Pirates Voyage
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirates 2024 football campaign came to an end at the hands of the Coffee County Trojans in the second round of the AAAAA state playoffs, finishing 10-2 for the season.
The Pirates opened the season with a loss to Camden County, but then reeled off 10 consecutive wins before losing to Coffee.
The 10 wins included a region championship (with a perfect 8-0 region record), a City Championship (beating Glynn Academy, 49-7), and a #1 seed in the state playoffs.
Coach Garrett Grady’s BHS Pirates scored victories over Wayne County, Effingham County, Evans County, Greenbrier, Glynn, Statesboro, Lakeside, South Effingham County, Bradwell Institute, and Villa Rica (1st round of playoffs).
Accolades and awards were also plentiful for the 2024 Pirates.
This year’s squad set a BHS regular season scoring record with 460 points (that’s 46 points per game), eclipsing the 459 scored by the 1999 Pirates, which made it to the state championship game before losing to Lowndes.
1999 was also the last time Brunswick High made it past the second round of the state playoffs.
Including Brunswick’s two playoff games, Coach Grady’s 2024 Pirates scored 517 points—more than 43 per game.
Defensively, BHS gave up 237 points—fewer than 20 per game.
More than a dozen Pirates were named First Team All-region.
Unofficial stats show senior running back William Heck was the leading rusher for BHS, running for 1417 yards.
Junior quarterback Grant Moore passed for 2191 yards and 21 touchdowns, with only 3 interceptions.
Tight end Hezekiah Kent, also a junior, was Moore’s favorite target with 36 receptions totaling 680 yards.
Other All-region selections on offense included senior Jamarious Towns and sophomore Waseem Murray. Towns had 33 receptions for 635 yards. Murray totaled 31 catches for 642 yards.
Juniors Chase Richardson and Kasiyah Charlton anchored the offensive line and also earned All-region honors.
Senior linebacker J’Shawn Towns was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year in region 1-5A. Towns was the leading tackler for the Pirates, recording 111.
Other All-Region Pirates on defense include senior linebackers Caleb Butler, Jeremiah Robbins, and Gregg Richardson; senior defensive lineman Lance Brown; senior defensive back Sehki Ashley; and junior defensive back Aviyon Addison.
Butler recorded 84 tackles for the Pirates, and Robbins had twelve tackles for losses.
The BHS defense scored eleven touchdowns this season.
Coach Grady noted that interceptions returned for touchdowns and fumbles returned for touchdowns were keys to the Pirates success.
Selections to the All-Region second team included: Nigel Gardner, Josiah Gibbons, Aiden Watford, Garrett Wiggins, and Chris Wingster on offense; Chris Kimp, Antwan Kirk, Zay Knowles, Chozen Owens, Josh White, and Adrian Volland on defense.
Gardner, a sophomore, rushed for 874 yards and seven touchdowns.
Gibbons, also a sophomore, scored eight touchdowns while averaging over 14 yards per carry.
Pirates noted for Honorable Mention in region play included Evan Ali, Chris Cullins, Samir Dobbins, Xavier James, Jack Kennedy, Trent Lee, Tyler Ray, Andrew Riley, Antwan Thomuse, Nick Wisneski, and Jeremiah Woodward.
Even with all of the accomplishments, Coach Grady acknowledged the loss to Coffee “kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
Still, 10 wins is a good season, and Coach Grady lauded the hard work of his coaching staff and players and are already working hard for next season.
“We have to hit the weight room and improve in the trenches,” Coach Grady commented.
It says here the Pirates will do even better next season than they did this season, making a deep run in the state playoffs.
Who’s Next?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
So how good is the UCF Head Coaching job? What names could get in the mix? Here is a breakdown of the job and the potential names to watch.
Jamey Chadwell (Liberty) is 57-17 as a full-time head coach, including a 21-4 run with the Flames.
