SDS Mailbag: Realignment answers, SEC’s most important player and Kentucky schedule woes

Nov 20, 2023

Realignment.

It’s all anyone is talking about these days. But never fear! Games will be here before we know it, even if it seems like Week 0 is still miles away.

Realignment talk features prominently in your questions for this week’s Mailbag, so let’s dive right into it all, shall we?

Do you think that the SEC will try to copy the Big 12 and Big Ten by trying to poach 2 of the Pac-12 teams? I know that it doesn’t make sense, but nowadays it’s about revenue and it would expand the SEC TV market to the West Coast. I don’t think that the SEC will sit back and let the Big 12 and Big Ten get all the West Coast market.

I honestly think the SEC would rather not scoop up any of the remnants of Cal, Stanford, Washington State and Oregon State.

I know my friend/colleague Chris Marler would picket outside the SEC offices if there was even a whiff of Oregon State being added to the conference, and I’d join him.

The SEC, I can attest, already has a big share of the West Coast TV market. Having just moved away from California after spending 5 years out there, I constantly saw bars featuring the biggest SEC games each week on the main TVs, with Pac-12 games relegated to smaller TVs (unless they were the primetime ABC game of the week).

Even most places out in the Bay Area don’t have the Pac-12 Network, so whatever game was on that channel each weekend was a lost cause.

If the SEC is interested in further expansion, and I’m not 100% sure it will be, the prizes would be from the dissolution of the ACC. I don’t think any current Big 12 schools offer the SEC much value. North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson and Virginia (and potentially Notre Dame)? Now Greg Sankey is answering the phone.

What should Cal and Stanford do?

This goes with the same theme as the last question, and it’s an even more important question now that the ACC is reportedly not interested in adding Cal or Stanford to the mix.

If I’m Stanford, I go independent in football immediately and join either the WCC or Mountain West for the other sports. Stanford has the long-standing rivalry with Notre Dame that can anchor its schedule.

Plus, with USC, Oregon, Washington and UCLA now off to the Big Ten, it makes sense that they’d all want a more regional big-name school to play each year on their nonconference schedules.

That’s potentially 5 games a year for the Cardinal. They’d also almost certainly keep their rivalry with Cal going. That’s 6 games.

Washington State and Oregon State would also be looking for some opponents to prove they deserve power conference status still, so that’s 8 games for the Cardinal.

Could they patch together 4 more games with a couple of Mountain West teams, an FCS school and another random opponent?

I think it could be done, and I think it might be Stanford’s best football option. Could Cal follow a similar blueprint? I’m not so sure about that. But if it thinks it can, it might be worth a try at this point.

Who is the most important player in the SEC? Not the best player (like Brock Bowers), but the most important player to his team.

My pick for the answer to this question is Joe Milton III. Tennessee showed what it can be with a talented quarterback last year under Hendon Hooker.

Milton has a cannon for an arm, as he’s shown time and time again. The Vols have some talented receivers, led by Bru McCoy. If Milton can develop a little bit more touch, Tennessee’s offense has the potential to produce at a similar level to 2022.

If he struggles, this team could struggle to make a bowl game. Now, before Vol Twitter and Tennessee Nation jump on me in the comments, I don’t think Milton will fall on his face this year.

But if he’s significantly below Hooker’s level of play, the Vols will struggle to win as many games as they did in 2022. That’s just a fact.

I saw Kentucky’s schedule and it’s brutal as the Wildcats not only face Georgia in Athens but also Alabama in Lexington as well as a very underrated Vanderbilt team and a Louisville team that is one of my picks for the ACC Championship Game (Clemson is the other). Do you see UK possibly failing to qualify for a bowl game at 5-7?

The good news for Kentucky’s bowl hopes is that the Wildcats’ nonconference schedule is pretty weak. Ball State, Eastern Washington and Akron should all be fairly comfortable wins.

While I think Louisville is a team on the rise under new coach Jeff Brohm, I do think it’ll take at least a year for things to turn around. I wouldn’t pick the Cardinals to make the ACC Championship Game until 2024 at the earliest.

So that’s 4 wins for Kentucky. I also think the Wildcats won’t be sleeping on Vanderbilt this year, so they’ll take down the Commodores.

