a cupcake.
5. Mississippi State.  Ditto for the Bulldogs.
6. Arkansas.  Defense wore out again.  Funny how nobody’s praising Barry Odom the way they were at the start of the year.
7. Kentucky.  Lots of yardage and lots of mistakes, again.  Such is the state of UK football this season.
8. Auburn.  Just think — three weeks ago, normally sensible people were actually pushing the idea that Auburn winning the Iron Bowl was a real possibility.
9. LSU.  Forget about playing for bowl eligibility this week — if the Tigers lose to TAMU, they’ll finish last in the division.
10. Tennessee.  At least the Vols didn’t lose a guarantee game this year.  Progress!
11. Missouri.  The win over Florida meant the Gators finish next to last in the division, a game behind the Tigers.
12. South Carolina.  I still can’t figure out how the ‘Cocks beat Auburn.  Not that I’m complaining…
13. Florida.  Words I never thought I’d type:  Florida and Florida State meet next Saturday with bowl eligibility on the line.
14. Vanderbilt.  The last FBS team Florida beat.

The downside of it just means more

Your morning factoid:

With Mullen out at Florida, 10 of the 14 SEC head coaches entering the 2022 season will have been in their positions for two or fewer seasons.

Of course, when I say “downside”, I’m excluding Jimmy Sexton from that.  The above fact is a feature, not a bug, for him.

And by the way, Kirby Smart is now third in seniority among SEC head coaches.

He who Darths last, Darths best.

Shot.

Dan Mullen dressed as Darth Vader discussing the fight between #Mizzou and the #Gators just before halftime

I know it is Halloween. But 2020 is getting really weird yall. pic.twitter.com/MiC8jea4vQ

— Daren Stoltzfus WESH (@DarenStoltzfus) November 1, 2020

Chaser.

MIC DROP from #Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz after beating Florida in OT! 😂

"May the force be with you." pic.twitter.com/cVw9CcvXK0

— Andrew Kauffman (@AndrewABC17) November 21, 2021

Mizzou-Florida turning into a rivalry is one of the weirder SEC developments of the past few years.

One last nooner

I doubt any of y’all are surprised to learn the game time for Tech.

📺 times & networks for final week of #SECFB regular season » https://t.co/ZE8QGk47KY

Which side of the rivalry are you on? 🗣⤵️ pic.twitter.com/nTIOlpAVrX

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 15, 2021

SEC Net YPP, Week 11

Every team was in action, some more than others, as you’ll see.  (As always, stats via cfbstats.com.)

1. Georgia 3.01 (6.90 o; 3.89 d) [NC: -.10]
2. Alabama 2.05 (6.69 o; 4.64 d) [NC:  +.34]
3. Florida 1.53 (7.07 o; 5.54 d) [NC: +.26]
4. Texas A&M 1.28 (5.98 o; 4.70 d) [NC: -.18]
5. Arkansas 1.12 (6.30 o; 5.18 d) [NC: -.04]
6. Ole Miss 1.01 (6.64 o; 5.63 d) [NC:  -.15]
7. Tennessee .88 (6.29 o; 5.41 d) [NC: -.39]
8. Auburn:  .87 (6.17 o; 5.30 d) [NC:  -.06]
9. Kentucky .61 (6.08 o; 5.47 d) [NC: +.20]
10. Mississippi State .08 (5.75 o; 5.67 d) [NC: -.08]
11. LSU -.24 (5.27 o; 5.51 d) [NC: -.05]
12. South Carolina -.35 (5.17 o; 5.52 d) [NC: -.27]
13. Missouri -.40 (6.13 o; 6.53 d) [NC: +.31]
14. Vanderbilt -2.15 (4.50 o; 6.65 d) [NC: -.04]

Turnover margin, after week six:

• +12:  Ole Miss
• +8:  Alabama
• +5:  Arkansas
• +4:  Georgia, Missouri
• +1:  Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee
• -1:  LSU, Texas A&M
• -2:  Auburn
• -3:  Vanderbilt
• -8:  Florida
• -12:  Kentucky

Observations:

• Alabama is back over the 2-net ypp threshold for CFP worthiness.
• Tennessee’s steep drop is the sign of a beatdown rather than a moral victory.
• Ole Miss stopped TAMU’s steady progress.
• The net changes show the Missouri-South Carolina game wasn’t as close as the score indicated.
• I don’t know what Florida’s net gain shows.

SEC Power Poll Week 11

Go home, SEC.  You’re drunk.  Seriously, as hard as I thought arranging spots 3-13 was last week, it’s gotten even more difficult after Saturday.

By the way, it’s fine if you disagree with my order this week.  Just don’t start telling me why head-to-head should rule.  That way lies madness.

1. Georgia.  Another week when “this will be the biggest challenge Georgia has faced” morphs into a struggle to score in garbage time.  At least we won’t be hearing any more of that until the SECCG.
2. Alabama.  Speaking of “this will be the biggest challenge Georgia has faced”…
3. Ole Miss.  Give Lane Kiffin credit.  This team is outperforming expectations and looks to have a decent shot at a NY6 bowl game.
4. Texas A&M.  The SEC’s most inconsistent team.
5. Mississippi State.  This team is a couple of botched field goals away from a four-game winning streak and undisputed second place in the SEC West.
6. Auburn.  Mike Leach coaches the biggest comeback in program history and The Bo Nix Experience ends for the season on a broken ankle.  That’s some twofer.
7. Arkansas.  The Hogs are 7-3, ranked in the top 25 — and in next to last place in the SEC West.
8. Kentucky.  If ever there was a perfect time to play Vanderbilt, it’s the week that saw the ‘Cats clinch second place in the division.
9. LSU.  They’ve actually stabilized on defense, despite the injuries.  But, boy, that offense is pathetic.
10. Tennessee.  Moral victory, my ass.
11. Missouri.  Wins over both South Carolina and Vandy left me no choice but to rank Mizzou here.  Sometimes you have to let quality speak for itself.
12. South Carolina.  Sorry, you didn’t play Florida this week, ‘Cocks.
13. Florida.  Samford’s 52 points against UF are most ever scored by an FCS team against an SEC team.
14. Vanderbilt.  The ‘Dores want a rematch with the Gators.

It just means more… until it doesn’t.

I’ve never felt more simpatico for an opposing SEC coach than I do right now.

Mark Stoops says he's done submitting questionable calls to the SEC league office for review.

"I don't even know why I turn in plays anymore," Stoops said. "It certainly doesn't matter."

— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) November 10, 2021

That’s what running a conference on the cheap gets you.  I’d love to hear every head coach say the same thing publicly, except that presumes Greg Sankey has a sense of shame.