SEC getting serious about men's hoops

Interesting....

Tranghese is latest doctor asked to cure what ails SEC basketball https://t.co/AngWWJ4ubN

— Herald-Leader Sports (@KentuckySports) March 19, 2016

Now, I can see the upside, but if the problem is on a conference level, I'd be interested to know what Tranghese plans to do about this:

Tranghese isn't going to fix SEC hoops. It's all about getting better coaches, more talented players, keeping them and legit officiating.

— RazorHawgWPS (@RazorHawgWPS) March 21, 2016

Until the individual school's fans decide it is worth it, really worth it, that won't change. Coaching has gotten better with the addition of Barnes and Howland, but the biggest issue with SEC hoops is that outside of Florida, and maybe Texas A&M, no one fan base really thinks they can challenge Kentucky for SEC supremacy.

In effect, we are all playing for second place, mentally and emotionally. Maybe most importantly, the fans of SEC programs are ok with this.

Contrast that with football, where every program, save Vandy, thinks they could conceivably challenge Alabama.

I'll consider it a success if Tranghese can improve officiating and convince programs that there is money to be made by being better at basketball, especially if you can get 5+ teams into the NCAA tournament. Georgia is a team that will greatly benefit from an improved SEC. We've just posted our third 20 win season in a row, just the second time in school history. Mark Fox moved to third in wins behind Hugh Durham and Herman Stegeman. Outside of teams that can run athlete to athlete with Kentucky, Georgia gave Kentucky one of their toughest game of the season in the SEC tourney.
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SEC Tourney - Georgia's NCAA tourney chances

The only sure fire way Georgia gets in the tourney is to win the SEC tourney in Nashville.

But what if Georgia wins three, including South Carolina and Kentucky but loses to A&M in the championship? Then what?

For my money, we'll still be outside looking it, mainly due to mid-majors that dominated their conferences, and to some extent the big OOC games they had, but failed to win their conference tourney. I'm thinking Wichita State, St. Mary's, Monmouth, Valparaiso, St. Mary's, Hofstra.  At least two of these teams are in (Wichita State and St. Mary's, for my money). Would the selection committee pick one or more of these?

NCAA tourney is grading on curve, but without an objective test. The selection committee will pick 36 teams for at large spots to fill out the tourney after the 32 automatic bids are in. For argument sake, you can draw a line at RPI top 30 and say any team above that without an auto bid is in. That'll be around 23 teams. You are hoping conferences with multiple teams in that group are won by a team in that group. Let's say George Washington wins the A-10 tourney; that takes another spot away from the 12-13 that the 'bubble' teams are fighting for. After W-L records, the selection committee is making fine line distinctions about 30 teams to get to that 12-13 left.

Right now, Georgia probably isn't above the cut line for the 30 teams the committed is talking about.

All that is to say it is likely three wins at the SEC tourney probably isn't enough to get them into the NCAA tourney. Maybe...MAYBE...if we get Kentucky in the semi's and house them on national TV with the committee watching, we are in the at large discussion. The problem is our RPI is pretty low (71 right now), so there is only so much better we can get with just two wins. Making an SEC tourney run will help, though, as we'll have won six of seven (assuming we lose the championship).

We get the RPI to 50 and play A&M tough? We are still sweating out other conference tourneys and rooting for them to be won by the favorites. Play Texas A&M very tight in the championship, we could slip to the last four in and play as an 11 seed in Dayton next Tuesday.
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Smoke and Fire

You know the saying....

BREAKING: Louisville imposes men's basketball postseason ban amid investigations into escort allegations.

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 5, 2016

It's not like this is a throw away season either. They are a projected four seed right now.

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Missouri interacts with the NCAA: Hilarity does not ensue.

Missouri fans took me to task over this post. Now I see I was barking up the wrong tree:

The University of Missouri admitted NCAA violations in its men's basketball program dating to 2011 and banned itself Wednesday from the postseason this year and vacated all 23 wins from the 2013-14 season.

Hey, it's all fun and games until a booster takes it upon himself to help out some players.

