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Friday, May 9, 2008
Alabama-Notre Dame at the Georgia Dome?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s “Free-Wheeling” Friday again when we give ourselves permission to go off topic or dream big dreams. Such as:
1. Notre Dame vs. Alabama in Atlanta?: Why not? I’m hearing that Alabama coach Nick Saban really wants to get Notre Dame on the Crimson Tide schedule in the future. He played the Irish as the head coach at Michigan State and found the exposure for his program very helpful. And beating the Irish never hurts in recruiting.
Here is my proposal:
If Alabama can’t talk Notre Dame into a home and home series, how about two neutral site games-one in Atlanta and one in the new stadium in Indianapolis? I’m just throwing it out there for your consideration.
Neutral site games, like the Aug. 30 meeting between Clemson and Alabama at the Georgia Dome, are going to become more common in the future. It comes with a good payday (over $2 million per school) and takes the “brand” of that school into new recruiting territory.
Illinois and Missouri are opening the season in St. Louis. Kansas and Missouri are playing their Big 12 showdown at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Notre Dame and Arizona State announced this week that they have agreed to play on Oct. 5, 2013, in the new $1 billion stadium being built by Dallas Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones.
Gary Stokan and the Atlanta Sports Council have proven that they want to be players in this new trend. Stay tuned.
2. Another strike against a four-team playoff: One of the things that makes these neutral site games possible is the advent of the 12-game regular season.
With four non-conference games to play with, an athletics director can guarantee himself seven home games and use the other one to set up neutral site games or a strong non-conference match-up.
But when the four-team playoff was being discussed last week, some commissioners suggested that the regular season might have to be cut back to 11 games in order to accommodate it.
That is not going to happen. The money for the 12th game is in everybody’s budget now.
3. Michael Brown will not return: Brown, who had started 18 games at left tackle for Mississippi State, was kicked out of school earlier this year when he and a teammate were charged with firing guns on campus-a felony. Both received three-year sentences that were suspended. I wondered if Brown, from College Park, had a chance to get back into school and play his senior season for the Bulldogs. The answer I got out of Starkville was a solid was “No.” Brown will not be back.
4. Exodus at Florida State: My friend Steve Ellis of the Tallahassee Democrat points out that when you count the players who have left FSU for various reasons (including using up their eligibility), a total of 25 players who were on the 2007 roster will not be on the 2008 roster. The latest was offensive lineman Daron Rose, who was declared academically ineligible this week. If you’re a Florida State fan, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The recruiting class you have coming is in a cut above the past two or three in terms of athletic ability. I’ve been told that a number of these guys are going to have to get on the field as backups.
No one will say it out loud, but Florida State is undergoing a transition in its program now that Jimbo Fisher has been named the head coach in waiting. Some decisions are being made now so that the program will be in good shape when Bobby Bowden decides to step down and hand it over to Fisher. What is going on now is part of that process.
5. Arkansas’s Mallett must sit: Quarterback Ryan Mallett transferred from Michigan to Arkansas because he knew he would not fit into the offense run by new coach Rich Rodriguez. He petitioned the NCAA to waive the rule that would have required him to sit out a year before becoming eligible at Arkansas. School officials knew the request would not be granted but supported Mallett and his family anyway.
I’m not sure why, but the mere fact that Mallett and his family made the request just bugs me. Because when you make it, you’re telling the NCAA that you are a “hardship” case that is worthy of a waiver.
Not fitting into the offense of a new head coach is an annoyance, an inconvenience, and a disappointment.
Needing to be near a parent dying from cancer is a hardship. That is why the rule was put into place.
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