Georgia vs. Notre Dame home and home announcement coming soon?

Buck Belue thinks so..

Sounds like UGA has struck a deal w/ Notre Dame! Big anno coming next 24-48. Irish in Sanford Stadium, 'Dawgs in S. Bend = awesome opp!
— buck belue (@buckbelue8) June 25, 2014

If this happens, I'm gonna be so fired up. Going to South Bend for a game is a bucket list item. I hope it is late enough for snow, so people will shut up about warm weather teams in the cold weather blah blah blah.

TD

UPDATE: Chip Towers is reporting the same, but it is all based on Belue's tweet and interview of Mike Cavan.

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2012 UGA Football Schedule Rumors

The SEC announced today that they won't be finished with the 2012 football schedule until after Christmas. With that in mind, here's the UGA football schedule as I'm projecting based on the rumors and rumblings:

Week 1: Buffalo (home)
Week 2: Missouri (away)
Week 3: Florida Atlantic (home)
Week 4: Vanderbilt (home)
Week 5: Tennessee (home)
Week 6: South Carolina (away)
Week 7: Kentucky (away)
Week 8: BYE Week
Week 9: Florida (Jax)
Week 10: Alabama (home)
Week 11: Auburn (away)
Week 12: Georgia Southern (home)
Week 13: Georgia Tech (home)

There's a chance we could see Bama at home in Week 8 before the Cocktail Party with the bye week after Florida, but that's not what I heard earlier this week. This is all still fluid to some degree so you could see even more changes. However, this is the latest as of yesterday's rumor mill.

The games that are either confirmed or darn close to being confirmed are Buffalo, Missouri, FAU, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. Given that Ole Miss appears to be playing Florida and Missouri from the SEC East next year, it looks very likely that Georgia does get Bama...at home.

UPDATE: Various other media outlets are saying that UGA will play Ole Miss at home in Week 10 instead of Alabama. That would be great, but I'm struggling with the conflicting Ole Miss rumors which have them playing:

Missouri and Vandy
or Florida and Vandy
or Missouri and Florida
or UGA and Vandy

I had projected earlier this offseason that we'd get Ole Miss and Aubrn as our Western Teams. I would prefer to have been right then....than the post above.

PWD

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2012 Schedule Rumor: UGA vs. Bama in Athens

The SEC is a near mortal lock to operate with an 8 game SEC schedule in 2012. As I've said numerous times, this will be temporary before the SEC ultimate goes to a 9 game schedule in 2-4 years.

With that in mind, we had been projecting that UGA would drop a road game at Bama from the 2012 UGA schedule in favor of a road game at Missouri. With the new 6-1-1 divisional rotation, this seemed to make the most sense and have the smallest impact on everyone involved. In that scenario, UGA's SEC West opponents would be Auburn (road) and Ole Miss (home).

However, we've hit a snag. PowerMizzou is reporting that Missouri's SEC West schedule will include Ole Miss (road) and Texas A&M (home). This means, Ole Miss is off the table to come to Athens.

Billy Lucci of TexasAgs.com is reporting that Texas A&M's SEC East opponents will be Missouri (permanent) and Florida. Mr. SEC is reporting that Tennessee's SEC West opponents will be Bama (permanent) and Mississippi State next year. (He also theorizes on some other match-ups which aren't a done deal).

If the rumors above are correct, Ole Miss, Miss State and Texas A&M are off the table as rotational opponents for UGA next year. That only leaves Alabama, Arkansas and LSU as options. More than likely, it looks like Bama will be coming to Athens.

However, Bama doesn't have an SEC road game to give. That means some other SEC West opponent will be swapping home/away dates with Bama next year. I project that type of movement is already in the cards for the MSU vs. UK game (which will likely stay in Lexington in 2012). As well as the Vandy vs. Ole Miss game which will likely be in Nashville again this year.

More than likely, it would be Arkansas going back to Tuscaloosa in 2012. Again...this all assumes the first 3 leaks are correct.

What do you think about Bama coming to Athens in 2012?

PWD

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Thoughts on Conference Expansion

To me, the most fascinating thing about conference expansion is the ripple impact of every move. It's extremely unlikely that Team A can move to Conference X without a corresponding move by Conference Y. So what does the end game look like?

Many pundits have speculated for over a year that we'll end up with four 16-team Super Conferences. That's probably true, but it looks like we'll see an incremental approach to that destination as only Larry Scott in the Pac-12 has put forth a real 16-team plan.

