We’re halfway through May and already the offseason nonsense has begun.  When there’s nothing to report, media members — who have to fill space for you in some fashion — ask coaches for comments (or hang out a booster luncheons hoping to overhear comments).  Any comment that could possibly be considered inflammatory goes national.  Then other media members fan out trying to get reactions to that comment from the coaches they cover.  Once other coaches respond, you start to get responses to those responses.

Case in point, Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis calls Alabama coach Nick Saban “the devil himself” to a booster club, it goes national, ESPN’s Mark May blasts Davis, and eventually Saban and Will Muschamp will be forced to comment.

Another example?  Last week Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops said the SEC ain’t all that because it’s 7th-through-14th place teams weren’t as good last year as the Big XII’s 7th-through-10th teams.  Saban responded that the SEC is strong, but he has great respect for the Big XII.  Kansas’ Charlie Weis then backed Stoops.

So… Saban was, of course, asked about Weis’ comment.  Saban’s response was basically the same: “We’ve got a good league, I respect the Big XII, yada yada yada.”  (And no, we didn’t yada yada over the best part.)

Well, yesterday we told you that Florida’s Muschamp had told a Gator fan club that Georgia’s two-game win streak over Georgia would be shortlived.  Oh, no, he didn’t!

Right on cue, fiery Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was asked for a response.  Grantham — like Saban regarding the Big XII chatter — refused to take the bait, however:

“I mean, you know, what do you expect him to say at a Gator function?  Will’s a guy that I know personally.  I think he’s done a great job at Florida.  I think he’s very competitive as we all are as coaches.  He’s a guy that wants to win.  I think he’s just really trying to fire up the people in Jacksonville.”

Gotta love the silly season.  Oh, well.  At least it beats writing about player arrests.  (Knock on wood.)

Five months ago, the Tennessee/Memphis hoops rivalry appeared dead.  The final game in the series was on the docket for the first week of January and supposedly there were no ongoing discussions about creating a new contract.  Tiger coach Josh Pastner — who doesn’t want to let schools like Tennessee or Arkansas into Memphis for recruiting purposes — went so far as to say these (famous last) words:

“We will not play Tennessee anymore as long as I’m the head coach and I’m doing my scheduling.”

And…

“The facts are, this will be the last year of the series unless we play them in the postseason.  Now obviously, if any of my bosses want to play them, that’s… Me, as the head coach, the series is over, the contract is over, let’s move on.”

And…

“The contract’s ending, we have a new athletic director and he and I are on the same page with it.”

So much for being on the same page with his boss, AD Tim Bowen.  Yesterday Tennessee AD Dave Hart told The Knoxville News Sentinel that the two schools have “agreed in principle to a four-year home-and-home series in men’s basketball.”

“We’re going to play,” Hart said.  “We’re going to continue the basketball series.”

Ah, but Memphis officials have told The Memphis Commercial Appeal (behind a paywall), that no deal is in place until football is part of the equation.

There’s no surprise in any of this.  As we wrote in January, historically Tennessee has used its occasional gridiron games with Memphis as leverage to keep the hoops series with the Tigers alive.  It seems as if that’s part of the process this time around, too.

Tennessee:  Want a big ‘ol football game?  Play us in basketball.

Memphis:  Well, OK.  But basketball’s not a done deal ’til we line up a football date.

Tennessee: Well, OK.

The most likely end game?  Both schools will agree to an annual tilt in basketball and semi-annual contests in football.  Same as it ever was.

Unfortunately for Pastner, he’ll be left with egg on his face thanks to his AD not being upfront with him regarding the need to schedule Tennessee.

Earlier this week, Will Muschamp announced that former BCS championship-winning quarterback Chris Leak was coming home to his alma mater.  Leak — who’s kicked around the NFL, CFL and arena league since departing Gainesville — would join the Gator staff as a quality control coach.

Turns out he’ll be doing that job on the defensive side of the ball, according to Muschamp:

“He decided to branch out a little bit as a football coach, which I think is really smart.  We had an opening on the defensive side of the ball for a control coach and he’s going to work with our secondary.  I told him I’m still young but I wish I had worked on the other side of the ball.  I think that helps you as a football coach aas you continue to develop.  I think that will be really beneficial.”

Leak’s duties will mainly include tape breakdowns.  He will not be an on-field coach.  Quality control jobs are a means for young coaches to get their feet in doors.

