Bishop Media Sports Network
College Football Super Bowl On The Way?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Could Clemson be moving to the SEC soon?
Rumors are swirling again regarding expansion. The SEC currently sits at 16 teams with Oklahoma and Texas joining in 2024. Think of Big 10/SEC as the NFC/AFC.
We’re quickly headed for an NFL-like model for college football because the powers that be desperately want media deals like the NFL has.
The short term will be chaotic, but it’ll eventually settle into a pro formatted league with regional divisions that prints money like the US Government.
But everything between now and then will be uncomfortable for the avid college football fan. It’s regionalized divisions within a national league. It’s how every professional sports organization is laid out.
Eventually you will see a new alignment that is consisted of the Big 10 and the SEC. You could see 24 teams in each conference breaking away from the NCAA governing body which has become useless by the way.
You could call it something like the National College Football League. You could appoint a league commissioner just like the NFL and negotiate major TV deals for each the league. All teams that are not members of the NCFL could stay as members of the toothless NCAA and still compete at football.
If Clemson bolts to the SEC, what is to stop Florida State, Miami, and North Carolina from following? You keep hearing things from people like what about Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Virginia Tech? Do you want the Big 10 to come down and gain a footprint in the South?
The answer is who cares. In the NFL you have the AFC South and the NFC South. You the AFC North and The NFC North. You see it really doesn’t matter if you land in one of the two major conferences.
What about recruiting? The top-rated recruits will go to a league that has the best TV contract, which will end up fueling NIL money into the pockets of those highly rated prospects.
This will create parity like we see in the NFL. In the NFL anyone can get beat on any given Sunday. An NFL type model in college will create anyone can get beat on any given Saturday.
What if the SEC expanded by four more teams in 2025 with Clemson, FSU, North Carolina, and Miami to put the number at 20?
The SEC could create four divisions with five teams. If a new body was formed with the Big Ten, then there would be no more cupcakes as you would only play teams from each conference.
Twelve game schedules, then two rounds of playoffs in each conference. You then have a championship Saturday with two huge conference championship games then a huge National Championship game on Saturday before the Super Bowl.
A 20-team breakout in a newly expanded SEC could look like this:
SEC Atlantic: Clemson, FSU, UNC, Miami, South Carolina
SEC East: Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
SEC Central: Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee
SEC West: Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M
You would have 9 conference games annually. Each team would play everyone in their division annually. You would have one permanent opponent from the rest of conference and rotate the rest so you can play home and home with the entire conference in a 4–5-year window.
You would play 3 rotating Big 10 opponents based on a computer model that matches teams with similar records from the previous season. No more cupcakes.
The team with best overall record wins their division and makes the SEC playoffs. If there is a two-way tie in division then head-to-head tiebreaker is in effect. Further tiebreaker scenarios would be determined by league.
This model would require Notre Dame to join the Big Ten.
Put on your seat beat folks this is where college football is heading. If not two conferences, then four with similar type formats.
Rest in Peace NCAA. Can you envision a college football draft down the road with a draft order for the top high school football prospects with slotted NIL money for each pick? You talk about parity folks.
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch September 29
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 27
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Garrett Grady September 27
Unpaid Workers
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Much of the discourse at Wednesday’s legislative hearing on NIL centered around pay-for-play and NIL collectives.
With two sitting athletic directors as witnesses and a former Heisman Trophy winner as a third, the narrative of what the NCAA wants to see fixed in college sports was clear.
More guidelines. A different framework. Ability to crack down on inducements.
The nearly two-hour hearing before the House Committee on Small Business on Wednesday won’t inch Congress any closer to delivering the NCAA its long-sought federal bill.
Remember this hearing for another reason: It highlighted what lawmakers of the NCAA’s efforts to lobby Congress. The NCAA is confronting the brink of a revolutionary transformation- ushered in by the NIL era two years ago.
The NCAA is a powerless organization with no ability to build consensus among power conferences. It feels each team has been busy all summer poaching each other’s schools to construct super conferences, funded by billions of TV dollars, while side stepping what’s permitted to line the pockets of athletes and coaches.