I'm still shocked Frank Haith didn't get a show cause over the $10,000 he gave Nevin Shapiro at Miami, but hey, paying quiet money isn't quite the same as signing some footballs for $400. Gotta have standards, or Lord knows what those unethical student-athletes the NCAA are protecting from themselves will get into.

For the current unethical student-athletes, they find themselves not playing for anything but pride, which considering how Missouri basketball has looked this season, that is about all they were playing for anyway. The immediate impact is that the Tigers aren't likely to play in the SEC tourney, meaning they'll re-order the brackets in some way to accommodate 13 teams.
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Early signing proposal for football doesn't pass

I don't think that is a surprise, considering the lack of support in some circles for the timing offered, which was three days mid-December.

Another reason, and a big one...

Sankey and Delany want to revamp the whole recruiting calendar if they're going to do an early signing day. That's why this one didn't pass.

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) June 17, 2015

The devil is in the details here. There is 'consensus' for having an early signing period. There is no consensus among the P5 schools about what that should look like. You should read that as what the SEC and their P5 brethren think will give them the most recruiting advantage.

But to be sure, they'll couch it in player welfare terms.
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Richt on Gurley

I will try to clear up Todd's status. "We will let you know if his status changes. Not anticipating it to change this week."
— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) October 16, 2014

Gamemanship? His way of saying 'move on?'

Honestly, I hope the team is way more focused on Arkansas than our fans are. Half seem to want to burn BMHH down because 'we ain't fighting for our guy' hard enough, and the other half wants to release Gurley because 'he knew what he did was wrong.' I feel pretty confident that the folks in Athens who are making decision want Gurley back just as much as the random fan. The difference is that they are the ones with skin in the game if they take a misstep.

And yes, I think the Baurele situation has Georgia being very careful.

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As the Gurley world turns

Westerdawg and I were discussing the NCAA committee on infractions that will (or already have) heard from UGA about their findings and plan. Quite the all star list:

John S. Black, Polsinelli Shughart
Roscoe Howard, Andrews Kurth LLP
Gregory Sankey, SEC
Britton Banowsky, Conference-USA
Melissa L. Conboy, Notre Dame
James O’Fallon, Oregon
Rodney Uphoff, Missouri
Greg Christopher, Bowling Green
Eleanor W. Myers, Temple
Christopher Griffin, Foley & Lardner
Michael Adams, Georgia
Norman Bay, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Lloyd Carr, Michigan
Carol Cartwright
Bobby Cremins
Thomas Hill, Iowa State
Joel Maturi, Minnesota
Sankar Suryanaryan, Princeton

Greg Sankey is the COO of the SEC and someone I would think is a likely candidate to replace Mike Slive. Note that Mike Adams and Bobby Cremins are on the list. You have to think Mike Adams recuses himself, or our punishment might end up being all noon kickoffs for two years.
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Penn State reinstated

Just in time to help fill the Big Ten's bowl allotment....

Due to Penn State’s progress in ensuring athletics dept functions with integrity, NCAA immediately restores football postseason eligibility.
— NCAA (@NCAA) September 8, 2014

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The NCAA is falling apart

Not really, but if Dan Wolken think it won't, it is only a matter of time before it does.

Schultz saying what I’ve said for a long time - leaving NCAA is an empty threat. Scare tactic that is completely impractical.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) August 7, 2014

This is in response to the NCAA passing the autonomy proposal. I am probably closer to John Infante, who thinks it is only a matter of time before the NCAA dies, than Wolken. Why? Infante put it best:

Much will be said in the near future of how Division I was preserved, how the “big tent” is still intact, how this will provide stability and a foundation for the long-term. But if the people in Division I will not agree to keep up the pursuit of the ideal or even prop up that facade that all Division I athletes have a similar experience, the whole point of being one division is gone. 

I think it is actually the organization will become obsolete to the members, not the other away around.
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Homework: The NCAA is creating another Council

Bloggers...Change is coming. [Insert GoT image] @BernieDawg @TylerDawgden http://t.co/rdvlo8ie1L
— dawgontap (@dawgontap) April 24, 2014

Fine. I have a simple reaction to that:

Nothing has ever been accomplished by creating another bureaucratic committee.
- Ron Swanson (probably)

However, I will say this is the first step in what I think will become some sort of Super Division I or FBS or whatever the hell it is we are supposed to call it for the next five years. And it has been coming. I've long held the position that the NCAA is only useful as an organization as long as it is useful to the members of that organization. That is how member services organizations work.

