Happy Gump Day, one and all.
Let’s dive into the Foosball this morning. It’s of the Debil.
Better than morning coffee.
The Alabama Crimson Tide checked in last night at No. 4 in the CFP rankings, mirroring
its placement in both the AP and Coach’s polls.
We had some words to say about that, and were it not pushing 11:00 Eastern, would have had far more to say. It’s clear there’s helmet bias going on. And the committee is once again cherry-picking and leaning on eyeballs and win/loss records above all else. And, yet again, who you played and how tough the schedule are do not matter a lick.
But worse than all that is how the deck has already been stacked, with the committee reverse-engineering rankings to justify a second B12 team in the playoffs, and ensure an equally unaccomplished Notre Dame team gets a set-aside. Just a coincidence, I’m sure, that this year’s CFP chair is from the Big 12 — just as last year’s was from the Big 10. In no world do these people want to see a half-dozen SEC teams in postseason play.
Some observers see it for what it is, at least. Because, on paper, Vanderbilt belongs in Notre Dame’s spot (and that’s just one of many problems).
…when you put the resumes of these teams side-by-side, Vanderbilt’s outshines Notre Dame’s. The Commodores enjoy the advantage in strength of schedule and strength of record metrics.
Notre Dame’s two losses, one of which occurred at home, came against teams now ranked in the top 15. Vanderbilt’s two losses, both of which occurred on the road, came against teams now ranked in the top 10.
Both of Notre Dame’s losses were close. One of Vanderbilt’s losses was close, albeit after a fourth-quarter rally.
Vanderbilt is the only team with two losses or fewer and a top-25 strength of schedule that’s ranked outside the top 11.
Spare me the eye-test business about Notre Dame’s dominance after opening the season 0-2. The Irish’s schedule eased up significantly after those first two games. Yeah, Notre Dame smashed Arkansas, NC State and Navy. It also struggled to put away meek Boston College.
Remember when Vanderbilt played an ACC team? It shattered Virginia Tech.
That’s just one rebuttal.
Matt Hayes one-upped that, being far less charitable than Toppmeyer, albeit framing it as a further problem the SEC faces in light of the biased selections — the conference essentially has to go through an entire eight-game playoff to even enter the playoffs. It’s called the regular season.
Nothing is going to change until we eliminate the AQ selection process.
But despite the SEC’s insistence, it is naive to think the AQ will will go away. And that is for two reasons 1. the Big 10, who holds a veto alongside the SEC, is whoring itself out to private equity and wants to ensure it has adequate collateral to justify the investment. “What do you have?” Why, we can promise multiple guaranteed playoff appearances, and 2. The only thing that terrifies college administrators more than transparency and fiscal discipline is litigation. No one wants to be on the receiving end of an antitrust suit filed by some G5 program or the ACC, etc. Winning or losing isn’t the point, the point is access.
Mammon is undefeated, Pawwwwwl.
Bront covered the coaches’ weekly conferences yesterday, but one thing has emerged the last 24 hours or so that needs addressing. Indeed, Ryan Grubb addressed it: OU Coach Brent Venables and allegations of the Sooners’ stealing signs.
Lane Kiffin first brought it to light a few weeks ago, when the Rebels went into Norman and upended the Dirt Burglars. But allegations have dogged Venables for years; indeed, that Clemson staff was notorious for stealing signs…and it wasn’t always above-board either. Ohio State called out Venables even in 2020. Hell, it goes back even before then — almost a decade, when opponents in the ACC noticed how late Clemson was at signaling in their defense, only calling it once they had a look at your formation.
“They’ll steal your signals. People don’t want to talk about it, but the teams that gave them fits were NC State and Pitt, because they huddled.”
For what’s it worth, their defense yielded an average of 29.5 points and 430.5 yards in those two games. In the other seven game against ACC teams, they gave up 19.3 points and 321 yards.
Just about every coach has been decorous around the flap, usually saying something to the effect that he’s just good at stealing them, it’s a credit to his coaching, whatever you put on tape is fair game, “technically legal,” etc. But no one trusts him or that Sooner staff, either which really diminishes the fact that it is a talented group and Venables is probably the best defensive coordinator in the game.