On Tuesday, Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis told a Gator booster club that head coach Will Muschamp was a lot like their old boss Nick Saban in terms of planning.  But that’s where the similarities ended according to Davis:

“Will coached under the devil himself for seven years.  I only did three.  He did seven.”

Asked about that comment on Wednesday, ESPN’s Mark May sacked Davis with this verbal bullrush:

“I don’t know Tim Davis, but my opinion, he’s a classless backstabbing coward.  You’re talking about a guy in Nick Saban that gave you an opportunity to coach.  He gave you an opportunity to move up in the coaching ranks, so you could support your family, put food on the table, clothes on their backs.  Not for one years.  He gave you the opportunity for three years on his staff (two with the Miami Dolphins, one with Alabama).

If you have a problem with Nick Saban, pick up the phone, put you big-boy pants on and man up and say, ‘Coach, I got a problem with you and here’s why.’  You don’t go out in front of some group of friendly fans out there and say that about Nick Saban, a guy that gave you an opportunity to be a coach.”

Fifteen yards, unnecessary roughness.

Look, it was dumb of Davis — kidding or not — to publicly refer to a fellow coach as “the devil himself.”  If for no other reason than the fact that he should know that in this day and age it would become a national story that he, the other coach (Saban) and his current boss (Muschamp) would all get caught up in.  Dumb thing to say.

But to blast him as a coward?  That might be a bit over the top.  For one thing, perhaps Davis has put on his big-boy pants and called Saban.  Perhaps Davis isn’t pleased with the way things ended in Tuscaloosa.  The coach served as Saban’s O-line coach in Miami in 2005 and 2006.  He remained with the Dolphins in 2007 and then joined the Alabama staff as Saban’s director of player personnel in 2008.  In 2009, he left for Minnesota where he became the Gophers’ run game coordinator and offensive line coach.

At the time, Saban said nice things (whether he meant them or not) to the press:

“This is a great opportunity for Tim in terms of his position as offensive line coach and running game coordinator.  We’ve had the chance to work together here at the University of Alabama as well as with the Miami Dolphins, and Tim has been a hard worker and done an excellent job with each and every responsibility he’s had.  I know Tim is looking forward to getting up there in a coaching capacity that puts him back on the field interacting with the players.  He’ll do a great job with Coach (Tim) Brewster and the Minnesota program.  We wish Tim and his family the best.”

When Davis left the feeling was that Joe Pendry was about to retire as Bama’s offensive line coach.  Instead he remained on the job through the 2010 season.  Jeff Stoutland then replaced Pendry and worked with the Tide linemen in 2011 and 2012.  This offseason, Mario Cristobal was hired to replace Stoutland, who left to join the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.

Whether Davis and Saban had a falling out about the assistant’s role at Alabama — director of player personnel versus actual on-field coach — seems to be the big question.  And no one but those inside the program would know just how that situation was handled by both parties.

Either way, Davis goofed by making his comment publicly.  And May went way, way too far in his overreaction.

Watch it below…

Now this one’s going way, way back.  As in “Urban Cowboy” back.  Funny, but this came out during a “poppy” period for country music 30 years ago.  Yet compared to most of the country music put out today, this might as well be Ernest Tubb.

“He’d play Cherokee Fiddle.  He’d play it for the whiskey… ’cause good whiskey never let him lose his place.”

He may have lost the nation’s No. 1 recruit to Kansas but Kentucky coach John Calipari isn’t backing down on high expections for next year’s team.  One day after Andrew Wiggins announced he won’t be joining the consensus No. 1 recruiting class at Kentucky, Calipari indicated he”s pretty pleased about the ones he did get and is expecting great things in return.

‘We’re chasing perfection. We’re chasing greatness. We’re chasing things that have never been done in the history of our game.’ What I like about that, people say, ‘Pressure!’ Man, pressure brings out the best. ‘You’re gonna be fired if you don’t get this done! You’re not going to make it if you don’t get this done!’ Wakes you up earlier in the morning. I don’t mind a little pressure. I’ve had it my whole career.

“I’ve had the gun to my head for 20-something years. And you know what? I’m at my best when the gun is to my head versus, ‘OK, I’m good, I can kick back.’ I’m not as good. And you know what? Players are the same. Now, I’m not sitting there saying, ‘If we lose a game, it’s not a successful season.’ No. But you’re chasing greatness. What’s wrong with that? ‘Well, we want to talk moment to moment and we’re not putting that on the kids.’ Well, we are. Any pressure on these kids when they come here? It’s on us. Now, it won’t be on us that’s the forefront thing we’re talking about, but there’ll be things out there that they’ll see.”