So...what happens when Texas A&M accepts the invitation to become the 13th member of the SEC? Here's my thoughts on the ripple impact...

What if Team 14 is Virginia Tech?
If the Hokies are the 14th team in the SEC, who will the ACC pursue to fill that spot? The best geographic/TV fits which generate the most revenue are Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia. In fact, if I were the ACC, I would try and replace Virginia Tech with all three schools and jump to 14 teams.

The problem...taking three teams from the Big East virtually eliminates that league's existence. Without a scheduling partner in the form of the Big East, and with the ACC (at 14 teams), Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac 12 all at 9 conference games each, how does Notre Dame still fill out a schedule? Doesn't that finally give Jim Delany the Notre Dame pitch he's always wanted? Then Big Ten will need a 14th team. The Big Ten would go looking for a 14th team before the ACC could lock down Pitt, WVU and Syracuse.

What if Team 14 is Louisville or Missouri?
Then Mike Slive needs to be terminated immediately. Plus , if Louisville is the 14th team, that could be enough to destabilize the Big East enough for Jim Delany to make a move on Rutgers and get Notre Dame in the process. In other words, adding Louisville could end up strengthening the Big Ten. If it's Missouri...who knows.

What if it's really 16 teams with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and someone else?
Look at how difficult it is to get one team to jump. It creates contractual problems, TV partner conflicts and most importantly political problems for the members. I just don't think a 16-team league can happen all at once. It'll take a few seasons to get there.

What about Oklahoma?
The Sooners are in a tough spot. They can't leave Oklahoma State behind for political reasons, and they need to play Texas every year for recruiting purposes. Texas will end up being forced to play Texas A&M by their state legislatures. There's no way Texas is going to play a nine game conference schedule plus Texas A&M and Oklahoma out of conference every year. OU isn't in a good position for leaving Texas' side now that the Aggies are gone.

So who do you think Team 14 will be? What unseen consequence of adding TAMU could be out there?

PWD

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On Bacarri

I have to wonder, what is all the fuss?  Yes, he is our leading returning tackler.  Yes, he has an awesome name.  Yes, he adds experience to the DB corps.  Does it matter that he might have got beaten out for his starting job?  Is suspended for the first game?  Is about to transfer to North Alabama? Under NCAA investigation?

Honestly, I've spent the last three days trying to figure out what the fascination is.  I love the guy and the way he hits.  I am not a fan of his pass coverage.  I hope he plays and if he isn't suspended, then expect him to do so.  If he is suspended, it'll hurt, but I still think our DBs are solid.

Am I missing the source of continued fascination with his status?  Is it really just a hunger for anything negative about the football team, absent a last minute crime spree? 

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Texas A&M's Breakup Talk with Big 12

Good stuff from from Bandit Ref.



PWD

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SEC Expansion: Bama and AU to the East?

If the SEC expands to include Texas A&M plus another school slotted for the West, I expect Alabama and Auburn to both move to the East.

SEC East:
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
South Carolina
Kentucky

SEC West:
LSU
Texas A&M
Arkansas
Miss State
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
TBD

If the league slots FSU or Missouri caliber program in the West, the balance would be reasonable. If they go after Virginia Tech again, then the divisions would basically stay the same as they are now and Bama/AU wouldn't move.

A nine game SEC schedule would likely be a part of a 14 team league. Especially now that the Pac 12 and Big Ten are going in that direction.

What's the benefit to UGA beyond more quality home games? Well...we would get a balanced SEC home/away schedule of 4 home, 4 road and 1 neutral. Today, Georgia has a 4-3-1 SEC schedule on odd numbered years and 3-4-1 on even numbered years. It would actually be easier to keep the Cocktail Party in Athens if the SEC expands to 14 teams and goes to a 9 game league slate.

Imagine a slate like this on an even numbered year:

Home:
UT
Alabama
Arkansas
Kentucky
Georgia Tech

CUSA Team
Div I-AA Team

Away:
Auburn
Texas A&M
South Carolina
Mississippi State

Neutral:
Florida

What's your take?

PWD

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The NCAA needs a Frank Abagnale, Jr.

If you saw the movie Catch Me if You Can, you know the story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. The legendary check forger and con man who was ultimately captured and became an asset to the FBI in their war on check forgery. He later became a security consultant of sorts advising Fortune 500 companies on how to keep the bad guys from stealing from you.