The 47-year-old Tennessee native ran one of the most entertaining offenses in the country at Coastal Carolina, which seems like a good fit for UCF’s modern, up-tempo brand. Chadwell has never worked at a Power 4 program.
Scott Frost is beloved at UCF after going 13-0 in his second season. But he never had a winning record, with his 16-31 stint at Nebraska, and history suggests that these coaching sequels never live up to the standard of the original, and rarely go well.
G.J. Kinne (Texas State) was Malzahn’s co-offensive coordinator at UCF in 2021. The 36-year-old Texas native also fits the Knights’ identity.
Kinne led Incarnate Word to the FCS semifinals in 2021, and his 15-10 record with the Bobcats earned him a contract extension in November. Is changing jobs a viable option?
Joey Halzle (Tennessee OC) is another former UCF assistant; he spent two seasons under Heupel and followed him to the Vols.
The 38-year-old California native has had success as a quarterbacks coach, tutoring Hendon Hooker and Nico Iamaleava, among others.
Ryan Silverfield (Memphis) overcame a bumpy start to his tenure and is 20-5 over the past two seasons.
The former Mike Norvell assistant has Florida ties. The 44-year-old is from Jacksonville and spent two years with UCF as a graduate assistant. His offense has ranked in the top 25 in scoring in each of the past three years.
Barry Odom(UNLV) was in consideration the last time and had the Rebels in the Mountain West title game. But the former Missouri head coach has a defensive background, and UCF has a much stronger offensive identity.
Will Stein(Oregon OC) leads a top-20 offense for a national championship contender. He’s also the position coach for former UCF star Dillon Gabriel, a potential Heisman Trophy finalist.
A deep Playoff run could complicate the timing for the 35-year-old Kentucky native.
Charlie Weis Jr. (Ole Miss OC) is a future head coach, but is he ready for a Power 4 job at age 31? He has familiarity in the state with stints at South Florida and Florida Atlantic and briefly overlapped with Mohajir at Kansas (when Mohajir was an administrator and Weis Jr. was a manager on the football team coached by Weis Sr.).
JON SUMRALL (TULANE) will be one of the hottest coaching names on the carousel. In two seasons at Troy he won 23 games and led the Trojans to two straight Sun Belt titles.
At Tulane this season he led the Green Wave to the American Athletic Conference title game.
Sumrall is expected to be choosy if he decides to leave the Green Wave (he was once a defensive assistant there and wanted to return to New Orleans).
An opportunity to coach in a power conference with a team building to win might be hard to pass up.
In Conclusion: UCF is the fourth major program sitting in the center of one of the most talent-laden states in the country.
The Knights have a clear identity (modern, fast) to sell to recruits. They are new to the Power 4, and it’s fair to wonder if fans’ enormous expectations (buoyed by the undefeated season/national title from 2017) are attainable immediately.
Regardless, there’s great potential for eventual success in a Big 12 that lacks heavyweight, championship bound programs.
Final Four
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The state semifinals for Georgia high school football is this weekend. Let’s take a look at the 6A matchups.
The top four teams in the preseason have made it; #1 Buford, #2 Carrolton, #3 Grayson and #4 Douglas County. Those rankings changed during the season, with Buford (12-1) trading spots with Carrolton (13-0) after they lost their season opener. Douglas County (11-2) is now #4 and Grayson (12-1) is #6.
Douglas County at Grayson
This game is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Grayson Community Stadium in Loganville. This is the first meeting between these teams.
Grayson’s only loss was the season opener to #5 Collins Hill. The Rams avenged that loss by beating them in the quarterfinals 38-14.
Douglas County’s two losses were to Buford and Carrolton. The Tigers beat West Forsyth 20-14 in the quarterfinals. In that game James Johnson (committed to USC) rushed for 100 yards and scored three touchdowns, one receiving.
