Dawg Sports

College Football Promotion and Relegation Revisited

2012-05-16T15:30:03Z

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...

The stack breakdown by state is as follows. (The total number of schools in the stack is in parentheses.) Every Division I school in each state is in the associated stack, with the lone exception of Miami (FL), who is in the ACC stack. I did this both for competitive reasons and because of the fact that Miami has far more in common from a demographics standpoint with the Atlantic seaboard and northern schools than the SEC. Here is the state breakdown:

SEC stack (45): GA, FL, AL, MS, SC, TN, KY

ACC stack (57): NC, VA, WV, VA, DC, MD, DE, NJ, CT, RI, MA, PA, NY, NH, VT, ME

Big Ten stack (40): OH, IN, MI, IL, WI, MN, IA, ND, SD

Big XII stack (42): LA, TX, AR, OK, KS, NE, NM, CO, WY

Pac-12 stack (33): CA, AZ, UT, NV, OR, WA, ID, MT, HI

Now, when flaming my conference alignment in the comments below, please remember that I haven't changed the 8-game conference schedule or the 12-game overall schedule, so out-of-conference matchups are always available to teams who are no longer grouped in the same stack or conference.

Also, remember that conference membership will literally change every year, with the best two performers advancing a level and the worst two performers dropping a level.

Here are the promotion/relegation rules:

- Each of the top two tiers is a twelve-team league with two divisions. The third tier is broken down into two conferences, which are not limited in size.
- At the end of the season, the team in each division with the worst conference record is relegated to the league on the next lower tier.
- At the end of the season, the second-tier team who wins their division is promoted to the top-tier league in their stack.
- At the end of the season, the winners of each of the two third-tier conferences is promoted to the second-tier league in their stack. (For the Pac-12 stack, which only has one third-tier conference, the top two finishers from that league are promoted.) For very large third-tier conferences, this might necessitate a playoff due to equivalent conference records (if whatever tiebreakers are in place are tied, as well).

For the first season, each stack breaks down as follows:

SEC	(Top)
East	West
Clemson	Alabama
Florida	Auburn
Florida State	Mississippi State
Georgia	Ole Miss
Ga. Tech	Tennessee
South Carolina	Vanderbilt

Conference USA	(Second-Tier)
East	West
Florida Atlantic	Kentucky
Florida International	Louisville
Troy	Memphis
UAB	Middle Tenn. State
Central Florida	Southern Miss
South Florida	Western Kentucky

Third-Tier Conferences
Southern Conference (TN, AL, KY)	Big South Conference (GA, FL, SC)
Austin Peay	Charleston Southern
Chattanooga	The Citadel
Eastern Kentucky	Coastal Carolina
Jacksonville State (AL)	Furman
Morehead State	Georgia Southern
Murray State	Georgia State
Samford	Jacksonville U. (FL)
South Alabama	Presbyterian
Tennessee-Martin	Wofford
Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech

Projected results from 2011:

Relegated: Georgia Tech (to Conference USA)
Ole Miss (to Conference USA)
Florida Atlantic (to Big South)
Memphis (to Southern Conference)

Promoted: South Florida (to SEC)
Southern Miss or Louisville (to SEC)
Jacksonville State (to Conference USA)
Georgia Southern (to Conference USA)

ACC	(Top)
North	South
Boston College	Miami (FL)
Penn State	NC State
Pitt	North Carolina
Syracuse	Virginia Tech
UConn	Virginia
West Virginia	Wake Forest

Big East	(Second-Tier)
North	South
Army	Appalachian State
Buffalo	Duke
Delaware	East Carolina
Rutgers	Marshall
Temple	Maryland
Villanova	Navy

Third-Tier Conferences
Colonial Athletic Association (DC, KY, MD, NC, VA, WV)	Patriot League (CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI)
Campbell	Bryant
Davidson	Bucknell
Elon	Central Conn. St.
Gardner-Webb	Colgate
Georgetown	Duquesne
James Madison	Fordham
Liberty	Holy Cross (MA)
Old Dominion	Lafayette
Richmond	Lehigh
Towson	Maine
VMI	Marist
Western Carolina	Monmouth
William & Mary	New Hampshire
	Rhode Island
	Sacred Heart
	St. Francis (PA)
	SUNY-Albany
	SUNY-Stony Brook
	UMass
	Wagner