Even Ryan Grubb had to address it on Monday:
So, while he’s being called out for it again, at least the rumors aren’t swirling around a la Clemson about how organized the play-calling theft was either. Technically not cheating…for now.
But, Venables is not alone.
Many have wondered how the Texas A&M Aggies — so thoroughly average last season — have morphed into monsters across the defensive front. Turns out Elko, mastermind of Notre Dame’s best units, has been engaging a bit of…advanced scouting as well. Like Venables, it’s not the first time the allegations of “unsavory practices” has popped up either (credit to Mike Leach for that one). Though not the unrepentant bandit of someone like Todd Graham, those who know, know. Would it really be out of character for the guy who boasts the SEC’s only fines for faking injuries to color outside the lines?
There are tens of millions of dollars on the line personally for these coaches — and far more for the school should their program meet success. The temptation is going to be there to cheat, to shade the rules, to steal, to lie. You can set aside any notion of sportsmanship in the SEC, at least. We can’t say that the bad guys outnumber the good ones. But I don’t think we can assume anyone is necessarily completely above-board either.
This sports has some rat bastards, and this conference has more than its share of them. FFS, it’s a league that employed two coaches who killed kids.
Speaking of sharing intel, Arch and Ty were recruited together. They’ve competed with and alongside one another for a decade, as blue chip 5-star signal callers. They’re also very good friends. And, as happens in the pros, they do share intel about upcoming opponents:
Interestingly, in the Red River Shootout this year, the ‘Horns blew the doors off the Sooners on both sides of the ball, with Arch having his best day in a Burnt Orange uniform. Let’s hope whatever Simpson told him about the Dawgs was worth the payoff with OU intel.
For those keeping track at home: Texas employed both huddles and no-huddle quick counts this year. Can’t call in late defenses if you don’t have time or you can’t read the sideline. Steve Sarkisian ain’t a dummy.
Everyone wants to give Nick Saban a job these days. Even the President. And onald Trump has ideas…
Trump said that, while he’s at it, Saban should get involved in fixing college sports.
“I know him, and I got to know him because he brought his team to the White House,” Trump said. “He had the team, you know, he won a lot, and I got to know him. He a fantastic guy. And, you know, he’s somebody that really, they should get involved in college sports in terms of making sure that, you know, it all works out. Because what’s happening is it looks like it’s not working out too well for colleges, for most of the people, and a lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated.
“You know, that’s a shame. It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics and a lot of those training grounds are being lost. And, you know, Nick knows this stuff better than anybody. He’d be — and he was … He’s really active in it. I think they ought to let Nick Saban take a good, strong look at it. And we all, I can tell you from my standpoint, I’d listen to what he has to say, but I know him well and he’s a fantastic guy and what a great coach.”
He inadvertently hit on a key issue with the NIL era too: the elimination of the non-ticketed Olympic sports. The solution was to make Nick Saban figure it out. To McAffee’s credit at least, he tried to pour cold water on that one.
Let’s leave with two pieces of Gump goodness for you.
First, the amazing ‘Bama Basketball hype video:
And, second, this nice little nugget about Tua:
Damn, does that one have the Mafia in their feels too. I’m a Buffalo fan, but even I can see the difference here. Allen has won big at Buffalo. And his highs have been very high, which in turn has buried coverage of a lot of his iffy starts (such as gacking up the game vs. Atlanta). He’s an up and down player, but his lows aren’t usually very low. And Allen does get the benefit of the doubt and some positive framing. Tua, meanwhile, plays on a hopeless team with a terrible defense. And, despite his almost limitless ceiling, his lows are very low — far lower than Allen. So when Tua has a terrible start and crashes out, it instantly becomes a source of mockery. And in some fairness, those terrible starts should be mocked. When Tua is bad, he looks like one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
Now, go knock back a half case of Rolling Rock and dive through a table, gents. It’s not that deep.
And, finally, your moment of levity — the tale of this absolute Highland legend, Big Jim Colley. Not all heroes wear capes…and some do it with a perpetual BAC of .35
Pray for Annie McDougall.
Alright, that’s it for now. We’ll be back this afternoon with either a basketball preview or Giving Away Money, and Brent will be along shortly with a preview of the Sooners.
Have a great day, and Roll Tide.
