SEC fans.

This is essentially a collection of people that want something they would have by now if they had the power to do it by themselves.

Really enjoyed this pair of articles on The Book and the evolving game theory that influences college football coach decision making.

I’ve spent the last few weeks talking to people in/around private equity to try to answer this question: What’s the best argument for why PE can be good for college sports? Here's my answer: www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

From @theathletic.com: Lou Holtz, a ubiquitous college football coaching voice, has died at the age of 89. In his 34 seasons as a head coach, he will be remembered as the man who returned Notre Dame to college football’s summit. nyti.ms/46JSxgS

Last year, more teams went for it on fourth down than have in at least the last 20 years. And more teams went for it in their own territory - and more people are playing THIRD down as if they're going to go for it. Much of all this goes back to The Book. The story: www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

The Book: How a small analytics company has so much influence over college football - and has changed the game. “I got into it not because I was intrigued by the math, but because I was intrigued by the winning." www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

NEW | Mitch Barnhart expected to retire after 23 years as Kentucky athletics director per @PeteThamel and others www.wdrb.com/sports/uk-sp...

Wait, what?

The experience around Josh Pate’s interview with Trump was revealing. The interview itself was not.

I hate what led to it, but love that we're able to hire such talented people. The Athletic got better today.

The Athletic is hiring Barry Svrluga, Adam Kilgore, Candace Buckner, Ava Wallace, Spencer Nusbaum and Jason Murray www.nytco.com/press/the-at...

Trinidad Chambliss is back for another year. Joey Aguilar is not. But Chambliss joins Arch Manning, Marcel Reed, Gunner Stockton and a stable of SEC veteran quarterbacks. Why that could help the SEC get its swagger back: www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

One of those things where it has to be their call to do it, but no single decision would do more to open up CFP scheduling options…

One of the obstacles to moving the CFP up is Army-Navy being protected the Saturday after conference championship weekend. Army coach Jeff Monken wants to remove that obstacle, and move Army-Navy game to Thanksgiving weekend: www.nytimes.com/athletic/706...

Do you believe in 3-on-3 overtime … yes!

Tony Vitello shared his sentiments over the sudden loss of Wes Rucker, who obviously resonated a ton of positive energy in the Vols community.

The news on Wes Rucker is gutting. I knew Wes a little bit, as did anyone who covered the SEC the last 20 years. He was like his online persona: Fun, thoughtful and opinionated, but not abrasive. Wes had also just started a wonderful family. Just an awful tragedy. Life is short. Cherish it.

As someone who has been an expert on the Olympic 3-on-3 overtime format for almost 24 hours, my thoughts are

Two more Georgia football players arrested on driving-related charges: www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

But also: Three elimination games today went to this unfair overtime system and all three were won by the higher seed/favorite, so maybe not unfair?

3-on-3 overtime for a game of this magnitude: Unfair? Yes. But I’ll take it.

SEC mailbag: Who will be this year's surprise CFP contender? Who will be the surprise head coach on the hot seat? What's going to happen to non-conf games for the SEC teams with annual ACC rivalries? And more. (Gift article). www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

Duvall’s most memorable performances for me: 1. Godfather I and II 2. Apocalypse Now 3. The Natural 4. To Kill A Mockingbird 5. Open Range www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/m...

And maybe it’s just me, but the time of actually writing is a low percentage of the average time working on a story. Research, talking, interviewing, transcribing, etc., takes up more time. So leaving it to AI is also kinda beside the point. Just write the story yourself, in your own voice.

On the right, a harrowing scene of people reacting to a fire. On the left, a graphic about Oklahoma’s upset of Vanderbilt.

It’s the air quotes that take that quote to another level.

Trinidad Chambliss is granted an extra year by a Mississippi judge. www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

Hey let's do an SEC (football) mailbag. If you have questions - or crazed screeds requiring a response - post here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

More people watched the halftime show than the game. But the game was still second highest of all time, despite not being a great game or great matchup.

Coach Mike Macdonald and sportscaster Maria Taylor were reunited on the Super Bowl stage — both at the peak of their respective professions 🙌

The ending to Bad Bunny's halftime show: "The only thing more powerful than hate is love" "Together, we are America"

Yeah that was superbly done.

Only one who got the ball into the end zone was Bad Bunny

Wife: Who in this game went to Georgia? Me: Hmm I forget I’ll let you know when I see their name called (Jared Wilson pushed back five yards while giving up a sack) Me: Yeah that guy.

So we agree he looks like Henry (Vecna) from Stranger Things right?

WHAT THE

The SEC is college sports' first billion-dollar conference. (Or at least the first to announce it.) www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

The college football calendar is going to be a big offseason topic. Here are the five main points of contention - including one possible change that has "a lot of traction." www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

FYI, it’s not true that Georgia walk-on London Seymour is charged with 131 felonies for property damage at a UGA dorm. It’s “only” 11. Apparently some glitch in the jail log web. enigma.athensclarkecounty.com/photo/detail...

Shirley Povich writing in 1962, with the most immaculate burn conceivable of the Redskins awful, vile owner George Preston Marshall, the last NFL owner to insist on an all white roster: "Jim Brown, born ineligible to play for the Redskins, integrated their end zone three times yesterday." RIP WaPo.

The Athletic posted its team transfer portal top 25 a couple days ago. Nine SEC teams were in it - but not Alabama and Georgia. What does that say about each, and should both be very worried? I think yes in one case, not as much in the other: www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

Crestfallen and f$&@ furious about the closure as we know it of @postsports.bsky.social by an indifferent, compromised owner and a failing publisher — a dept of Povich and Boswell, Wilbon and Kornheiser, Gildea and Sheinin, of poets, authors, Hall of Famers and Pulitzer finalists. A terrible day.

Just terrible on Washington Post Sports. You want to make some changes? Sure. The lack of imagination shows a failure of leadership.

My first job out of college was the Washington Post sports section. I worked there four years. This decision isn't just terrible, it's idiotic. People read sports. The Post sports section has been arguably the best in the country over the last 50 years. Doing this can't be a business decision.

SOURCE: The Cowboys are expected to hire Georgia’s Chidera Uzo-Diribe as outside linebackers coach. The 33-year-old who was a standout at Colorado, has been on the UGA staff since 2022. He’s also coached at SMU, TCU and Kansas. Matt Zenitz first reported the move.

"If they’re continuously trying to attack us, there’s a reason. The SEC is the greatest league in college football.” I spoke to players at the Senior Bowl last week on the dominant topic: Is the SEC slipping? And is it a blip or a real, permanent thing? www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

Got to know the couple when I worked in Albany, Ga., in the early 2000s. Just a regular couple around town.

It’s February. It’s hard to get excited about five star commits anymore at this point, but especially a Georgia team that’s had five star QBs flip right before signing day twice in the past three years.