Calipari describes  incoming freshman Julius Randle as “ an alpha beast who will drive the team,” and says returning center Willie Cauley-Stein  ”has a chance to be one of the better players that I’ve ever coached.”

College basketball hasn’t seen an undefeated team since Indiana in 1976.

Big Ten leaders are trying to be proactive when it comes to scheduling in the soon-to-dawn age of a college football playoff.  The league has already decided to use a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2016.  In addition, the Big Ten has decided to put down some new guidelines for its schools when it comes to their non-conference scheduling options: no games against FCS opponents and at least one game each year against a team from one of the other major conferences.

Readers of this site know that we are in favor of the SEC doing the exact same thing.

With the Big Ten holding its annual meeting this week, a number of Big Ten personalities opened up about their league’s push to toughen up its scheduling:

“We want to get out of the business of scheduling games that feel like scrimmages to our fans… Football can be pretty boring in September if you don’t create great contests.  We don’t want to be boring.  We want to strengthen the schedule to create more excitement early in the season…. Yes, you’re going to take a few losses, but, ultimately, you’ll become more competitive.” — Michigan AD Dave Brandon

“It’s a little more difficult (to draw fans) with 60-inch TVs and the price of concessions and having to wait in line to go to the bathroom.  We have to do our part for the in-game experience, but who we’re playing is also (important).” — Illinois AD Mike Thomas

“We collaborate a lot.  If we’re looking for a game, does somebody know about one?  Let’s say somebody had a team on their schedule, but for whatever reason, they needed to move the game.  Maybe you call Purdue and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got X.  You looking for a game?’  And maybe you trade-off.  It’s kind of a co-op.  We work together and try to help each other schedule.” – Penn State AD Dave Joyner

For those who missed it, Michigan coach Brady Hoke also got on Notre Dame’s case this week for “chickening out” of future games against his Wolverines.

The Big Ten’s moves to beef up its scheduling — and its loud talk of doing so — should aid Jim Delany’s league moving forward.

First, playing teams from the other major conferences guarantees — in most cases — home-and-home contracts.  That will result in Big Ten football getting exposure in the West and in the South where the population is booming.  Population growth has slowed or stalled in the Big Ten footprint, a point that Delany himself has made when explaining his conference’s decision to expand.  Big Ten teams visiting the Southern or Western states should help on the recruiting front.  With its own talent pool drying up, there couldn’t be a better time for the league to take its show on the road.  And even when Big Ten teams host teams from the ACC, SEC, Big XII or Pac-12, they will still get attention from prospects in the ACC, SEC, Big XII and Pac-12 regions.

Second, going public with its scheduling plans — and doing so very loudly — will help create the perception that the Big Ten is a leader when it comes to non-conference scheduling.  When a selection committee for the new College Football Playoff convenes in 2014, strength of schedule is supposed to be an A-1, top-shelf consideration.  The Big Ten’s self-propelled image as a tough schedulin’ league coupled with a committee that will likely want to bring in teams from all over the country could help Delany’s schools gain invitations.

The old quote attributed to Muhammad Ali comes to mind: “I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.”

For SEC fans rolling their eyes at our thumbs-up to the Big Ten, keep in mind that the Big Ten currently makes more money than any other conference while also maintaining the best academic reputation.  All while dealing with a growing talent gap produced by its location in an area of the country that’s being passed population-wise.

SEC fans might not like Delany, but he and Larry Scott of the Pac-12 are progressive, strategic-thinking conference commissioners who must be taken seriously.  Each has made more money for their leagues than anyone thought possible without the benefit of seven BCS titles in a row.  The SEC leaders should take note of what the Big Ten is doing now (as well as keeping an eye on the marketing-minded Scott to the West).  You can be sure that Mike Slive is paying attention.

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Last night in Jacksonville, Will Muschamp made a promise to a Florida booster club.  In his first two seasons as the Gators’ coach, his squad has been beaten by his alma mater — Georgia — twice, 24-20 in 2011 and 17-9 in 2012.  He’s now vowed to turn things around when it comes to the Bulldogs:

“Well, it’s not going to be a long winning streak, I can assure you.  We feel very comfortable.  Obviously, last year, when you turn the ball over six times, you’re not going to win many games.  You turn it over six times and give up 17 points, you (still) put yourself in a situation where you can win the game.

