Rippee Writes: realignment, preseason All-SEC teams and another golf star
Texas and Oklahoma saga, Mississippian shines at U.S. Junior Amateur, SEC preseason voting announced
A happy Friday to you all. We have a new podcast out in which I took your Mailbag questions, followed by an interview with Alabama beat writer Tony Tsoukalas of Bama Insider as we begin our preseason coverage of Ole Miss’ SEC opponents. Check that out here or anywhere you get your podcasts.
We’ve got some golf, re-alignment and football to get to today.
Texas, Oklahoma expected to inform BIG 12 of departure
Well, this escalated quickly.
Texas and Oklahoma will reportedly inform the Big 12 of their intention to leave the conference as early as next week. Did this actually happen as fast as everyone seems to think it did, based on the collective reaction? I doubt it. This seems as if it has been in the works for some time, and was leaked this week to either further generate momentum in the form of public favor, or it was leaked by detractors to try to pour water on the idea. That’s just a guess, though. Whether it’s the former or the latter, this is going to happen, which we all knew from the time the first story broke. The forces were already in motion and it was just a matter of when not if. So, when will this actually happen? I truthfully have no idea. Both schools are technically locked into their current conference through 2025, and previous reporting suggested they’d be fine with waiting until that Grant of Rights expires four years from now. But some legal maneuvering could also expedite the process.
The way I understand it, Oklahoma and Texas could pay a $70 million exit fee to leave early, but this Grant of Rights gives the Big 12 control of teams’ home games (TV revenue) through 2025. So, while I initially figured some litigating would result in a reduced exit fee and an early departure, I am not sure how the whole TV revenue thing impacts it. My guess is that this doesn’t happen this year or next, but perhaps by 2023. These schools may have declared their intent to leave the Big 12, but it’ll take a while to actually see that through, even if it does happen before 2025 when this ‘contract’ of sorts runs out.
But what happens if the Big 12 implodes before then? What’re the odds a league that lost its two most lucrative schools, the two that essentially hold the conference together from a revenue standpoint, survives this? There’s been reporting all over the place already of other Big 12 institutions reaching out to the PAC 12 and BIG 10. If eight of the 10 teams have contingency plans in place by this time next year, or hell, six months from now, what’re the odds the Big 12 continues operating through 2025?
Again, these are all questions I don’t know the answer to, and am just posing them as a thought-provoking exercise. I’ll leave you with two final thoughts on it for now.
The Mississippi schools should be in favor of this, despite what your favorite Gannett columnist tells you.
The Mississippis should absolutely be a no.I'm told Texas A&M and Missouri would be a hard no. Only 2 more needed to block an invitation to Texas, OU.
Kirk Bohls @kbohlsIn my opinion, anything that could potentially get Ole Miss and Mississippi State out of having Alabama, Auburn and LSU on the schedule every single fall is something everyone should be in favor of. I got a podcast question suggesting that Ole Miss playing Texas and Oklahoma every year (if that’s even how the realignment shakes out) would result in two automatic losses. I mean, not to sound simplistic, but Ole Miss beat both schools the last time it played each program in football. I don’t say that to suggest they’re better programs because of games seven and 20 years ago respectively, but the idea of Texas beating up on both Mississippi schools year in and year out is silly to me given what Texas has — or hasn’t — been as a football program over the last 15 years. This current version of Oklahoma? Sure, maybe. But I would like to see how that offense and lack of athleticism defensively fares in the SEC for a couple of seasons before making that determination.
Would you rather play Nick Saban or Lincoln Riley and Steve Sarkisian each fall? I’ll take my chances with the latter, because this current setup hasn’t exactly worked out so well for the two Mississippi schools.
Not that anyone is doing this, but fans of SEC schools shouldn’t take for granted the power of being the most desirable brand in an industry. As much as Danny Kanell loves to soil himself about the SEC being overrated, this whole saga puts that absurd argument to bed. There’s a reason two of the biggest brands in the sport are trying to join the SEC, rather than Alabama, Auburn and LSU seeing the landscape of college athletics changing and seeking greener pastures in the ACC or Big 12. The reason, of course, is that there is no greener pasture than the SEC. It is the best conference in collegiate athletics and it generates the most money. Anyone who argues otherwise is a fool. When your brand is the best (most lucrative), other people want to latch onto it. That’s what is happening here.
This isn’t the end of realignment in college sports, and in a now uncertain world, the one certainty is that the SEC will remain the greatest power in college sports. All of you reading right now already knew this, right?
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Ole Miss picked 4th in West
The SEC media voted on the predicted order of finish.
Ole Miss was predicted to finish fourth. That seems about right. Mississippi State was voted last. I guess I could see that, but would have voted the Bulldogs sixth and Arkansas last.
Matt Corral and Jerrion Ealy were voted preseason first-team All-SEC. Nick Broeker, Ben Brown and Mac Brown were all voted third-team All-SEC.
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Cohen Trolio headed to U.S. Jr. Am finals
West point native and LSU commit Cohen Trolio won two matches earlier today and is headed to the finals of the U.S. Jr. Amateur. Trolio was a semifinalist at the U.S. Amateur in 2019, where he lost to fellow Mississippian Andy Ogletree. Trolio beat Luke Clanton 6 & 5 to make it to the finals and face Nicholas Dunlap in the final. This 36-hole finale tees off at 8:30 CT tomorrow morning.
Another star in the making coming from the Magnolia State.
Ramey, Randolph two back at Korn Ferry event
Chad Ramey and Jonathan Randolph are each 11-under and two back of the lead heading into the weekend at the Korn Ferry event in Springfield. This sets up — much like two weeks ago in Colorado — a potentially career-altering weekend for Randolph.
Ramey, who already locked up his Tour card, has now made 21 consecutive cuts. That’s absurd.
A good read
I told y’all when I started this newsletter that I would pass along good writing when I came across it. I don’t usually fancy The Atlantic much, but I found this story from Wright Thompson on the shed in which Emmett Till was murdered to be incredibly gripping from a historical standpoint. I had no idea the shed existed in the first place, much less still in use.
The history, detail and depth in this story were incredible to me. The eerie reality that two central figures in this tragedy — Carolyn Bryant herself and then an eyewitness to the kidnaping — are still alive was pretty jarring as well. I already knew that, but the way this story is framed still makes it seem shocking.
On the horizon:
Chad Ramey story, I promise.
I am introducing my football season cohost on the pod next week
Fall camp preview, football coverage and predictions next week.
That is all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join the fun. Have a wonderful weekend.