Projected results from 2011:

Relegated: Syracuse (to Big East)
North Carolina (to Big East)
Villanova (to Patriot League)
Duke (to CAA)

Promoted: Rutgers (to ACC)
Marshall (to ACC)
Old Dominion (to Big East)
Lehigh (to Big East)

Big Ten	(Top)
East	West
Indiana	Illinois
Michigan	Iowa
Notre Dame	Minnesota
Ohio State	Northwestern
Purdue	Wisconsin
Michigan State	Iowa State

Mid-American Conference	(Second-Tier)
East	West
Cincinnati	Northern Illinois
Akron	Central Michigan
Kent	Eastern Michigan
Bowling Green	Western Michigan
Miami (OH)	Toledo
Ohio U.	Ball State

Third-Tier Conferences
Pioneer Conference (IA, ND, SD, IL)	Ohio Valley Conference (IN, OH)
Drake	Butler
North Dakota	Dayton
North Dakota State	Valparaiso
South Dakota	Indiana State
South Dakota State	Youngstown State
Northern Iowa
Eastern Illinois
Illinois State
Southern Illinois
Western Illinois
Robert Morris

Projected results from 2011:

Relegated: Indiana (to MAC)
Minnesota (to MAC)
Akron (to Ohio Valley)
Central Michigan (to Ohio Valley)

Promoted: Ohio U. (to B1G)
Northern Illinois (to B1G)
North Dakota State (to MAC)
Indiana State (to MAC)

Big XII	(Top)
North	South
Colorado	Arkansas
Kansas	LSU
Kansas State	Oklahoma
Missouri	Texas Tech
Nebraska	Texas
Oklahoma State	Texas A&M

Mountain West	(Second-Tier)
East	West
Louisiana Tech	Air Force
Louisiana-Lafayette	Baylor
Houston	Colorado State
TCU	Tulsa
Rice	UTEP
SMU	Wyoming

Third-Tier Conferences
Southland Conference (LA, AR)	Missouri Valley Conference (TX, NM, CO, MO)
Louisiana-Monroe	North Texas
Tulane	New Mexico
McNeese State	New Mexico State
Nicholls State	UT San Antonio
Northwestern State (LA)	Lamar
Southeastern Louisiana	Sam Houston State
Arkansas State	Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas	Texas State
	Northern Colorado
	Missouri State
	SE Missouri State

Projected results from 2011:

Relegated: Kansas (to Mountain West)
Texas Tech (to Mountain West)
Rice (to Missouri Valley)
UTEP (to Missouri Valley)

Promoted: Houston or TCU (to Big XII)
Baylor (to Big XII)
Sam Houston State (to Mountain West)
Central Arkansas (to Mountain West)

Pac-12	(Top)
North	South
Boise State	Arizona
Cal	Arizona State
Oregon	BYU
Oregon State	UCLA
Stanford	USC
Washington	Utah

WAC	(Second-Tier)
North	South
Fresno State	Hawaii
Idaho	Nevada
Washington State	UNLV
Montana	Utah State
Eastern Washington	San Diego State
San Jose State	Northern Arizona

Third-Tier Conference

Great West Conference (CA, UT, OR, ID, MT)

San Diego U.

Cal Poly

Southern Utah

UC-Davis

Portland State

Sacramento State

Weber State

Idaho State

Montana State

Projected results from 2011:

Relegated: Oregon State (to WAC)
Arizona (to WAC)
Idaho (to Great West)
UNLV (to Great West)

Promoted: San Jose State (to Pac-12)
San Diego State (to Pac-12)
Montana State (to WAC)
Portland State (to WAC)

Well, that's the lineup, folks! If you actually followed me this far, then God bless you, 'cause you're a heck of a reader. I welcome your feedback below! I think this is an equitable system, and it completely eliminates the threat of further realignment. If a team from the lower tiers wants to play their way up into big-boy football, they have a path with which to do just that!

Did I get it wrong? Am I insane? Let me know below! And...

Go Dawgs!