The NCAA is to the point where it needs its own Frank Abagnale, Jr. They need a seasoned out of work coach who knows their rule book inside and out...and more importantly knows where the cracks are. A guy that understands tricks like:

• Getting quasi-illiterate kids diplomas from the local Mall
  
• Funneling cash through area church offering plates
  
• Balloon financing programs for cars
  
• The ATM Card for Jocks program
  
• "The room isn't free we just don't collect the rent" lodging program
  
• Using blindness as a learning disability to help basketball players pass the SAT

Each of those is a real example of a recruiting story from the past 10 years. Right now, the NCAA Enforcement Staff is playing checkers while the cheaters are playing chess.

They need an inside man who can help them close the loopholes. I nominate Jackie Sherrill for the position. While not as handsome as charming as Leonardo Dicaprio...he is the kind of guy that would take the bull by the scrotum and attack this problem if paid properly.

Why bring this up?
We're hearing rumblings that a group of rival alumni in Birmingham are playing a game of anything you can do I can do better in regards to pay for play. And the shenanigans certainly are not limited to the shadow of the Vulcan as Ohio State fans well know.

It's one thing for a group of alumni to pool their cash and sneak money to a kid in an organized and disciplined manner. But things aren't quite so subtle any more. Things are getting flat out reckless and careless.

For instance, you shouldn't repeatedly get drunk and tell everyone in ear shot that you paid $50k for the best player in your state. That's not something even your own friends and fans can keep a secret...and no I'm not talking about a GA or Alabama kid.

That said...who can blame kids or their parents for extending their palms? You're broke and sitting in your living room is a coach making more than $2 million a year, a coordinator making more than $500k and sometimes two position coaches who combine to make another $500k. That's four guys who could easily be millionaires sitting in your home asking you to play for them.

What incentive does anyone in the room have not to make sure the kid is taken care of? It's one thing to slip a kid a few bucks, help a parent get a better job or "pay the going rate" as Bear used to say. It's another to have a situation where you're trying to manage a salary cap during your recruiting process.

It's a scary time in college football. And the NCAA needs an entirely different approach to dealing with it.

PWD

*I would've nominated Fulmer, but he's too busy applying for the Tennessee AD job.

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Auburn's Issues Sound Familiar

As you no doubt know by now, HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumble will air a report tonight that puts at least 4 Auburn players on record as having received payment from Auburn and other schools. SportsByBrooks has transcripts from the TV show, and an updated article with more color about Auburn's potential next steps.

Clearly there is blood in the water.

Before you watch tonight's broadcast, I highly recommend watching this 60 Minutes Special from 1991 regarding Eric Ramsey's tapes. Those tapes lead to Auburn being banned from TV and Bowls in 1993 as they proved Ramsey was paid to play football at Auburn. The entire pay for performance program described in this video sounds fairly similar to the upcoming HBO story.



Remember -- none of this has anything to do with Cam Newton. Except that a lot of people who hate Auburn are looking for a reason to kick the hell out of the Tigers. If they can't bust them for CamGate, they'll bust them for something else.

Here is what I believe to be true:

1. Auburn was alleged to have paid kids up to $1,000 per month during the 1989 season and prior. They were also put on probation for violations of that exact nature. Many of the same boosters referenced in that 60 Minutes video are still around the AU program.

2. $1k/month is obviously $12k a year. If you would give a kid $12k a year for up to 4 years in '89, then giving a kid $50k up front in 2010 isn't tough to put your head around. It's actually a good deal by comparison.

3. It's not the easiest thing in the world to give someone $50k in cash. To move that sort of money around...as was alleged by Mississippi State in regards to Newton ...takes a proven infrastructure. People don't just that kind of cash to kids without knowing for damn sure that it'll land in the right spot AND that their risk of being implicated (barring a confession) is minimal.

4. You can't logically expect that an alumni group powerful and successful enough to invest $150k or more in a single player wouldn't protect that investment with additional investments of $25k-50k in ultra high quality players to surround him.

5. If Newton's dad thought he could get $180k from AU, there's no way he stopped asking after the first bidder said no.

6. If Newton's dad had asked for only $50k, Mississippi State would've been the 2010 SEC Champs and Gene Chizik's tenure in Auburn would be on life support.