Some other key Douglas County players are QB D.J. Bordeaux (2,645 yards passing), RB Zamarcus Lindley (1,183 yards rushing), WR Devin Carter (top-40 national junior prospect), WR Aaron Gregory (Texas A&M), LB Michael Hastie (Region 2 defensive player of the year committed to West Virginia) and DE/LB Jordan Carter (Texas A&M).
Grayson’s key players are QB Tyler Burgess (1,823 yards passing, 535 rushing), wide receiver Alexander-Sanchez (three-star prospect), LB Tyler Atkinson (five-star junior prospect, team’s leading tackler), LB Anthony Davis (four-star junior prospect) and DE Andre Fuller (Georgia Tech).
Grayson is in the semifinals for the 6th time in 10 seasons, the most in that time among any school in the highest class, and won state titles in 2020, 2016 and 2011.
Douglas County was in the semifinals last season in 6A but it was the second-highest classification at that time. This is their first time making it to the semifinals in the highest classification.
I believe Grayson will win this game.
Carrolton at Buford
The game is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tom Riden Stadium in Buford.
The last meeting between these teams was in 2021 in the 6A semifinals. The Wolves won 21-6.
Both of these teams have been dominant in the playoffs. This is the true state championship game because these are the two most talented teams in the state. They are both top 25 teams in national polls.
Both of these teams joined the highest classification in 2022. Buford is 34-4 in that time and the Trojans are 38-3.
They are still looking to win a title at the highest classification. Carrolton’s last state championship win was in 1998. They did play in the 7A state title game in 2022. Buford has won 13 state championships since 2000.
Buford has beaten seven top-10 teams during its 12-game winning streak. The Wolves key contributors are Dayton Raiola (1,717 yards passing), Justin Baker (889 yards rushing) and Jordan Allen (771 yards receiving). They have 10 seniors committed to major Division 1 schools. They also have 3 juniors who are top-300 national prospects.
The top offensive players for Carrolton are Julian Lewis (3,272 yards passing), Kimauri Farmer (1,142 yards rushing) and Peyton Zachary (821 yards receiving). Lewis was injured early the week before against Hillgrove in the quarterfinals and he did not return. We do not know his status going into this game. If he cannot play the Trojans don’t have a chance.
I think Buford wins this game and they will win the state championship the following week.
Gus Bus Leaves
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons as the head coach at UCF.
He will become the offensive coordinator at Florida State University, multiple sources with knowledge of the hiring have confirmed.
Malzahn, 59, went 28-24 with the Knights. After two nine-win seasons in the AAC, UCF fell to 10-15 in its first two years in the Big 12.
UCF finished 4-8 in 2024, ending the season with a 28-14 loss at home to Utah.
Malzahn and Florida State coach Mike Norvell have known each other for almost 20 years. Malzahn was the offensive coordinator at Tulsa when he heard about Norvell through a friend.
Malzahn hired Norvell (then a graduate assistant at Central Arkansas) as a GA with the Golden Hurricanes before the 2007 season. Norvell rose the ranks after Malzahn left to become an assistant at Auburn.
Malzahn will be taking over a Florida State offense that heads into its season-finale against Florida, and they are ranked 131st nationally in both yards per game and points per game.
Malzahn is 105-62 in 13 seasons as an FBS head coach with one season at Arkansas State and eight at Auburn.
The Arkansas native went 68-35 at Auburn, with a BCS championship game appearance in 2013, his first season as head coach.
He never had a losing record there and went 3-5 against Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide teams in the Iron Bowl, but he was let go after the 2020 season, with the school paying a then-record $21.5 million buyout to get rid of him.
Malzahn was also a successful offensive coordinator in the SEC, first at Arkansas and then at Auburn, helping Cam Newton and the Tigers win a national title in 2010.
UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir rushed in as soon after Malzahn was let go by Auburn, a splashy move to replace Josh Heupel after he left for Tennessee.
Malzahn seemed invigorated by the new challenge. He bought into the branding and underlying idea that UCF was the future of college football as a growing program in the center of one of the nation’s biggest football states.
