It’s news today that Georgia football brought in more money last year than any other program except Texas.

I’m not exactly sure what constitutes “football revenue”. Bowl money surely counts. Hartman Fund donations were less than $30 million, and ticket sales can’t account for more than a couple million dollars per game. Is the SEC distribution figured in? It would be interesting to see the breakdown…I’ll have to check the Hartman Fund annual report.

Though football revenue is among the best in the nation, overall revenue is “only” 13th among all programs. Football revenue accounts for 80% of what the Athletic Association brings in. Football at a school like Georgia is always going to lead the way, but it also demonstrates the problems with and potential for the other men’s sports.

Basketball is a big moneymaker for a lot of schools, but Georgia hasn’t been in a position to do much with its hoops programs lately. Demand is barely palpable, the Coliseum doesn’t offer much in the way of generating revenue (suites, sponsorship, etc.), and no postseason money is coming in. Hopefully Mark Fox will begin to change all of that; it’s certainly an expectation that’s implied by any major college coaching job. Even baseball has potential. The product is quality, but the media deal is negligible (a single local AM station), and the facility is among the smallest in the conference and becoming more outdated by the year.

It’s great that football is doing so well, but any business person knows the dangers of relying too much on a single product, vendor, or customer. In addition to increasing revenue from the other sports that have been poor performers, the Athletic Association is looking at other ways to bring in more cash.

That brings us to another story in the news: Georgia is close to signing a deal that would move its broadcasting rights from Cox/WSB to ISP Sports.

Georgia is nearing a lucrative deal with North Carolina-based ISP Sports, which currently holds the school’s marketing and sponsorship rights. Contracts have been drawn up for the extended rights deal. The deal would include radio, TV, Internet and digital content.

Under the deal with ISP, the pregame show would increase to four hours in length, and, including the game and postgame show, “the broadcast programming window would grow to at least nine hours.” That might sound like great news to those who tune in to the pregame show, but that deal’s going to have to be paid for somehow. If you think the current broadcasts and Sanford Stadium experience have become commercialized, ISP has a reputation for making that seem like an interruption-free PBS broadcast by comparison.

Congratulations to Georgia sophomore basketball player Trey Thompkins who was one of 17 players invited to the 2009 USA U19 National Team Trials. Following the trials this week, the group will be pared down to a roster of 12 for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand this July.

We should also learn in the next few weeks whether Ashley Houts will make the U.S. National team headed to the World University Games in Serbia. International experience and training with some of the top college players in the nation is invaluable, and we hope that both of these Georgia stars will get that opportunity.

cocknfire over at Team Speed Kills has a look at the 2002 Sugar Bowl – an improbable matchup that turned into a high-scoring track meet. cocknfire’s post focuses on the Big Ten / SEC Sugar Bowl, but that 2001 SEC championship game he mentions might have been one of the bigger turning points in the conference this decade. It was a huge stamp of legitimacy for Nick Saban’s LSU program and was also the last time a Phil Fulmer Tennessee team would play a part in the national title picture.

It’s hard to imagine Nick Saban’s LSU program “on the brink”, but that’s where they were midway through 2001 after a loss to Ole Miss. They recovered (read the link at TSK for more), got back on track with an impressive upset win over Alabama, and went on a run to win their last six games of the season. Within the span of about six weeks, Saban went from 4-3 and still unproven as an SEC coach to the head coach of the SEC champions.

Tennessee, despite the upset home loss to Georgia early in October, had risen to #2 in the nation. They had survived trips to Tuscaloosa, South Bend, and Gainesville. The game with Florida, delayed until the end of the season by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was a thrilling 34-32 win that wasn’t just a showdown for the SEC East title; the winner would also become the presumptive favorite to earn the #2 spot in the BCS rankings. That game in itself was a bit of a turning point – instead of playing for another SEC and national title, Steve Spurrier’s Gators had to settle for an at-large bid to the Orange Bowl. Spurrier announced his decision to leave for the NFL a few months later, and it was the beginning of a few lean years for Florida fans.

After surviving those road tests and Spurrier’s last stand, a win over #20 LSU was supposed to be a formality for Tennessee, and Vol fans were making plans to head to Pasadena for a Rose Bowl clash with #1 Miami.

The 2001 SEC championship game opened with a first quarter LSU touchdown, but the Vols exploded for 17 points in the second quarter to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room. LSU inched closer with a pair of third quarter field goals but still trailed by a point entering the final period. Freshman quarterback Matt Mauck’s second rushing touchdown of the day put the Tigers up for good less than a minute into the fourth quarter following a critical Travis Stephens fumble. Domanick Davis sealed the win a one-yard touchdown run with just over two minutes left after a long six-minute drive.