We fought through a lot of adversity we created for ourselves in the game.  It just didn’t work out.  We turned the ball over two years ago twice inside our 20-yard line, which resulted in 14 points.  So, that obviously doesn’t help you win games either.

There are some simple solutions.  Take care of the football.  As far as playing the game and winning the game, we understood what was at stake last year.  Very disappointed for our football team and the Gator Nation that we didn’t get the job done.  Looking forward to the game this year.”

The past two games combined, Florida has committed eight turnovers against Georgia.  It should be noted, however, that part of the reason those games were still tight was the fact that the Bulldogs coughed the ball up to the Gators four times.  Both games were sloppy.  Georgia was simply the least sloppy team on the field.

On that note, it seems we picked the right day to post our breakdown of six years worth of SEC turnover data.

SEC Football

1. The Florida-Miami series may not be renewed. Miami A.D. – “There hasn’t been any conversation and there isn’t anything on the schedule for the future.” Georgia and Florida State discuss potential 2016 matchup.

2. Is Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel a top-five SEC quarterback?  MrSEC’s Josh Ward thinks so.

3. Athlon’s preseason rankings have the Gators coming in at No. 13. Florida’s game against Tennessee already sold out.

4. Toughest matchups for LSU this fall? Games at Alabama and Georgia. Suspension at TCU huge break for the Tigers?

5. Best red zone defense last three years?  If you guessed Alabama, you weren’t wrong.

6. Nick Saban gets asked for reaction to Charlie Weis’ comments about the SEC. ”I just think our league is fantastic.”

7. Saban’s daughter, a sorority fight and a lawsuit.

8. Several Auburn freshman, including quarterback Jeremy Johnson,  arrived on campus Tuesday – just ahead of summer classes.

9. Former Georgia linebacker Christian Robinson re-joining program as graduate assistant.

10. At Arkansas, one Mitchell leaves while another emerges (not related to the author nor connected to the Joe Don Baker movie)

11. Do people “love to hate Bret Bielema”?

12. Three reasons why Kentucky shouldn’t drop Louisville in football.

13.  Three of Stewart Mandel’s top five nonconference games for the first month of the 2013 season feature SEC teams.

14. Andy Staples plays the “what-if” game – looks at what could have happened with a four-team playoff in college football the last 10 years.

SEC/College News

15. Jon Solomon: “47 percent of the Division I public universities listed in a recent USA Today Sports revenue database increased coaches and staff pay at a higher rate than their athletic scholarship costs” Breakdown by school.

16. A Florida State recruit now wants to play at Georgia or Miami – but FSU won’t grant a release.

17. Kevin Scarbinsky on troubles at Auburn.  ”It’s been a long, strange year for the Tigers in so many ways.”

18. Kentucky athletes post the highest cumulative GPA during Mitch Barnhart’s time as athletics director.

SEC Basketball

19. Auburn A.D. Jay Jacobs on coach Tony Barbee: “Now he’s got to produce. We’ve got to look for results.”

20. Alabama A.D. Bill Battle on coach Anthony Grant: “I think he’s the right guy for our job.”

21. Andrew Wiggins chooses Kansas - may have not been a fit at Kentucky anyway “The Cats have almost too many good players scheduled to arrive on campus.”

22. Big loss for LSU recruiting.  Assistant coach Robert Kirby reportedly leaving for Memphis. (Before LSU, he was at Georgetown, where he recruited projected top five NBA pick Otto Porter, Jr.)

23. Point guard Kasey Hill compared to John Wall and Rajon Rondo –  expected to make a big impact at Florida.

24. Tennessee players Armani Moore and Josh Richardson headed to the Dominican Republic this summer.

25. Men’s basketball makes the biggest jump  of any program at Georgia according  to the latest NCAA Academic Progress Rate report.

Extras

26. Schools with the highest-paid NBA alums – LSU, Kentucky and Florida make the list.

27. New sport approved at LSU - sand volleyball for women.

28. Original report – Michigan State recruit giving up football to pursue rap career. Revised report – School pulled scholarship after profanity-laced video showed up on YouTube.

29. Hawaii getting the “Rainbow” back.

30. Memphis puts the punter on the cover of the media guide.

31. ESPN reporter Jeannine Edwards and Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer getting married.

Last fall, plenty of people moaned, whined and complained that Georgia had been given an easy path through the Southeastern Conference.  Apparently those folks won’t be able to voice displeasure with the Dawgs’ upcoming schedules.

