🎧 NEW Rushing The Field 🎧 @mrjoshuaperry.bsky.social & I explain why we both believe that Brendan Sorsby should not be able to play college football again. Then, we discuss the bipartisan bill from Cruz/Cantwell. Plus: Is Mike Leach a lock for the HOF? Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

News: The NC State-UVA football game that was supposed to be played in Brazil will be relocated to Charlottesville "following extensive review with operational partners and international stakeholders." The schools are working with the NCAA and ESPN to keep game on Aug. 29.

Seeing it all typed out makes it frustratingly obvious that there’s way too much time between rounds. The college football national championship game should never be as late as Jan. 25.

they are legally allowed to sell this to CHILDREN!

I miss Google being Google.

WEMBY

🎧 NEW Rushing The Field 🎧 🎙️ @mrjoshuaperry.bsky.social & I recap the SEC spring meetings. Why are the football coaches mad at the CFP selection committee — and generally angsty? Why are admins talking about an SEC breakaway? + sound from Elko, Sark & Sankey: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

NOTEBOOK DUMP: - SEC coaches don't trust the CFP selection committee & don't think it appreciates the rigors of an SEC schedule - Self-governance? A breakaway? Why that would be 'a draconian step' - Why no official SEC stance on a 24-team CFP: www.nbcsports.com/college-foot...

Asked Greg Sankey if the federal government should have a say in when coaches are hired/fired. Sankey says he's a "federal government is less type of person philosophically, but if that's something that helps from an orderly standpoint, that seems healthy."

More Sankey: "If you look at the entirety of our league, we are by far the most competitive, strongest league. By far. … The breadth, the depth of this league — this league stands alone.”

Greg Sankey, asked about the Big Ten's three straight football national titles: "In a competitive environment, the margins are going to be thin, and we've come up on the short end. I can assure you that everyone in this league is trying to figure out how to come up on the top."

Greg Sankey, asked what sort of timeline he'd like to have on the SEC deciding how it officially feels re: 24-team CFP: "We have not talked about our decision point. ... This is likely a fall decision." Looking to gather info on marketplace, scheduling issues, calendar, etc.

Greg Sankey on prediction markets: "Something that looks like sports gambling and feels like sports gambling — and call it something different."

Certainly noteworthy: The bipartisan Cruz-Cantwell college sports bill includes language that says the bill cannot be used to argue in favor or against employment status.

Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell have agreed on a bipartisan college sports bill called the Protect College Sports Act, a Republican Commerce Committee aide confirms. They hope it can gain enough support to actually reach 60 votes in the Senate. Details in thread:

I truly appreciate when football coaches are willing to tell you the truth. In a CFP-or-bust world, Playoff expansion is about self-preservation: www.nbcsports.com/college-foot...

Greg Sankey, asked about coaches making comments about Ole Miss, said he will talk to all of his coaches here in Destin about expectations, care and relationships. "Those in leadership positions need to functions like leaders in their conduct and commentary."

Greg Sankey said that SEC ADs voted to play a conference game the second-to-last regular season football weekend, starting in 2027. Sankey calls it "the end of cupcake weekend."

Lane Kiffin on the SEC championship game and Kirby Smart's love for it: "He can say he loves the game but did he love it when he lost his quarterback in the game?"

Lane Kiffin: "Two things can be right at the same time. They both can be true. You can have had a wonderful experience ... you needed Oxford and Ole Miss more than they needed you. That can be totally true. And then you can choose a new challenge."

Lane Kiffin on the trip to Ole Miss this fall: "I'm not even there yet. We've got so much work to do before that. ... I've gone back to Tennessee before, so I guess we've gotten some practice."

Lane Kiffin on the CFP selection committee: "I think the human element in there is an issue."

Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec says in a statement that "The NCAA issued an initial ruling that Brendan (Sorsby) is permanently ineligible to compete. Texas Tech will be appealing that decision." www.ttu.edu/president/co...

Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby has released a statement re: completing his residential treatment program for his gambling addiction and anxiety disorder.

