Forget Coach Prime.

How about NCAA President Prime?

While everybody was losing their mind over the Michigan Mess, Deion Sanders calmly and correctly explained why it doesn’t matter. At all.

Now, if he could explain what’s wrong with his team, South Carolina, Clemson, Mississippi State’s defense and Oklahoma, that would be tremendous.

(I would add Florida and USC to that list, but I know exactly what’s wrong with the Gators and Trojans.)

Georgia? Oh, Dan Mullen, there’s nothing wrong with these Dawgs.

Those are just some of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after a telling Week 9 in and around the SEC.

10. Who called this play? Oh, that’s right …

When your head coach doubles as the offensive coordinator, does anybody in the building ever 2nd guess?

In fairness, Florida got absolutely hosed on the review that overturned a 1st down and left the Gators with a heck of a decision.

Also in fairness, this was Billy Napier’s best response? On 4th-and-1 at your own 34, on the first play of the 2nd quarter in a rivalry game you only trail 10-7?

The rest of the half went about as well as that play-call.

Call it Florida’s “Mertz-case scenario.” After the botched 4th-down call, the next 4 possessions:

  • Georgia scored a TD to go up 17-7
  • Graham Mertz fumbled at Florida’s 11-yard line
  • Georgia scored a TD to go up 24-7
  • Mertz sacked on 3rd down; Georgia blocked punt for safety to go up 26-7

Game. Set. Cocktail Party, on.

Quite the course correction, considering Florida opened the game with a flawless 7-play, 66-yard TD drive to go ahead 7-0 and prompt plenty of premature, albeit regrettable belief on Twitter.

After that, the Gators’ next 18 plays (which included Napier’s call) netted 1 total yard until their final drive of the half. And that drive ended with 3 consecutive incomplete passes from Mertz — mercifully not a 4th, but only because Napier called a timeout and changed his mind after initially deciding to go for it again, this time on 4th-and-10 at midfield. Mertz even looked over to the sideline and gave Napier an “are you sure?” look, which probably prompted the timeout.

The scoreboard accurately told only part of Saturday’s tale: The Dawgs topped 40 points vs. Florida for the 2nd year in a row — the first time in Cocktail Party history that has happened.

Georgia’s talent advantage over Florida already is big enough.

The difference on the sidelines is even bigger. That’s absolutely stunning.

10b. OK, I guess I have to address Mad Man Mullen

I tell my kids all the time: Ignore the noise. Ignore the nonsense.

So I laughed at Dan Mullen’s pregame commentary and promptly ignored it. For the record: Mullen picked Florida to beat Georgia, and said the Dawgs needed other teams to lose to crack the top 4 in the Playoff.

Idiotic on every level and not worth a response, right? Florida coach sticks it to Georgia? Next. Cheap talk is about all Mullen has, considering he went 1-3 vs. Kirby Smart.

Kirby? He couldn’t let it go.

Kirby came off the top rope to knock out 2 Florida coaches in one afternoon.

9. Who needs Brock Bowers?

Well, ultimately, Georgia. Probably. Maybe? Eh, who are we kidding? It doesn’t matter when or whether Bowers returns. Print the 3-peat t-shirts already and pay Pat Riley the trademark fee.

The week began with questions about who would step up, or how many would need to step up, to offset the loss of Bowers, Georgia’s All-Everything tight end.

It didn’t take long to start scribbling in the answers, answers that were there the whole time.

Backup-turned-starter Oscar Delp — the No. 1 tight end recruit in the 2022 class — made a 1-handed leaping catch that looked exactly like something Bowers would have done.

Ladd McConkey turned in a career day — catching 6 balls for 135 yards — most of those coming after easy catches. That included his 54-yard TD, in which he hit the brakes, spun, changed direction and outran several pursuing Gators.

That’s a TD in 2-hand touch, folks.

Dominic Lovett added 4 catches for 83 yards — including a 55-yarder. Those latter 2 numbers were season-highs for the Mizzou transfer.

