We can begin to look forward to college football
Realizing it’s still really early, the Vegas odds on who will win the Southeastern Conference this year are, surprise, Alabama at 5-7, LSU at 11-2, Auburn and Georgia at 7-1, Florida at 10-1, and Tennessee at 12-1. Just so you’ll know. I’d have to say, with the exception of Auburn, those are as close to realistic as I’ve seen anywhere. Of course, the preseason story of the year will be the Georgia quarterback battle between last year’s starter Jacob Eason and entering true freshman Jake Fromm.
Miscellaneous
New Mexico has fired former Georgia Tech star player Craig Neal as head basketball coach, and supposedly one of the contacts the Lobos have made is with Georgia’s Mark Fox. Fox might be interested since he’s been given little respect from fans in this state. … And speaking of new coaches, former NBA star Patrick Ewing, who played his college career for
John Thompson at Georgetown, was a surprise hire for the Hoyas job. They were turned down after contacting Mike Brey at Notre Dame and Shaka Smart at Texas.
Out & about
The AP All-America basketball team was announced and included Kansas’ Frank Mason, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan, Villanova’s Joel Hart and North Carolina’s Justin Jackson. … Second baseman Rougned Odor’s new contract with the Texas Rangers included a bonus of two very expensive horses . ... The NCAA gets full credit for forcing the
North Carolina legislature to repel its controversial “bathroom bill,” which discriminated against gays and lesbians. The state is now eligible to host
NCAA events in the future, thereby avoiding a penalty which would have all athletic events sponsored by the NCAA to be played out of the state until 2022. … Dayton has hired Anthony Grant, the former coach at Alabama, to be its new basketball coach to replace Archie Miller, who signed a seven-year deal with Indiana. … The Coastal Carolina cheerleaders have been suspended for alleged prostitution.
Here & there
Here’s what UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma had to say when his team’s 111-game win streak was broken by Mississippi State last week:
“I’m not surprised. We were playing well above our years all year. It finally caught up with us.” … It looks as if the New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady may be setting aim at the record held by Steve DeBerg. DeBerg started a game in the NFL at the age of 44 — the oldest QB to do that. Brady, now 40, says he thinks he can play for six or seven more years. … For some reason, Clemson starting quarterback and vanquisher of Alabama, Deshaun Watson, was asked to leave a bar in Tuscaloosa by some fans and ex-players. My question, of course, is what was Watson doing in Tuscaloosa in a bar? … And by the way, did you realize that Mississippi State lost to UConn by 60 points only a year before breaking the Huskies’ streak? … The Wall Street Journal reported the financial worth of 10 college basketball teams. North Carolina was 10th at $143 million, Duke was fourth at $190 million, Indiana came in third at $278 million, Louisville was second at $320 million and Kentucky was first at $342 million.
Quoting ’em
Former Southern Cal and Alabama assistant, and now head coach at Florida Atlantic, Lane Kiffin, said: “Pete Carroll’s best Southern Cal team would have beaten Nick Saban’s best Alabama team.”
Spring forward
The SEC office reports that ESPN is surrounding Georgia’s Red & Black game on April 22 with six additional television commentators and an ESPN.com writer to shadow and participate as referees throughout the day. Kevin Carter, Chris Doering, Brock Huard, Barrett Jones, Greg McElroy, Maria Taylor and ESPN.com’s Ed Aschoff will take fans inside prep meetings, referee positioning & roles, as well as game calls. The SEC Coordinator of Football Officials Steve Shaw will serve as the game’s “white hat.” He will be wired and also wear a head cam for additional officiating viewpoints. SEC Network Plus plans to stream a singular Ump Cam view throughout. Traditional game coverage on the SEC Network will be provided by Dave Neal and Matt Stinchcomb. Is there such a thing as too much information?