The story of the game, other than Mauck’s just-good-enough relief of injured starter Rohan Davey, was LSU holding the SEC’s top rusher, Travis Stephens, to just 37 yards on the ground. The Vols did some damage through the air, but the inability to convert on the ground cost them when they missed out on a chance to answer LSU’s go-ahead score. Tennessee drove down the field and set up a 1st-and-goal at the LSU 4. No longer trusting the ground game, Tennessee’s coaches called three passes, and quarterback Casey Clausen threw three straight incompletions. Instead of tying the game with a touchdown, the Vols had to settle for a short field goal and still trailed.

The game remains the only instance out of eight opportunities since 1992 where an SEC team in line to play for the national title lost the SEC championship game. Since that pivotal game, LSU went on to win three more SEC West titles, two more SEC championships, and two national titles. They even survived a coaching change along the way. Tennessee managed to return to the SEC championship game in 2004 and 2007, but they were clear underdogs each time and couldn’t upset the 2004 undefeated Auburn team or the 2007 national champion LSU team. The Vols never again finished in the top 10 under Fulmer and were even left out of the final poll in three of the next seven years.

Can you think of many other games in recent SEC history that sent the two teams in such different directions? The 2006 Florida “jump pass” win over LSU was certainly a key moment in the rise of Urban Meyer’s Florida program, but LSU rebounded to beat Florida and win the national title the following year.

Seven UGA student-athletes won individual NCAA titles over the past academic year:

• Chris Hill repeated as javelin champion over the weekend with a throw that was 20 feet longer than the next best.
• Courtney Kupets (four individual gymnastics titles)
• Haylie Jayne (equestrian)
• Allison Schmitt (swimming – 500 freestyle)
• Wendy Trott (swimming – 1,650 freestyle)
• Troyden Prinsloo (swimming – 1,650 freestyle)
• Neil Versfeld (swimming – 200 breaststroke)

It’s Tennessee week over at Team Speed Kills, one of our favorite pan-SEC blogs.

Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com reports on a new SEC ruling “that will no longer permit media or scouting services to attend summer sports camps.” The NCAA is expected “in the near future” to “issue an interpretation dealing with NCAA Bylaw 13.10.5 and the concept of the media taking pictures of and/or filming PSAs at institutional camps,” according to SEC Associate Commissioner for Compliance Greg Sankey. Sankey continues,

“An institution has an obligation to preclude the presence of media (including scouting services) at its institutional camps for the purpose of writing stories, filming and/or taking pictures of PSAs, as those actions are contrary to bylaw 13.10.5. This would include the aforementioned activities taking place from a location that is open to the general public and on any occasion, regardless of whether the institution invited the media to attend.

…we advise you to immediately notify media outlets they are not permitted to be present at institutional camps. Otherwise, media activity around camps may result in a rules violation and penalties that could limit recruiting opportunities with involved prospects.”

At first glance, this ruling might just appear to be aimed at recruiting services and their notoriously zealous coverage. But stepping back, why would the SEC in particular care to be proactive about keeping the media away from on-campus events where coaches and prospects mingle? After all, the NCAA hasn’t even finalized its interpretation yet. Sankey’s statement concludes,

“While this is a “mid-course correction” to application of Bylaw 13.10.5, keep in mind that camps were never intended to be promotional and/or publicity opportunities related to prospective student-athletes. Camps are intended to be instructional opportunities. However, it has become clear that media activity around camps has overshadowed the camps’ purpose, which is the reason for this modification.”

It’s odd: it’s not as if any SEC schools have been in the news recently for trouble related to media coverage of contact between prospects and coaches.

The 2010 game at Colorado might be standing in the way of Georgia opening the season at the Georgia Dome (not necessarily a bad thing), but I’m looking forward to seeing a game in a setting like this:

Photo comes from National Geographic’s Photo of the Day site.

HeismanPundit takes Georgia associate AD Arthur Johnson to task for Johnson’s candid comments about how an SEC program looks at scheduling. The title of his post is tongue-in-cheek of course, but it does raise the issue of the incentives that guide the behavior of many of the nation’s top programs.

HP’s site is valuable and his analysis (of the Heisman landscape) typically accurate because, as he frequently must explain to critics, “I analyze the Heisman race in the context of how it is, not how it should be.” Fair enough, right? You might not like that the Heisman more or less ignores defense or favors certain schools, but you have to accept those realities if you hope to follow the Heisman race with any kind of perspective, insight, and accuracy.

With that maxim guiding his site, you’d expect him to recognize that Johnson’s comments are cut from the same cloth. It’s not the job of Johnson and his peers to schedule in a way that would sit well with fans of the game. The incentive system for major college football programs – as it is – values wins (or, more correctly, lack of losses) far more than strength of schedule. It’s one of the tradeoffs of making the regular season count for so much. Teams schedule accordingly.