Auburn may never get pinched for the Cam Newton debacle. Fine.

But it's becoming more and more clear that the money movement infrastructure that Auburn created and leveraged to turn around their program in the late 80s is back in business today as alleged by the 4 former players and the HBO special. And it's even more clear that certain other members of the SEC have passed the tipping point in their tolerance for Auburn's shenanigans.

So the question is simple. Will the NCAA finally attempt to cripple that infrastructure? Because it's not about Cam Newton now. It's way past that.

PWD

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Thoughts on Cam Newton's saga

I'll start by saying that I find it highly unlikely that Mark Schlabach, Pat Forde and Chris Low would all put their names on the original story involving Newton and Mississippi State if they didn't have it cold. Joe Schad's a different animal entirely. I'd put his willingness to put himself out on a breakable limb as pretty high, but I digress.

It's important to remember that Forde, Schlabach and Low didn't say Auburn paid for Newton, and that's an enormous issue in this story. They simply said that a representative for MSU stated that someone representing Cam Newton tried to sell Newton to MSU.

Yes...Schad is reporting that the MSU recruiters say they were outbid. However, I wouldn't put much stock into that as the MSU recruiters have nothing to lose by lying or exaggerating to Schad. And I think Schad may be the weakest link in the entire ESPN news organization .

Hello, I'm Agent Killjoy:
However, the FBI getting involved as TMZ is reporting makes it an entirely different thing. Ask yourself why and how the FBI gets involved in a case like this? They certainly don't care about college football's integrity or NCAA violations. So why get involved?

Well...laundering money through a entity with non-profit tax status like a church...that's on their radar. Using cross state phone lines to commit fraud or other crimes is also on their radar.

But again...the FBI doesn't get involved with a lot of wild goose chases. They simply don't have the time. So why this case?

Consider these three facts:

1. The NCAA has no subpoena power. They can't make a Church(es) reveal documents they don't want to reveal. Nor can they make "runners" or "agents" cooperate with them.

2. Contributing to non-profit organizations in a non-quid pro quo manner is not an NCAA violation. Take a look at a some of the big name AAU basketball programs' web sites and notice that several have very visible "Donate Now" pay pal buttons that anyone can hit. Routing money to AAU coaches via their non-profit AAU status is very common and tough for the NCAA to prove without subpoena Same with routing money through a church I'd imagine.

3. NCAA investigators are often retired/former FBI agents who love sports and hate being lied to.

So,What's more likely? That MSU, Bama or UF called the FBI into this saga? Thereby increasing their own legal costs and creating distractions for their personnel. Or that an NCAA investigator called a former co-worker at the FBI and shared his information to date.

Bringing in the FBI is perfect for the NCAA. They can then let the Feds do the heavy lifting regarding the money trail and leverage their subpoena power to find dirty secrets. Then the NCAA can read the testimony and discovery documents after the fact.

The NCAA wants real meaningful change in the recruitment of student athletes and what better way to facilitate that change than to have the parents, runners, agents and/or coaches involved in high profile cases go to jail?

So is Auburn in real trouble?
Maybe. Maybe not. If I were betting, I'd suggest that Cam Newton's dad was more likely to end up in hot water than anyone at Auburn. But Auburn officials should be sweating bullets. Just remember, there are five people that you never want to see in your front yard:

1. Jim Cantore
2. An IRS Agent
3. An FBI Agent
4. Greta Van Susteren
5. Chris Hansen

If Cam and Auburn want due process, well..they are going to get it. Sadly, just not fast enough for Georgia to benefit on Saturday.

PWD

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Four Game Suspension? Say What?

I must have missed something in the NCAA's report. When A.J. Green sold his jersey for $1,000 did he leave a live a baby in it or a dead hooker? Or maybe he sold the jersey to Myles Brand's zombie corpse?

Why the hell is he getting suspended for four games? Clay Travis had a great comment on this via Twitter:

On A.J., if he'd stolen ten jerseys, he probably misses a game. Sell one he owns, four games. Felonies count less than making money in NCAA.

What Clay didn't mention is...you beat up an cop in Knoxville and it's zero games on the suspension.

I also agree with Orson Swindle in that it's a very random punishment. I think the punishment will be reduced by a game or two, but who knows. This is as arbitrary a punishment as I've seen in a while by the NCAA.

