Since the folks at the SB Nation mothership have declared it to be "college football relegation week," I figured I'd participate in the discussion by revisiting the proposal I made 5 months ago for a promotion/relegation system in college football. It was originally a two-post series, and the first post, in which I stated the benefits of such a system is located here. (I saw no need to re-post that entry.)
The bottom line is that conference realignment has gotten so crazy and out of hand that a new, simpler solution is needed. As is often the case, though, a simple solution might seem wildly radical at first. All I ask you to do, though, is look at the maps, and then I think you'll be convinced. (Well, convinced to listen to the whole argument, at least.)
The promotion/relegation system I have proposed is 99.9 percent geographically-based. Such a system is impossible, however, with our all-over-the-map conferences arranged as they currently are (not to mention how crazy it will get in 2013).
As a result, I have rearranged the top-tier BCS conferences to align them with a specific geography. Basically, instead of having multiple conferences overlapping every state, each state is assigned to only one "stack" of conferences in the promotion/relegation system. I attempted to preserve historical rivalries in the initial organization of this system, but was forced to break a few. For example, LSU is no longer in the SEC, and Georgia Tech and Clemson are cut off from basically the rest of the current ACC.
Because there are far more teams in the eastern and central part of the U.S. than the west, the Pac-12 stack has fewer teams than all the others, but if there's one thing the current system has shown us, it's that it is virtually impossible to draw a completely clean line between conferences. The ACC has also taken over much of the Big East's old footprint, and because there aren't a lot of Division IA/FBS football teams in the northeast, it covers a large number of states. (In fact, I had to promote two I-AA/FCS teams to the second tier just to complete a 12-team second-tier conference.)
For reference purposes, here is the current conference alignment as it will look for the 2012 football season:
And here is the new conference/stack map for the promotion/relegation system:
Have I piqued your interest? Then, please, read on...
Hello again, kids! If you want hard-hitting journalism, then prepare yourself to be unfulfilled. If you want two awesome segments that cover 1) charity for the fight against cancer and 2) why Buzz Bissinger is a grade-A douchebag, then you've come to the right place.
This week, I get to wax Dawg poetic with Shaun Golden, former UGA Basketball player and co-founder of NeverNX. NeverNX is a sportswear apparel company that just so happens to be hosting a charity golf tournament on June 16 to benefit the Dr. Alec Kessler Memorial Foundation, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and the fund for Kasyn Olivadotti. Many former UGA greats in football and basketball will be participating, so be sure to click the link and help support them any way you can.
Also on the docket, The Mayor and I completely put to rest the ridiculous notion that college football should be banned. Granted, the whole debate was hypothetical in nature, but in the grand scheme of things, this is an Armageddon type of scenario and if I'm looking for someone to stay on that meteor and push the button to save Earth, Jason Whitlock is not that man. Confused? Listen to the show and it'll all be clear.
Let's dole out some links for you:
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As always, you can listen to the entire episode via the player at the bottom of this post.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Tennessee St. Buccaneers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| Georgia Bulldogs | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 2 |
The Diamond Dogs, believed by Baseball America to be the last SEC squad safely in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, hosted East Tennessee State at Foley Field on Tuesday night for a final tune-up before traveling to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the final series of the regular season. The Athenians did what they were supposed to do, dispatching ETSU by a 7-4 final margin.
Following an uneventful opening inning, the Bucs generated a run in the top of the second stanza on a pair of singles and a couple of walks with a double-play lineout sandwiched in between. The Bulldogs answered in the home half of the frame on back-to-back doubles by catcher Brett DeLoach and designated hitter Jared Walsh, a passed ball, and a base hit by center fielder Peter Verdin to make it 2-1.
Welcome back to our own little private History Learnin' classroom. Have a seat, why don't you? Please remember that there is no gum chewing or sticking-your-tongue-to-the-flagpole allowed. Thank you.