According to Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity, Mark Richt’s team won’t have to worry about his squad’s strength of schedule in the first year of the new College Football Playoff:

“From our standpoint, the University of Georgia doesn’t have to worry about that in 2014 because our strength of schedule is already off the chart for the next two years.  Who knows what the ’15 schedule will be, but we just know that in ’13 and ’14, the strength of schedule is not an issue here in Athens…

We have an idea of who we’ll play, but we don’t know when we’ll play.  We know it will be a road game because Auburn’s come back here in 2014.  Whoever we play on the West side will be a road game.  It hasn’t been finalized but Destin is when we’re planning to see everything because we’ve all got to move forward with dates, campus dates, homecoming dates and things like that.”

Georgia will host LSU in late-September as its rotating West opponent this year.  Auburn — the Bulldogs’ permanent cross-division rival — will welcome Georgia in mid-November.  UGA will also open the season with a non-conference date at Clemson.

In addition to its SEC slate, Georgia will once again open 2014 season with Clemson, but that game will be at Sanford Stadium.

First, what’s said at a booster club probably shouldn’t make national news.  But in a world with social media, cell phone cameras, and booster events attended by media members, what’s said at those luncheons and dinners does make national news.

For that reason, Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis probably shouldn’t have said this in front of a Gator fan club yesterday:

“I’ve always wanted to work with Will (Muschamp).  Will’s got a plan.  Will coached under the devil himself for seven years.  I only did three.  He did seven.  And his DNA is not any different than Nick…

Will’s like the other guy, only he’s got a personality.  He’ll smile at you.  He’ll talk to you.  You understand?  that’s what he’s all about.  That’s Will.  I’m proud to work for him.”

Right.  And here comes Prince Charming now:

Davis is the second SEC coach to make a Luciferian reference to Saban this offseason.  Vanderbilt’s James Franklin called Alabama’s coach “Nicky Satan” at a high school awards banquet in Georgia back in January.  He later called the Tide’s coach to apologize.

At least Davis made his comment in front of Florida fans.

Of course, the fact that Davis actually worked with Saban in the NFL and for a year at Alabama makes his comment seem a bit more serious than Franklin’s poorly-timed joke.

After the SEC and ESPN unveiled the new SEC Network and some of their programming plans for it, Mike Slive referenced the fact that the SEC and CBS had also agreed on a new deal.  As part of that deal, the SEC Network will be able to air an afternoon game each Saturday which means CBS had to agree to nix its exclusive hold on that timeslot.

What else changed in the reworked agreement is unknown.

CBSSports.com’s Jeremy Fowler writes that the terms of that agreement “are expected to remain intact,” meaning the deal will still run through 2023-24 and that the network will continue to pay the SEC $55 million per year for, basically, one game per week and the rights to the SEC Championship Game.

According to Fowler’s source, “the renegotiation also included the exchange of non-revenue assets that weren’t disclosed by a source.”

So did expansion pay off for the SEC if the CBS deal remains the same?

Absolutely.

While each school’s split of the CBS revenue will be smaller — $55 million divided by 15 as opposed to $55 million divided by 13, with the league office always taking a full share — the new revenue stream created as a result of CBS’ acquiescence on the exclusivity front will more than make up for that shrinking portion.  Think of it like a meal… if CBS is the appetizer — cash-wise — and ESPN the main course, the appetizer will get smaller but the main course will get larger.

If Fowler’s source is correct and CBS is not having to pay more money to an expanded SEC, that’s a win for the network.  It’s product can also be rebroadcast by ESPN on the SEC Network which is promotion for CBS’ SEC game of the week programming.  Whether any CBS advertisers will get “bonus” runs on ESPN remains to be seen (Aflac, for example, will get more eyeballs for its weekly in-game trivia question with a re-airing on the SEC Network).

Also, CBS continues to have the first pick of SEC games each week.

For the SEC, they’ve given up nothing (that we know of) other than the potential for greater revenue from CBS.  In exchange, they’ve given themselves the opportunity to air three college football games on their new network each Saturday which should help the channel get cable and satellite carriage more quickly.  And ESPN will be throwing money at the league for the right to broadcast those SEC games whether the network gains immediate carriage or has to fight for it slowly.

One other point: Assuming the SEC is still a juggernaut in 2023-24 — and the league’s financial outlook suggests it will be –  and live football games are still pulling enormous ratings for networks, the SEC will be able to put its game of the week package back on the open market and cut a new massive deal with CBS or another distributor in 10 years.

With the information we currently have in hand, this renegotiation appears to be a win for both the Southeastern Conference and CBS.