The Dawg Gone Podcast Show 43 is ready and wants to know why Lewis Black hates college football.

2012-05-16T12:30:14Z

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:

To listen, SUBSCRIBE, review and rate the episode on iTunes, click here.

To stream the episode in MP3 format, click here. To save it, use "right click, save as."

To listen on Stitcher Radio click here.

To email me about the podcast, click here.

To subscribe to the podcast with your RSS reader, copy this link.

As always, you can listen to the entire episode via the player at the bottom of this post.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

Diamond Dogs Take Care of Business Against East Tennessee State

2012-05-16T01:28:36Z

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.

Georgia got on the board again in the bottom of the third canto, as a one-out single by shortstop Kyle Farmer, a double by left fielder Hunter Cole, and a base hit by DeLoach pushed one run across home plate, then a two-out single by Verdin scored one more. ETSU narrowed the gap with leadoff home runs in the visitors’ halves of the fourth and fifth frames.

After squandering a two-out single in the fourth inning and a two-out double in the fifth canto, the Red and Black loaded the bases with two outs away in the sixth stanza on consecutive singles by right fielder Kevin Ruiz and pinch hitter Levi Hyams, followed by a walk drawn by third baseman Curt Powell. This time, the Classic City Canines opted not to waste the opportunity, as Farmer drove in a trio with a triple.

A Hyams error in the top of the seventh frame enabled the Buccaneers to plate an unearned run with a double, but Farmer prevented the miscue from causing additional damage when he ended the threat with an unassisted double play. That was the last of the drama before the upper half of the ninth inning, which began with Pete Nagel giving up two straight singles to bring the would-be tying run to the plate. Fortunately, Farmer stepped up defensively again, turning the double play that squelched the threat before a strikeout formally ended the game.

Despite committing a pair of errors, the Diamond Dogs did well defensively, as East Tennessee State never scored more than a single run in any individual inning, and none of the eight pitchers David Perno used surrendered more than one score. The last five guys out of the bullpen gave up no earned runs, while Georgia notched 13 hits, including four doubles and a triple. The Red and Black managed nothing more than what was expected, but they did what was required of them.

Go ‘Dawgs!

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History Learnin': The Aftermath of Tragedy

2012-05-15T16:00:27Z

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:

The following editorial was published in The Macon Telegraph on November 21, 1897. (This was 3 days after the Georgia Senate had voted 31-4 to outlaw football in the state, sending the bill to the Governor for his signature.)

As usual, my additions and comments are in italics. I have also bolded a few passages, which I will refer to in my analysis after the article.

----------------- (Begin Article) ------------------

The Surgeons and Football.

The Medical Record, one of the most responsible medical journals in the country, takes up the case of young Von Gammon killed in a game of football in Atlanta, and because of whose death a bill, interesting to all college students, is now pending before the Georgia general assembly, and says: (Holy run-on sentence, Batman.)

"The lamentable death of the Georgia student Gammon as a result of injuries received in a game of football has occasioned the passage of a bill by the house of representatives of Georgia, making it a misdemeanor to engage in the game when matches have been arranged or gate money has been demanded. The overwhelming majority vote of the lower house makes it quite probable that the senate will endorse the action and the bill will become a law. If this be the case, Georgia will set a laudable example for every commonwealth of the country. The time certainly has come when such a general movement is necessary.

"In view of the great number of serious accidents on the football field between college teams, it is impossible any longer to view the game in the light of innocent recreative amusement with harmless and healthful athletics as its object. Although so called slugging has been ruled out in the new game, (Slugging? Like boxing-football? Interesting.) there is still left enough of brutal muscular force to make the alleged sport productive of the greatest variety of surgical injuries to every part of the body. In fact, there is hardly a game played in which some one of the contestants is not more or less seriously hurt. Only the severer injuries are noted, while the lesser ones serve as enlivening incidents to call forth the plaudits of an excited audience. Short of actual death on the field, not much account is taken of the hundreds of young men who are oftentimes injured for life as a result of the rough and tumble methods of the match. The trainers explain the number of injuries by the lack of requisite physical preparation for the contest, but, in reality, the more the footballers are trained, the more dangerous becomes the game.