They just need 1 more victory for bowl eligibility, and I think they’re capable of beating Florida (in Lexington), Mizzou (in Lexington), Mississippi State (in Starkville) and South Carolina (in Columbia). If they even win 2 of those games, that’s 7 victories and bowl eligibility.

I’m higher on QB Devin Leary than most, too. I think he has the potential to work his way into Round 1 NFL Draft contention before the end of the season.

I’m not super worried about the Wildcats this year, if that helps put your mind at ease at all.

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at [email protected].

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I believe Rachel is too pessimistic about Ky. 5-7 seems low to me. Plus she is calling Vandy and Louisville tough games??? I see Ky going 4-0 in non conf games.

Imo Ky is better than and should beat Vandy, Mo, and Miss St. Prob lose to Bama,Ga,Fla, Tenn. SC is a toss up imo. So that’s 7 or 8 wins. The last 15 years have shown that if an SEC team goes 8-4 and wins their bowl game, that team is almost always ranked in final poll. To me that’s Ky ceiling. 4-4;8-4 win the bowl game and finish #20-25.

I’m not so rosy on Kentucky. They had the best defense, but the worst offense in the SEC last year. Recall they also had a very highly touted transfer QB who was the first pick in the 2nd round of the draft.

Kentucky has a cake schedule in the first half of the season with a bevy of loser teams from last year: Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, Akron, and Vandy. This will not help them to prepare for games ahead. They also get Florida at home . . . but then . . .

Georgia in Athens, Mizzou at home, Tennessee, MS State in Starkville, Alabama, Carolina at Williams Brice, and Louisville away with a surging Jeff Brohm. They could easily lose 4-5 games here. I could definitely see them going 7-5.

I bet you are not rosy on UK every year and I bet it has something to do with them mostly dominating your team.

You will see a change in KY’s offense in ’23 with Coen back and Leary driving the boat. 6-6 to 8-4…. Wins (BSt, EKy, Ak, Vandy, MZ, LU) Toss Ups (Fl, SC, MissSt) Loss (GA, Bama, TN).

Ha! Kentucky’s winning ways are only very recently. South Carolina won 13 of 14 from 2000 to 2013. Kentucky benefited from the Shawn Elliot, Muschump, Bobo years.

As always, the classic coot fan has to go back a ways to find any sliver of relevance…tough isn’t it. Recent success seems to escape you and since the Spurrier days, which you quoted, KY has throttled you to 2 or 3 wins and those were the golden yrs of coot football, but still nothing to show for it. And the subject is Beamer vs KY and I think he is 1-1, so there’s that! Keep trying though. I still say the sc/KY game is a tossup!

Well gosh…..I know for you Gen Z’ers that a decade ago is a long time, but for most of us it’s an eyeblink. Beamer was never even a coordinator before taking SC’s head coaching job and in his second year has already beaten Kentucky’s best coach ever. Keep trying though.

Gen Z, that’s funny. Probably should know your audience a little better. I’ve been around to observe the failure that is sc football since the early 70s kid. A reference to success for you shouldn’t include anything outside of those 3 short years with the Ole Ball Coach and even then you still couldn’t sniff even an SEC Champ (AU proved you didn’t belong in your best yr).

Back a ways? You Gen Z’ers are a hoot! Oh yeah, I do believe Auburn proved EVERY team didn’t belong in 2010 since they won the National Championship. Duhhhhhh.

Yeah, I’d be fairly shocked if Kentucky loses to Louisville this year, considering this should be a very good Kentucky team, and we’ve beaten Louisville the last four years by a combined score of 179-57. Jeff Brohm should make it a more competitive series going forward, though.

I also think Kentucky should beat Florida in Lexington this year, considering we beat them in the Swamp last year, and Kentucky is probably better and Florida a little worse than last year.

Tennessee pretty much has our number, but Kentucky gets them in Lexington this year. Should be a great game, IMO.

And, perhaps most importantly, I think Kentucky will go into Columbia, SC and smack the sunglasses off MacGruber’s stupid face.

I think Kentucky’s only for-sure loss is at Georgia. I think Kentucky will give Bama all it wants in Lexington, and it will be a good game. If Bama’s QB throws a couple picks, who knows?

Go Cats. Every week but one that is!

UK’s fate this season is directly tied to the performance of their OL. If the big uglies are as good as in 2021, UK will be a tough out in every game. If they’re as bad as last year, their W-L record will be similarly mediocre.

