The last missing piece from college football’s new playoff puzzle is the committee that will select the teams to take part.  While the FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick met yesterday in Colorado Springs to work on the puzzle, they don’t seem to be in any rush to actually put that last place in piece…

“We’re gonna be very deliberate about it and thorough.”

– Bill Hancock, head of the BCS and soon to be head of the College Football Playoff

“I think we’re all comfortable with the time frame.  I think we made enough progress today to keep us on course… We’ve got several months to get through the process.”

– SEC commissioner Mike Slive

Yesterday, the commissioners reportedly kicked around the names of more than 100 potential committee members.  Big Ten commish Jim Delany said of Hancock: “We give him the names, he’ll do the contacting.”  Hancock says the contacting of panelists will begin this summer.

Regardless of how many committee members will serve and regardless of who those members will be, the new playoff selection committee is guaranteed to be the most controversial aspect of the new playoff system.

Here’s one for you fans of alternate history novels.  If Johnny Manziel hadn’t been quarterbacking Texas A&M last year, would the Aggies have had any chance of going 11-2?  Would A&M be recruiting quite so well right now?  Would Aggie fans have been as happy with their SEC move had their team suffered through a .500-ish season (as most had predicted last summer)?  Would the Aggies have upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa?  Would the Heisman Trophy ever go to a freshman?  Heck, who would have been sitting courtside at all those NBA games and throwing out all those first pitches at baseball games this offseason?

And so on.

Well, according to a source speaking with SportsDay, a website run by The Dallas Morning News, that alternate reality almost became plain ol’ reality last offseason.  Over the summer of 2012, Manziel was arrested in College Station’s bar district.  He was initially suspended by TAMU and “would have felt it was necessary to transfer” had the suspension not been overturned on appeal.  The athletic department had nothing to do with the suspension or its reversal.  According to the paper, it was the dean of student life who ruled in the quarterback’s favor.

The arrest has been public knowledge.  The supension/transfer/reversal is the new information.  Head coach Kevin Sumlin has said that he wound up imposing his own discipline on the QB for the arrest.

Manziel was arrested for misdemeanors of fighting, failure to identify and possession of fake IDs last June 29th.

Fans being fans, we’re certain many an Aggie-backer will convince himself that A&M would have been just fine without Manziel.  But the reality is — if the source is correct — Texas A&M was thisclose to entering the 2012 season without the player who wound up taking the college football world by storm.  And it’s unlikely the Aggies’ entry into the SEC would have gone near as smoothly without him.

Phil Steele is the master of the preseason football guide.  His book is a treasure trove of information, data, facts, figures, stats, comparisons, charts, etc.  It could be this by-the-numbers approach that helps him put out what are considered to be the most accurate football predictions each year.

Today on his website, Steele has taken a by-the-numbers approach to determining which schools have a good shot at this year’s BCS championship.  You won’t be surprised to learn that six of the 14 schools that fit “the mold” for a national champ come from the SEC.  You will be surprised by one of the SEC school’s on that list.

You can check out the categories he used to whittle the entire FBS down to just 14 programs here.  (Be warned: you may have to re-read a few of his category descriptions multiple times.)  When all of his numbers were crunched his list looked as follows:

Alabama — SEC

Florida — SEC

Florida State — ACC

LSU — SEC

Michigan — Big Ten

North Carolina — ACC

Northwestern — Big Ten

Notre Dame — Independent

Ohio State — Big Ten

Oregon — Pac-12

South Carolina — SEC

Stanford — Pac-12

Texas A&M — SEC

Vanderbilt — SEC

Personally, I think James Franklin deserves some sort of raise or bonus for raising Vanderbilt’s program to the point that anyone could possibly list the Dores as national title contenders.

Further, here’s hoping for a Vandy/Northwestern BCS Championship Game in January.  Everyone in attendance should be forced to wear a mortar board.

We’ve been writing it for years.

Coaches would be wise to ban their athletes from Twitter.  If not always, at least during the season.  Though as Johnny Manziel proved this weekend with his “i can’t wait to leave college station” rant, there’s really no good time for tweets.

Yesterday, Al.com’s Kevin Scarbinsky joined the growing chorus of folks wondering why coaches don’t put their foot down on that little blue bird’s neck:

“They call Twitter a social medium, but let’s be honest.  Does one angry man seething into his cell or his table really have any socially redeeming value?

Some thoughts are better left unsaid, especially if they’re going to be shared with the world.  Chances are, if you’re a major college athlete and you say something insulting, demeaning, rude or profane, a lot of people are going to know about it by sundown.”