"It is certainly time we should look the matter squarely in the face. If we wish to develop pluck, courage, endurance, and strength, we can do so in more healthful and safer ways. It is time that the new game, with mere weight against weight, should be abolished."

The foregoing is printed in the New York Evening Post which says:

"The most weighty deliverance that this fall's discussion of football has called forth is the article from the Medical Record, which we reprint. The Record is a conservative medical journal of the highest standing, which speaks with authority on the subject of physical training, and its words must have great influence with people who keep their heads steady in the whirl of excitement that comes with the ending of the season. The Record holds that the game as now played ought not to be allowed, on the ground that it can no longer be viewed in the light of innocent recreative amusement, with harmless and healthful athletics as its object; but that, even with 'slugging' ruled out, it is 'productive of the greatest variety of surgical injuries to every part of the body,' and that the effect of such injuries is life long in a large proportion of cases. This is a phase of the subject which is seldom regarded except by the medical profession. Unless a player is so badly hurt that he cannot enter the field again during the season, the injury is generally dismissed by both the young man himself and the public as a mere trifle, while really he may suffer the effects always, and more severely as he passes on from middle life into old age. 'No, I do not allow my son to play football,' recently remarked an experienced surgeon of this city (that would be NYC), who has a son in college and who is a hearty believer in college athletics rightly conducted. 'I have had in my practice too many cases of water on the knee and other such really serious injuries, which players treat as of no account, to be willing to have my boy run the great risk of a hurt that he will never get over.' "

The Telegraph took exactly this position in the discussion of the death of Von Gammon. The Georgia legislature should really not have to intervene in this matter. The game as a college sport should be abandoned by common consent of the students themselves. Even if Governor Atkinson should feel constrained to veto the bill, the game ought to be ruled out on the very grounds that the Medical Record presents, unless it is possible to so modify the rules that the chances of permanent physical injury shall be minimized. We doubt if this can be done and the present popular interest in the game can be preserved--a popular interest which is not based, by the way, upon true sportsmanlike instincts. (emphasis mine) Any game which depends so much upon the impact of physical "weight against weight" is not really a good game.

------------------ (End Article) ----------------

Ladies and Gentlemen, there you have it... the Buzz Bissinger "ban college football" article of 1897. The common elements are all there:

- Claims that at least one player is maimed for life during every single football game that is played.
- A quote from a "concerned parent" in a notable position saying that they would never let their ~~little snowflake~~ child participate in mean old college football.
- And, most importantly, an implication that fans of the sport are barbarians and troglodytes.

I do not doubt that the game as it was played back then inherently carried dangers of injury, as it still does today. And, in fact, rule changes were implemented to make college football safer as a result of this and similar incidents around the country.

Charles Herty, the father of Georgia football and its first head coach, was personally involved with this effort, as the following article from The Athens Banner on December 24, 1897, points out:

---------------- (Begin Article) -------------------

CHANGE RULES FOR FOOTBALL.

----------------

Southern Colleges will Frame New Rules

---------------

TO MODIFY THE GAME

---------------

This Was Decided Upon at the Meeting of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association at Birmingham Sunday Evening.

---------------

Birmingham, Ala, Dec. 20. --The meeting of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association here Saturday resulted in steps being taken to greatly modify the game of football in the South.

Hereafter a player going from one college to another will not be allowed to play until he has been one year at that college, and no one can play who does not matriculate within thirty days of the opening of the session.

Now as to the rules for the playing of football in the Southern colleges making up this association.

The most important discussion of the meeting commenced here. Football rules for the coming year discussed. The president suggested modifications. (That's real detailed, Mr. Journalism. Thanks a lot.) He spoke of the success of the time limit and penalty rules which had been adopted last year. Professor Taylor also spoke on the subject of the success of the two rules named.

Dr. Herty took the floor and stated that he was instructed by his association to bring up the matter looking for some modification in football rules. No details were given him, but the expression was in favor of substantial modifications. He spoke of the unfortunate accident on the field in Atlanta, and stated that the report of rough playing was unfounded. He said it was an accident altogether; that the young man was lifted entirely off his feet and landed on his head. He was not in condition at the start to go into the game. The accident stirred up much sentiment in the state, and immediately the legislature passed an anti-football law. The governor of Georgia, however, with his usual characteristic nerve, vetoed the bill. He told of the attempt to pass the bill over the governor's veto. He said that the game was injured in Georgia, and especially at Emory college, and that the trustees of the University would discuss the matter in June.

