The Kentucky Derby is this weekend, which is always fun. It’s the only time of the year I drink mint juleps, even though they’re really good.

We should probably make mint juleps a thing for more than just one weekend per year. Just a thought.

You didn’t ask, but I’m going to rank my top-3 Kentucky Derby horse names now:

  1. Raise Cain – Reminds me of Raising Cane’s chicken.
  2. Rocket Can – I don’t know what that means, but it sounds cool.
  3. Skinner – But only if it’s a reference to Principal Skinner of The Simpsons. If not, put Jace’s Road in the third spot because I had a friend named Jace growing up.

So that’s that. Let’s hope no more horses die this week, at the very minimum.

On that dark note, let’s move on to your questions for this week’s SDS Mailbag:

Josh:

What should the penalty be for a school when its fans storm the field?

The SEC has suggested a system where a team forfeits a future home game against an opponent when its fans storm the field. That seems insanely harsh to me. The players on the field have nothing to do with the behavior of the fans, so why should they be punished?

I think the current system is fine. Make the schools write a hefty check when their fans storm the field after a big win, donate that money to charity and get on with your lives.

The SEC has been very reasonable with a number of things under Greg Sankey’s leadership. If the league takes a hardline stance on field-storming, though, it might be the first time I’ve disagreed with Sankey (other than lax punishments for officials who have utterly botched games).

It’s a college football game. There’s more passion in a college football stadium than almost anywhere else you can possibly imagine. Let people have fun when their school pulls off a seemingly impossible win.

If you have to impose rules, though, make it so that only unranked teams can have fans storm the field when they beat top-10 opponents. That should only apply at the Power 5 level, but it would at least address some of these very questionable field stormings that have happened lately.

My vote is just to keep the fine system in place. It’s … and forgive the pun here … fine.

Robert:

Who is the most underrated team in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 rankings for the 2023 season? Most overrated?

I’m not going to shock anyone when I say Texas is the most overrated team in the ESPN top 25. The Longhorns no longer have do-it-all RB Bijan Robinson and, even with him in 2022, finished a disappointing 8-5.

Why does that warrant the No. 10 spot in the rankings? Make it make sense!

As far as underrated teams go, I’ll mention Washington, the No. 12 squad in the ESPN top 25. Michael Penix Jr. is a Heisman contender and the Huskies had all of their early draft-eligible players return for 2023. That sort of continuity is huge.

The Huskies are a team that could compete for a spot in the Pac-12 title game. I’d expect them to face USC there, but the Trojans have some holes that could be exploited.

One thing is for sure – I’d rather see Washington in that No. 10 spot in the ESPN rankings than Texas.

Ricky:

What’s your take on the new College Football Playoff schedule starting with the expanded field in 2024?

I love it. New Year’s Day should be full of meaningful college football. That used to be the case, as the New Year’s 6 bowl games were, at one point, important enough for top players to actually suit up for.

Expanding the Playoff makes those games that important again, and I’m here for it. I can’t wait to watch the most meaningful Rose Bowl since Georgia took down Oklahoma in double overtime in the CFP semifinals in the 2018 edition of the Granddaddy of Them All.

That’s the sort of drama we’re going to get in 2024 and 2025 when the Rose Bowl is once again a game with major stakes.

I’ve been on board with CFP expansion for a while now. I think having it at 12 teams is perfect. I wouldn’t suggest expanding it any further, but we’ll see what others think about that.

All I know is I’m excited to watch college football on New Year’s Day again!

@Dobbe8:

I’ve been watching “Welcome to Wrexham,” about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying a Welsh soccer team. What pro sports team in the U.S. would you buy if you could?

Well, I am technically an “owner” of the Green Bay Packers. However, they don’t really listen to me when it comes to my suggestions on day-to-day player operations.

I’d buy the St. Louis Cardinals. I love St. Louis as a city and I love that baseball teams play 162 games a year. For 6 months a year, there are games nearly every night.

Sitting outside on summer nights, watching baseball, sipping beer, hanging out with friends? What could be better than that?

If I owned the Cardinals this year, I would have actually paid for the team to have a pitching staff, but hey, maybe someday the club will take my advice on that.

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