Here’s the reality: The winds of change are fiercely blowing in one direction: toward a long-overdue revenue-sharing model. The NCAA has exerted all of its’ efforts toward leaning on Congress to save it.
Its wish list includes a preemption of state NIL laws, at least partial antitrust protection, and a formal designation that athletes are not employees.
Congress wants clear, concise messaging on what solutions college stakeholders seek. Right now, there is no clear messaging. As a result, Congress isn’t eager to solve the NCAA’s problems.
Here’s why no clear messaging to congress is a critical issue in the NIL space. Evolving NCAA guidance still maintains the need for established distance between schools and collectives.
Most Power 5 schools are ignoring that guidance. Lack of regulation matters because 95% of collective dollars go to male athletes.
On another note, discussion centered on the need for more transparency, uniformity on NIL contracts, and a collective agent registry.
The NCAA’s NIL subcommittee this summer was green-lighted to develop those elements, along with an NIL database. Votes on those policy changes will occur next month and in January.
Overall, for all their efforts lobbying Congress, which has intensified in recent months, the NCAA’s ball hasn’t moved. It’s mired on the wrong side of the field, facing fourth-and-long and needing a Hail Mary with no quarterback.
With the NCAA ceding all opportunities to get in front of developments, the action will occur in the courtrooms, continuing as soon as tomorrow.
Like it or not, a new model is coming. The NCAA chooses to play the role of bystander, futilely pleading for a Congressional helping hand.
Fans, keep your eyes on “ Johnson vs. NCAA and House vs. NCAA, these two are working their way through the courts.
Also, the National Labor Relations Board’s Los Angeles office has filed its unfair labor practice complaint against USC, the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA (a hearing is scheduled for Nov. 7).
These machinations are viewed as a slow march toward student-athletes being designated as employees. That probable scenario will dramatically reshape college athletics.
Busy Bee
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In the off-season, it was well thought that rising senior Will Nelson would be the heir apparent to take over as QB1 for the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets.
After excelling as a two-year starter at safety for the Jackets, Nelson was tasked with learning and leading a completely revamped offense for SEB that made the move back to the split-back veer.
While that would be more than enough for many 16–17-year-olds, it’s far from all Nelson was focused on.
He had just completed his junior season for Southeast Bulloch Baseball, while also being an active member of numerous clubs and activities including Beta Club, National Honors Society and Future Business Leaders of America among others.
Was that enough for Nelson? Nope!
Last spring and into the summer, Nelson applied, interviewed, and was named one of two representatives for 4A on the 2023-24 GHSA Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
The GHSA Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) is a 20-person panel made up of student-athletes from all over the state of Georgia that are selected by a group of judges after a rigorous interview process.
Two representatives from each classification along with four at-large members make up the council each year. The SAAC is tasked with creating the connection between student-athletes, the GHSA Office, officials, and everyone that has a hand in high school sports to help promote sportsmanship and leadership.
“We’re just trying to influence a positive attitude and atmosphere around high school sports,” said Nelson. “We also want to push respect referee, and associates that help us, and spend their time to help us play our game and keep us safe during the game.”
The selection process begins with a full application process and must meet the minimum requirements that the applicant must be involved in at-least one club or school organization in addition to playing at-least one sport at the school. After the application, comes the interview process where judges from all across the state that will be making the final decision.
This year, 116 applications were sent in from all corners of the peach state to select the 20-person council with Nelson and Sanaaya Thompson from Rutland High School getting the nod for the 4A classification.
“It defiantly means a lot to me to be able to represent not only SEB, but all of 4A,” said Nelson. “It can be a lot of pressure, but it’s an honor for sure.”
The GHSA SAAC will be voting on a couple yearly awards including the Student Section of the Year, as well as participating in a leadership conference in the winter.
All the off the field accomplishments and responsibilities haven’t taken away from his performance on the field leading Southeast Bulloch to a good start midway through the year.
He is the second leading rusher for the Jackets, behind senior running back Kyon Taylor and scored the first 3 rushing touchdowns of the season.
Multiple coaches around the SEB program have called Nelson a “Gamer Winner”. The confidence he brings on and off the field is incredibly impressive and is just the type of leader you would want for your program.