Consequently, he was of the opinion that what was done today would be of vast importance to the success of the association. He did not believe in following after northern or eastern colleges in making rules, but to take care of the association. He suggested that a committee of five be appointed, whose duty shall be to meet on March 1st, after receiving suggestions as to rules from all the colleges in the south and from others interested in the movement, and that they shall adopt rules to modify present rules. The action of the committee to be final. The rules of next year should discountenance premium for weight and equalize weight, skill, and work so that lighter men with skill will have an equal show.

The following is the committee appointed to draw up a set of football rules for the Intercollegiate Athletic Association that would eliminate the rough features of the game:

C. H. Herty, Athens, Ga.; M.G. Johnston, of Sewanee; John Lombard, of New Orleans; C.H. Ross, of Auburn; W.L. Dudley, of Nashville.

The committee will select an advisory committee of five football experts and both committees will meet at some central location about the 20th of March to adopt suitable rules.

(The article continues with non-football related news.)

---------------- (End Article) -------------------

Sadly, it is difficult to pin down the actual exact rule changes that were made by the SIAA at that March, 1898, meeting, in spite of performing a significant amount of research into the issue. (There was no national governing body at that time, and each regional conference had their own set of rules, which were largely similar but not identical, particularly relating to eligibility concerns. I will not go into that aspect of the debate, however, which was one of the primary reasons the Southern Conference split from the SIAA in later years).

I have found the following publication, however, from Outing magazine from November, 1898 that describes the changes made to the game's rules over the past year. I know most of it is applicable to the SIAA's rule changes, though I can't vouch for all of them.

---------------- (Begin excerpt) -------------------

PERHAPS the most important of the changes in the intercollegiate football rules since last year is that in the method of scoring. It was found so easy to kick goals from touchdowns that the proportionate value of the two points given for the goal and four for the touchdown was not reasonable, and the figures were altered so that now a touchdown counts five points, and the goal after it adds only one more point to the score. A goal kicked from the field still counts five points, and thus has the same value as a touchdown, while the safety still remains at two points for the opponents.

(skipping down)

Many of the recent changes in the rules have been intended to keep the player from getting off-side, to prevent unnecessary roughness and to limit mass plays. The "flying wedge" was followed by other "momentum mass plays" that sought to gain ground through the sheer force of the combined weight of a team thrown at one spot of the opposing line. These plays were stopped by prohibiting any player from being in motion at the time the ball was snapped back. Then, when the teams still drew their linemen back for wedges, but did not start them till after the ball was put in play, it was ruled that there must always be at least five men on the scrimmage line.

---------------- (End excerpt) -----------------

The article I have excerpted above is actually filled with fascinating detailed examples of formations and plays that both had been made illegal and which were still legal at the time. The link to the Google digital version of the magazine is here, and the article in question is on pages 197-200. It also includes some pretty cool photos of the 1898 Yale football team at practice, and there is a short blurb about the SIAA on page 205. (It didn't really discuss anything new that was relevant to this article, so I haven't quoted it here.) Check it out if you have plenty of time to waste getting lost in reading about football in 1898. :-)

In my opinion, the net of all this discussion should be a warning against the dangers of overreacting in the heat of the moment to a football tragedy. There is no question that football is a game with inherent dangers. There were dangers present in 1897, and there are dangers present in 2012. That doesn't mean we need to abolish the game, however.

Football has evolved over the years, both with rule changes and with new technologies that are designed to better protect players from hits. And as the serious long-term impact of things like concussions have been discovered in the past, schools have even taken it upon themselves to get ahead of the curve and preemptively sideline players until they are completely cleared by doctors to play again.

Football should not be abolished. Instead, it should be tweaked to be made safer, as it has been continually throughout the years, and undoubtedly will continue to be in the future.

That's it for today... I'll be back on Thursday with some non-football-related Georgia athletics History learnin'!