Here's the full quote from Florida coach Jon Sumrall today about how he wouldn't have left Tulane during its championship run:

Kirby Smart on the end of the season/CFP sked: "Football is not meant to be played with a month gap."

Kirby Smart: "My biggest concern for our sport is we’re going to ruin all the other sports. People say, well, that's just the way it is. I don't agree with that because we fund Olympic sports with our program. ... We're going to lose that if we keep spending."

If Tulane had not allowed Jon Sumrall to coach in the CFP while taking the Florida job, what would he had done? “I would’ve stayed at Tulane and not taken another job. ... We were playing for a championship. That’s not a shot at anybody.”

Jon Sumrall said the coaching carousel, early signing period, portal and postseason all overlapping in college football is "like mixing tequila, bourbon and beer" all at once.

Jon Sumrall on the three weeks he spent doing double-duty at Tulane and Florida: "Full disclosure: It was a shitshow."

Jon Sumrall, asked about the importance of having the JMUs/Tulanes in the CFP: "Access is nice to have when you're at that level. I do think I've been on both sides of this now. Are there two deserving G5/G6 teams in a 12-team Playoff? I would question that."

Sark: "We're living in a society of no fear when it comes to college athletics. ... If I don't like the fact that I got caught breaking the rule ... go get a judge to say, 'Here's an injunction, we'll deal with that a year from now.' I don't think that's what we want."

Sark says he was not punished by the SEC (under its sportsmanship policy) for his comments about Ole Miss: "Some of those comments were taken out of context." Said it was more about Texas and the difficulties it faces with the portal/class credits.

Asked Mike Elko if it feels like there are rules right now in college sports. "No."

Mike Elko says he believes coaches would follow rules "if there are consequences." In the NFL, if coaches break rules, there are consequences.

Mike Elko: "We don't have to find a number that allows everyone to get in. It's OK for it to be hard to get into the Playoff. "None of us are answering for the good of the sport. We are answering for the good of ourselves."

Texas A&M's Mike Elko: "There's self-preservation, right? If you really ask me, on the record, what does Mike Elko want (for the CFP)? I want 40 because then I'll make it and then I wont' get fired."

Texas A&M's Mike Elko, asked about his preferred size of the CFP: "I don't know why you guys ask us. Why do you care what we think?"

Kalen DeBoer makes the point that, with 9-game conference schedules, there will be fewer nonconference crossover games, and that "is going to make it harder to understand the strength of schedule that we all have, whether it's the SEC or other conferences."

Alabama's Kalen DeBoer, asked about his preferred size of the CFP: "For me, it's not really about a number. It's about just trying to win every football game so we don't have to put it in a committee's hands."

Clark Lea: "I didn't come to Vanderbilt for a 10-win season. I came to win a national championship."

Clark Lea on the momentum from Vanderbilt's 10-win season: "You live in the wake of what you create."

Clark Lea on the CFB calendar: "Start with the end in mind. Keep January 1st sacred in college football. Find slots where we aren't in competition with the NFL, I think that's important and doable. Let's reimagine how we bring the season to a conclusion."

Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, asked about his preferred size of the CFP: "As many as we can have and make it make sense."

Eli Drinkwitz jokes that if the Big Ten coaches are so upset about the new punt formation rule they can find a local judge to overturn it 😂

Eli Drinkwitz, asked if there are rules that the NCAA/CSC/SEC could make that coaches would follow. "No. Not unless they're enforced and not unless there's not a local judge who can overturn it."

Eli Drinkwitz: "We're constantly changing. We're not allowing anything to stick and get into a rhythm or routine in college football."

Eli Drinkwitz says Ahmad Hardy is doing "really good." A long way from knowing what the football side of his future will be, but from an overall health standpoint he will be just fine. He's back in Columbia and rehabbing.

Eli Drinkwitz: "I believe in the SEC championship game. It's one of the best games that the SEC puts on every single year, and I don't know why you would want to get rid of that just because you want to get to the next thing."

Eli Drinkwitz: "If you put 24 teams in a Playoff or 12 teams in a Playoff, I'm not sure the best team always wins. Matchups determine it."