It's time for The Mailbag, presented by Whitney McNutt of Tommy Morgan Inc. Realtors, Edition 181.
I asked for your questions. You delivered. So here we go...
From North Tampa Rebel: Rank next year's starting SEC quartbacks. For those undecided, you can rank them based on who you think will win out or just leave them all in the unranked category.
Here's mine:
1. Bryce Young, Alabama
2. Will Levis, Kentucky
3. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
4. Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
5. KJ Jefferson, Arkansas
6. Will Rogers, Mississippi State
7. Stetson Bennett, Georgia
8. Haynes King, Texas A&M
9. Luke Altmyer/Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
10. Anthony Richardson, Florida
11. Myles Brennan/Jayden Daniels, LSU
12. Zach Calzada/TJ Finley/Robby Ashford, Auburn
13. Brady Cook/Sam Horn/Tyler Macon, Missouri
14. Mike Wright/Ken Seals, Vanderbilt
From chattreb: Just about everybody, myself included, has been extremely critical of Mark Emmert. Now do you think that the NCAA infrastructure helped shape him into what he became, or was he already challenged? After all, many a politician had every intention of reshaping Washington, and we see how the Washington establishment has won out every time. Now my question is this, since the NCAA is basically an extension of the college Presidents and all of their infinite wisdom, do you think that organization is even fixable? Could a Greg Sankey even straighten it out?
I think you make an excellent analogy. I suspect he went in intending to put his stamp on the NCAA and discovered the machine couldn't be controlled. Then he probably began to enjoy some of the benefits of his job and just slowly became a part of the machine.
Is it fixable? Personally, I don't think it is. Others are free to disagree. I firmly believe we're witnessing the death of the present-day NCAA in real time. We have short attention spans, so we don't realize it's happening.
Could Sankey straighten it out? I'll put it this way: If you looked into a crystal ball and told me that 10 years from now, the NCAA was a well-oiled, modern-day machine, I'd assume Sankey had taken over.
From larryjoe1979: Are you surprised that twice as many defensive players were drafted over offensive players?
Yes and no. Yes, in that the offense was so prolific early in the year. But then no, as I don't think we give DJ Durkin and Chris Partridge enough credit for the defensive renaissance that happened at Ole Miss last season. Again, go back and rewatch the 52-51 win over Arkansas. Then watch the Texas A&M game and the Mississippi State game. The change in defensive prowess was remarkable. There was real talent on that side of the ball. The NFL noticed.
From Craklin: Would you rather have a big nice updated stadium or spend that same money elsewhere (cough cough) and have a championship banner in your current stadium?
I'd rather the Cubs never put another dollar into Wrigley Field if it means they'll invest in players throughout the organization and win championships.
From TX via TN Rebel: The Jack Swarbrick article you linked in 10 Thoughts got me thinking... if the Big 10 & SEC broke off, you'd need 2 additional teams (Notre Dame and one other) to make a 32 team, 4 division league. Each team could/would play an 11 game schedule (7 division games and 4 "Out of Division" 1/2 another division - rotate annually)... Top 2 in each division make the playoffs for an 8 team mega-tv deal. This appears extremely possible and would leave some big name schools on the sidelines (i.e. Clemson, USC, Oregon, Miami, FSU, BYU) that don't grab that last available spot. Furthermore, it leaves other big names out in the basketball scenario (UNC, Duke, UVA, UCLA).All that to say... Do you see something like that happening or do you believe the other Power 5 conferences will find a way into the mix? They are just so far behind in their contracts and apparent interest from the media that it really makes me wonder...
It's a great question. Most decisions are about money, and at some point, television networks are going to want to improve the overall product they're investing in, I'm guessing. I mean, ESPN/Disney is paying big bucks for the SEC. FOX is paying big money for the Big Ten. They can't be thrilled with Central Arkansas at Ole Miss or ULM at LSU or Bowling Green at Wisconsin. And it's almost impossible to underestimate how much the networks would love a true college football playoff system. I just think some sort of consolidation to improve the regular season menu and include a playoffs akin to the NFL model is inevitable.
From Mhales5: As a journalist, what’s your take on the growing acceptance of using historically plural pronouns like they/their with singular antecedents?
As a journalist and as a human being, I think it's beyond stupid. It's ridiculous. I refuse to cater to that idiocy.
From DeuceMccluster22: Not a question but more so an announcement to you. But next wknd Ole Miss hosts the 2022 Outdoor SEC track and field championships. You really need to go atleast on Saturday when most of the finals are. Future and Current Olympians galore.
You're absolutely right. However, I'll be out of town that Saturday. But you're right. There will be a ton of athletic talent in that venue.
From Kylethehoss: When was the last time you were in a laundromat?
Not that long ago, if I recall correctly. There's a nice one in Oxford where I've taken comforters and the like.
From $WithARebelYell$: If ole miss starts the year off 6-0 And finds their guy under center. what do you think they mostly likely finish?
I was a guest on The Next Round a couple of weeks ago and Jim Dunaway asked me what were the odds Ole Miss started 8-0. I was kind of flabbergasted. I think Jim was stunned at how incredulous I was in response.
Since then, I've thought about it. I think Kentucky is a tough assignment on Oct. 1, but it's certainly winnable. People are really down on Auburn and I hear rumblings of real concern emanating from Baton Rouge. So is it conceivable, especially if Ole Miss can figure it out at quarterback, that the Rebels start 6-0 or even 8-0? Sure.