Malzahn’s 2024 recruiting class was the best in program history, finishing 39th in the 247Sports Composite.
His staff fended off one of Florida to sign defensive lineman John Walker, the nation’s No. 95 overall prospect and the top recruit in program history.
Even during two seasons in the AAC, UCF failed to meet the elevated expectations of a program that went to back-to-back New Year’s Six Bowls in 2017 and 2018 under Scott Frost and Heupel.
The Knights went 18-9 his first two seasons, losing the American title game in 2021 before beating Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl.
All three former AAC schools, including Houston and Cincinnati, have struggled to win since entering the Big 12.
UCF had the best first season by reaching a bowl game. But the Knights had one of the season’s biggest collapses when they blew a 28-point second-half lead to Baylor in their first Big 12 home game.
Year 2 was expected to bring solid results with Arkansas transfer KJ Jefferson, a promising match for Gus’s offense.
Instead, it brought a quarterback carousel ,a midseason firing of Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof, Malzahn handing off play-calling to offensive coordinator Tim Harris, and several close losses that could have flipped the season.
UCF issued the following statement: “We would like to thank coach Malzahn for his contributions to our football program over the past four seasons, including our transition into the Big 12 Conference. We appreciate his professionalism and dedication to our student-athletes throughout his tenure at UCF and wish he and his wife, Kristi, the very best in their future endeavors.”
Malzahn had three years left on a contract that would have paid him about $5.5 million annually.
From The Jump
By: Charlie Moon
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’m not crazy, but…..Pat McAfee (yes, the same one permeating ESPN now) and long-time sports radio legend Colin Cowherd, had a major role in the country in introducing college football in the South, as the dominating national force.
Let me reset it for you. An undefeated, #2-ranked West Virginia was hosting long-time NFL coach Dave Wannstedt’s 4-7 Pittsburgh Panthers. The Mountaineers were 28.5-point favorites. WVU’s Pat McAfee missed not one, but two field goals.
To be fair, it was under 30 degrees and very windy. Pitt ran the ball out of the back of their own end zone as time expired and won 13-9.
My brother, Chad and our friends were going crazy. We called our parents, who were at some loud party in Athens. Why? Because the Dawgs, ranked #3, were going be in the BCS Championship game!
Then….they weren’t. Why? Long story short, the Dawgs were jumped by Florida, pitted against the Buckeyes on January 8, 2007.
Some can argue it began way before that. But that was the defining moment when a 7-point favored mighty Ohio St was supposed to show the country the Big Ten ruled the country.
But then SEC power and speed was on display and the country got to see just what pundit Colin Cowherd had been saying for a decade on his then ESPN radio show.
He had been saying for a decade that the SEC was already better than everyone, by a mile – and it would start showing soon. Most folks just shewed him off like they do now. But the guy knows his stuff.
One particular show hinged on one aspect. To most football purists, it was the craziest thing they’d ever heard.
It made perfect sense to me, though. He was talking about how the 90s saw the birth of 7-on-7 off-season football tournaments, similar to what happened with AAU basketball, and what we now deem “travel ball.”
Football showcase camps were popping up nationwide, and where were most of those camps? Yep, you guessed it.
The South. After all, why would a kid want to go to a March showcase event in lovely, icy St. Paul, Minnesota? So…. more kids from all regions, were coming down South.
His next point had nothing to do with football, but it rang clear. He talked about more kids visiting colleges down South, during these camps, and what did they see?
I can almost remember his exact words, but for emphasis, let’s quote it anyway.
“Imagine a kid from Syracuse, New York coming down south and visiting a college campus in sunny Florida. What do you think he saw? Yep, the college co-eds. And what do you think he thought? Do I want to stay in cold Syracuse, or go where the campuses are filled with sun and gorgeous co-eds?”
