Running '22-'23 NCAA Football thread

Texas got a first-place vote in the coaches poll and was No. 18 -- that has to be the lowest a team has ever gotten a first-place vote, right?

 

I was thinking there is probably an interesting article out there about the "globalization" of college football recruiting. Back in the day, there were few schools who recruited truly nationally. Most teams recruited regionally - and as long as they grabbed the best players from their region, they would be considered contenders since most of their games would be against teams they out-recruited. Now though - with the internet and transfers, pretty much everyone recruits nationally and has at least a dozen players from outside the time zone.

 

Still waiting for D1 colleges to publish players' ages.

I mean, what's the big deal if you've got an Australian punter who's 28?

 

LSU and Florida both miss the Coach's poll preseason Top 25 - and Kentucky made it in.

 

If you can ever find some coaches and players to really open up about it, there's a great story to be written about small schools recruiting globally for the Olympic sports.
One of our local golf pros was hired to be the golf head coach at a SWAC school since they didn't have one and the team already practiced there. He had no recruiting budget at all — he barely had enough to field a team — so he was recruiting blind or by word of mouth, watching highlight tapes on the internet, taking players at their word that they could shoot around 80, etc.
I think tennis is the same way. We did a story once about the international players at that same SWAC school and counted up the number of countries represented on the women's teams in the conference. Out of about 100 players, I think there were 55 countries represented. There have got to be some incredible recruiting stories in there.

 

Spotted in a local high school football fieldhouse this afternoon. I know they really want people who are really excited about Auburn football, but this might be taking it too far.

 

For all the bad changes in college football, having the coaches poll stripped of any actual meaning in determining the postseason is a big improvement.

 

Maybe. How many did Vanderbilt get?

 

I used to work at a mid-major state school. It was kind of like the University of Texas at Arlington. We had a former track coach who would recruit international athletes and, over the phone, really emphasize the "University of Texas" part of the school name and then sorta mumble the "at Arlington" part. (And no hate toward UT-A; just using it as an example. My school wasn't in Texas.)

 

Fascinating story.
Sunday night, the essentially fired assistant coach says he "unintentionally" said the word in question. Implies he uttered it once and then recoiled in horror.
Monday afternoon: Head coach essentially says Gundy lied in his sympathy-seeking, self-flagellating mea culpa. He didn't utter it once. He let it fly several times.
I'd give him the benefit of the doubt if he said it once and only because he didn't realize it until it was too late. But that apparently isn't what happened. Call me crazy, but if you say it once and then recoil in horror, shouldn't that be the time when you stop berating the player, make your point and move on to the next topic? If you continue, however, you may be related to a guy who thinks OANN is a legitimate news source.

 

Reminded of few years ago when they had a Junior Olympic water Polo tournament at the local pool. One team mDe up Tshirts emblazoned with "JO Team."