Bowers’ longest reception of the year is 49 yards, by the way.

To recap: Carson Beck entered the day with 2 completions covering 50 yards this season — and promptly doubled that without Bowers even being on the field, commanding double coverage.

In other words, these other Dawgs? They’re plenty good, too.

8. Prime explanation

I didn’t just agree with everything Coach Prime said in this video about the Michigan Mess, I had the same exact baseball-football thought.

Michigan is not the Houston Astros, in other words. And comparing the teams, the sports is admitting you’ve never stood in the batter’s box and had to make a decision and execute in 4/10ths of a second.

The most difficult part about hitting a baseball isn’t actually hitting a baseball; it’s figuring out which pitch is being thrown and where. You solve that, you solve everything. No guessing. No chasing. It’s not just that the Astros knew when a fastball was coming. They knew when the off-speed stuff designed to get you to chase was coming. So they knew when to lay off, which allowed them to work the count to their advantage.

That scandal was an absolute game-changer because it was so much more precise and reliable than runners at 2nd trying to decipher and relay signs to batters in real time.

I remember talking to Chipper Jones before a Braves playoff game in 1997 about catching up with 100-mph fastballs and he poked me in the chest 3 times — for emphasis — and said, “If YOU know a fastball is coming, YOU could hit it. YOU could hit it.” I told Chipper I appreciated the vote of confidence, but I’m pretty sure he meant if he knew it was coming, he would mash it.

As Prime said, football teams know what’s coming, and if the opponents are good enough, fast enough, powerful enough, it doesn’t matter.

Also … if you’re that damn worried about gridiron espionage, change your signs, stupid.

Or, even better, do what Mike Leach once did and intentionally drop a fake set of plays that your opponent picks up. Run the first play … just when they think they have it solved, run the next play with a surprise option — and celebrate the TD.

7. This just in … yeah, coaches steal …

Watching rival coaches express faux outrage over this is precious.

Why? Coaches steal everything and anything.

They steal players from other programs.

They steal plays, schemes and concepts from other programs.

Heck, they steal other coaches from other programs.

Now they’re shocked and outraged that some (lol, only some) steal signs, too?

6. The real B1G problem

We learned this week that the Big Ten can independently punish Michigan if it finds cause — even before the NCAA finishes its investigation. How? Even if the NCAA wants to crush Michigan this season, the litigation process will stretch into at least 2024, and perhaps longer.

Here’s the big problem with the B1G stepping in and rendering immediate sanctions: What if Michigan beats Ohio State? If the Big Ten, say, declared Michigan ineligible to play in the Big Ten Championship, would the Playoff committee really vote in a 1-loss Ohio State team whose best win was over a 2-loss Notre Dame team — aided by back-to-back coaching mistakes by the Irish?

Ohio State has scored 17 and 20 points against the only 2 above-average teams it has played — Notre Dame and Penn State. Four other Power 5 opponents scored more against the Irish than Ohio State did.

This is not an elite team by any reasonable measure. And that’s before you even add another loss to Michigan to their resume.

If the Big Ten punishes Michigan beyond, say, suspending a coach or 10, it’s running a huge risk of ruining the league’s chance to make the Playoff.

5. 5 biggest fall-guys of 2023

1. Michigan staffer Connor Stalions: He’s an obvious No. 1, but as innocuous as I think these accusations are — adopt NFL rules, allow radio communication, problem solved — there’s no way he did this on his own. And if he did, dude definitely deserves a raise.

2. Arkansas OC Dan Enos: Minutes after Arkansas scored just 3 points in its 6th consecutive loss in Week 8, Boss Hog Sam Pittman fired his new offensive coordinator.

3. USC DC Alex Grinch: Minutes after the Trojans gave up 43 points to Utah in October of 2022, Lincoln Riley should have fired Grinch. Or … after after giving up 45 to UCLA … or 47 to Utah in the Pac-12 title game … or 46 to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl … or 41 to Colorado and Arizona this year … or 48 to Notre Dame in Week 7. Or 49 — 49! — to Cal on Saturday. What, exactly, is Riley waiting for?