Go Dawgs!

Why the Georgia Bulldogs Should Not Want to Become the Missouri Tigers' New Rivals

2012-05-15T12:45:05Z

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.

This last one is cause for particular concern, not just for this season, but for future falls, as well. Missouri is just getting out of a longstanding rivalry with the Kansas Jayhawks, and, while some cynical former conference mates of the Tigers’ think historic rivalries quickly fade when they stop being played annually, I am able to state from personal experience that this simply isn’t so. Nevertheless, it undeniably (and unfortunately) is the case that, when generations change hands, their ideas regarding rivals shift to keep up with the times.

While I agree with Senator Blutarsky that college football’s ill-conceived treatment of the sport’s sacred traditions as fungible commodities ultimately will kill the goose that lays the golden egg, the short-term reality is that “Missouri will eventually develop some SEC rivalries.” Because the Bulldogs are first up for Mizzou in the new conference lineup, the Athenians have a good shot at being that for the Tigers.

This is worrisome, and not just because we have enough folks already who hate our guts for no particularly good reason. I don’t want Georgia to be Missouri’s new rival, because, well, we know what those folks did to their old rival. I refer, of course, to Quantrill’s Raid, in which Missourians pillaged and burned Lawrence, Kans., in a retaliatory strike that later gave rise to an infamous “scoreboard” T-shirt.

Here’s what worries me about the possibility that the Bulldogs may become the Tigers’ new rival: We Georgians have experience with that sort of thing.

Let’s forget about this autumn’s outing in Columbia, then; just chalk that up as an “L” and look on down the road. What happens if Mizzou wins in Athens next year? Instead of plucking pieces of the hedges, might they board their buses, bound for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and arrive in the City Too Busy to Hate intent on mayhem? Might the sons of the Show Me State decide there and then to show us a thing or two about rivalry?

So, please, guys, we welcome you to the conference; we think you’re a fine addition to the league, and we’re looking forward to getting to know you better, but, whatever you do, Mizzou, don’t pillage our cities, and, for crying out loud, don’t set anything on fire!

I mean, if we’d wanted that sort of behavior, we’d have invited the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Go ‘Dawgs!

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UGA Tennis: Men and Women Advance to Rounds of 16 in NCAA Championships

2012-05-14T22:00:19Z

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 men are cruising right along. They lost the doubles point to FSU Sunday by faltering at the 1 spot after dropping at 3 but winning 2. But the guys came back strong in singles, taking wins at the 2, 4, and 3 spots in straight sets by KU Singh, Ignacio Taboada, and Sadio Doumbia, respectively. Senior Wil Spencer clinched the 4-1 win at number 1 after falling behind in the first set, defeating the Seminoles' top player 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. The remaining two matches, which had a delayed start due to the fewer number of indoor courts, went unfinished, but Nathan Pasha and Hernus Pieters were playing strong.

Around the bracket, nationally, all of top 16 seeds advanced from their regional competition except 9-seed Mississippi State, upset by Baylor in Starkville, and 10-seed Oklahoma, who had a bad day in Norman against (of all teams) Tulsa. I don't know how big a deal that is for the Sooners, but I'd be embarrassed to lose the Athens Regional to another school in Georgia. The Dawgs will face 15-seed North Carolina on Friday, 18 May, with play scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.

The Georgia women had a closer call against -- the Country Gentlewomen? Ladies? -- Clemson on Saturday. The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead after winning at the 2 and 3 doubles spots. Chelsey Gullickson made it 2-0 at the No. 1 singles spot when she handily defeated Clemson's Keri Wong 6-0, 6-2. It started to look like a rout when Kate Fuller took down Nelly Ciolkowski 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5 to make it 3-0, but the Tigresses roared back to tie the match 3-3 with hard-fought wins at Nos. 6, 2, and 4. All eyes turned to the 5 spot where Georgia's Maho Kowase had been blanked in the first set and ground out a 7-5 win in the second. She took the third set 6-1 to clinch her fourth team win of the season.

