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This is my last week as a site manager here at Dawg Sports, and, as a result, I have decided to trot out some of my “greatest hits” by reviving for the final time some old features of mine. Last night, I brought back Kyle Gets Contrary, and, today, I am offering the swansong of Slow News Day Tuesday, which debuted in July 2011 and may be located in the site archives.
You can always tell it’s a slow news day in the college football world when “hot seat” lists are being compiled, and, as Mark Mandingo pointed out yesterday, an SB Nation panel has determined that Mark Richt is the third-most likely head coach in college football to be canned if he goes 6-6 in 2013. To be fair, panelist Jason Kirk admitted from the outset that “[e]verything here is wrong,” and that “you will surely disagree with almost everything, especially Mark Richt.” Let’s give Jason credit; he pretty much nailed that, didn’t he?
If you haven’t read the piece, the premise isn’t that the coaches they’ve listed are on the hot seat per se, but that, if a coach finishes next fall with a 6-6 regular-season record, he has a certain probability of being fired. I have no idea by what alchemy the panel came to its conclusions, but it was determined that, if the Georgia Bulldogs go 6-6 this upcoming autumn, there is a 94.29 per cent chance that Coach Richt will be fired. Of the 125 Division I-A college football head coaches in the country, only the USC Trojans’ Lane Kiffin (100%) and the Texas Longhorns’ Mack Brown (97.14%) were deemed to be more certain of being sent packing under those circumstances.
Now, let’s forget the fact that, one week ago today, Coach Richt’s contract was extended through the 2017 season, and he was given a $400,000 raise, which one would think would suggest a certain level of stability. Let’s focus instead on the real reason we know the panel’s conclusion about Coach Richt is preposterous. When it was rumored that Urban Meyer would leave the Florida Gators to coach the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, any sane person knew that was nonsense because Coach Meyer already had chosen Florida over Notre Dame. When it was rumored that the Arkansas Razorbacks would leave the SEC to join the Big 12, any sane person knew that was nonsense because Arkansas already had chosen the SEC over the league Texas called home. Anyone who thinks Mark Richt would be fired for going 6-6 after a twelve-win season in 2012 should pause to consider that Coach Richt wasn’t fired for going 6-6 after an 8-5 season in 2009. The panel contains many talented and intelligent people, but the panel’s conclusion regarding Coach Richt is 94.29 per cent dumb.
In hoops news, Connor Pelton of Rush the Court foresees Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs making it into the postseason . . . as a lower-tier CBI team:
@ekuhoops @nybuckets @dawgsports Heres the lower cbi bracket: GT-EKU, Robert morris-UGA, Princeton-Providence, Canisus-lehigh
— Connor Pelton (@ConnorPelton128) February 17, 2013
Over the weekend, Connor saw the Red and Black taking on Robert Morris, who is, like, just one guy, so I think the Fox Hounds could take him, whoever he is. Yesterday, Connor was kind enough to e-mail me his very detailed NCAA Tournament/NIT/CBI bracketology, which showed Georgia drawing Canisius, causing me to reply, “Gesundheit!” Given our institutional history, I’m not so sure the Bulldogs would accept a CBI bid, but it’s interesting to see just how far the Classic City Canines have fallen as a result of their two-game losing streak.
Your thoughts on both subjects are, of course, welcome in the comments below.
Go ‘Dawgs!