“As this is an ongoing inquiry, LSU will have no further comment at this time.”

The NCAA is all in on the church charity bag man.

The NCAA scrutiny of LSU has expanded to include the football program, as the school confirmed on Friday afternoon that it has been working with the NCAA about an “ongoing inquiry” into a six-figure payment to the father of a former player.

An LSU booster named John Paul Funes, who pleaded guilty to stealing more than a half-million dollars from a foundation where he worked as a fundraiser, paid $180,000 to a man that Yahoo Sports confirmed on Friday is the father of former Tigers star lineman Vadal Alexander…

An LSU spokesman said in a statement that LSU has been engaged with the NCAA about the “ongoing inquiry” regarding the scheme. LSU has known about the alleged payment since 2018, but the NCAA has been limited in its investigative ability as to not interfere with Funes’ case. (This is similar to why the NCAA has been slow to react in the wake of the federal basketball corruption scandals.)

The emergence of this information from a federal case comes at a vexing time for LSU, which was already under significant NCAA scrutiny for activity within its men’s basketball program.

Yes, I’m guessing LSU is sorely vexed about now.  Yahoo may have to come up with a stronger verb if the NCAA hammer comes down.  Hey, maybe LSU can use “it just means more” as a defense.

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Didn’t see this one coming.

Well, shit.

According to Georgia Football Coach Kirby Smart, University of Georgia wide receiver and former Newton High standout JJ Holloman has been dismissed from the football team after an investigation into a 2018 assault was launched earlier this month.

“Jeremiah Holloman no longer represents the University of Georgia football program,” Coach Kirby Smart said in a statement to The Covington News. “We expect every member of our team to uphold the highest standards and values of the University of Georgia and Georgia football. It is disappointing when this does not happen.”

Not really sure why this took over a year to come to light, although the article states that the victim wished to not pursue the case criminally.  In any event, I hope the victim is okay.

Disappointing, to say the least.

(h/t)

A different kind of Name That Caption

Steve Spurrier will hold a press conference at noon Monday in Gainesville to announce that he’s seeking a teammate to “operate his new American casual dining restaurant concept.”

To my eternal dismay, I have been assured that it will not be a hot dog restaurant called Fun N Bun.

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) June 21, 2019

So many options, so little time…

Have at it in the comments.  The man’s asking for help.

Today, in your Daily Gator

So, Dawgs247 posts a piece about Jake Fromm and the good folks at Alligator Alley take umbrage.

Kinda reminds me of this insightful observation.

Chauncey Gardner on UGA QB Jake Fromm's success: "He's throwing simple passes. I get it. Anybody can throw a slant." #Gators

— Jordan McPherson (@J_McPherson1126) October 23, 2017

By the way, Jake Fromm’s passer ratings against Florida?  196.91 and 196.08.  You’d think the Gators could defend the slant better than that.

So much winning

Welcome to Phil Steele’s stat of the day.

Top records at home the last 5 years.
1. Alabama 34-1 97%
1. Clemson 34-1 97%
3 Ohio St 32-3 91%
4. Wisconsin 29-5 85%
5 Georgia 28-5 85%
5 Boise St 28-5 85%
7 Oklahoma 26-5 84%
8 App St 25-5 83%
9 UAB 15-3 83%
10 Memphis 28-6 82%
11 Houston 27-6 82%
12 USC 26-6 81%

— Phil Steele (@philsteele042) June 21, 2019

Before some of you start, three of those Georgia home losses came in 2016.

CFN’s preseason Top 30 SEC players

Pete Fiutak lays out his list of the top 30 SEC players here.  This is how those thirty breakdown by school:

• Alabama 7
• Georgia 5
• South Carolina 4
• LSU 3
• Missouri 3
• Texas A&M 3
• Florida 2
• Arkansas 1
• Auburn 1
• Vanderbilt 1

Obviously, there’s nothing definitive about this in terms of overall program talent, but I am curious to see early indications of where the top level talent is perceived to reside.  Based on what I see there, perhaps Boom is deserving of a little more credit than he’s been getting.  But I’m still seeing a big gap after the top two.

I’ll return to this topic after I get to dive into Steele’s All-SEC lists next week.  In the meantime, what, if anything, do you glean from Fiutak’s rankings?

Guess I wasn’t paying attention.

This is one of those “hmmm, don’t know how I missed that” stats.

Took a lot of heat for leaving James Franklin off my “Top 20 Coaches” list.

Franklin with OC Moorhead
• 22-5 overall (.812)
• 4-4 vs. teams that finished ranked

Franklin without OC Moorhead
• 23-16 overall (.589)
• 0-10 vs. teams that finished ranked

— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) June 20, 2019

Still makes Moorhead’s first season at MSU a little hard to explain, unless you really want to chalk it up to having a round peg in a square hole at quarterback.  If that’s the case, then his offense has a chance to step up this season behind a transfer from Penn State, I would think.