Now, the back third of the schedule is brutal. Alabama, at Texas A&M, at Arkansas, home versus a desperate Mississippi State team. Those games are all very difficult challenges.
Personally, I think this is an 8-4 team. I think there are deficiencies at some spots and I'm not going to just assume quarterback works itself out. There are people who think this is a 10-2 team. I'm just too naturally skeptical to go there. But a 6-0 start includes a win over Kentucky, which might change my opinion a bit.
From LARebel83: What is keeping the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC from doing a three-team swap of Missouri (to the B10), Maryland (back to ACC), and Virginia Tech (to SEC)? Would this not make all the sense in the world? Missouri is in a conference where they fit academically and culturally, the ACC gets another basketball power, and the SEC gets a solid football school that fits in naturally in the East.
Why would Missouri leave the SEC money? Why would Maryland leave the Big Ten money? I'm sure Virginia Tech would love to jump to either conference, but Missouri wouldn't be insane enough to walk away from the SEC.
From hamslam12: Y'all talked a lot about NIL and how the toothpaste and out of the tube. It seems one way to fix it would be to limit or cap earnings. Couldn't you just make a rule that players are not eligible to receive funds via NIL until they are on a roster for 1 calendar year (or another amount of time)? Then:Companies have time to see the value of a player before signing the check.Players transfer less for their '1 year pay day season' unless they're moving to a better conference (ex: Mason Brooks)Curious to hear your thoughts on the matter and if there are a bunch of holes in the process that I didn't think about.
Good luck with the salary cap. They're not employees. There's no players' union.
While I suppose that could be a rule, I don't think anyone has the taste for that right now. That would get attacked and attacked hard by the media and by many in the game. People trying to implement those measures would be labeled.
I believe the toothpaste is out of the tube, the genie is out of the bottle, pick your metaphor of choice. I think this is the new world of college athletics and now we wait for the market to settle.
From sadkins11: Jimmy Dykes and Seth Greenberg have been very complimentary of the the basketball recruiting class. Do you think they are legitimately impressed, or are they trying to pump up Kermit?
They're very good friends. I can't speak to what Dykes and Greenberg truly know regarding Ole Miss' 6-7 newcomers, but the fact that they're friends certainly feeds the theory that they're trying to get fans excited on behalf of their friend. And you know what? That's OK. It's fine. At the end of the day, it's a scoreboard business, and Ole Miss will either win enough or it won't. Their words don't change that one way or the other.
From cctrey5: You've mentioned before that you were a bartender years ago, so did you ever witness any bar fights? If so, did you ever have to break up any?
I don't remember having to break up a fight. I remember having to call police a few times. Usually on super crowded nights, we had off-duty police working security, so if things get out of hand, they handled it.
From rockreb: If memory serves, Neal has an Econ Professor friend that he interviewed on one of the podcast in the early days of covid. I wonder if that professor may be able to join another podcast and offer an opinion on where this NIL stuff is headed from an economic standpoint? It would be interesting to get an academic perspective regarding supply, demand, performance, incentives, etc. If I'm mis-remembering, then just pretend like I never posted this.
His name is Josh Hendrickson, and yes, that's a great idea.
From Colonel3491: I would assume that the Manning family loves Ole Miss deeply. That’s an assumption on my part but let’s work with it as being true. If they love Ole Miss so much and it’s also true that Ole Miss is way behind in his recruitment and there’s no real path to him coming here, why not say that publicly? Why drag the fans you love through the mud til the very end for them to be heart broken if they haven’t followed the recruitment every step of the way? It just seems to be the classy way to handle it if he’s not going to go here and that the OM fanbase is going to end up getting played to an extent
While I generally agree with your premise, I don't get the sense that too many people still except Arch Manning to sign with Ole Miss. I think it's widely assumed at this point that there is a top three that doesn't include Ole Miss.
And in fairness to the young man, I don't think think he is dragging anyone through the mud. He's going through the recruiting process in his way, saying very little, taking visits, etc. It's my opinion Ole Miss knows it's out, but I don't think the young man or his family owe any school a public elimination.
Also, and while I don't think this is the case, it's possible he's not ready to eliminate Ole Miss. It's also possible that they don't want to make Ole Miss not getting him a big story and it's possible they like the desire/attention they're getting from Ole Miss fans.
I don't know. I just don't he's done anything to lead Ole Miss fans on or give them any real reason to hope for his signature. If Ole Miss fans feel like they're getting played, they're not really paying attention.
From ozzy2378: what is going to happen when these kids getting all the NIL money get thrown in jail for tax issues? Are we going to do the “poor kid didn’t know any better” pity party thing? Or are they going to get treated like adults making thousands or even millions? I know what he IRS will say, and I know what those who live in and pay taxes in the real world will say. Are the boosters going to pay their taxes, too? It seems like this time next year we will see an absolute train wreck due to kids not paying taxes on their earnings.
A lot of these collectives are handling the taxes and such on the front end. The schools are also doing a pretty solid job of educating and such as it pertains to taxation of NIL funds. Will there be some train wrecks? Sure, I suppose that's possible, but I don't get the sense it's a big issue.
From REBNUT: How do like your steak? I like medium.
I like medium-rare. I used to like medium, but as I've gotten older, I'm definitely medium-rare.
From PCRebel: Favorite part of Monty Python and true Holy Grail?
This shouldn't shock anyone at this point, but I've never seen it.
