Good job, Baylor.
The school isn't just caving in to Texas A&M's "Waaahhhh, Texas gets more attention than us so we're gonna leave" move to the SEC.
For one, as noted previously, the school released a communiqué pointing out the tradition of football in the state, and how A&M's scamper is a negative all the way around for everybody involved.
Baylor won't blindly sign off on letting the Aggies go by relinquishing legal rights. OK, now we got a battle going. Lawyers will be involved.
The “ouch” in the Bears' indignation? They apparently bought all of 830 tickets for their Oct. 15 game at Texas A&M.
A Baylor spokesman said many fans bought their tickets from other sources, and certainly that makes some sense, as does the requisite skepticism about one's own team and waiting to make plans.
And the schools are less than two hours apart. Some folks make game-week decisions.
Nevertheless, it's nice that somebody stood up, for whatever reason. The SEC so easily welcoming A&M doesn't show any foresight, and more analysts recently have come aboard the "A&M doesn't add a lick to the SEC" mentality that's been expressed here from the start.
I still say in a decade or so, we'll all be back where we were, and maybe better, with the conference's better aligned geographically.
Of course, what intelligence have I seen to inspire such optimism?
None. But that's not the point.
KICKIN IT OFF
South Carolina at Georgia: Oh, who the hell knows?
We thought there was an edge with Georgia. We thought there'd be changes.
We were wrong.
South Carolina is on the verge of shedding the Chicken Curse once and for all, if that didn't happen last year. Traditionally, USCE would've somehow botched it during a year when UGA, UT and UF were subpar. But the Gamecocks didn't.
The offense is rolling, the defense has been USCE's staple the past few years, and Georgia has yet to shed the 30 pages of Mark Richt's playbook that need shedding.
Note: Mike Bobo can't call what ain't in there, and Richt determines that.
UGA defenders still tackle like they have stingers and cramps.
Who the hell knows?
It's hard to say how much pride UGA players have in themselves, because it's never about the coach. We're talking major college athletes. It's never about anybody else.
That has to change in Athens for Richt, and for this season. It's still about the quality of play, and it's hard to be optimistic, but it's not over.
South Carolina 30, Georgia 20.
Georgia Tech at Middle Tennessee State: Playing a mid-major on the road only feeds the beast.
MTSU gave Purdue all sorts of trouble in a 27-24 loss a week ago. The Boilermakers are only a decent team (5-7 a year ago, with 19 starters back), but any mid-major playing a big boy on the road and within a field goal is notable. The Blue Raiders gave up a late touchdown and then had a field goal blocked.
So that was a win everywhere but the scoreboard, and we can expect a confident team at home against an ACC team that probably isn't much better than Purdue.
MTSU was picked to finish tied for third with Louisiana-Monroe in the Sun Belt, behind Florida International and Troy.
The secondaries better be ready. MTSU's Logan Kilgore threw for 330 against Purdue, and Tech shocked the world with 365 yards passing over Western Carolina. Yes, there's a difference in the level of competition for MTSU and GT, which makes this pretty interesting.
Will Paul Johnson call for that many passes again?
This is a definite upset alert: MTSU has a veteran offensive line, can run the ball, and is perhaps above average in special teams.
Georgia Tech 31-28.
Virginia Tech at East Carolina: ECU was good enough to take control of South Carolina, but not good enough to keep it. Virginia Tech beat a I-AA team by 53, but one of the best I-AA teams out there, App State. Will Tech still be that hungry, or overlook a team that gave up 56 points last week? Did South Carolina's comeback hurt ECU or piss 'em off?
Tech 40-27.
Cincinnati at Tennessee: The Bearcats whipped Austin Peay 72-10. Anybody scoring 72 points is worth noting. Tennessee's I-AA win for the opener was 42-16, and the Vols aren't at 100 percent strength-wise. I still say the Vols are going to be an underrated team in the SEC East, and there may be a bump along the way.
Cincinnati 27-26.
Notre Dame at Michigan: The Wolverines were pretty mediocre in the 34-10 win over Western Michigan, and we know what Notre Dame did.
So the first night game at Michigan, reportedly the toughest ticket in school history, and an already tight Notre Dame group is tighter.
Michigan also has some pressure to prove it's better than it looked, but also that this is a different team. And the Wolverines have won the last two in the series.
Michigan 31-24.
Today's two "call the bookie" games:
Oregon State at Wisconsin (-20.5): OSU was humiliated at home by I-AA Sacramento State last week. Wisconsin is a Big Ten favorite and darkhorse national title candidate. The Badgers want a big lead to work on depth and momentum, and will pull away in the second half.