Now, the NCAA is trying it's damnedest to keep those members with the biggest pies happy, because without those members, the NCAA is not very relevant. Or solvent. Outside of the parents, purists, and individual school fans, anyone really care who the NAIA champions are in any sport?

Which gets me to basketball. Part of what has kept the NCAA going, and what may actually save it, has been conference realignment and how those changes work with basketball. Now, with the Big East/AAC spin offs, a major impediment has been resolved. Without looking at contracts and whatnot, it isn't hard to see those Gang of Five conferences deciding to put on their own basketball tournament, or build an organization to host it for them (for a more thorough treatment, see the BCS). Actually, building an organization to host it for them makes the most sense, as they could conceivably invite Big East or AAC or whatever conference teams they want. Then it'd be back on the schools to decide what tourney they want in, like it was 60 years ago.

Any doubt the WWL would love bankroll a tourney that would feature 32 teams from the ACC, Pac-12, B1.5G, Big 12 and SEC, plus select other teams? Do you think CBS/Turner would shell out billions for a 64 team tourney that is crown jeweled by Wichita State and St. Marys?

Again, I'll grant the devil in the details are bound in contracts and membership agreements, neither of which I have the time or inclination to find and analyse. However, if you think this is about student athletes or nimbleness, I've got some nice property to talk to you about. The NCAA has until the next negotiation period for that basketball tourney contract, say 8 or so years, to figure it out.

Because if they don't, those Gang of Five conferences are likely to take their collective balls and go play elsewhere.

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See also:
- Knight Commission recommends Playoff money go to NCAA
- Go home NCAA, you're drunk

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Maybe this will slow down the Joe T haters

Maybe. As a part of the NCAA decisions to stop limits on food given to athletes, they snuck this in there:

Requiring strength and conditioning coaches to be certified by a nationally accredited certification organization.
If approved, the proposals, except the one regarding strength and conditioning coaches, would take effect Aug. 1. The committee has recommended giving strength and conditioning coaches until Aug. 1, 2015, to complete their certifications.

I'm not sure if he is already certified, but at least one complain from the message boards has been met. Now, if we can get him to give up medicine balls.
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Arkansas might only get off ten plays a game

Denis Dodd brings up something pretty funny:

Think of this brain teaser: The defense jumps offside within the first 10 seconds of the play clock. The offense then snaps the ball, as it should, figuring it has a free play.
Who gets penalized? Defense? Offense? Offsetting?

The real brain teaser is if Bielema figures out how to run off the clock so no plays get run. Remember, he's the master of leveraging rules loopholes to shorten games.

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Slow down causes injury?

Not sure if it is causal or simply coincidence, but Dave Bartoo at cfbmatrix finds teams running slower offenses in 2012 had the most time lost to injuries. Interesting.
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I know it when I see it: the NCAA's approach to targeting

I missed this when I first read the rule proposal on targeting:

However, if the targeting foul is committed in conjunction with another personal foul, the 15-yard penalty for that personal foul remains. For example, if a player is called for roughing the passer and targeting the head and neck area, but the instant replay official rules that targeting did not occur, the player flagged would remain in the game, but the roughing the passer penalty would still be enforced.

Two things come to mind. First, doesn't this beg the question of the need for a targeting penalty? If we already have rules in place to protect players (such as was noted in the above passage), is there the need for another penalty? I only ask in half jest, as it feels like this is less about protecting players and more about protecting arguments in future law suits. Unless we want to start calling for targeting in down field clip/chop block scenarios, or where the QB or a kicker becomes a hunted target when the ball is turned over to the defense. Second, we are still way too worried about the feelings of officials.

