Let’s handle our business as quickly as possible because we have a slew of questions this week, and you guys and gals got wordy so I will try to be brief. Yes, I said try.
Rushmore of actors with the biggest swing between great and dreadful movies — Adam Sandler, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, which was a terrific suggestion by Bearddawg.
Rushmore of TV characters deaths — Henry Blake, Gus Fring, Christopher from “The Sopranos” and James Evans from “Good Times.” “Game of Thrones” has its own Rushmore in this category, folks. And that’s leaving out a ton, including the Bobby Ewing one that derailed the best show on TV in its day and Omar Little, who I can make an argument as the best supporting character in TV history.
Rushmore of most memorable MLB rookie seasons for a pitcher: Fidrych, Fernando, Doc Gooden and Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn.
Rushmore of Nick — Saint Nick, Nick Saban, Nick of time and the final spot for Nic Cage since he could also make a claim for the actor Rushmore listed above as well.
Betting update: Our "1 FOR THE MONEY" continues to be red hot. We hit last night with Coastal Carolina winning the battle of the -eers. (Side question: If we had a bracket on most famous ears who are the 1 seeds? Dumbo? Obama? Prince Charles? Corn? Discuss.)
CCU was a three-point dog and won 35-28. The 1FTM is now 6-2 on our Plays of Day afternoon email. You can sign up here, and like Bluto told Flounder and Pinto about the beer at the Delta House, “Don’t cost nothin’” gang.
Speaking of the gambling thing, I put on Twitter our conversation about the bad beat we had in the Phillies-76ers combo over/under and dang it if it didn’t get picked up by several betting sites, SportsCenter and USA Today. This is not my first time going viral, but it is the first time I’ve gone viral and not been afraid to look at my Twitter mentions.
So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
Here’s Paschall on UT’s ability to get Jalin Hyatt in space, and by "in space" I mean so open he looks like the one guy in the Walmart parking lot after closing time.
And here’s Hargis getting us ready for the first Friday night of the high school football postseason in Tennessee. Where did prep football season go, friends?
To the bag.
From DougDyer
Question: If Vols lose to Georgia, then Bama, UGA and UTK win out and then Bama beats UGA in SEC champ game, who goes to playoffs?
DD —
Bama would be the first one in because the committee would say a) “we put a priority on conference championships” and b) “Alabama is playing its best football of the season at the right time.”
Then Georgia would get the head-to-head nod over UT and be the four seed with Bama as the three seed. That’s provided that the winner of Michigan-THE Ohio State would still be unbeaten and either TCU or Clemson stays unblemished and is the two.
The swirling issues here start with TCU. Does a 13-0 Big 12 champion collection of excited toads get in over a one-loss SEC runner-up who spent most of the season ranked in the top three?
Conversely, if chaos happens, the scenarios for the SEC getting three are not that far-fetched. That situation — which would expedite playoff expansion quicker than you could say, “Roy Kramer” — needs Clemson to lose this weekend to Notre Dame, though.
Now the real sticky wicket comes with this follow up post from Fat Vader:
From Fat Vader
“Bama won't be there. They drop one on the bayou this weekend! On the off chance that the prior does happen, let's say LSU does win out and beats Tenny in the SEC Championship game. Does the committee keep out a 2 loss SEC champ in favor of 1 loss UTK or UGA?”
Fat Vader —
I think that situation is going to be nightmarish for the committee, especially if there are three Power Five champs without a loss on that first Sunday in December.
Because UT would have won in Red Stick but lost the conference title game on a neutral site, so they would have a beef. And they certainly do not have a blemish as bad as LSU’s season-opening loss to FSU.
The SEC finds itself this weekend with keen eyes on the Vols in Athens, the Tide in Red Stick and praying to Saint Rudy Ruettiger that the Irish topple the Dabos.
But in that situation you described, yes I would think a two-loss LSU as the SEC champ would get in, because the leagues — all of the Power Five leagues — can't afford to completely devalue their conference title games.
From JoeDon
JG:
So you’re willing to pay Kiffin or Prime Time $10 million, then my question is three-fold:
> What sort of salary will Josh Heupel command at the end of the season? (Heck, why not take care of this NOW … because his $5 million salary is the best bargain in America!)
> Do you see Oklahoma ponying up something like $12 million to lure him back to Norman?
> Will Danny White’s offer be enough to keep the Heup in Knox-Vegas?
JD —
That’s the multimillion dollar question for everyone in orange right now.
And the man who will have to answer it — UT AD Danny White — appears to be a very savvy customer. Did you see his social media video appeal to UT fans about fundraising? And White was not asking about projects, buildings, facilities or add-ons. He was asking for contributions to the NIL fund so UT can continue to recruit at an elite level.
That’s the double-edged sword of firing coaches moving forward. Sure, the money is still going to be there for the Auburns or the UT or whomever to pay former coaches millions not to coach. Remember the Big 12 just got $2 billion for its media rights and that’s with Oklahoma and Texas leaving.
But paying those buyouts takes the donations that could be earmarked for Johnny Five-Star. Ouch.
The alma mater angle with Oklahoma could be played. And the Sooners are going to have to find someone because wow, they spiraled quickly.
I think Danny White — remember he was the AD at UCF with Josh Heupel before they both moved to the 865 — will do whatever it takes to keep Heupel, because with all the other big things happening at UT, football always (ALWAYS) is the drink-stirrer.
And while I would not be overly concerned about Oklahoma — even with the alma mater angle — I think Heupel will attract some heavy wooing from NFL teams. That offense is staggeringly good. And it translates to Sundays in my view too.
The answer clearly, to quote Teddy KGB from “Rounders,” “pay that man his money.”
From SteelerFan
Hey Jay,
Only four schools have won national championships in baseball, men’s basketball and football (in all of school history, not a single season): Ohio State, UCLA and Michigan and most recently Florida.
My question is, has a school’s teams ever been ranked No. 1 in the polls in baseball, men’s basketball and football in the same calendar year? (Note: That means ranked No. 1 nationally for even a day, not necessarily won the natty.) If Tennessee goes on an early run in basketball it seems like this trifecta could be a remote possibility in 2022 for UT. If that were to happen, would it be an “all time” accomplishment for the school.
Come to think of it, even being ranked in the Top 10 in the three sports in the same year is a pretty good trick for any school, don’t you think? Add women’s basketball (Lady Vols are preseason No. 5) and it’s even better.
SteelerFan —
I could not find a school that pulled off that trifecta in the same calendar year.
To your point, Tennessee’s basketball team smoked Gonzaga — which is naturally over ranked because apparently Mark Few is kind to the national voters or something, because there are some stacked squads this year that will walks the Zags to the shed — so they are going to be good out of the gate.
The run UT is enjoying right now is pretty dag-nabbing impressive.
But again, they have been pretty stout in baseball and basketball for a couple of years now. It’s all magnified when football hits this kind of run.
From LJ
Jay, a friend of mine at work pointed me to your morning 5@10 and I have started reading every day. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions if that is okay.
Do you write about fantasy sports at all, mainly NFL or NBA?
And have you ever thought about doing sports radio?
LJ —
I used to write more about fantasy sports, especially football, when I played fantasy sports.
It’s been a few years since I have participated in a fantasy football league. I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would. Sports wagering fills that void, especially with the number of player props available these days.
As for thoughts on the radio, well, let’s just say welcome to the fold LJ. Pull up a chair and stay a while.
Have a great weekend friends, and remember to sign up for the Plays of the Day afternoon email.