Like the men's bracket, the women's now has all but two of the top 16 seeds standing. And like the men's bracket, the women's saw a seeded Mississippi school (Ole Miss) fall against a Texas team (Rice). Eighth-seeded Bama lost to Georgia Tech in Tuscaloosa 4-3. Georgia plays 11 seed Texas on Thursday, 17 May, in a match scheduled for 4:00 pm.

Tournament play continues in Athens through 22 May for the team championships, with a separate tournament for singles and doubles championships beginning the next day. Live scoring is available through GeorgiaDogs.com if you can't make the events live, and we'll have results here at Dawg Sports after each round, as long as the Dawgs are playing.

GO DAWGS!

We're Going 8-4. Get Used to It.

2012-05-14T16:00:29Z

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

Florida Atlantic (09/15/12)
Despite their record, the Owls are turning into a respectable... oh, Schnelly retired? Ok, yeah, we're going to WIN this one.

Vanderbilt (09/22/12)
You know what the saddest part of this game is? I have a colleague from UF who ribs me for having Vandy as a rival. And there's nothing I can say about it. But Coach Grantham's charges have a little extra motivation to bring it this year, so I'm expecting a beatdown of Biblical proportions. WIN

Tennessee (09/29/12)
Oh, Vawls. For the last couple of years, the best we could say about you was that your coach has great hair and pants. But you have some returning talent on your offensive line, and we're talking about starting a (talented) true freshman at left tackle. You're also apparently starting a future top 5 draft pick at QB. Every year that we're supposed to be great, you ruin our party, and this year won't be any different. LOSS

at South Carolina (10/06/12)
Anyone else think it's funny that some of the Gamecocks faithful are so upset about playing us in October in a year in which we have to go to their house? Real talk, though: Spurrier circles this game on his calendar every year. He does not care about anything more than beating Georgia. And you know what? He's going to do it again this year. I hate saying it as much as you hate hearing it. LOSS

at Kentucky (10/20/12)
We'll be 3-3 at this point if my math is right. No way we lose to Joker here. (Dear Kentucky fans, enjoy your basketball championship before it gets taken away. If you make a deal with the devil, he'll eventually come to collect.) WIN

Florida (10/27/12)
There are three things to remember about this game: 1) We haven't beaten Florida in consecutive seasons since 1989 . 2) Will Muschamp is a pretty good defensive coach who is going into year 2, and Mikey B is a pretty inconsistent offensive coach who's going into year too many. 3) The Gators replaced Charlie Weis with a real offensive coordinator. *sigh* LOSS

Ole Miss (11/03/12)
Ole Miss's new coach's claim to fame is that he parlayed Big Mike Oher's singular talent into an assistant coaching gig at... Ole Miss. If we were undefeated at this point in the season, I'd be worried. But we won't be, so it's cool. WIN

at Auburn (11/10/12)
Replacing both of your coordinators, you say? Lost your starting running back, you say? AWWWWWWWL IN, PAWWWWWL, you say? Whatever. The good guys tie up the series to set the stage for heartbreak in 2013. WIN

Georgia Southern (11/17/12)
We certainly shouldn't take a game against a program built by one of our finest for granted, but I'll probably get arrested for trying to sacrifice a whole herd of goats at the Arch if we lose. WIN

Georgia Tech (11/24/12)
Little Brother is totally turning the corner with their latest recruiting class. In related news, the internet desperately needs a sarcasm font. But anyway, Paul Johnson is never going to beat Coach Grantham head-to-head now that Grantham has figured out the option. WIN

So, yeah, there you have it: with losses to Mizzou, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida, we're going 8-4 in 2012. Get used to it now so that you can enjoy the fall as much as possible. Just remember that lowered expectations are the key to happiness and that even mediocre football is better than no football.

Go Dawgs!

Poll

How many regular season wins will Georgia have in 2012?

Georgia Bulldogs Women's Softball Team to Host NCAA Regional in Athens, Open Against Coastal Carolina This Thursday

2012-05-14T02:33:50Z

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!

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College Football Promotion and Relegation Revisited

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We're Going 8-4. Get Used to It.

How many regular season wins will Georgia have in 2012?

Georgia Bulldogs Women's Softball Team to Host NCAA Regional in Athens, Open Against Coastal Carolina This Thursday