I get it, there are many reasons why college football in the South has been great for so long, well before 2007. But Cowherd’s argument was nearly a decade ahead of its time. College football in the South had been better for a long time, but it hadn’t yet dominated on a national scale.
In that 2007 BCS Championship Game, it was clear. The Gators were bigger, stronger and the biggest factor???…..speed!
The speed difference wasn’t even close. Gator defensive lineman were chasing down speedy Ohio State QB Troy Smith and running backs in the backfield all night long. Ohio State receivers could never break away from Gator DBs.
Sure, this game wasn’t a 1-game tell-all. And Pat McAfee and Colin Cowherd surely didn’t invent football in the south.
But they both had a say in what might be the turning point of the southern college football show on display for the country.
Not Just For Football
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Preseason chatter suggested that as many as 11 SEC schools could make the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
While it’s too early to confirm or dispute that bold prediction, recent rankings hint at the conference’s strength.
Currently, nine SEC programs are listed in the latest NCAA Men’s Top 25 basketball rankings:
No. 4 Auburn
No. 7 Tennessee
No. 8 Kentucky
No. 9 Alabama
No. 18 Florida
No. 19 Arkansas
No. 20 Texas A&M
No. 23 Ole Miss
No. 25 Mississippi State
No other conference boasts more than six teams in the Top 25, underlining the SEC’s depth. Still, claiming it as the strongest league isn’t a given.
The Big 12, while having fewer ranked teams, features three in the top seven: No. 1 Kansas, No. 5 Iowa State, and No. 6 Houston.
As the season unfolds, on-court performances will ultimately determine which conference reigns supreme.
So far, though, the SEC has been dominant, posting a collective 77-10 record with notable wins over powerhouses like Houston, Baylor, Duke, Ohio State, and Illinois.
While this doesn’t guarantee Final Four representation in April, it underscores the league’s potential to send teams deep into the tournament.
The red-hot Kentucky Wildcats are off to a 5-0 start, jumping three spots to No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
While they haven’t received first-place votes, they’re building momentum after commanding wins over Lipscomb and Jackson State. The Wildcats now prepare for tougher opponents, with matchups against Western Kentucky, Georgia State, Clemson, Ohio State, and Gonzaga in the weeks ahead.
Auburn remains the SEC’s top-ranked team at No. 4, followed by Tennessee at No. 7, making Kentucky the conference’s third highest-ranked squad. Overall, the SEC has an impressive four teams in the Top 10, part of the nine in the Top 25.
Closer to home, the Georgia Bulldogs rebounded from a tough loss to No. 15 Marquette with a thrilling 66-63 victory over No. 22 St. John’s at the Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas.
This marked Georgia’s first win against a ranked opponent since January 2023, when they defeated No. 22 Auburn, and their first ranked non-conference win since December 2021 against No. 18 Memphis.
Freshman standout Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 18 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. added 15 points, including two clutch free throws to seal the win.
Graduate guard Tyrin Lawrence contributed 11 points and a season-high nine rebounds, nearly achieving a double-double.
The Bulldogs return to Athens to host Jacksonville on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Stegeman Coliseum, tipping off at 7 p.m.
As the season progresses, the SEC’s early success suggests it will be a league to watch when March rolls around.
Hardcourt Sting
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college basketball season just started so I suppose anything can happen the remainder of the season.
We’re only five games in for Georgia Tech but I do have to wonder, are they cooked? If you are not aware that’s slang to say “struggling” or “done for”. Why would I pose that question so early on?
Last season was Damon Stoudamire’s first season as the head coach in Atlanta. If you are not aware he’s a former NBA player. He played at Arizona from 1991-95 where he was a consensus First-Team All-American (1995), Pac-10 Player of the Year (1995) and three-time First-Team All-Pac-10 (1993-95). He was drafted 7th overall in the 1995 NBA Draft and he’s the first pick in the Toronto Raptors franchise history. He was NBA Rookie of the Year (1996) and he played in the NBA from 1995-2008.