Officials have one of the toughest jobs in sports. I don't discount that. I also get that they are being pulled in many directions, but there is one thing that is clear: the NCAA doesn't want officials thinking they should hold back in calling penalties. The bigger problem remains, though. Each group of officials is being managed by the conferences. We saw a wide disparity in what was called, and how officials called it, with the targeting penalty was called last year.

Which gets me to my last point. since we don't want officials hesitating in calling player safety penalties, then it would follow that there is no need to guess a penalty. Either it happened or it didn't. A good example would be Ramik Wilson's penalty against Vandy last year. It was a clean hit; a textbook example of how a linebacker playing middle zone delivers a hit on a crossing receiver. So how would the officials call it under the new regime? Two flags - one targeting and the other unnecessary roughness? Does that fix the problem of enforcing a penalty that never happened? If video review is going to be used to determine if it is a good call, then there is no need for two flags.

If the conferences want to help officials out, they will put them in fewer judgement call situations. That was one of the reasons they provided guidance on the celebration penalty. That gets back to the original point: this is less about player protection than it is preserving future factual arguments about the steps the NCAA took to protect players.
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NCAA Rule Committee News

Two things:

1. The NCAA rules committee will consider invoking the Ramik Wilson rule removing the 15 yard penalty if replay shows no targeting took place. If you are going to keep the targeting penalty, and I think we should, they this is the only rational thing to do, delicate football officials' feelings be damned.
2. The NCAA rules committee will also consider a rule that will assess a 5 yard penalty for snapping the ball too quickly, in this proposal in the first 10 seconds of the play clock, to allow defenses a chance to set up. As much as teams exploited Todd Grantham's towel kid's inability to allow Grantham to get his calls in quickly, I think this is a terrible idea. 

The NCAA, if it ain't broke, fix the shit out of it.

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AJC on Tech's case

In case you missed it (as the AJC almost did). Tech's S&C coach participated in summer workouts, netting the Jackets a 12 minute dock in fall practice time for football.  The better part? Tech actually filmed the violation and produced a video showing it happening:

You may remember that the football team produced a web series prior to the season, titled “The Process.” You may also remember some of the episodes spotlighting the team’s summer workouts. It turns out that a video promoting Tech ended up capturing a violation.
In it, strength coach John Sisk was shown talking to the team prior to a workout and, according to the violation report submitted to the ACC, threatened consequences for players who were late.

Which do you think would have happened first if UGA had done this:

1. Tech fan meltdown over 'all them cheaters' in Athens and humblebrags over which Stingtalk regular spotted the violation and reported it? OR
2. The AJC's exposé on UGA's culture of no control over [FILL IN THE BLANK]. 

For my money, it'd be number 2.

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All this looks so innocent

Right?

Re: SI's series on Oklahoma State football, parts are titled: 1. Money. 2. Academics. 3. Drugs. 4. Sex. 5. The Fallout
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) September 9, 2013

I can't wait for number 4, y'all.

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NCAA trouble brewing for Les Miles?

Les Miles has been at LSU since the 2005 season. He left Oklahoma State in very good shape after a couple of better than average years and a well stockpiled talent base (although eleven of his players never made it to Fall 2005 to play for Gundy), and a very good Offensive Coordinator in Mike Gundy to step in to fill his shoes.

Is there more to the story about how those players so fell in love with Stillwater?

Oklahoma State has already contacted the NCAA. It is a long way before any of this has resolution, but the distraction couldn't come at a better time for Georgia. If SI releases the story this week, as planned, it'll be a hot story in the next couple of weeks. LSU will be in Athens on Sept. 28th.

There is some pretty salacious stuff here:

• Coaches and boosters paying athletes, including bonus payments for good plays and payment for jobs not performed, or as we like to call it: Auburning.
• Tutors doing work for athletes, grade manipulation, and attendance roll falsification. 
• The Weed. 
• Tennessee's hostesses Orange Pride hostesses providing sex to recruits.

Most of this stuff isn't new hat (see what I did there), but paying the players is alleged to have happened as recently as 2011. However, Mike Gundy had an interesting quote:

When Gundy was asked if he fears the SI project will lead to NCAA trouble, he said, "(University officials) only (showed) me what I was involved in, if there was anything, which was zero."

