cbmckay

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It's been said in a few posts, but there's not gonna be a "king of college football". Those days are over. And honestly, I'm ok with that. While watching constant roster attrition/building, NIL discussions, and coaching carousels bring the fun down, seeing parity around the sport and watching teams rise and fall is actually entertaining. Expanded playoffs will see new team matchups, and final champions will be able to say they took on all challengers to find their way to the top. CFB is dead. Long live CFB.
Honestly this is UGA's biggest worry. CFB simply isn't the same sport it was, heck, even five years ago. NIL, the transfer portal, the playoffs, recruiting, it's a terribly demanding job, and all of it is going to add more parity to teams across the U.S. Saban tried the NFL route for a few years. Smart, who has achieved CFB greatness, can apply all his meticulous works into an NFL squad, make twice the money, and have half the responsibilities. And if he does poorly and bounces, he can come back to CFB and be welcomed at several schools with wide open arms. Unless he truly, deeply loves his job, he'd be crazy not to give it a shot.
I keep refreshing the betting sites for what NFL job Harbaugh is going to take this off-season. Any insider tips?
I do love a good battle between alums =) I don't think FSU will be kept out of the AAU for much longer. I think within a year is maybe a stretch, but they have been pushing their university on this front. It's a matter of time. I think you're underestimating UF's STEM and academics investment. UF Health does take a lot of the spotlight, but their sciences and engineering departments are still nationally well known, respected, and very properly funded. I'm not sure how steady growth from top 15 public schools to #1 can be seen as falling asleep behind the wheel. Dorms aren't modern, but they're just fine. Could use some renovations, but they're not horrible. The stadium, while aging, is getting a very expensive facelift. The "plain looking" campus is an opinion, so I can't prove true or false (IMO, having toured all FL campuses before making a college decision, I found UF's the most appealing). Gainesville is anything but "boring". The city has been pouring money into entertainment, recreation, and family friendly activities. I lived there as a student, then years later as a family man (after a 10-year hiatus from work), and was incredibly surprised how much there was to do now. I will agree on one thing; while UF girls are not "ugly", it's a well known fact in the state that attractive women go to FSU, and attractive men go to UF. I briefly dated an FSU alum after graduation, and she whole heartedly agreed on this lol.
Happy to answer this, at least from a UF fan/grad/business perspective. Reasons to keep them out include: 1. Recruiting - Whether it's currently true or not, the SEC still has the air of dominance over all other conferences. If FSU joins the SEC, and especially if they do well in the SEC, it devalues UF's position as an SEC member. 2. Revenue - While the game always makes money, the inclusion of FSU would mean directly feeding an in-state competitor year round. In fact, FSU would wind up making more money than they currently are by leaps and bounds, while UF revenue would only increase slightly. 3. Brand - Simar to recruiting, UF right now is the only Florida school in the vaunted SEC. That carries a lot of weight in terms of viewership, merch sales, tourism, etc. FSU joining takes that away turning into a fight for the "best" FL SEC school. To ask a return question, why would UF want FSU in? 3. Value for UF - We already play them every year...how does UF benefit from FSU's inclusion? Harder time recruiting, no real revenue jump, threat to the brand, there's no real benefit for UF here. FSU is the only one that gains. If I was in UF's seat, I'd veto this every time.
This has always confused me. UF is the #1 ranked public school. It was a top 10 when I graduated, so not as high, but still very much higher than FSU. And yet, every time I met a Tallahassee grad, they would act as if I went to a community college. And it only comes from their grads. Even in high school everyone saw FSU as an arts school. If you were STEM, you went UF. If you were business, you went Miami.
The article kind of skips over this, but it's not just $120M. It's more like $620M+ as it stands in the GoR. FSU will try to wiggle out from that doc, because you're right, if they can get that number down to $120M, they're golden.
It's weird. His son has said nothing but glowing things about is recruitment and UF, and was/is still heavily recruiting for the Gators. But you can't discredit what his dad says. As with most things, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. He probably was still very much recruited and wanted by the staff, given his son's enthusiasm for the school, but in comparison to other schools who wanted to flip, not as strong. I could believe his son got a lighter recruitment since 1) he's been rock solid since very early, and 2) he's a Gator legacy, so chances of a flip weren't terribly high. I think a larger portion of this is due to no one knowing that ILBC Bateman was leaving for TAMU and no one knew about it. It's a bad look for CBN, one that he needs to start attacking now.