I love to see former players become coaches. He was an assistant coach in the NBA for many years and he was also an assistant at Arizona. He got his first head coaching job at Pacific in 2016 and coached there until 2021.
During his time there he had one winning season and a 71-77 overall record. He returned to the NBA to be an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics from 2021-23.
That is a lot of basketball knowledge and experience that he can pass on to players. Also, it should help with recruiting since he played and coached at the highest level. So, has it translated thus far? Last season the Yellow Jackets were 14-18. So far they are 2-3. It does not look like this is resonating.
All of their games so far have been at home at McCamish Pavilion.
The season started with an 85-62 win over West Georgia. They lost the second game to North Florida 105-93. Losing to the Ospreys is not a great look.
They followed it up by beating Texas Southern 81-62. Tech has lost their last two games to Georgia and #18 Cincinnati. The most recent game against the Bearcats was an 81-58 blowout. Cincy had a 45-29 lead going into halftime.
“From the jump Cincinnati just did a good job of bringing the game to us. I didn’t think that we matched any of their energy on the initial,” said Stoudamire. “A lot of the execution you can’t get to in a game because of the way the game was being played on the initial. I thought we played hard in the first half in spurts, but we couldn’t put enough good minutes together. And every time we would get things withing striking distance, something would happen. We turned the ball over. A lot of live-ball turnovers, a lot of indecision. Things that we had talked about, but you’ve got to give them (Cincinnati) credit as well.”
Tech has four players that average double digits in scoring; Baye Ndongo, Javian McCollum, Lance Terry and Kowacie Reeves Jr.
They have two more home games against Charleston Southern and Central Arkansas. On paper those should be easy wins but I’m sure they thought that about North Florida.
In December they play at Oklahoma, at #12 North Carolina, Northwestern (neutral site), UMBC, #11 Duke, Alabama A&M and Boston College. In these next nine games I think the Yellow Jackets have to go 7-2 in order to set themselves in the mix to make the NCAA tournament.
I’m not sure they will do that but we will see.
Wild Season For Wildcats
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2024 football season came to an end for the Camden County Wildcats recently.
New head coach Travis Roland finished his first year in Kingsland with a 7-4 overall record following a 28-7 loss to North Cobb High School in the first round of the GHSA 6A state playoffs.
Coach Roland brought a new attitude and a new playing style to Camden. Offensive Coordinator Grant Alford, also in his first season with the Wildcats, installed a new pro-style offense and in infusion of RPO (run-pass option) schemes.
Second-year starting quarterback Parks Riendeau, a junior, took to the new offense enthusiastically and posted stats not seen by a Camden quarterback since Brice Ramsey in 2013.
Riendeau finished the season with 131 completions on 224 attempts, tossing 21 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions.
Reindeau’s top target, senior tight end/wide receiver Elyiss Williams, put up dominating performances all season and displayed all of the talent you would expect from an athlete committed to play at the next level for Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs. Williams hauled in 54 passes for 789 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Wildcats cruised through their non-region schedule and found themselves at 5-0, averaging 54.4 points and 420 yards of offense per contest.
Those five contests included victories over Brunswick 51-41; East Lake (Tarpon Springs, FL) 60-15; West Broward (Pembroke Pines, FL) 52-29; Ribault (Jacksonville) 62-6; and Spruce Creek (Port Orange, FL) 47-20.
As expected, things got much tougher when Camden began region play.
The first Region 1-6A contest was delayed due to Hurricane Helene and required the Wildcats to travel to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium on a Saturday to tangle with the Valdosta Wildcats. Camden was sent home with a 56-37 loss.
The Blue Wildcats returned home the following week and rebounded by playing their most complete game of the season, a 28-10 victory against Richmond Hill. Camden County pushed their overall record to 6-1, but found themselves just 1-1 in Region 1-6A.