Bingo.

Scarbinsky goes on to point out that Twitter has zero to do with the First Amendment, a point we made back in November when we last took up the subject.  In that piece, we also included five SEC coaches’ views on Twitter.

Bully for their views, our view remains the same — coaches would be wise to nix Twitter before they’re burned by the loose lips, er, fingers of a teenager.

And as always, be sure to follow MrSEC.com on Twitter where we’ll do our best to hold our angry rants and profane remarks to a minimum.

Last week, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the University of Tennessee is hoping to soon tear down the old Stokely Athletic Center to make way for more football practice fields.  According to athletic director Dave Hart, an artist’s renderings of the cleared space reveals “three full practice fields.”  Combine that with UT’s indoor facility and that’s at least four full practice fields for one team.

Will the school keep building until coaches can tell recruits they’ll all get their very own personal practice fields if they sign with the Vols?

Yesterday, Al.com reported that Alabama’s splashy — literally — new locker room will include an actual waterfall.  The water will “flow from a few feet above the hot and cold tubs, which are located near the showers on the new area’s first floor.”

Hey, there’s an arms race in college football — especially among rich athletic departments, like those in the SEC — but at what point has it all gone just a bit too far?  (This video shows that at Kentucky, the facility war crosses over to basketball, too.)

Whether it’s massive meeting rooms, statues, waterfalls, umpteen practice fields or solid gold bidets (just a matter of time), the money being spent on extras in these recruiting wars is ridiculous.

I remember visiting the Vatican some years back.  As I toured St. Peter’s Basilica I was truly moved by the grandeur and majesty — and not to mention the history — of the building.  All of the gold, alabaster and marble created a sense of awe.

But as I walked past treasure after masterwork after treasure I also thought, couldn’t some of this opulence have been snipped to feed the hungry and clothe the poor?

That’s not to pick on the Catholic church.  There are churches and mosques around the globe that are eye-wateringly splendid.  All — one would hope — donate tremendous wealth to the needy.

That said, where do we draw our lines between just right and excess?

When it comes to waterfalls and multiple practice fields, at what point should an athletic department cut back and say, “You know, this money could be better spent elsewhere.”

I don’t live like a monk myself so I’m not suggesting that every dime that everyone makes should be given to the destitute.  But when I see over-spending, I do wonder what else that money could have been used for — a better library on campus?  A few more professors?  Better facilities for some of the non-revenue sports, whose athletes work just as hard as those in the revenue sports?

Again, I’m not saying anyone’s wrong here.  I’m just asking the question: How many practice fields and waterfalls do athletic departments really need?

SEC Football

1. From CBS Sports: A Texas A&M coach has spoken to Johnny Manziel about his weekend tweet. Manziel “understands the strength of his words.”

2. The Houston Chronicle has complied a list of the top 20 tweets from Manziel.

3. It’s time for Manziel and college athletes everywhere to take a twitter timeout, writes Kevin Scarbinsky.

4. Alabama’s athletic facility will be receiving an upgrade. Among the items on the agenda: a waterfall in the locker room.

5. Rachel Bachman looks at the increase in hotel prices on football weekends vs. non-football weekends in the SEC.

6. Auburn running back Cameron Artis-Payne is among the nation’s top-five newcomers, according to ESPN’s Danny Kanell.

7. There’s a divide among SEC coaches on up-tempo offenses. Should rules be put in place to slow things down?

8. Linebacker Serderius Bryant is the No. 50 most important player for Ole Miss.

9. Manziel and Texas A&M have earned the cover of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine.

10. Florida linebacker Antonio Morrison is out of jail. He faces a misdemeanor charge of simple battery.

11. Like last year, Georgia is dealing with secondary concerns before the season begins.

12. Former Vol quarterback Peyton Manning worked out with Tennessee players on Monday.

13. Missouri has dismissed linebacker Torey Boozer for “undisclosed disciplinary reasons.”

14. Two ESPN writers discussed the recent joke about Alabama from Texas A&M AD Eric Hyman.

SEC Basketball

15. Suspended Florida guard Scotty Wilbekin “has work to do” to return to the team, says coach Billy Donovan.

16. The word is out about Kentucky’s “Wildcat Code.” John Calipari discussed it, sort of.

17. Former UNC Asheville guard Keith Hornsby has decided to transfer to LSU. He’ll sit out the 2013-14 season.

18. Tennessee’s freshmen have been “doing everything together” since they arrived on campus.

Extra

19. Atlanta radio hosts were fired for their bit that made fun of former NFL player Steve Gleason, who’s battling ALS.

20. Julie Hermann has officially taken over as the athletic director at Rutgers.

21. The future is still in question for North Carolina basketball player P.J. Hairston, who was arrested on June 5.

22. Former Oklahoma State quarterback Wes Lunt will transfer to Illinois. He was not released to any SEC schools.

With summer upon us and fall moving quickly — too quickly — toward us, we’re starting to get plenty of “fall preview” questions when we appear on radio talkshows across the Southeast.  Having answered the question, “What intrigues you about School X” umpteen times already, we thought it might be a good time to put all of the topics that most interest us together in one or two posts.