There are many words that can describe or label Will Nelson. Quarterback. Leader. Student-Athlete. SAAC member. Son. Friend.
And somehow, he finds time to juggle all of them, and do it well. Free time? Who needs it!
Captain Of The Bucs
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers are a trendy pick to win the Single A Division II GHSA State Title. That is in no small part due to Bucs standout, Neo West.
West starts on defense at safety and also starts at QB for Bradley Warren’s Bucs.
Neo West is a local homegrown talent, born and raised in McIntosh County…living in Townsend.
The season started with plans to move West out of the QB role and into the running back position. Coach Bradley Warren instead elected to keep West as their biggest threat on offense at QB.
Neo West is a weapon, a dual threat QB that has a high football IQ. West is just plain smarter than most he plays against. “When I play QB I try to make the smartest play possible and control the offense.”
West went on to say, “I am most comfortable in a Wing-T offense. I like sharing the ball and making big plays happen.” He has made his fair share of big plays, playing both ways since he was a freshman and was a starter at safety and QB as a sophomore.
When asked about what he has learned from his head coach, Bradley Warren, I got this profound answer; “Coach Warren has taught me a lot but one of the biggest things is that I need to be the one to step up. On the football field I need to be the one to step and make a big play when my team needs it. And in life I need to be the one step up and do what needs to be done.”
Neo West has high aspirations on the football field as his goal for this season is to make All-State at safety. Eventually Neo wants to move onto college and major in business. West hopes that college football will be part of that equation.
To this point West has received some interest from Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, and Middle Tennessee State. Most likely as the season wears on more interest will follow.
West also is only a Junior, so he has a whole other year to play for the Bucs after this season.
Neo started playing football at 7 years old. He played both RB and QB on offense and played safety on defense.
I asked Neo what drives him…”My mom is the biggest influence in my life. She has had such a huge positive impact on who I am. She always told me that just because I might be smaller than some other people playing football that none of them could match the size of my heart and to play with heart.” West’s measurables are 5’11 150 pounds. He is tough, hard nosed kid that plays bigger than he is.
Neo is also close with his sister, Judea West. “She is 22 and in college at Middle Macon. We actually call each other twins because we are so much alike. We are always there for each other.”
Neo West is a phenomenal young man that has big things ahead of him.
Brock Bowers is a Unicorn
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Brock Bowers is a GOAT.
Yeah everyone knows what a GOAT is. Most people say Tom Brady is the GOAT of Pro Football. Pretty hard to argue with that. There is always spirited conversation between this guy and that guy being the best and that’s what makes it fun.
My GOAT is Ali. In his prime he was simply above everybody and the great thing was HE TOLD YOU SO! “I’m the greatest!” “I’m so petty and you ugly Joe Frazier.”
It was wonderful and the man backed up everything he said. In a time of great division in our country, Muhammed Ali said “I aint got no fight with no Viet Cong.” It cost him several years of his prime to do what he thought was right. He didn’t just say it, he lived it. Yeah, he was my GOAT. Pretty rarified air up that high on the mountaintop.
GOATs also generally have certain standards that they have to live up to. That means championships and carrying teams on their backs when needed. That makes me think of 2 GOATS, Michael Jordan in basketball and Herschel in college football.
Michael won championship after championship and sometimes carried the team when he had to. He also made clutch shots when needed. Ask Craig Ehlo and the 1989 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Herschel on the other hand had a much shorter career but burst on the scene like an Atomic Bomb. Whether it was stomping on Bill Bate’s chest in the opening game of the 1980 season or routinely running away from 180-190 lb DBs.
Herschel made the 1980 Georgia Bulldogs. They absolutely don’t win the national championship without him. “MY GOD A FRESHMAN” were the words of the GOAT of all college football announcers, Larry Munson.
So how in the heck could we think some tight end of all people could be a GOAT? Because he is. Brock Bowers is simply the best tight end to ever play college football.
Sure, there is a crowded room with the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Kyle Pitts, Keith Jackson, and others. But Brock just has something different. He has been tabbed as “generational” by pundits and he is one of the reasons the Dawgs are back-to-back National Champions and going for “3 in 23”.