Another trip to Valdosta followed in week 8, but this time it was on to the Concrete Palace to face the Lowndes Vikings, which resulted in a 33-7 loss.
The next week the Wildcats returned home again, and suffered their second straight region loss, this time to Colquitt County by a score of 54-41.
Camden County was now 6-3 overall and 1-3 in region play, needing a victory in the final week against Tift County AND a Colquitt victory over Richmond Hill just to make the playoffs.
As fate would have it, Camden beat Tift 38-28, and Colquitt took care of Richmond Hill, which earned the Wildcats the fourth seed out of Region 1.
This set the stage for the matchup with the North Cobb Warriors, the top seed out of Region 5.
The Region 5 champion Warriors (11-0) capitalized on mistakes by the Wildcats (7-4), securing a 28-7 victory in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
All of North Cobb’s scoring occurred in the second and third quarters, with two Camden turnovers turning into points.
Senior RB Jordan Hardy finished the season with 997 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.
Camden County had multiple players recognized as all-region standouts for their efforts this season, including Elyiss Williams, who was named the Region 1-6A Offensive Player of the Year, and junior cornerback/wideout/return specialist David Coleman, who was named the Region 1-6A Athlete of the Year.
All-region first team offensive nods were given to junior QB Parks Riendeu, senior OL and University of Cincinnati commit Zack Taylor, and sophomore wideout Sean Green.
All-region first team defensive selections from Camden included junior inside linebacker Xavier Brown, senior outside linebacker Wayne Austell, and senior safety Ja’maric Daley.
Staying Alive
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Which teams control their destiny to make the Playoff?
Right now, it feels there are about 20 of them, and it’s making for some great angst and drama.
Everyone from No. 1 Oregon (which is already in at this point) through No. 8 Miami (which would win the ACC) is safely in if they don’t lose another game.
Ditto these teams that will win their conference and an automatic berth if they win out: No. 13 SMU (ACC), No. 14 BYU (Big 12), No. 15 Texas A&M (SEC), No. 16 Colorado (Big 12) and No. 21 Arizona State (Big 12).
So, that’s 13. But let me address some of the ones I left out.
No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Georgia , the final two at-large teams, are seemingly close but could get caught up in some weird SEC tiebreaker math.
If nothing else, Texas A&M winning the SEC and supplanting Texas as the highest-ranked SEC team would bump everyone else down a rung. Or either Ole Miss or Georgia makes the title game, loses and then drops too far to remain an at-large team. (This would be painfully dumb, but I wouldn’t rule it out.) But hey, at least No. 7 Alabama has some breathing room in that scenario.
I initially planned to put No. 12 Boise State in the group above but realized No. 19 Army could well pass the Broncos for the Group of 5 berth if the Black Knights beat Notre Dame, Tulane and remain undefeated.
And I don’t think it’s possible both would finish above an 11-2 Big 12 champ. Probably neither will. That’s why I’m comfortable including Arizona State in that pool.
So, it’s 13 that control their destiny and, by my count, 23 that still hold at least a glimmer of hope the 17 I mentioned- plus No. 11 Tennessee, No. 17 Clemson (can win the ACC), No. 18 a South Carolina (slim at-large hopes), No. 20 Tulane (G5), No. 22 Iowa State (can win the Big 12) and No. 24 UNLV (G5).
Twenty-three teams with a shot with three weeks to go. Last year at this same point, there were eight.
My question is should head-to-head play a factor?
Because head-to-head is not as simple as Team A beat Team B. Was the game close or a blowout? The latter is harder to overlook. Did Team B lose at home or on the road? Losing at home is less excusable.
And most importantly, in the context of their larger seasons, did this result fit with what the teams did the rest of the year, or was it wildly out of character? One game shouldn’t automatically void the other 11.
I was mildly surprised the committee held Texas’ Week 2 road win over Alabama last season so sacrosanct given it happened so early in the season, but it felt it couldn’t include the Tide in the final four without having the Horns one spot above them.