Yeah. So Miles has already issued a denial, as well. For now, the primary focus will be on Joe DeForrest, the former assistant for both Miles and Gundy that is alleged to have provided bonus payments. DeForrest is currently an assistant at West Virginia.

While I'm all for vacating a loss in Stillwater, the big news is how will this roll through the LSU program and how much Miles will be questioned/have his focus shifted from coaching in the next two weeks.

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How the Manziel thing is different from AJ Green's thing

AJ got 4 games. We can debate the NCAA's rationale, methods, reasoning, and/or approach, but AJ got four games...for selling a jersey to someone he didn't know was an agent. Even though the NCAA knew AJ didn't know the dude he was selling his jersey to was an agent. Selling his jersey gets him the time:

"If the value of the benefit ranges from greater than $100 to $300 = 10 percent withholding condition and repayment."
... between $300 and $500 it is 20 percent withholding (assuming that is number of contests) and repayment.
More than $500, 30 percent withholding.
That probably explains Marcell Dareus'  situation. The NCAA originally considered suspending the star defensive tackle for four games after Dareus was found to have accepted approximately $1,800 in improper benefits. The NCAA said mitigating circumstances reduced the suspension to two games.
Four games would fit into the NCAA's mathematical guidelines (four out of 12 regular-season games = 33 percent).
A Wednesday report surfaced that Georgia receiver A.J. Green had been suspended because he sold a game-worn jersey for less than $1,000. Given the NCAA formula, Georgia better hope it is way less than $1,000. Green could be suspended three more games if the price was more than $500.

Now, the Manziel thing is different. He didn't sell a jersey. He sold autographs.* For a lot more money. Plus, he won the Heisman. And has been in the news non-stop since January. Not to mention, there is a lot more money involved. Basically, it would be as if Rev. Cecil Newton had told Auburn they could get Cam to sign a bunch of stuff for $250K. In fact, I think that this is where all of the Manziel thing is going.

Look, Texas A&M isn't going to suspend Manziel unless they have a smoking gun, a body, and multiple pictures of Manziel standing over the body with the smoking gun yelling "I shot him!" The risk on many levels is too great for their program and school. If the NCAA doesn't find anything, he'll play. Why? Look at the scenarios.

A&M has no information beyond what you and I know
If they sit Manziel and there turns out to be no reason to sit him, they'll get the ire of A&M fans, national media, local media, and the Manziel's attorney. Plus, vacated wins are wins, as long as their program is in the clear. Just ask Pete Carroll.

A&M has more information than we do, but no smoking gun
They've given that to the NCAA and will await word from the NCAA about Manziel's eligibility. See above for why.

A&M knows all
They'll declare him ineligible. I think they'll not take the risk that other institutions did by turning a blind eye to what they know and allowing the NCAA to come down hard on them for transgressions of their son, especially considering how much Manziel's family and A&M are not playing nice now. Plus lying and obfuscating really pisses the NCAA off.

There is nothing I've seen to think A&M will soft sell this OR do more than cooperate with the NCAA. Still, the NCAA has a way out here, which I think they'll take. They' find Uncle Nate took money, without the knowledge of Manziel. They'll wrist slap A&M for lack of compliance awareness (think increased training on 'personal managers'). Uncle Nate will be barred from being around A&M's program. Manziel will play this year, but won't have a Heisman season. We won't see Uncle Nate again until he shows up in the crowd at the Cotton Bowl wearing a Manziel Jersey with "$" instead of "2" on it making it rain for some Laker Girls wannabes in the club section of Jerry World.
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*all parties are presumed guilty by the court of public opinion and the NCAA until they graduate. Then they are still presumed guilty by Texas and Alabama fans. 

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NCAA lets Marine play

Happy to say after further review, U.S. Marine Steven Rhodes allowed to play immediately for MTSU: http://t.co/CJUzKCebeX
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) August 19, 2013

You know, the folks in Indy are patting themselves on the back for this. Amazing how they could be more tone deaf in finally getting it right than they were in actually telling him he couldn't play.

I guess getting it right is better than not.
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