Below you’ll find our look at the SEC East and the seven questions — one per team — that we look forward to having answered in the fall…

Florida

Can offensive coordinator Brent Pease and head coach Will Muschamp put enough skill position talent around quarterback Jeff Driskel to make him successful?  Driskel showed flashes of dual-threat abilities last season, but the Gator offense continued to slump, just as has since Tim Tebow departed Gainesville.  It’s time some of those hotly-recruited tailbacks and receivers on the Gator roster stepped up and gave the Gator QB some help.  Driskel needs some help from someone.

Georgia

Can defensive coordinator Todd Grantham get enough out of a rebuilt defense for UGA to capture another East Division crown?  With so many parts returning on offense, it’s expected the Bulldogs will be able to put up points a’plenty.  But can they stop the league’s other teams from putting up points on them?  UGA ranked 4th in the SEC in scoring defense (against conference foes) last season.  To reach Atlanta again, Grantham and crew will probably need to have similar success… and his crew will feature a lot of new faces.

Kentucky

How will offensive coordinator Neal Brown’s “Air Raid” offense mesh with head coach Mark Stoops’ defensive background?  Stoops has talked about creating a Florida State-type strong defense in Lexington.  Brown’s throw-it-all-over system — a throwback to his days at UK under Hal Mumme — actually has Wildcat fans excited for football season.  Now, we don’t expect everything to come together in Year One, obviously, but will they start to come together at all?  Check the stats and you’ll find that pass-happy, up-tempo offenses are rarely paired with tough-as-nails defenses.  Maybe it’s because those defenses don’t get enough rest between series or perhaps it’s because there’s no smashmouth offense to go against in practice, but it’s rare to see a pass-first team sport a brickwall defense.  (Example: Bobby Petrino’s teams at Arkansas.)

Read the rest of this entry »

When NCAA President Mark Emmert and the voting body of NCAA presidents passed recruiting reform measures a few months back it was hailed as a long overdue move by fans and many in the media.  Unfortunately, most athletic directors and coaches — at least those not overseeing the richest of rich football programs — felt that the NCAA and its presidents had gone too far, too fast, without consulting any of the people who actually make their living on the front lines, where these rule changes would be felt.

As a result, those pages on recruiting that were ripped from the NCAA rule book — with Emmert playing the role of Mr. Keating from “Dead Poets Society” — were taped right back into the tome just a few months later.

So now Emmert is taking a different approach.  The always-under-fire prez announced this weekend that he will form a council of 10 athletic directors who will meet with him regularly.  Rather than leaving rule book changes to the college presidents, Emmert’s new council of ADs will weigh in and advise as well.

Emmert told The Wall Street Journal:

“It’s clear right now where the association has gone, it’s pushed the pendulum too far in one direction.  And it really has cut athletic directors out of the national discussion.”

That’s probably not a good thing considering the fact that colleges and universities set up the NCAA to govern, ya know, athletics.

Obviously, there will still be checks and balances.  The NCAA won’t — and shouldn’t — allow a pack of athletic directors to undermine overall academic concerns.  Most likely, the presidents will still have the final say on issues, with the new panel of ADs providing advice.

Ah, but the big question is: Which schools’ athletic directors will take part?

The NCAA must govern over — in football — the FBS subdivision, the FCS subdivision, Division II and Division III.  Will all four classifications be represented on Emmert’s panel or will there be a separate panel for each division?

If Emmert sets out to convene people from only the FBS level, smaller-budgeted schools will likely howl in protest.  Obviously, the five richest conferences of the FBS level (ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, Pac-12 and SEC) all have their own agendas.  Representative ADs from those leagues would likely push for full-cost-of-tuition scholarships and perhaps an entirely new subdivision at the top end of the Division I, above the FCS and even the FBS.

If Emmert decides to indeed include athletic directors from every level, expect the richest conferences to complain.  “Why should someone from Mount Union have a say in how Alabama, Texas and Ohio State run their programs and spend their money?”