And now this season, you’re seeing it with the way it carefully ordered Alabama-Ole Miss-Georgia. (BYU/SMU, not so much.)
But I can think of one possibility that would be an absolute nightmare for the committee.
Say Notre Dame beats Army this week but loses to USC to finish 10-2. The Irish are out, right?
Except, what if Texas A&M beats Texas to advance to the SEC Championship Game, loses that game on a last-second field goal and finishes 10-3? Greg Sankey will lose his mind if the committee keeps the Aggies out because they played a 13th game but surely they cannot put 10-win A&M in and leave out 10-win Notre Dame that won in College Station, right? It’s the same scenario as Texas-Alabama last year.
Either both would be in or neither would be in.
Buckle up it’s gonna be an exciting last two weeks of college football. Let’s see what happens!
Corrupt Committee?
By: Charlie Moon
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I have to say. I was searching a little for a column topic. But this one, it is about as easy as somebody trying to get me to eat a slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza. Yeah, if you’re reading this and you know me, then you know. I had bariatric sleeve surgery in late September.
“Moon, thought you couldn’t eat pizza anymore!” And I say…. “Shhhhhh, don’t tell the doc!”
In all seriousness, I can still eat pizza. But – only a couple bites here and there.
Back to the lecture at hand…..the ease of choosing the column topic. What I saw last on ESPN’s College Football Playoff Rankings Show, was about as intellectually rewarding as blowing dandelions on a hot summer night. Who knows, maybe some scientist can argue that blowing dandelions actually do open the brainwaves a little.
You know, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, no matter the industry. Usually, when our government makes decisions we don’t get, I often give them the nod.
My best example is: 3rd and 1, and the offense runs a simple off tackle and gets stuffed for a 2-yard loss. What happens? Armchair quarterbacks start yelling, “What was that?” “What kind of play call was that?”
But not this time!!
Look, when I watched Warde Manuel give word salad on Tuesday night’s show, I nearly had to go stand on my front porch to ensure our house had not been lifted into some 3rd dimension.
Warde Manuel is the current 8-year Michigan Athletic Director. He grew up in Michigan. He played football at Michigan under the great Bo Shembechler. Look, I’m sure he’s a great guy and a great family man….all of that. But there is absolutely no way a sitting athletic director can serve on the 12-person playoff committee that selects the 12-team playoff field.
When I did a little research, I was at Wild Wing Cafe in Statesboro. I nearly spit out the drink I was in the middle of. FIVE…. Count ‘em FIVE…. of the 12 members are either current NCAA athletic directors or are high-ranking officials in those athletic departments.
We’ve always known these playoff committees have members of current athletic departments, but to see that they constituted almost half of this year’s committee, was shocking.
I’m not going to dole out names, or give out their addresses like some of our national leaders do. But, I will criticize the committee and its member selection.
Normally, not much attention should be paid to the CFP rankings yet. But the problem is hearing their thoughts and how they rank teams.
When Warde Manuel explained why UGA was where they were and Texas was where they were, I was dumbfounded.
He said, “Yes they beat Texas. But their body of work – we just felt like 10 was the right spot.”
Ummmm…..wrong. UGA has more top 25 wins than the 2nd-6th ranked teams combined. Sure, the Dawgs got hammered by Ole Miss, but their strength of schedule is #1. The message being sent is for teams to play no one.
Look, we could argue all day long about who should be where, but there is one thing that should not be up for debate. There is no way that current school officials should be a part of selecting the teams. I’m sure they try as hard as they can to be unbiased, but human nature is what it is.
There’s no coincidence Manuel is a Big Ten guy and 4 of the top 5 teams are Big Ten. I’m not saying it “just because,” but again. The Dawgs have more top 25 wins than Ohio St, Indiana and Penn St combined.
I’ll just wrap it up this way. Let’s go back to the computers – honestly!