If scheduling reform is necessary, it’s because incentives are out of balance. When you look at what gets rewarded, Johnson’s approach is completely rational. Strength of schedule *is* overrated. Even when it’s a question of deciding who plays for the national title, other factors like conference championships or poll position often come in to play before strength of schedule. Additional wins for major conference teams mean higher rankings, bowl games, TV appearances, and money. If you can do it at home and collect the gate receipts, all the better. That the Pac-10 would consider dropping its round-robin schedule in the pursuit of more bowl-eligible teams shows how strong the pull of the financial incentives are.

Bringing about more attractive or aggressive schedules means either changing the incentives or compelling teams through top-down rules to schedule in ways that are contrary to the current incentives. Unfortunately, the same conference-based organizational structure that works so well as a money-making machine would surely be as resistant to further scheduling restrictions as it was to the idea of Congress meddling with the BCS.

As an aside, Johnson’s best comment was this:

You’d love to have a national name [opponent] that’s in a valley one of these years. It still looks great. You just don’t know when people are going to be up and down.

It’s so true. How much credit is Georgia getting for scheduling mediocre Arizona State and Colorado teams?

Since we’re in off-season if-I-were-king mode…if you really want the best regular season schedule, take HP’s 10-team conference model and use relegation to determine membership instead of geography. You’d have nine conference games and can use the other three on regional rivals in other divisions or however else you’d like. Scheduling wouldn’t matter – winning the first division (or earning promotion) would be what it’s all about. And what matchups every week…

You won’t find Paul Johnson and I agreeing on much, but both of us understand that the Atlanta Sports Council bringing in SEC and ACC rivals to the Georgia Dome for the Kickoff Classic isn’t doing the local programs any favors.

“Helps the teams that are playing in it, no question,” Johnson said. “Doesn’t do anything for us or Georgia. When you bring in teams in your own conference to showcase them every year in a kickoff game, it’s got to help them recruit the area.”

The quick reaction is to point out that Georgia or Georgia Tech could just as well participate, but doing so would still be less optimal than simply hosting a quality home game at which either program could actually host area prospects.

If you’ve dipped your toe into the waters of the 2010 recruiting pool, you’ve heard of Nick Montana. Yes, son of that Montana. Montana is rated the #12 pro-style passer in the nation by Rivals.com and had offers from, among others, LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, and several schools closer to his home in California.

It’s no surprise when a prospect decides to stay within his own time zone, but Montana’s Tuesday commitment to the Washington Huskies is definitely getting a few double-takes. The Huskies were 0-12 last year and haven’t had a winning season since 2002. New Washington coach Steve Sarkisian brings a resume that includes work at Southern Cal with Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Mark Sanchez, and Montana explained, “You just have to look at all the guys he’s put into the pros.” The Montanas are taking the gamble that Sarkisian will bring that same Midas touch with him as he starts to rebuild the reeling Washington program.

Another key piece of the future of Georgia’s passing game was added today when Calhoun (Ga.) receiver Da’Rick Rogers gave his verbal commitment to Georgia. Rogers, at 6’3″ and 206 lb., is currently rated as the #4 receiver and #22 overall prospect by Rivals.com. He’s currently the top-rated prospect according to Rivals.com at any position from the state of Georgia.

Rogers becomes Georgia’s 5th verbal commitment for the class of 2010.

The commitment is significant on several levels. Of course landing top Georgia prospects is a big priority for the coaching staff. The receiver position still isn’t incredibly deep, but the talent level is starting to pick up to a level that can match the quarterbacking talent that will be in place. Rogers was also an important target because of Georgia’s lukewarm interest in Markeith Ambles, another highly-rated Georgia receiver prospect. Other schools are reportedly backing off of Ambles which sheds a little light on Georgia’s lack of interest, but that strategy put all the more pressure on getting Rogers.

More information:

• Rogers’ other offers included Alabama, LSU, Florida, FSU, Ole Miss, and West Virginia.
• As a high school junior, Rogers caught 66 passes for 1,300 yards and 11 TD.
• Calhoun HS is also the home of redshirting Georgia receiver Kris Durham.
• In 2008 Calhoun reached the class AA state championship game before falling to Buford. They’ve won their region every year since 2001.

OK, I can buy that Mark Richt and Damon Evans have different takes on the appropriate strength of schedule for Georgia football. There’s certainly nothing approaching a consensus among the fans, so it’s understandable that Richt and Evans might not see exactly eye-to-eye. Fine.

But to take this ABH article about the nonconference schedule at face value, I find myself having to ask these two questions: does Mark Richt really have limited input as to his own team’s schedule, and does the dismissive “I’ll listen to his opinion” comment really sum up Damon Evans’ view of the coach’s role in setting the schedule?