On Sunday, I paid tribute to Rosalind Burns Gammon, the mother from Rome who saved Georgia football, and who in my mind is the mother of Georgia football. Her son, Von Gammon, tragically died as a result of on-field injuries in the 1897 Georgia/Virginia game, and her actions in his name literally preserved the sport of football at every institution in the state of Georgia.
It is not possible, however, to fully discuss the Von Gammon tragedy in just one post. As a result, I will be reviewing the media backlash and aftermath of Gammon's death on the game in this story. I will also have another follow-up posting on Thursday discussing the general state of college athletics (not just football) in 1897, primarily because I love how it illustrates that some things just never change in the world.
So... let's get to it! Mr. Bissinger, you have the stage:
Now that Spears has made it clear that the Red and Black are going 8-4 in 2012, I feel free to speak openly of the reality that the Georgia Bulldogs are going to lose to the Missouri Tigers on September 8.
The reasons for this are myriad and obvious. Todd Grantham’s NFL-style defenses have tended to struggle against the sorts of innovative offenses seen only in the college ranks, and Georgia will face Missouri’s potent passing attack with multiple defensive backs sidelined. The Bulldogs have fared badly on recent trips to what used to be Big 12 country, and, clearly, the Tigers have their SEC opener circled on their calendars.
The Georgia men's and women's tennis teams hosted the first two rounds of NCAA tournament action this weekend and emerged victorious. Both teams advance to the Rounds of 16, when all teams still standing converge on Athens and the Dan Magill Tennis Complex to battle for the NCAA Championships starting on 17 May for the women and 18 May for the men.
Your sixth-seeded UGA women's team made it through the weekend by defeating the College of Charleston 4-0 Friday and edging Clemson 4-3 on Saturday. The second-seeded men blanked South Carolina State 4-0 on Saturday and beat FSU 4-1 Sunday in a match played indoors due to rain.
The predictions that Georgia would win the East began almost as soon as the year did, and you may have heard that we're now a preseason blogpoll consensus top 10 team. Don't believe the hype. The Stoics taught us not to let passion interfere with clear reasoning, and Larry Munson taught us that a little pessimism never hurt anyone. So, with just 110 days left until kickoff, you need to start preparing yourself for the inevitability of an 8-4 regular season. Here's why:
Buffalo (09/01/12)
Buffalo has a great running back, but there's a reason that we're paying them nearly a million dollars to be our home opener. If we lose this game, it's time to occupy the doomsday bunkers. WIN
at Missouri (09/08/12)
Remember that time that we were returning 9 starters from one of the most dominant defenses in the country? No? Me either. All of our DBs will be suspended for this game. That is a serious problem when we're facing one of the most prolific spread offenses in the country. I have full faith in Coach Grantham's abilities as coach, but his NFL background has not fully prepared him for his initial outings against offenses that are unique to college football, particularly with a true sophomore wide receiver in his first SEC start on defense. We're in for a world of hurt, y'all. LOSS
Emerging from a rugged Southeastern Conference that produced three of the top seven national seeds, the Georgia women’s softball team captured the No. 10 overall seed, and, along with it, the right to host a double-elimination NCAA Regional in Athens beginning this Thursday, May 17.
The Bulldog ladies will open play against Coastal Carolina, a school perhaps best known to Red and Black fans as the college that produced the famous line, "We need more ‘Dawgs!" Joining the Bulldogs and the Chanticleers in the Classic City will be ACC regular-season champion North Carolina and Southern Conference champion Georgia Southern.
The winner of the Athens Regional will take on the winner of the Knoxville Regional in the second round. The Knoxville Regional, of course, is hosted by No. 7 seed Tennessee. Should the Lady Vols emerge victorious from the opening round on their home field, they would host the NCAA Super Regional, but, if Georgia prevails in its regional and Tennessee comes up short, the Super Regional will be coming to our campus, instead.
First things first, though. Before the Red and Black can begin thinking ahead, they must first take care of business, so the order of the day is to beat Coastal, then take it from there.
Go ‘Dawgs!
