dixieduck

Mark Stoops. $8.6M a year, right? But in addition to actually owning their own NIL, shocking, players should not be paid? Right? I like Stoops and what he has done at Kentucky but $8.6M for mediocrity says a lot about today's society's surfeit supply of money for some and the 'everyone gets a trophy' monetary reward system. We will see a 32-team Super Conference with each team adopted by an NFL team so that recruiting will go away in favor of an HS draft, players will be members of the NFL Union, there will be bargained restrictions on transfers, a salary cap but no restraint on NIL deals, and CFB coaching salaries will plummet. The schools that assign all indicia of their respective football programs will be indemnified against football-related litigation. Where else but in ridiculous salary CFB could a guy with Stoops's record earn $8.6M? And the days of linear overpayment deals are also going away in favor of eye-on-the-prize streaming payments. The most-watched teams will, at least when it comes to CFB be the best rewarded. This will leave the Vandy's behind. Kentucky will be on the cusp of making the Big Boy cut. Bear Bryant long ago left Lexington and under the current format of CFB, Kentucky will not be getting a sniff of an SEC title. Perhaps a shot in the 12-team field but Kentucky is still looking up at a big number of teams in order to get one of the 6 or 7 at large bids. Make no mistake. I wish Stoops and Kentucky football success.

Reno, tough is it not to see the SEC being treated as an average football conference and not the be-all and end-all? What's to write about? How great UGA, Bama, and LSU have looked. The great QB play? USC(e) ve Miss State? Kentucky at Vandy? BTW, it's the University of Oregon and not vice versa. UO = Oregon. OU = Oklahoma. And until the Ducks (if ever) win a football title OK does not deserve to be confused with Oregon. However, we do have a great mascot in Eugene.

EXACTLY! The Pac had the chance to bury the B12 as a P5 competitor but passed because B12 teams were not worthy of being members of an 'Elite Club." This kind of rampant hubris on its own warranted the Pac-12 going away. But in its closing act, The Pac-12 is 2023's Conference of Quarterbacks. 3 games Saturday feature 6 undefeated Pac-12 teams going head-to-head. With 8 teams ranked and a 9 game conference schedule, The Pac-12 is about to begin eating its own. Please, do not tell me it's OK to play Nowhere State the penultimate game of the regular season because the SEC gauntlet is like no other. If the SEC played 9 conference games this season would it have enough teams eligible to fill its bowl allotment?

The Left Coast Dawgs are doing just fine with a QB who cannot be Penixed up. How about Matt Hayes publishes a redux of his take on the SEC having the best QBs in the nation in 2023? I love it when CFB experts chime in. OK. Ohio State is the #1 seed and Notre Dame with an apparent loss to Ohio State is the 3 seed with only playing 12 games. If this happens ND needs to be playoff-tossed in 2026 unless it joins a conference or plays 13 games with 10 games vs. P4 opponents. The SEC will have a team in the 2023 Final 4. UGA can win ugly as long as it wins.

My Devil Dog friend. What happened with Greg Sankey's NCAA Transition Committee? I thought the committee recommended that P5 and G5 CFB and CBB break away from NCAA governance. All I have seen out of new NCAA Prez Charlie Baker so far is a fallback to the bad old days of senseless, inconsistent, NCAA decision-making. USC was hosed. I was happy to see that neither Ole Miss nor Tennessee were hosed over for running, unlike the Reggie Bush paid-not-to-play situation, true pay-for-play programs. Especially, in light of NIL. BTW, I believe Matt Hayes was a guy who in the preseason suggested that the SEC would have the best QBs in 2023. The prediction was senseless then and even more so now looking at 8 Conference of QBs teams ranked in the Week 2 top 25. And Arizona and Cal were oh so close to making it worse for the SEC. Is the SEC down? Maybe short term but long term, heck no. The SEC has an unperfect storm season of not having top-drawer QBs while the Pac-12 (RIP) has a great group of QBs playing in 2023 who for the most part will be gone, as will the conference SMH, come 2024. Anyone tossing dirt on the SEC is insane. And the SEC still has an excellent chance to win another title. Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State will beat one another up. Playing 9 conference games in a conference with 8 teams ranked will take its toll on the Pac-12. All the best to the Bayou Bengals and I still have hopes that my future bet, LSU winning the West before East and West go away, will come to fruition.

UGA's record speaks for itself. But 8, Eight, Ocho Pac-12 teams ranked in the Week 2 AP Poll? Who knew? Pac-12 6-3 vs. P5. SEC 3-6. And 2 of the SEC wins came in close games vs. Cal and Arizona. How did Pac-12 'leadership' screw this up?