Those scenarios — and there are many more — show once again just how impossible NCAA reform truly is.  And before anyone shouts, “Yeah, down with the NCAA,” please remember that no one’s come up with a better alternative yet.
Conferring with the ADs of the Round Table sounds good, but so did the idea of NCAA reform and wholesale changes to the NCAA’s rule book.  Obviously, the problems lie in the execution of these ideas, not the ideas themselves.
For that reason, we at MrSEC.com will temper our expectations for Emmert’s new team of athletic directors.

Slick ride.  Nice trips.  Pricey tickets to top sporting events.

If your parents have money, it stands to reason that you might have a few more shiny toys and behind-the-red-rope opportunities than the next guy.  And as it turns out, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel comes from a family with plenty of cash to burn.

When the quarterback’s front-row seats to an NBA game became a national topic of conversation last December, Manziel tweeted that he’s bought himself “a little birthday present” with his own cash.

When it made national news that he was tooling around college station in a Mercedes-Benz back in March, “his folks have cash” was the quick response from Aggie fans.

Manziel’s parents do have cash and Manziel does like to spend it.  Nothing unusual about that.  Not every college kid has family money to blow, but they all like to spend whatever they have.  Hey, I’ve been there.

Manziel’s high-profile, celebrity lifestyle has even forced A&M’s compliance staff to work overtime to make sure their star player isn’t stepping across any NCAA boundaries.  In April, the Heisman-winner sounded altogether sick and tired of having to answer those compliance workers’ questions:

“They keep sending me questionnaires like, ‘How did I got to the Spurs game?’  Even though I’ve been going to Spurs games since I moved to Kerrville when I was in seventh grade.  A good family friend who we’ve known since before I every thought of playing college football has a suite there.  We’re going to go to the suite and we’re just gonna watch the game.  I know (Spurs’ star) Tony Parker on a personal level and if I go down to say hello, I’m not doing anything wrong.

They keep sending me questionnaires asking me who’s funding the trip?  Who’s doing this?  Every time I respond back, ‘ME, ME and ME’ in capital letters.  Hey, I don’t mean to sound rude, but this is stuff I’ve always done, and I know you’re just doing your job, but it gets to you every now and again.”

Enough so that you eventually announce you’re giving up Twitter.  Only to get back on Twitter.  And tweet the following this weekend:

“Bull**** like tonight is a reason why I can’t wait to leave college station…whenever it may be”

From the outside looking in, it appears that Manziel — like all those other college kids out there — has yet to learn that there’s a price for everything.

I got my first job while I was still in school.  I made a whopping $17,000 that year.  Yet I lived rather comfortably thanks to the magic of credit cards.  Eventually, I learned that while money and credit can be thrown around for fun… there will be a price to pay at some point.  Sometimes I’d blow cash on wants and not have enough to pay for my needs.  Then I’d turn to the card, take care of the needs only to have to deal with an ever-growing bill at the first of the next month.

Everything comes with a price.  It can be a monetary price — as I and many young kids have learned — or the price could be a loss of anonymity — as Manziel is finding out.

Not many 20-somethings get invited onto the late-night talkshow circuit, hang with sports stars at ballgames, or pal around with pop icons.  Manziel gets to and, quite naturally, wants to.

But there’s a cost.

Read the rest of this entry »

SEC Football

1. Here’s more on the simple battery charge for Florida linebacker Antonio Morrison, a projected starter.

2. Pat Dooley has seven keys to success for Florida’s football team.

3. In case you missed it: Johnny Manziel tweeted he “can’t wait to leave College Station” during the weekend.

4. South Carolina wide receiver Damiere Byrd is among the nation’s fastest players, writes Chris Huston.

5. Former Vol Eric Berry on Tennessee coach Butch Jones: “He’s trying to do things the right way.”

6. Bruce Feldman discusses Kevin Sumlin’s future at Texas A&M as well as the recruiting surge of Kentucky and Tennessee.

SEC Basketball

7. Florida guard Michael Frazier II is a finalist for the USA 19-under basketball team.

8. So is Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes, who is among the 16 finalists.

Extra

9. AL.com continues its series on college football hits and safety concerns.

10. Alabama and Georgia picked up quarterback commitments during the weekend.

11. Here’s a national view of the USA 19-under basketball team.

12. Athlon Sports has released its Big Ten All-Conference team.

13. The fallout continues at Penn State following the trial of former coach Jerry Sandusky.

14. The San Antonio Spurs are one win away from winning their fifth NBA title.

15. This Jay-Z commercial during the NBA finals has received a lot of attention.