By the way...I know Dean Legge is taking a ton of crap for his "AJ will play on Saturday announcement." I also know that in that profession you need to be right 100% of the time. But it's not like other media sources covering the Dawgs haven't been wrong about this exact sort of thing. It happens. You whiff, admit you were wrong, apologize and move on.

What a weird couple of months. I think we beat SC and Mississippi State with or without AJ Green. Arkansas on the other hand...that's going to be tricky.

PWD

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Meet James Wilder, Jr.

If you haven't seen this video of arguably the nation's #1 recruit, you should watch it.



I'll believe he commits to UGA when I see it... theoretically at 5:00 pm. But, it would be enormous. This kid is a football player. Remember when you're watching this tape that he's just a high school junior on these clips.

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About the NCAA Investigation

Image by Jim Hipple
Let's start with the basics here. I have it on decent authority beyond simply AJ Green's statement at SEC Media Days that he was in fact in South Carolina when the problematic party was happening in Miami. So that's good. That comes from someone in our network who personally saw him.

But let's get to the bigger issues at play here. This year the NCAA expanded its enforcement staff for men's basketball and football. Of particular interest are agents, runners and third parties that are funneling kids to different universities or funneling benefits to specific players prior to going pro. For a look at the special group of investigators going after basketball handlers pre-enrollment, you can view this NCAA presentation talking about what they are looking for.

Anyway, the NCAA is trying to reign in the spending pre and post enrollment on kids. If you actually read the Reggie Bush / OJ Mayo NCAA findings, it reads as a cautionary tale to other athletic departments. It's basically a warning shot to the rest of big-time basketball and football that the NCAA cops are coming.

The Marvin Austin / Miami Agent Party is simply the first high-profile opportunity to put that enforcement staff into action.

But why now? Why go after the cheating more now? One could argue that it's because there's more cheating going on. But I also wonder if the timing is also reflective of the upcoming NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NCAA wants to put pressure on the NFLPA and the NFL Owners (via bad PR related to agents/runners) to ban agents who tamper with players. Could the NCAA be trying to put that kind of language and conversation on the table as part of the negotiations?

Also, I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that not every state has Agent Tampering (wrong verbiage) laws like Florida does. After the Tank Black saga at UF in the 90s, the State of Florida legislature attached criminal penalties to agents who provide certain incentives to college athletes.

The current Miami Party investigation is sort of a perfect storm for the NCAA. A chance to flex it's expanded enforcement muscle pre-NFL negotiations in a state where there are harsher penalties for the alleged activities during a time where the college football writers are ramping their attention to the sport back up (pre-Media Days).

I think we walk away clean on this particular issue. But the NCAA is definitely looking for more opportunities to make examples of schools.

PWD

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About the Search Committee and the Process

Let me start by saying that I'm incredibly pleased with the quality of the search committee that Dr. Adams has assembled for the Athletic Director search, and I'm also pleased that he's setting a realistic time line for the AD search of 6 to 12 months.

The search committee includes (Bios from the Red and Black and Georgiadogs.com):

• Chairman: David Shipley -- Law School Professor, former Dean of the Law School, and faculty representative on the Athletic Board. (PWD Note: Dawgnoxious gave Shipley a big vouch as did another trusted source today. He's a big UGA fan attending many home and away football games)
  
  
• Jack Bauerle -- UGA's Swim Coach with multiple national titles under his belt. Former Coach of the US Olympic Women's team. (PWD Note: Former student, assistant coach and player who has been a part of the UGA athletic program since 1970. As an ultra successful coach for men's and women's swimming as well as an enormous football fan, Jack is the perfect fit for the committee to represent the coaches)
  
  
• Tom Landrum - Senior VP of External Affairs at UGA. Holds two degrees from UGA, and is a member of Mike Adams senior team. (PWD: It was a no brainer that he would be part of this committee.)
  
  
• Swann Seiler -- Member of UGA Athletics Executive Board, Trustee of UGA's Arch Foundation, Marketing Executive with the Southern Company* and UGA Journalism School Graduate. (PWD Note: Swann obviously understands the UGA culture as good as anyone in the group, and she's got a marketing / fund raising background to help with the search. Plus, most of our biggest boosters trust the Seiler family. Good voice for them in the process.)
  
