FREE THOUGHT FRIDAY:
SEC NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE STRENGTH The advent of the early-season, neutral site, intersectional games have at the very least made previously deaf SEC schedulers listen to possible matchups versus other power conference contenders without insisting that their opponents always travel or at best sign a home-and-home contract. Due to this relatively new phenomenon there are few if any embarrassing non-conference slates within the confines of the SEC. Here are my 2016 rankings:
SOLID: Consisting of at least two testers:
GEORGIA: North Carolina (Atlanta), Nicholls State, UL-Lafayette, Georgia Tech
Tar Heels are expected to win the ACC-Coastal (9-4; 6-2) and the Yellow Jackets will be decent
KENTUCKY: Southern Miss, New Mexico St, Austin Peay, Louisville
Most anyone they schedule will be a tester for the Wildcats
LSU: Wisconsin (Green Bay), Jacksonville St, Southern Miss, South Alabama
Play the Badgers in a veritable home game for Whisky and Southern Miss never rolls over.
OLE MISS: Florida State (Orlando), Wofford, Memphis, Georgia Southern
Seminoles are National Championship contenders and Memphis and Georgia Southern are pesky.
TENNESSEE: Appy State, Virginia Tech (Bristol), Ohio U, Tennessee Tech
Giving the Vols the benefit of the doubt with Appy State projected to win the Sun Belt (9-3; 7-1) and Ohio picked to win the MAC-East (7-6; 5-3)
ONE and DONE
ALABAMA: USC (Arlington), Western Kentucky, Kent State, UTC
Probably could have given the Tide a break with Western Kentucky projected to finish 8-4 overall and 6-2 in CUSA but decided against it because...well...I don’t like em.
AUBURN: Clemson, Arkansas St, UL-Monroe, Alabama A&M
If I didn’t count the Hilltoppers for Bama then I can’t count Arkansas State (projected 8-4, 6-2 in Sun Belt) for the Tigers
ARKANSAS: Louisiana Tech, @TCU, Texas State, Alcorn State
Traveling to play the Horned Frogs is enough I guess
MISSISSIPPI STATE: South Alabama, @Massachusetts @BYU, Samford
Serial scheduler of cream puffs, I’m giving State credit for traveling to Provo even if BYU is projected to finish only 6-6 in 2016
TEXAS A&M: UCLA, Prairie View, New Mexico State, UTSA
New Mexico State and UTSA are projected to win 3 games each which means Prairie View is the Aggies 2nd toughest non-conference game.
DON’T PLAY ANYONE UNLESS REQUIRED BY LAW (In-state rivals and three stiffs)
FLORIDA: Massachusetts, North Texas, Presbyterian, @Florida State
U-Mass and North Texas St are projected to win 3 games combined. For all I know 2 of those may be versus Presbyterian
SOUTH CAROLINA: East Carolina, Massachusetts, Western Carolina, @Clemson
Ducking Citadel this year I see.
DOWN RIGHT HEROIC: Vandy is the ultimate breather so there are no cream puffs
VANDY: MTSU, @ Georgia Tech, @ Western Kentucky, Tennessee State
The Derek Mason farewell tour hits Atlanta and Bowling Green
BLOGGER’S NOTE: Check back on Monday and we will look at some conference game schedule comparisons for the upcoming 2016 SEC football season.
BE CAREFUL! THE SCIENTIST ARE LISTENING: Tony B and the Good Doctor Sean Sinclair were waxing poetic about the glorious state of Tennessee Football and the spotless offseason and fall practice we have experienced when word came down in mid-foreplay that Director of Football Operations Chris Spognardi had been placed on administrative leave.
I’ve been trying to tell you we are still in the midst of a grand experiment to see just how much one fan base can take before they totally snap. It is my belief that the scientist conducting this experiment have a state of the art Glee Meter. When Big Orange Nation gets giddy enough to move the glee needle into the red they tune us up a little bit. So stifle yourself Edith!
TIME TRULY FLIES …. WHEN RETIRED: What used to seem like the longest month of the year is now whizzing by at warp speed. It used to seem like forever between SEC Media Days and the beginning of fall practice let alone the playing of actual games. For the first time however it seems like only yesterday
the old Nick Saban was chastising Paul Finebaum for having the audacity to actually do his job. Since this is my first season of CFB buildup as a retiree I can only assume that my non work status has sped up the clock. If August zips by I can only imagine how accelerated the time will seem between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
If I’m honest August became more tolerable when I got heavily involved in fantasy football. With the rise of Sirius/XM radio and the NFL Channel a fantasy football junkie can while the hours away preparing for however many drafts we will participate in most of which occur at the end of the month. I play in three pro and one college league. The college league extended draft was just completed on-line; my keeper league (you can retain 12 players from your roster) draft begins today, my one NFL money league will draft on August 28 and my home league where I first caught the bug in the early 2000s drafts on September 4th. The last two leagues mentioned have a draft where everyone gets together and has a great time selecting our teams. It is unapologetically one of my favorite days on the sports calendar.
TITAN’S BILL’S VOICE IS HEARD: As hard as it will be to forget Bill’s classic “schedule call” of earlier this week (if you missed it you must check out the last 15 minutes of the Thursday show) I want you to think back a couple of weeks. Titan’s William called to criticize the NFL Network’s camp coverage and bemoan the fact the Titans were being ignored. Well apparently he has more pop than anyone thought as from that day forward there have been daily -if not hourly- reports coming out of Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville. Now Titans Bill is ecstatic while the rest of us suffer through minutia about a team destined to finish last in one of the NFL’s weakest divisions.
What about the Colts NFL Network? I haven’t seen JACK about the team that will once again reclaim their lofty perch atop the NFL South. Getcha some of that Briney Boy and any of the dozens of Texans fans across the USA.
BASEBALL BITS:
-Sad to see Prince Fielder have to step down at a relatively young age due to health issues. I am glad that he and his father Cecil seemingly solved their once-irreconcilable differences. I enjoyed watching both play.
-Some talk has been raised about the slight possibility that the Marlins could be interested in Alex Rodriguez once rosters expand on September 1st. As anti A-Rod as I am I wouldn’t mind seeing him get an opportunity to make it to the 700 HR plateau…as long as it isn’t in pinstripes.
-Though most of the numbers put up during the juice era are fraudulent I don’t think A-Rod’s career stats are totally skewed. He obviously had great natural ability and he didn’t suddenly become a power threat to be reckoned with like Brady Anderson or Sammy Sosa simply because he was willing to sell his soul to the needle. Too bad he and Barry Bonds didn’t abuse PACEDs; Personality and Character Enhancing Drugs.
-Just when it looked like the Indians were about to make Believeland totally believable Jonathan Lucroy vetoed a trade to the Tribe, Danny Salazar went on the DL and Carlos Carrasco starts pitching like he needs to go back. Some places just weren’t intended to have nice things.
-The Texas Rangers lead MLB in ninth-inning comeback wins with five this season. Pretty significant when your lead in the division is 7 games.
-Mike Trout really shouldn’t be playing on a team 15 games under .500. I think he would really look good in pinstripes don’t you?
-Kansas City and Houston what in the wide, wide, world of sports happened to you?
FINAL FRIDAY THOUGHT: Tony was asking Vol Nation how they will handle a rare Thursday contest and what disruptions it will cause? The SR BOBC: Selfish, Retired, Big Orange Booster Club says BRING IT ON!