I mean, maybe Grinch needs to hire some advance scouts? Never mind …

4. Kentucky QB Devin Leary: The NC State transfer hasn’t been great, but he’s hardly the biggest reason Kentucky’s offense has been stifled this season. Leary threw for 372 yards and 2 TDs Saturday night, and the Cats still lost at home to Tennessee.

5. Clemson QBs: Last year, most of the blame for Clemson’s collapse fell in the lap of former 5-star QB DJ Uiagalelei. The rest fell on OC Brandon Streeter. Uiagalelei transferred, and Streeter was fired. Problem solved, right? Hardly. With a new former 5-star QB (Cade Klubnik) and a new touted OC (Garrett Riley), the Tigers are worse than they were last year. They scored 17 points Saturday and fell to 4-4 after losing to NC State. In what ended up being a 1-score game, Klubnik threw it 50 times. Why? They’ve got nothing else. The problem isn’t the quarterback, people. It’s all the missing skill around him.

4. The 4 Playoff teams are …

The first Playoff poll will be released Tuesday night. Will the committee punish Michigan? It certainly won’t reward the Wolverines.

Here’s how I have it:

1. Georgia, 2. Michigan, 3. Oregon, 4. Florida State

Yes, I know Washington beat Oregon. It was close, it was at Washington, and, frankly, Oregon has responded better than Washington since.

Oklahoma’s football loss to Kansas — yes, it felt necessary to specify the sport — crushed the Big 12’s Playoff hopes — which benefits the Pac-12’s bid to get 2 in the field.

I’m so over Ohio State. I’ve been over Ohio State. Claim them. Just know this: Kyle McCord has no chance to take down Michigan.

3. Caleb Williams, shut it down. Now

I can hear the outrage all the way down here in lovely Clearwater.

I’ll wait until you finish …

…

…

…

Done?

OK. Every point you just made probably was somewhat rational and might have made sense in Joe Paterno’s day.

We’re a long, long way from 1994, the last time Paterno won the Rose Bowl.

Caleb Williams has a business decision to make — and it’s not a typical business decision.

The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft likely will sign a contract worth more than $40 million.

Do you think NFL GMs are waiting to see what Williams does against Washington, Oregon or UCLA?

No. Williams already is the heavy, heavy favorite to go No. 1 overall in April’s draft. The only way he doesn’t is if he suffers a career-altering injury.

Why take the chance for a team that long ago blew its Playoff shot — and cost you a shot at Heisman history?

I’m not saying shutting it down is the right decision for every NFL hopeful — even though many do before bowl games — but Williams is literally 1 of 1.

So, please, unless you married the first person you kissed, never changed jobs and make 8 figures before the decimal, save the moral outrage for your buddies at the bar.

For the 5 of you who fit that description, I’m easy to find and can’t wait to hear your story.

For everybody else, let the young man do what’s in his best interest, a’ight?

2. I mean, he’s not wrong …

NC State hasn’t been a basketball school since 1983 …

… The problem is, NC State has never been a football school under coach Dave Doeren, either.

Give Doeren credit, though. He picked up win No. 77 against Clemson on Saturday, tying him with Earle Edwards for most wins in NC State history.

But at 5-3, the Pack seem likely to finish with another 8-4 season — which would mark the 10th time in Doeren’s 11 seasons that they lost at least 4 games.

Bottom line: Doeren is just good enough to not get fired. Unfortunately for many frustrated Pack Nation fans who want more, they’re just going to get more Doeren.

1. Wish granted …

Last week in this space, I basically asked our friends at “SEC Shorts” to build a skit around the Michigan Mess.

Needless to say, they did not disappoint.

Enjoy. And you’re welcome.

Can’t wait until the crew takes us inside the Florida coaches’ room to figure out exactly why Napier thought that play might work — and see what kinds of alternative plays were rejected.