  
• Carla Williams -- Senior AD for Women's Sports, two degrees from UGA and a PhD from FSU, former UGA basketball player and former assistant basketball coach under Andy Landers with two Final Four rings as an assistant. Prior to managing the women's programs at UGA, she ran the compliance department. (PWD Note: Making her part of the process is an excellent use of her skill set. Despite the articles mentioning her as a candidate that never made sense given her experience level. However, she can add real value here.)
  
  
• Robert "Trey" Sinyard -- a native of Athens and the recipient of a Foundation fellowship—the highest academic scholarship awarded to UGA students, is a student representative on the board of the UGA Athletic Association and a member of the cross country team. (PWD Note: Trey comes from a hardcore UGA family, and he's an incredibly bright kid.)

This is the type of search where Mike Adams can add value through this connections. As he said during the press conference, he knows many of the athletic director candidates across the country from his involvement as Chair of the SEC Board of Presidents and member of the NCAA's Executive Committee.

The fact that we're a tremendously profitable athletic department who looks to be willing to pay $600k or more makes the position incredibly attractive. UGA's Athletic Director position is one of the Top 10 or so jobs in terms of salary.

In fact, the compensation package should be enough to attract a variety of candidates outside of the traditional Athletic Director role. You're talking about a comp package that would interest Chief Operating Officers and Presidents of mid-sized companies with backgrounds in sports and sports marketing. More on that later.

For now, I just want to say that I'm very pleased with the committee.

See Also:
-- Frank Crumley is interim AD - AJC

PWD


*Not sure if Swann still with the Southern Company or not.

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Texas A&M Considering SEC

It's going to be very tough to pull off, but we're hearing that Texas A&M is receptive to joining the SEC with or without Texas. And the Longhorns, Sooners, Red Raiders and Cowboys are considering the Pac-10 offer with or without Texas A&M.

It'll be very hard for the Aggies to leave without Texas. They would likely need a commitment from Texas that they could still play each every year, but Gene Stallings and the TAMU president are looking at the SEC vs. Pac-10 decision in a very logical manner.

From the standpoint of distance for non-revenue sports and cultural fit, the move to the SEC is a no brainer. From a revenue standpoint, it's no worse than break even given that the Aggies would be able to sign their own TV / electronic rights deal outside of the SEC contract like UGA and Florida have ... both having long term deals worth more than $90 million.

If only the Aggies were added, the SEC would look to the East for the final piece of the puzzle with the most discussed name being Virginia Tech.

In my opinion, a 14 team SEC would move to a nine game conference schedule including a 6-1-2 rotation. All traditional cross divisional rivalries would be kept in place. The only sacrafice the league would be making would be in the area of non-conference scheduling. It would be incredibly difficult for schools like UGA, Florida and South Carolina to schedule non-conference games beyond their non-conference in state rivals and play a nine team SEC slate. But if we were adding Va Tech and Texas A&M to the mix....who cares about playing Oregon.

See Also:
-- The rift in Texas - Sportsline
-- Aggies listening to SEC - Orlando Sentinel
-- Texas has to listen to SEC - Tony Barnhart
-- A&M considering SEC - Sporting News
-- Texas won't hang around - ESPN
-- 16 team conference TV deals not a slam dunk - CNBC

PWD

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Well....so much for a boring off season

The entire college football universe may change more in the next 48 hours than it has at any other compressed period of time in history with a likely end to the Big 12, and the trickle down impacts of that decision. Along with a much shorter term impact, but loud in the near term slapping of Southern Cal.

The latest on USC appears to be 20 lost scholarships, a two year bowl ban, and the optional penalty free release of upperclassmen to transfers. Bama fans still won't be pleased because it's not quite as bad as they got. But then again....the link tying the football staff at Bama to the Means saga was more concrete than the link tying Bush to the USC staff. I expect that much of this initial probation from the NCAA is for show. About a year later, they'll come back and soften the punishment a little.

Here's the big question on USC. Will the scholarship reduction begin immediately, or will it begin after the appeal? Ideally for Southern Cal haters, the penalty will begin after the appeal. Which means, they could damage an additional recruiting class before the sanctions even start while in limbo.

PWD

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In Case You Missed It....like I did

I didn't see the recap from Mark Richt and Mark Fox's visit to the Macon Bulldog club yesterday morning. David Hale wrote a couple of detailed recaps. The piece in the Macon Telegraph focused on the basketball team, and the article on his blog covered both coaches.