His Dad has already begun negotiating Caleb's first NFL deal. After 2023, he gone. Especially with being dinged up in 2022.

Tickets on the aftermarket are selling for more in Boulder than in Tuscaloosa. CU averaged 17,000 fans at home last season and has sold out the 2023 season ticket allotment. Back-to-back Big Noon kickoffs for a team that went 1-11 in 2022. CU wins Saturday and qualifies for a bowl game and you can bet that Prime will be getting a pay raise. He won't be going anywhere for a least a year with his son Shedeur back and playing for a top draft position in 2024. He has already said that he wants nothing to do with the NFL. And with his blood cancer condition, why would he want to be part of the SEC pressure cooker? He has a far easier path to the expanded playoff in the B12 than he would have in the SEC.

OK point but the LSU and So Car Ds? The LSU run game? The SO Car OL? The Florida OL giving up 5 sacks with the Utes 2 best DL guys out of the game? Robbie Ashford looking better than a B1G refugee? Vandy? Mizzou? Ole Miss at Tulane should be fascinating and Auburn, SMH, is +6.5 at Cal. CAL! Not every SEC team is a titan. BTW, IMO, with 7 OOC games vs. Power 5 opponents this Saturday I expect the Pac-12 (RIP) to return to planet Earth. But the Cal-Tigers game and Arizona at MS ST should both be competitive football games.

Florida State is overrated! Mea culpa Seminoles.

Ron, Auburn is +6.5 at Cal! Cal looked surprisingly good at No Texas but to be the favorite in this game? Who knew? Pac-12 (RIP) 2-0 vs. The Varsity and the SEC 1-3? The World Turned Upside Down?

The Pac-12 (RIP), 13-0 after Week 1, is not going gentle into that good night. 2 of the biggest Week 1 surprises were Cal's easy victory at North Texas and Arizona's D in the Wildcats win. Auburn in Strawberry Canyon and Arizona in front of the cowbells could both be better games than preseason expected. The over/under on more Auburn fans at the Cal game than Golden Bears fans. I like Auburn covering the Over.

Again, hats off to UF for scheduling an H+H with Utah. Mertz had a personal game-high of 333 yards. But it took 44 passes to reach 333 and he was put on his back 5 times. I thought the UF OL would be much better than it paled last night. 13 rush yards is not good. Utes were missing the starting QB, best WR, and starting center, and the shot-caller on D went down in the first series. This game should have been as close as last season's game. But as Hayes notes, and you'd have to be blind not to see it, the coaching on O, D, and special teams (what a gaffe!) was awful. UF fans deserve better. Some coaches, Nick Saban from Toledo, Unban Meyer from BGSU and the then MW Utes, can step up from the G5 and never miss a beat. 2 years in it doesn't look like Napier is one of these guys. You can bet that the negative recruiting of Florida's 2024 'commitments' will be off the charts from now until signing day.

Not big enough. I need 45 points for the Over. Utes 31 - Gators 17. No need to kick an FG to keep the scoring streak going.

1. Hope all Florida players and staff families came through the hurricane OK? 2. Congrats on Florida getting on an airplane for an OOC game for the first time in 38 years. Great work by the Florida staff having the Gators fly out on Wednesday and practice at North Texas. 3. Even without Rising, Kuithe, and with Mertz trying to play better in a new home, I bet the Over 44. 44 is a low, low number for today's style of college football. 4. I've been to RE Stadium for a Ducks game. Like Autzen, it is a small stadium by SEC standards, but the crowd is boisterous especially the Mighty Utah Student Section. They can MUSS you up. And the altitude is a factor. 5 I love it when SEC teams trip West as part of an H+H series. Tennessee visiting Autzen was great and being able to watch the Ducks in Knoxville was a pleasure indeed. I hope both teams stay healthy and we see a game as good as the 2022 game in The Swamp.

If it pleases the court, allow me to introduce my Exhibit 'A' of SEC preseason GIGO. Did anyone pay attention to the sorry teams FSU beat to end the season, including a 6-6 Oklahoma team that FSU defeated 35 - 32? Preseason ranking-wise, 2023 FSU is 2022"s A+M.

Thanks, Matt. Terrific questions. As a guy who is a Ducks fan and had to put up with No O in Mari, before he went MIA, (thank goodness) I had a front-row seat to watching a recruiting champ and a coaching chump. The Pac-12 (RIP) is as deep as it ever has been. And I like that Puddles is flying under the radar. Oregon has a blue chip roster superior to that of SC and gets the Trojans in Autzen (with the hate meter somewhat cooled off) in November. It's all about Bo Nix staying healthy. BTW, I see Oregon joining the Power 2 (at least money-wise, SEC is the Power on field 1) not at a discount but instead, paying a premium for a future media money commodity bet. And Alabama going away? Come On Man! Let's Play Ball!