Imo the SEC has the better expansion plan. Stay in your footprint. The thought of Cal or Stanford in the ACC or FSU in the Big 10 is ridiculous . Imo the SEC will expand again only when they can add some ACC teams.

I would like Div 1 football settle into a 4 – 16 team arrangement. The conferences would be arranged regionally with a focus on competitiveness between the teams within each conference as well as nationally. At the end of each season each conference would hold a 4 team playoff to determine the conference champion. Each of the 4 conference champs would then move into the 4 team playoff for the national title.Everyone says college football is now about money. This arrangement would certainly support that fact.

All you need is some venture capitalists or maybe the Saudi’s to come along and offer up the money and your wish will come true.

We are way past that. Not happening.

That ship has sailed. In order for this to happen you need Ore, Wash, USC & UCLA to go BACK to the PAC, and OU, TX & likely A&M to rejoin the Big 12. Then you have to convince FSU and Clem to stay in the ACC and get $45M in TV money while each SEC & Big school is getting $80M! None of that is happening,….

Ship isn’t built as yet. But, building it is the logical solution.32-40 teams. $100M or so guaranteed.It will be awhile. But it’s coming.

I like your idea but the only issue would be figuring out what to do with the 39 bowl games. I presume several of them could be used in your playoff scheme but what about the rest? There would be a major push back from the football traditionalist if the bowls were eliminated.

Sankey has repeatedly stated that the SEC wants to remain regional if and when it does expand again. That kind of rules out West Coast programs. Plus, the West Coast TV audience is the reason the Pac-12 has fallen apart. Cal or Stanford would only water down the SEC.

Joe is one of the most important players for UT. Cooper mays needs to remain healthy and tge LG position needs to play up to the challenge and the secondary has to take a big step. I believe all that happens except not so sure about mays health over the course of the season.

No to adding any west coast teams. There may be a lot of people out there but they are more interested in unicorns and rainbows than college sports.

Mays should be fine this year. Should he not be, then 6 year Senior Ollie Lane will be just fine. I’m really liking this UT team makeup. More Depth on Defense and improved at positions everywhere on D. You have to remember the UT Defense last year only gave up 22.8 points a game last year. I think they improve on that by at least a couple points this year. I’m in that 11 to 9 win scenario for the Vols in 2023.

The schedule is the one thing keeping my expectations majorly tempered for this UK squad. I think there is the possibility they are miles ahead of last years team yet finish at or near the same record. No reason to think their defense won’t continue to dominate and offense should take a major step forward after last years debacle. But zero room for error and let downs with Georgia and Bama on the schedule.

I think they’re being pessimistic on Kentucky, but pretending like Eastern Washington doesn’t upset good schools semi-regularly is dangerous.

If you don’t know who Devin Leary is you don’t need to be commenting about being high or low on Kentucky.

I can’t reply to comments why is this site so broken

The SDS gods now require you to disable all of your security protections to reply to comments so their ads can dominate and irritate everyone.

Doesn’t seem to affect janefonda…

That’s because Jane may be paying SDS for the privilege of annoying us.

Ot sure why everyone keeps talking about how hard our schedule is. We play 4 easy non-conference games. The same teams in the East that we always play. The only game that could be easier is our game against Alabama but if not Bama then A&M or LSU or Ark. If you play in SEC it just means more. That’s why when it come to Bowel games SEC teams routinely beat higher ranked teams from other conferences.

They keep comparing Kentucky’s schedule to UGA’s. In that light, it is a hard schedule.

Jane Fonda has just announced that she is sending a nice gift to be opened at Baby Woke’s gender choosing tailgate party (LSU game). We are so excited! I will he in Atlanta all next week…all are welcome to meet for lunch at a Cafe near the Courthouse

I’m still thinking the Big Ten makes an offer to Stanford and Cal (citing academics as the reason) while Washington State and Oregon State apply for Big XII membership. I really don’t see any of them trying to be the leaders of a new PAC-12 (or whatever they wind up calling it) with current Mountain West and even Pacific Coast members just so they can keep their ties with the Rose Bowl going.

Other than Alabama and Georgia KY can complete with any team on the schedule.

44-6 isn’t exactly competitive. If you won’t be competitive against Bama, which the Vols beat last year, why do you think you can compete against UT?

Bama is searching for a QB, so the Cats may have a shot against them, who knows.