Stanford (-18.5) at Duke: Oh yeah. Ohhh yeah. Stanford is No. 6, and has the conference opener in a week at Arizona. Duke? Poor Duke. Lost at home to I-AA Richmond. Stanford beat San Jose State 57-3. Duke is better than SJS. But not by much. There is plenty of blue in the Blue Devils.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
Brian Kelly is catching it at Notre Dame because cameras caught him swearing like, ya know, a major college football coach.
Answering the question for the first time after the loss to South Florida and the smartest Holtz, he got defensive (albeit not as much as he needed his team to be).
“Did I hit somebody? Did I strike somebody? Is that what you’re referring to? I’m asking specifically what you’re referring to.”
Then he said he needed to be more aware of the cameras. OK, that's just silly. Don't tell me that attention is a new thing.
And just as bleepin' silly is that it's a bleepin' news story. Watching Urban Meyer on ESPN on Saturday almost lecture Kelly on such naughty language was hysterical.
Kelly may need to work on composure more than "worrying" about cameras. If you are just up your players' backsides constantly, you'll lose 'em.
BK, if you took take a big-boy job without thinking about the pressure and attention, you're in trouble. And, um, Notre Dame has a network. What'd you expect? ...
Uh oh, ACC: Central Florida is a consensus favorite over Boston College. Sure, the game is at UCF, but still. This could be a sluggish weekend for the conference. ...
Oddity: The Big Ten/11/12 didn't survey the media or coaches for a preseason poll.
Nevertheless, the Cleveland Plain Dealer polled beat writers, and division winners were Nebraska and Wisconsin. Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State got first-place votes in their division. ...
All you "here's the next hot coach" groupies, file this observation from Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times:
"... Kelly’s ire quickly reached a new level in the opener against South Florida because, I believe, he’s coming to the realization that he inherited a group of nice guys from solid backgrounds that he can’t turn into his kind of football player.
"Notre Dame has talent. They have good football players. But the roster Kelly inherited is loaded with soft-spoken, easy-going, type-B personalities. ...
" ... it’s seems as if it’s finally evident to him that he can’t turn these players into the kind of overachievers that made him the national coach of the year at Cincinnati. ...
"It remains to be seen whether Brian Kelly can even recruit the type of player he needs at Notre Dame. But considering his considerable resume, you at least have to give Kelly a chance to get his own players on the field to find out if he can work the same magic at Notre Dame that he did at Cincinnati and Central Michigan."
Bingo. Not everybody is a perfect fit, just because a coach is successful. People forget about personalities, and about what made a coach good. It's the same thing with assistants who don't make good head coaches. Doesn't mean they're not a good coach. ...
Dear JoePa, Please retire at the end of this season. People are almost patronizing you by treating you like an 85-year-old, and you haven't barked at anybody for no reason in awhile. Nobody wants you carried off the field on a stretcher and that be the last public sighting. Don't worry, Penn State will survive. Trust me. ...
Last week wasn't bad prediction-wise.
Obviously missed UGA-Boise State and Notre Dame-South Florida, but nailed – to some point - Virginia Tech by 27 over App State (Tech won 66-13), Florida State by 40 over La.-Monroe (FSU won 34-0), LSU over Oregon by 9 (LSU won 40-27), South Carolina by 24 over East Carolina (USCE won 56-37), Houston by 12 over UCLA (UH won 38-34), North Carolina by 17 over James Madison (UNC won 42-10).
UNC was better than expected, VaTech may have been in the statement-making mood, and Houston probably should have won by more. …
Dear Big Ten, puhleeeeze drop the names of the divisions - good God, they're so damn stupid, I can't even type 'em - as sooooon as humanly possible. You look pretty goofy with em, and no, nobody takes them seriously. Why you expected otherwise is sad. ...
An offering from Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:
"Fired University of Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl just accepted a job as marketing vice president for a grocery store chain. I'm thinking the name of the grocery store is Winn (at all cost) Dixie."
OOPS
I thought I'd already offered the Baylor missive with accompanying observations, but didn't. So here:
Well said. It is, though, another reminder of our species lack of growth at times, that college sports are a bit overemphasized. But man, it's hard to disagree with any point in there.
Naturally, a faction of the target, burntorangenation.com, has this reply:
"So, Baylor, good luck with all that, and may there be a trampoline to catch you when you fall from the Big 12 tree."
What's a good middle finger icon to send to Texas? With that arrogance, the Horns wouldn't be a bad fit in the SEC.
Nevertheless, may there be nothing but losses and bad ratings for the Horns and ESPN. And on Dec. 3, wear some green and become a Baylor fan when the Bears host the Greedhorns in Waco.
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