If Notre Dame does not agree to play 13 games with 10 against Pac-4 teams its undeserved most-favored-nation Playoff status needs to go. To win a Power 4 conference title the champ has to play 13 games. As Steve Spurrier dais years ago: I went to a meeting of college conference commissioners and for some reason, I couldn't figure out, the Notre Dame athletic director was in attendance.

My bad. That's 108 years which is still a long time.

mrtruth, you speak the truth. Why would the SEC want to add BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Wake, UVA, VA Tech, and even Miami? And it is time for the B1G and the SEC to give Notre Dame an ultimatum. Play 13 games with at least 10 games versus Power 4 teams or you are out of playoff consideration. And with a Power 4 in place, why reserve 6 playoff spots for conference champions when 1 spot for a G5 school keeps the lawyers and legislators off of the Power 4 backs?

If you are keeping score, it's the Pac-4. Fox played this perfectly. Purloined the LA schools and did not bid against itself. Fox waited for the Pac Commissioner to come up with a terrible media deal (which Fox helped with by not being in the mix to buy Pac-10 inventory) and then swooped in to buy the Pac-10's biggest brands, Oregon and UW at a discount. Although, as a Ducks fan I see Oregon and UW paying a premium on a future media commodity bet. Puddles has found a B1Gger pond and travel concerns are somewhat abated by having 3 West Coast partners. Two decades of terrible leadership and terrible business decisions led to Puddles finding a new place to roost and the good ship Pac-12 after 123 years has gone the way of the Titanic.

Spot On! But I am hoping that LSU puts this season's A+M, FSU, in its place right out of the gate.

Geaux Tigers! The Pac-12 is flailing and failing but I have my LSU wins the West bet to cling to. SC lost to Utah in the conference champ game in 2022 because of William's dinged ankle. Right? It lost to Utah for the same reason it lost to Tulane. A matador defense. Ole. And SC was in the champ game because it missed Oregon and UW, not the case this season But SC did get 1 Pac-12 bon voyage gift. SC has the final week of the regular season off while UW plays WSU in the Apple Cup and Oregon plays OR St in the Civil War. And the Pac-12 also handed UCLA the easiest conference slate. Pac-12 - See foot, shoot!

bubba, Where did you find my photo?

bubba, 131 G5, and P5 programs would love to have Saint Nick's and Bama's 'problems' heading into 2023.

OT - I'm shocked that TN will not receive a bowl ban for paying recruits before NIL arrived. I was also shocked at what Ole Miss, compared to USC, received in penalties for Freeze running a pay-for-play program. UNC had academic fraud for over a decade: crickets. Ohio State was dinged a bowl for guys trading gear for tattoos. Oregon was dinged scholarships for using a 'runner' to help with recruiting. Yet, it was just fine for Cam's old man to sell his services. The NLRB has filed complaints against USC and the Pac-12 and Northwestern for failing to properly categorize college athletes as employees. It costs money to defend these complaints and again it appears that all is well in the ACC and the SEC. Male Bovine Excrement!

This, and with divisions going away in 2024 it will be far more difficult for NW to ever return to the B1G champ game. And more difficult with SC, which plays at NW in 2024, and UCLA coming on board. Also, a 9th conference game means that NW will not win 6 games every season to make a bowl and if it makes a bowl game it will be an off-the-radar game. This gig is the SEC's Vanderbilt job.

But NW has had 2 back to back miserable no-bowl seasons and its 2024 recruiting to date is off the radar. Now, with this turmoil and SC and UCLA coming on board? David Shaw at an elite academic institution called it quits when he in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, he couldn't compete. NW is a classic 'development program' that every so often will rise up but with the B1G losing divisions in 2024 NW won't have the comfort of playing in the B1G W.

Spot on ZZ, Tommy Rees would be making a long-term mistake by taking the NW job. And David Shaw has had his fill of trying to compete at an elite institution in the day and age of NIL. Within a decade when players are deemed to be employees and not student-athletes my guess is that schools like NW, Stanford, Duke, and Vandy among others will go the way of the Ivy League/D3. CFB will consolidate into NFL-Lite. Rees as the Bama OC will be far more in the limelight than he would be as the HC at NW.

B1G, with 3 media companies, Fox, CBS, NBC/Peacock, and poaching the LA schools, comes close to the SEC $ wise but on the fields of play, baseball diamond, softball diamond, men's and women's CBB, track and field, golf, etc. Without the LA schools, the B1G media deal would be no more than $50M per team per annum. Add $ and results and we are living in a Power 1 world.