Recruiting Football Talk VIII

#103
#103


Neyland entertainment district took a critical path forward by selecting the development team. Now heads to state building commission for final approval. Then plans start. Then construction.

This still doesn’t guarantee that it happens, but the players seem substantial enough that I bet it does.

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#113
#113
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#116
#116

From ESPN+...​

Connelly's college football 'ifs' list: How contenders can come together​

Welcome to the 2024 college football season, where the playoff is bigger, the (remaining) power conferences are, too, Nick Saban is working for ESPN and just about everybody needs new receivers (and maybe defensive backs and defensive linemen, as well).

After a couple of years of epic change off the field, we'll see some of the fruits of that change on the field this fall, but the early list of national title favorites looks awfully familiar. Georgia leads the way, according to both the metrics and ESPN BET, with Ohio State, Oregon, and last year's semifinalists -- Texas and Alabama -- among the Dawgs' chief competitors. What stands in the way of these teams and the ultimate prize? What questions will they need to answer between now and January?

According to SportsOddsHistory.com, no national champion over the past 23 seasons has begun the season with title odds worse than +5000. Could the College Football Playoff's expansion to 12 teams alter that trend? Perhaps. But while upsets could bust brackets, the best teams are still the most likely to win three to four games and take the title. So let's stick with the +5000 barrier: Here are the 16 teams that meet those standards per ESPN BET. They are sorted by the number of "ifs" that need to break their way to make them champs. (As always, we're not going to worry about obstacles like injuries to stars, which could strike any team at any time. Those concerns are obvious and universal.)

Tennessee Volunteers (+3500)​

If ... Nico Iamaleava is ready. In some ways, Tennessee's 35-0 Citrus Bowl blowout of Iowa felt like a statement of intent. A fierce Volunteers pass rush led in part by James Pearce Jr. wouldn't let Iowa breathe, and in his first career start, five-star freshman QB Nico Iamaleava completed a solid 63% of his passes and executed the red zone offense with perfection.

Iamaleava also took six sacks and averaged a ho-hum 12.6 yards per completion. He still looked like a true freshman at times. The Vols are an intriguing CFP candidate, but only if he's ready to turn upside and potential into production from the very start of the season.
i


Nico Iamaleava should be an upgrade at QB for Tennessee if he lives up to his recruiting ranking. Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire

If ... the big pass plays return. Cannon-armed Joe Milton III averaged only 12.3 yards per completion last season as the big plays we've come to expect from a Josh Heupel offense subsided dramatically. Iamaleava needs to do a better job than Milton in keeping his eyes downfield, and among slot man Squirrel White, senior Bru McCoy, Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell II and other youngsters, his receivers need to take better advantage of their opportunities.

If ... red zone issues subside. Red zone execution becomes more important when you aren't making enough big plays, and Tennessee ranked a dreadful 104th in red zone touchdown rate. Iamaleava's legs could come in handy here, but one way or another, improvement is a must.

If ... a new (and thin?) secondary holds up. Tennessee's defense was excellent against the run and, when the QB had time to throw, rather mediocre against the pass. Pearce & Co. should be strong up front again, but last year's top six DBs are all gone, and backup nickel Will Brooks might be the only senior in the rotation. Can the Vols make a title run with a young and rebuilding secondary?
 
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#120
#120
JP_UT_O&W said:

From ESPN+...​

Connelly's college football 'ifs' list: How contenders can come together​

Welcome to the 2024 college football season, where the playoff is bigger, the (remaining) power conferences are, too, Nick Saban is working for ESPN and just about everybody needs new receivers (and maybe defensive backs and defensive linemen, as well).

After a couple of years of epic change off the field, we'll see some of the fruits of that change on the field this fall, but the early list of national title favorites looks awfully familiar. Georgia leads the way, according to both the metrics and ESPN BET, with Ohio State, Oregon, and last year's semifinalists -- Texas and Alabama -- among the Dawgs' chief competitors. What stands in the way of these teams and the ultimate prize? What questions will they need to answer between now and January?

According to SportsOddsHistory.com, no national champion over the past 23 seasons has begun the season with title odds worse than +5000. Could the College Football Playoff's expansion to 12 teams alter that trend? Perhaps. But while upsets could bust brackets, the best teams are still the most likely to win three to four games and take the title. So let's stick with the +5000 barrier: Here are the 16 teams that meet those standards per ESPN BET. They are sorted by the number of "ifs" that need to break their way to make them champs. (As always, we're not going to worry about obstacles like injuries to stars, which could strike any team at any time. Those concerns are obvious and universal.)

Tennessee Volunteers (+3500)​

If ... Nico Iamaleava is ready. In some ways, Tennessee's 35-0 Citrus Bowl blowout of Iowa felt like a statement of intent. A fierce Volunteers pass rush led in part by James Pearce Jr. wouldn't let Iowa breathe, and in his first career start, five-star freshman QB Nico Iamaleava completed a solid 63% of his passes and executed the red zone offense with perfection.

Iamaleava also took six sacks and averaged a ho-hum 12.6 yards per completion. He still looked like a true freshman at times. The Vols are an intriguing CFP candidate, but only if he's ready to turn upside and potential into production from the very start of the season.
i


Nico Iamaleava should be an upgrade at QB for Tennessee if he lives up to his recruiting ranking. Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire

If ... the big pass plays return. Cannon-armed Joe Milton III averaged only 12.3 yards per completion last season as the big plays we've come to expect from a Josh Heupel offense subsided dramatically. Iamaleava needs to do a better job than Milton in keeping his eyes downfield, and among slot man Squirrel White, senior Bru McCoy, Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell II and other youngsters, his receivers need to take better advantage of their opportunities.

If ... red zone issues subside. Red zone execution becomes more important when you aren't making enough big plays, and Tennessee ranked a dreadful 104th in red zone touchdown rate. Iamaleava's legs could come in handy here, but one way or another, improvement is a must.

If ... a new (and thin?) secondary holds up. Tennessee's defense was excellent against the run and, when the QB had time to throw, rather mediocre against the pass. Pearce & Co. should be strong up front again, but last year's top six DBs are all gone, and backup nickel Will Brooks might be the only senior in the rotation. Can the Vols make a title run with a young and rebuilding secondary?
Click to expand...
Our defense has been really good up front and really bad in the secondary. LB’s are on an upward trajectory but our CB’s need to step it up or Martinez is gone.
 
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#123
#123
July 24, 1978 —
My earliest memories as a baseball/Yankee fan..........Those years were wild. Made me so pissed, but they were fun!

Billy Martin, a tempestuous street fighter who had been dismissed from three previous major league managerial jobs, tearfully resigned today from the one managerial job that he always yearned for— the one with the Yankees.

The end of Martin's stormy relationship with George Steinbrenner, the Yankee owner, came just nine days short of the third anniversary of the manager's return to the team he served as a scrappy second baseman in the 1950's.

Although Martin resigned, there was no question that if he hadn't, he would have been dismissed.

“In view of the events of the past 24 hours,” Rosen said two and a half hours after arriving in Kansas City from New York, “it was inevitable that as president of the New York Yankees I could not allow a man to make the statements that were made.”

Last night in Chicago, Martin made the statement that'ignited the final explosion between the manager and the owner.

After the game with the White Sox, Martin asked to talk to this reporter when the team was at O'Hare International Airport. Later, with another reporter present, Martin referred to Reggie Jackson, just returned from a five‐day suspension, and to Steinbrenner, who had been convicted of making illegal campaign contributions in an outgrowth of the Watergate case.

“The two of them deserve each other,” Martin said. “One's a born liar, the other's convicted.”
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#124
#124
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