I guess I'm confused on your take, since UF played more freshmen last year than any other team in CFB. He literally is a coach that shows he'll play you if you're the best product. If you're referring to NIL, coaches don't have any control over that; the UAA does. UF needs to get cleaned up on that front. It's bit us several times in the last two recruiting cycles. If you're referring to his offensive scheme, I kind of agree with you there. His brand of football needs to change. Hopefully we see an OC hire in the near future.
I'm with you all the way on this. CBN is the (fair or unfair, depending on how you look at it) target this cycle, while many schools had their ups and down. But, again, to your point, if UF is 7-5 and on the way to a bowl game, this class probably doesn't fall apart as hard as it did. Outside of UGA, UF was taking every loss down to the wire...and couldn't get out of their own way. I'm pulling for CBN. I think he did as good a job as one could with this class, given the on-field result. Next he has to get the staff right. So far, so good with the changes there. DBC Harris and DLC Chatman (rumored) are solid hires. Not splashy, but solid. Rumor of OC Korn from Liberty joining would also be very welcomed. With S&CC Hocke now gone, it's shaping up towards the positive. Hopefully this helps sort out the self-inflicted wounds.
I'm right there with you two, but it's a system of our own invention, sadly. College athletics has turned into the D League for the NFL because of how much money we all are willing to invest in the name of love for our schools/teams. In all honesty, I'm not even mad at the student athletes. It's incredibly unfair to give admins and coaches incredible amounts of freedom and ludicrous pay, while asking the students to give blood, sweat, and tears to the program for the love of it, when only about 1.6% percent of them will make it to the NFL. I love watching kids go from freshman to graduate and really identify with their school. But if we want these kids to stay, it's either we reverse time and take the incredible amounts of money in athletics out, or we find ways to get them to stay at the school they give their commitment.
Completely agree with you here. Right now, NIL collectives are feeling their way through the system. It's new, no real precedence to compare to, and needs study. But once the data is in, boosters and companies are going to start looking at these investments in terms of ROI, and things will change. IMO, it resembles the housing and .com bubbles of years past; very little oversight, tons of bad money getting thrown around, almost no clue of actual value. This bubble will also pop. I think tiered deals will be the first step. Lock the recruit down with a hefty sum, but light load it in year one, with increasing amounts each year they stay with the program.
"Also, I for one am not sad Georgia’s streak is over. I am happy the streak happened in the first. No other team has won 29 straight in the SEC. Memories I will have forever." I love this mentality. This is the same mindset my international friends have about futbol. They cherish the highs because they don't come around every day. And they feel gratitude for getting to experience them at all. I went to UF from 04-08. I got to experience two football and two basketball championships with my classmates, flooding the streets to celebrate. I had a math class with Tebow, and served sandwiches at McAllister's Deli to Noah. We're not the team we were then, but boy are those memories that are gonna stick with me forever.
See, I disagree here, but not because of "the brotherhood". I want SEC teams to win because I want the SEC to be "the" conference to play in. The SEC got where it was because it showed, time and again, it was the best conference with the best players and the best coaches. Even mediocre SEC teams would be a threat to the top tier of other conferences. The transfer portal and NIL have done a tremendous job of spreading the wealth, so to speak, and brought more parity than the sport has seen in a long time. When you're in an environment where all of your competitors have fairly identical offerings, you need a differentiator. UGA and Bama have that for now, but if the SEC becomes weakened, then even their undefeated seasons look worse for it. That's what we say about FSU and the ACC, right? Look at that weak conference, though! IMO, the differentiator the SEC needs to hold onto is that this is where all the best talent is, where the best coaches are, and so on. If you lose that to the B1G, then wins against AUB, UTenn, UF, LSU, etc, won't mean a thing.
Hey now, one thing us Gator fans have become quite good at is understanding the reality of life =) If UG was in the same spot, I'd be bummed as hell, but I'd also get it. FSU is simply not the same team. The UF/FSU game was close (until UF pulled a shoe throw, there's that reality) until the end. It was even worse against Louisville. Their defense won both those games, which, big respect, but that offense wasn't going to put up a fight against the field.
I mean, is no one going to mention the slew of injuries for UF? Including losing their SEC leader in completions starting QB? No one's going to mention that a mistake no a handoff was the difference between 7 for UF instead of 7 for Mizz? Or Etienne staying in bounds is the difference between 1:35 and less than a minute? No one's mentioning it because that's how football goes lol.
The SEC isn't as dominant as it has been in a long time, but this is exactly what fans have wanted, right? They were tired of seeing the same 3-4 teams in the CFP. They wanted more interesting games. Transfer portal and NIL have done just that. It's allowed programs to attract talent that they couldn't before. It's given players with lagging careers in one school be able to put it together somewhere else and make something of themselves. We're finally seeing ALL of CFB become a factor, not just one conference.