One thing I found interesting about the articles was Coach Fox's comment that he's having more trouble this year than last year building a schedule because teams know we're going to be tougher.

I know Miami Hurricane's coach Frank Haith said a few weeks ago that he was trying to book UGA, Auburn or South Carolina for a home and home series. I also know Nevada, Colorado and Southern Cal are schools with quite a bit of scheduling flexibility that are looking for games.

The 2010-2011 hoops schedule should be pretty intriguing. So far, we only know about GT (Away), Saint Louis (Away), UAB (home) and the three games in Orlando for Thanksgiving.

PWD

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Mettenberger dismissed

Per Richt... Mett is gone. Update...Radi at UGASports.com says it was related to the Valdosta / Remerton issue.

Given how good Mettenberger looked throughout Spring, he had to have dropped a real turd in Coach Richt's punch bowl to get the boot. I would imagine the full details will come out in a day or two.

PWD

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DeMario Mayfield to transfer?

UGASports.com is reporting that freshman combo guard DeMario Mayfield has asked for his release from the Georgia Basketball program. Mayfield participated in 18 of 31 games last season including 6 of 18 SEC contests. He averaged 0.9 points and scored in only 1 game after New Year's.

Update: Drazen is out too.

His best game of the season was against the Gators at home when he gave us 5 points and 1 assist in 4 minutes of action. All of his contributions in that game were critical to the victory.

What does this mean?
When Dennis Felton lost players it was often high profile contributors like Mike Mercer, Takais Brown, Billy Humphrey, and Channing Toney. That was a HUGE problem and the single biggest barrier to his success other than not being a talented coach. (#suckerpunch)

Losing players like Younes Idrissi, Reshad Singleton, Marcus Sikes and Kendrick Johnson wasn't Felton's problem. It's rarely a bad thing for your bottom tier performers to walk away. It frees up scholarships and can actually accelerate a turn around project.

Mayfield is a curious kid. He definitely had more upside than the Idrissi's of the world, but he seemed unlikely to become a front line starter either. Additionally, Fox reportedly asked the kid to stick around. I'm not shocked to have some player attrition, and I don't think we're done yet because Drazen is still on campus. That's not a mean spirited shot at Draz, it's just that he's obviously the 12th most talented guy on a 12 man roster. But I would've liked to see Mayfield give it one more year.

If Fox replaces Mayfield with a better recruit in the 2011 recruiting class, this is a net positive for Georgia. If he doesn't it wasn't. If I were laying odds, I'd say this works out in our favor. Between Gerald Robinson, Jr., Dustin Ware, Vincent Williams, Ebuka and Travis Leslie we've got the 1, 2 and 3 spots reasonably well addressed for next season.

Add a JUCO shooting guard as rumored or Dwayne Polee at SF, and losing Mayfield is not a material event.

Best of luck to the kid. He helped us beat the Gators, and he stayed out of trouble. For that I have very little negative to say about him, and neither should any Dawg fans who are being fair.

Georgia now has 3 scholarships to give in 2010 in addition to the already signed Cady Lalanne (PF). We also have 4 to give in 2011 if Trey bolts, and more if Drazen or Travis leave (for wildly different reasons). I expect us to offer 3 this year and 5 next year. If we sign and enroll 5 legit high major recruits in 2011, it will be the first time that we've done so since the 1992 recruiting class that included Carlos Strong, Shandon Anderson, Pertha Robinon, Terrell Bell and I forgot the other guy.

The 2011 class is positively enormous for the future of UGA hoops.

PWD

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About the Blog

I've obviously not been posting as much the past few months, and I'm not sure when or if the level of activity / posting will return to the ultra high-level of the 2008 season when we were at our peak.

Some of the reduction in posts is due to increased work related travel. Some of it is due to tighter work related IT firewalls. Some of it is due to burnout. And some of it is due to quite a bit of courting on my end. Yeah me.

This isn't an excuse post. I'm just telling you what the deal is because many of you have either emailed me or posted in the comments. I don't know what's in store for the site long term, but I know I'm NOT shutting it down.

I'm just reassessing things. I've got an idea or two to make the blog better (beyond simply posting more often). We'll see if I get to them any time soon.

I'm happy with the decisions and priorities I've made regarding this site and my spare time (this isn't my profession). Just bear with me. I imagine that I'll catch my second wind sooner or later.

Go Dawgs.

Paul Westerdawg
Georgia Sports Blog

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