Has he had to carry a team, no. Would the team win without him, probably. But the guy comes to work every day, does his job, and outworks everyone. Kirby calls him a “machine.”
Bowers is out of Napa, California. His game highlights tape included videos of him running up and down the California hills. The Georgia staff was impressed. They offered, and Brock thought he’d look great in Red and Black. The rest is history.
The 6’4” 240lb tight end made a mark the first week he was on campus. Especially when he began running away from DBs in practice on one of the best defenses ever in college football.
By the season opener it was apparent that he was special. That chiseled frame moved along at a 4.5 40 clip. He was one of the fastest dawgs right out of the gate.
Brock’s 2021 season was amazing. He racked up 56 receptions for 882 yards for a 15.8 avg. and 13 TDs.
Add to that, 4 carries for 56 yards and another touchdown.
In 2022, he was just as good if not better. As a focal point of the offense, he was often double teamed and bracketed by DBs and LBs.
It didn’t matter. Sixty-three catches for 942 yards. A 15.0 avg and 7 TDS. Nine carries for 109 yards and 3 TDS. And let’s not forget that the man blocks like a maniac. He won the John Mackey award as the best TE in the nation along with first team everything! The pro scouts are drooling.
Barring injury, 2023 will be a repeat and then most likely it’s on to the NFL where many have him listed as the number two overall player in college football behind only last year’s Heisman winner Caleb Williams.
Enjoy this year Georgia fans and make sure you appreciate what you have in number 19. Throw in his ‘team first’ attitude and first guy in and last guy out of the football facility at Georgia and it’s easy to spell his name. Brock Bowers is the GOAT.
GO DAWGS!
Calm The Fluff Down!
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’m not the most prolific of Tweeters.
In fact, after 14 years on TwitterX, I have less than 300 followers. I’m okay with that. In fact, on January 14, 2022 I did something that limited my already miniscule reach. I threatened to unfollow all political accounts.
https://x.com/jwdoke/status/1482069924856184841?s=20
You see, back in the heady days following Georgia’s first Natty, TwitterX was a Red and Black wonderland. Video clips of the season, highlights of the game, montages of the celebration that followed. It almost made up for the 41 years of frustration that Dawgnation had endured (except for the Spurrier years. I’ll never be over that).
So, I *sort of* did what I threatened; I made a separate account for political musings, and left my main account to revel in all things Dawg (and to a lesser extent until the second half of last season, all things DUUUVAL). And lo, it was a glorious Twitter feed for the better part of two years.
The first championship season was followed by a second and topped off with a 65-7 massacre – the biggest bowl win in college football history.
To borrow a phrase from another program that won’t be needing it for a while, it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldawg.
But then the 2023 season started, and someone that hadn’t been around in a while showed up at the tailgate – Negative Nancy.
I don’t have to tell you that the back-to-back defending champs have suffered slow starts in their first few matchups. It’s well documented, no more vociferously so than Dawg fans themselves. You would think that we hadn’t won a game, that the sky was falling, or worse – it was the Jim Donnan years again.
Of course, the brunt of the armchair quarterbacking is heaped upon Kirby’s long time friend and teammate, returning OC Mike Bobo.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve read the words “fire Bobo” in the last month, I’d be able to buy season tickets. Everyone and their brother is suddenly a world class evaluator of college talent and is ready to give Bobo the heave-ho.
Two words to that; Just Stop.
Maybe it’s because the season ended last year on a blow out, maybe it’s because we’ve lifted Stetson Bennett into the highest levels of DGD status (rightfully so, but that’s not the point right now). Or maybe – just maybe – it’s because Dawg people have really short memories.
Todd Monken’s offense last year, though prolific, wasn’t always firing on all cylinders.
The “closer than it should have been” Kent State game and the “almost a road loss to a team that shouldn’t even be in the SEC” Missouri game come to mind.
Need I also remind you of the high octane offensive juggernaut that brought us the 16-6 victory over Kentucky?
In short, when it worked it worked, but it wasn’t always a blow out.