It doesn’t work that way for Georgia’s other sports. Bringing up the “Harrick approach to scheduling” will get a knowing nod from Georgia basketball fans. David Perno adjusts his schedule each year.

Sure, football is a different animal than the other sports. A single nonconference game can carry a commitment of almost one million dollars of athletic department money, so of course some oversight and due diligence is necessary. Most nonconference games, especially against quality opponents, are now set years in advance, so annual tweaking isn’t really possible. Football is also your biggest product with fewer discretionary games and opportunities to showcase the program than any other sport. I realize why Evans would want to be involved in the process.

Still, regardless of our personal preferences as fans, the coach needs to be the one who drives the scheduling philosophy. It’s not something to be handed down from on high by the athletic director. Saying “I’m sure (Richt) has some valid points” is way too late in the game to have a meeting of the minds about the schedule. At the same time, knowing how involved the coaches are in determining the schedules for Georgia’s other sports, I’m skeptical that Richt has had as little to do with setting the schedule as it seems.

Since it’s all about Phil Steele this week (Rivals subscribers can check out a more focused look at Georgia by Steele that can be summed up as "Georgia is undervalued"), here’s a look at how well he’s done pegging the Dawgs during the Richt years versus the consensus (numbers courtesy of Chris Stassen’s invaluable site). Of course Steele (and most everyone else) makes his predictions before many of the developments (injuries or otherwise) leading up to the season take place, so attribute the results to serendipity or skill as you like. I love his preseason annual, and his track record speaks for itself.

If there’s anything resembling a trend, it’s that it took a few years for Steele to jump on the Richtwagon. No problem there…a lot of our own fans had the same issue. Of the three times he’s varied significantly from the consensus on Georgia, 2008 was the only time he came out ahead.

Just for thought…what does it mean when Steele has mostly praise for Georgia and Richt, thinks Georgia will be better than most expect, yet predicts a finish at #13 that would be below the median for Richt’s teams? Have the (national) expectations fallen that far? We’ll find out as the consensus builds, but Athlon ranking Georgia at #14 isn’t exactly a sign that Steele’s going to be the outlying contrarian this year when it comes to the Bulldogs.

The University of Georgia officially opened the Tate Center Expansion this week, and the building promises lots of additional meeting and event space, services, and amenities for students (at a $60 million price tag). A more formal ribbon-cutting will take place later in the summer.

That’s great for the students, but as selfish alums and football fans, what’s in it for us? Several things:

• Lots of additional indoor space near the stadium in which to hang out on game day. Large open areas seem ready-made for a large crowd waiting for a football game. “The Tate addition is so football-friendly, one student exploring the expansion wondered out loud if the building were designed with football Saturdays in mind.”
• While you’re inside staying cool or just killing time before the game, check out the 24-foot projection TV screen in the third-floor lobby. If you can’t make it into the game, they’ll be showing it on this screen. Yes, 24 feet of Gameday goodness.
• Several hundred parking spaces were lost when this construction took away the better part of the Stegeman Hall parking lot, but this facility includes a 508-spot parking deck that will surely be used for premium (and perhaps handicapped) parking on game days.

One other effect of the Tate expansion will be to refocus the Dawg Walk. We’ve looked before at how this building will play a role in the continued revitalization of the central campus. Though the project is nowhere near complete, a future Alumni Development Center between the Tate Center and Lumpkin Street as well as an “Alumni Quad” between the two buildings will form the heart of a central campus park complete with a Dawg Walk Overlook. The sketch below shows where this is (tentatively) headed.

Click for a much larger version.

Last month we learned that Comcast would add ESPNU before the football season, bringing the SEC television lineup into focus for many in metro Atlanta. Now the AJC confirms the speculation that Peachtree TV will be the outlet of choice for regional ESPN-produced broadcasts. The deal also includes a lot of SEC men’s basketball on Saturdays and Wednesdays starting during conference play in January as well as eight Sundays of SEC women’s basketball.

The national broadcasts will still be on CBS, ESPN, ESPNU, and ESPN2. Think of it this way – instead of WATL 36 or wherever else you used to look for the regional JP games, they’ll be on Peachtree TV now (only at noon instead of 12:30 – oy). The enhanced basketball coverage is especially welcome. It’ll be a double-header every Saturday during the conference schedule as well as one game each Wednesday (in addition to national games on ESPN as before).

Peachtree TV is available in standard and high definition format on major cable and satellite providers in Atlanta. Keep in mind this is for the Atlanta area only – Peachtree TV is a local channel and not a superstation or national network. Fans in other markets will find the games on different stations or as before on Gameplan. We’ll be happy to post those stations here as deals are announced – just send word.