Merry Christmas Eve, y’all!

I hope everyone has a fun, safe holiday weekend, full of food, friends and family. Whether you’re traveling or not, stay safe and enjoy the time spent with loved ones!

Thank you so much for reading my work throughout the year. I hope you have enjoyed it. I’ll keep the stories coming for the rest of 2021 and into 2022, too, so don’t worry!

For today, let’s dive into your questions for this week’s Mailbag:

Robert:

Rank all the potential College Football Playoff National Championship Game matchups in order of how exciting they’d be.

With 2 semifinal games to be played on New Year’s Eve (assuming all goes well and there are no COVID-19 issues), that leaves us with 4 possible title game matchups.

Here’s how I’d rank them by order of my interest:

  1. Alabama vs. Georgia – Duh. Rematch of 2017’s title game, 2 SEC teams. Nick Saban vs. Kirby Smart. What’s not to like?
  2. Michigan vs. Alabama – Any chance to see Jim Harbaugh vs. the SEC, I’m here for it. Imagine if he took down 2 SEC behemoths en route to a title? That would shut up a lot of Harbaugh haters. Or, Saban would potentially win yet another title and end a dream season by the Wolverines.
  3. Michigan vs. Cincinnati – It would also be interesting to see neither SEC team make the final. Could you imagine the hot takes that would flow forth from anti-SEC media members if both Alabama and Georgia lost? That would be wild!
  4. Georgia vs. Cincinnati – Meh. I’m sure this would be a fun defensive battle, but Georgia and Cincinnati just played in the Sugar Bowl last year. I’d still watch, of course, as we’d either get Georgia’s first title since 1980 or the first-ever Group of 5 champion.

So, basically, all of those matchups are pretty great. Some are just slightly better than others. It’ll be interesting to see what happens on New Year’s Eve!

@SChinni12:

Who have been the players you’ve been most surprised by in SEC hoops so far?

I have a couple of guys who I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this year. First and foremost is LSU’s Tari Eason. He has become the team’s top scorer in his first season after transferring from Cincinnati.

It’s not like he was scorching the nets at Cincinnati, either. Last year, he averaged 7.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Bearcats. A solid player, but not the guy he has become in Baton Rouge.

The other guy is Wendell Green Jr. at Auburn. He came over this year from Eastern Kentucky, where he averaged 15.8 points, 5 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. So far for the Tigers, he’s still averaging 5 assists and 3.4 rebounds, but his scoring has gone down to under 12 points per game.

Still, he’s doing exactly what the Tigers need him to do – provide leadership and scoring ability for the second unit while also piling up starter-like minutes. Oh, and he can do stuff like this:

He’s going to continue to be fun to watch as SEC play starts. Oh, and Eason and Green just so happen to face off on opening night of SEC play on Wednesday, Dec. 29. That’s going to be a great game between 2 of the SEC’s best teams!

Cole:

A 2-part question here:
1. Between Texas A&M and Georgia, who has the tougher challenge in replacing their defensive coordinator?
2. If Kirby Smart decides to hire from the outside instead of hiring Will Muschamp as DC or using Muschamp and Glenn Schumann as co-defensive coordinators, who do you see Georgia hiring?

Starting with your first question, I think Texas A&M will have the tougher time replacing Mike Elko, who left for the Duke head coaching gig. Yes, Georgia will miss Dan Lanning, who is now the head coach at Oregon, but as you mention in question No. 2, I think the Bulldogs have some great in-house candidates to replace him in Schumann and Muschamp.

I think the Aggies will have to bring someone in from outside to replace Elko. Meanwhile, I’d bet that Georgia will promote either Muschamp or Schumann to the full-time role.

But, to answer your second question – if Georgia does look elsewhere for Lanning’s replacement, how about Cincinnati DC Mike Tressel or NC State DC Tony Gibson? Both of those guys led strong defensive units this past season.

If you want a wildcard pick, how about Florida assistant Christian Robinson? C-Rob is a former Georgia player, so he’d be a popular guy in Athens.

@Dobbe8:

What are the best meats to cook for Christmas dinner?

Growing up, we always had ham on Christmas. I haven’t had it for years now, but that would still rank pretty high on my list.

This year, on Christmas Eve, we’re having steaks. Can’t beat that! Saturday, my wife is cooking some sort of secret seafood dish she won’t tell me about. Then, on Sunday, we’re doing a seafood paella with our neighbor. I cannot wait to eat way too much paella!

Turkey is a fine option, but that’s more of a Thanksgiving thing to me. On Christmas, you should have whatever your favorite food is. Seafood, steak, ham, turkey, whatever – it’s all good!

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.