Coach Smart had to point out a few weeks ago that the offensive system this year is the same as last year. Bobo hasn’t reinvented anything.
The numbers back this up. Run plays vs. pass plays, play action, play action on 1st Down, throws of 20+ yards, Almost every offensive metric is within a few percentage points from last year to this. Seriously, it’s the same dang offense, people!
Granted, there have always occasionally been serious head scratchers of calls from Coach Bobo- that disastrous pass play on 1st & goal from the 5 comes to mind – but all in all, Mike Bobo was not the reason why the Coach Mark Richt era didn’t break the championship drought.
His offense, more seasons than not, produced 40+ points per game averages, but were paired up with lackluster if not disastrous defensive squads.
Bottom line, Kirby trusts him, ergo I trust him. Same thing with the Stet/JT controversy from two years ago. My response is the same; Let Kirby cook.
And as far as the slow starts this year, there’s a viral GIF of Kirby out there where he’s telling a player to “calm the fluff down” or something like that. I’m not good at lip reading. Go look that up next time we have to punt in the first half.
Now can we please talk about something else? As long as it’s not Coach Prime, that is…
No ‘I’ In Team
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
What’s the Difference between a “Program” and a “Team”?
No matter what level sports, or what sport for that matter, the term “good program” gets thrown around as much as NIL.
The problem with this is just because a team is winning or performing well, doesn’t mean that it’s a good program.
Everybody knows what a good team looks like. Impressive stats, good players, and a lot of wins. But what does a good program look like? Is there a standard? Does it have something to do with Nick Saban’s “process”?
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you stop hearing the term “program” past the college level. Nobody would say that the Atlanta Falcons are a good “program”. Good Team? So far. Good Organization? Yes. Good Franchise? Yes….most would say yes. It’s mainly college and high school sports entities that people talk about being a “program”.
To me, in order to be labeled as a “good program” it’s about development. Developing young men and women into great athletes, yes, but also developing the whole person.
Since sports fans are looking at how many NFL players that college programs produce, or how many recruiting “stars” come out of a high school program, it gets lost that MAYBE 5% of the teams will be making that jump to the next level. What happens to the other 95%?
That’s where a “good program” comes into play. There are so many programs and resources that are at the hands of the student-athletes now to prepare them for when that inevitable final pitch, last basket, or career ending snap is taken.
Most (not all) college athletic departments have put in incentives in place to prepare student-athletes after sports. One example of these is right here in our own back yard.
Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko has put a great emphasis on the APEX program. This is an outreach program that follows a curriculum through the career of the student-athlete that covers everything from financial literacy, teaching about taxes, job interview skills, and much more.
The student-athletes are also involved in community outreach, and sessions of needed skills that nobody thinks about like an emergency car care session to show athletes basic car maintenance, and emergency roadside tips.
This trickles down to the high school level too. Everybody wants to look at schools with a brand-new turf field, or a massive videoboard as good programs, and while that’s great, no discounting it at all, if you’re not invested in the people of your program, you’re just a good team…. if that.
Many times, at the high school level, some of these assets to the student athlete are open to all the students at the school and are spearheaded by coaches.
Take Southeast Bulloch for example. The last few years, Coaches Brent Osborne and Randy Lee have been building up the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program at SEB that was dormant for over 20 years. Now up to about 65 members (many of them student-athletes for the Jackets), the FBLA hosts events for resume building, job interview skills, and other real-world experiences and skills that prepare the members and student-athletes in ways that many at other programs won’t have.
Don’t get me wrong, the “fancy” facilities don’t mean that a program is focusing more on the looks than the substance.
In addition to Randy Lee being RBs coach and Special teams coordinator for SEB Football, and Brent Osborne stepping away from on-field football coaching and moving to the broadcast booth this year, both Lee and Osborne are the Girls and Boys golf coaches for the Jackets and raised money to buy a state-of-the-art golf simulator for SEB golfers. Both can be done and are done well many places throughout the state.
So, what the heck does all this mean? It is just me going off on a soap box again? (maybe…) Just think next time you or you hear someone say, “man that’s a really good program”. Just think. Is it really a good program? Or is it just a good team?