First off, congrats to Mizzou. That was a hell of a game, and Cook and co. made it happen to give their team the win. Hats off. While I'm bummed, tonight was so different than what everyone expected. All week it was how much UF was going to lose. 12.5 pt underdog. Playing no the road. Down a few starters, and lost a few more, including their starting QB. Bunch of freshmen running around on both sides of the ball. And yet, it came down to essentially the final play of the game to decide it. Maybe it's not the final we would like, but this team is showing fight, showing commitment, and showing they do better than everyone expects. They just need to build on all this.
This is how I know you're not a real Gator fan. We haven't been "elite" in a looong time. Muschamp had UF in Top 5 position and it's been downhill from there. Mac succeeded in an incredibly down SEC East. Mullen was a cultural and program destroying disaster. You want to hide your Garnet and Gold for a bit and troll forums, then go ahead, but a couple of tips. 1) Don't create several accounts that all follow the same pattern of team + location. No one on these forums does that, and having several accounts in a row doing that is obvious. 2) Keep your overblown criticisms realistic.
It's ok, Nasvhille, Gaga and his multitude of burner accounts on here is just terribly upset that his team's heisman performing QB is out. I'd be burning up forums to vent as well.
I think both can be true here, my guy. Kirby has been far less vocal about moving the game since UGA has gone on a streak. Being on the winning side makes TWLOCP an amazing experience. It’s also fair to say that it’s a loss of a recruiting weekend (though I would argue the game itself is a draw for players) and the travel favors UF.
As usual, Leg, your sass is only equaled by good points =) I think the reason this win is bigger than the ranking is 1) it was a shootout win, which shows growth in an area that CBN/UF haven’t shown competency in, 2) it was a road win that has plagued his regime, and 3) it was a win that wasn’t CBN’s style of offense. It showed that he’s capable of planning beyond his preferred gameplan. It was less “UF’s biggest win in a long time” and more “CBN’s biggest win in helping his case for belonging in the SEC”.
This game is going to be a doozy. It really seems strength on strength. I'm not a gambling man, and this game isn't going to turn me into one lol. One question, though. I love my orange and blue, but why are we the litmus test for UK being good or not? The streak was brutal, but UF isn't what it once was (not saying we won't be again, but facts are facts). One can point to the coaching carousel and up-and-down UF teams as just as much a factor as UK and Stoops improving year in and out. I guess I don't understand why the end of the UF streak is the feather in the cap instead of being competitive against the broader SEC and the upper tier teams (Bama, UGA, LSU, etc).
This is the funniest comment I've seen on any board all night. Tip of the cap
For everyone complaining that UGA is running a soft schedule, well, it is, but it also made the most sense. Why put your school at a financial and schedule disadvantage if you don't have to? UGA is the two-time defending champion. They have proven they can play with the best. They can pad their schedule and, assuming they run the board, coast into the playoffs. And it's deserved. More to the point, when the 12 team format goes into effect, it'll be even easier to get in. If the whole SEC can step up, getting two+ teams in each year is almost a given. Strength of schedule isn't as hard a factor at that point.
Lemme ask this. CBN is the disaster you say he is. The class he's holding together falls apart. It's time to pull the plug...where does UF go? Who do you think you can poach? There's no proven commodity hitting the market this off season that we know of, so you have to hope for a fat contract. But who is realistically going to take the UF job when they go through coaches like tissue?
I'm with you on this. I love the OBC, but to turn the season over to a walk on freshman in game one on the road against a top 15 team is a hard pill.
Well, I would have liked a different outcome. But we do need to put things into perspective. We knew going in that Mertz was a plate warmer before the season started. He played better in the second half. Ish. But we knew what we had. All you can hope is he gets the jitters out and gets smarter. Defense, for being young and with a new DC, played better than I expected. There's promise there. O-line is in trouble. No protection. Lots of miscues. Someone needs to ride their tails all week. Napier needs to hire an OC. He has the CEO chops, but him calling his own plays isn't working. Let the ego go and move on. Overall, playing on the road, far west, against a top 15 team, with a new look defense and lots of unprovens on offense was a recipe for disaster. This was a scenario where we needed a cupcake to cut our teeth on to get acclimated. If this is the worst game we have all season, I'll take it. Watch the film, learn from your mistakes, improve each week. You have McNeese St next week to practice organist. Make it count.