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- š BIG change is coming to college sports
š BIG change is coming to college sports
Are schools ready to pay the players?
Hello. This is the Josh and Swain Newsletter, a quick roundup of the weekās top stories and topics involving Tennessee and the sports world.
Hereās what we have for you today:
A spoiler to the ending of this Tennessee/NCAA story
Tennesseeās position to make a DEEP run in March
The next No. 1 target for Tennessee football in recruiting
A never-ending debate for Super Bowl weekend
TENNESSEE VS NCAA UPDATE
Left to right: Donde Plowman, Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti, Danny White
The Tennessee-NCAA conversation has been too much to keep up with at times.
From the investigation to the lawsuit with a whole bunch of PR mixed in, itās been a lot.
(And if youāre already tired of the story, no need to explain why.)
Andy Staples of On3 joined Josh and Swain on Thursday to help make sense of it.
There are a few questions Tennessee fans probably want answered.
1ļøā£ Should Tennessee be worried about the NCAA investigation?
Staples: āYou canāt be in trouble if the rule that you were in trouble for got declared illegal in federal court. So the judge has already said heās going to declare it illegal. So I wouldnāt worry if I was Tennessee.ā
That will ease the mind of a lot of Tennessee fans.
Staples is referring to the judge stating the āPlaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim under the Sherman Actā after denying the request by Tennessee and Virginia for a temporary restraining order.
Thereās also a bigger issue to focus on with this story.
2ļøā£ Thatās the end of the story.
College athletes are already being paid.
But itās under the description of NIL (for name, image, likeness) while we know the payments are mostly for what the athletes can do on the field or courts.
Thatās why Staples said weāll ultimately see schools, not their collectives, pay the players.
āThe schools are gonna wind up paying the players directly and thereās probably gonna be some real rules ā like thereās probably gonna be a salary cap. Thereās probably gonna be contracts that keep players from moving around willy nilly. And itāll be OK because the players got a chance to have their say on it. Thatās ultimately whatās gonna happen. And the worldās not gonna end and thereās still gonna be games on Saturdays in the fall and everybodyās going to love it.ā
The world of college sports is going to change in a big way.
Who will make it happen and lead the way?
Thatās to be determined; Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commish Greg Sankey look like candidates.
But major change is inevitable at this point.
Now we just wait for people to actually make it happen.
Check out our full conversation with Andy Staples below or anywhere you listen to podcasts. ā¬ļøā¬ļø
BASKETBALL VOLS ARE FEELING GOOD
Tennesseeās basketball team couldnāt ask for a much better position halfway through SEC play.
Yes, the Vols would like to get those games against Mississippi State and South Carolina back.
But every team in the country has one or two of those games.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN lifted Tennessee to the fourth No. 1 seed on Thursday following the Volsā win over LSU.
Tennessee is in a position to accomplish every goal it set at the start of the season.
ā¼ļø Tennessee is a top contender for the regular season SEC title
ā¼ļø The Vols could earn the schoolās first ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tourney
ā¼ļø Tennessee has developed an offense thatās required to succeed in March
Will Tennessee win an SEC title or go beyond the Sweet 16 in March?
Games have to be played to answer those questions, obviously.
But few teams have a better chance to make it happen than Tennessee.
Zakai Zeigler is playing like an All-SEC point guard on both ends of the floor.
If other players find consistency to support Dalton Knechtās scoring and UTās front court stays healthy, Tennessee is a Final Four contender.
Back to the games being played part.
Saturdayās game at Texas A&M wonāt be easy.
š College Station, Texas
š
Saturday, Feb. 10
ā° 8:00 p.m. ET
šŗ ESPN
š» 99.1 The Sports Animal/WIVK
KenPom projects the Vols to win by five points.
But thatās the only game out of the next five that project as a real test for Tennessee.
Following a home game against Texas A&M on Feb. 24, Tennesseeās final four regular season games look tougher than a typical road to the final Four.
ā¢ Feb. 28 vs Auburn
ā¢ March 2 at Alabama
ā¢ March 6 at South Carolina
ā¢ March 9 vs Kentucky
Those four games will play a huge role in determining Tennesseeās seed for the NCAA Tournament.
In the meantime, the Vols have to keep their focus against teams theyāre expected to beat.
Do thatā¦ and Tennesseeās goals will be within reach.
ā”ļø By the way: VFL Chris Lofton loves Tennesseeās chances of making a deep run in March.
Lofton joined us on Monday after attending Tennesseeās 103-92 win at Rupp Arena.
Lofton told us why he believes the Vols can make a run at the Final Four on the show.
Check out our full conversation below. ā¬ļøā¬ļø
SPORTS NUGGETS
š Hereās Andy Staplesās column on the advisory group announced by the Big Ten and the SEC.
š Watch this video of Tulsa football coach Kevin Wilson sharing an exchange he had with a transfer prospect.
š Here are the ESPN expert picks for Super Bowl LVIII. A LOT of the picks went toward Kansas City.
š A legendary gambler has given his pick for the Super Bowl. He thinks the line is off by a few points.
š Should Zakai Zeigler be on this list of Dick Vitaleās top six point guards in college basketball?
š Hereās a look at winners and losers from the NBA trade deadline (VFL Grant Williams was sent from Dallas to hometown Charlotte).
š¤Æ The note below is kind of wild. What a run (thatās not over) for VFL Josh Richardson.
Passed by Flash... J-Rich making his way up this list quickly š
ā Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT)
8:36 PM ā¢ Feb 7, 2024
TENNESSEEāS NEXT BIG TARGET
2025 OL David Sanders | via On3
While Tennesseeās athletic department deals with the NCAA, Josh Heupel and his coaching staff are business as usual.
And a lot of their focus right now is on recruiting for 2025.
The top target: offensive tackle David Sanders from Providence Day School in Charlotte, N.C.
Sanders is the consensus No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2025 class.
He can go anywhere he wants ā and Tennessee might just be the place he chooses.
The Vols have made Sanders a priority (of course, so have other schools).
One thing that might help Tennessee: quarterback commit George MacIntyre has been influential in UTās recruitment of Sanders.
MacIntyre said he would do everything he could to help Tennessee recruit after he committed to the Vols in January.
And Sanders told Volquestās Austin Price this week that he and MacIntyre have developed a strong relationship.
āFor the last six months or so, those guys have been really, really, really tight,ā Price said. āThey have become really good friends. It goes a long way to building a bond in the recruiting process.ā
Tennessee has plenty of work to do with Sanders, who will consider schools like Clemson and Georgia with others (Alabama, Ohio State, South Carolina) pursuing him as well.
But Tennessee has made it clear to Sanders how important he is to the future of UTās offense.
Tennessee has invested heavily in the quarterback position; protecting the QB is a top priority.
Weāll see how much Sanders believes in what Heupel and his staff are building in Knoxville.
Check out more of our conversation with Austin Price, who discussed several other recruiting targets as well as the latest with Tennesseeās plan for an Orange and White Game. ā¬ļøā¬ļø
ITāS NOT JUST ABOUT THE GAME
Remember this classic?
Itās hard to have a conversation about the Super Bowl without the commercials coming up in conversation.
We see some of them on the internet before the game even takes place.
It might not be the same as it once was.
But Super Bowl commercials will always have a role in the gameās storyline.
So whatās the greatest Super Bowl commercial of all time?
This ranking from Entertainment Weekly placed Mean Joe Greeneās 1980 āHey kid, catch!ā ad for Coca-Cola at No. 1.
Thatās a fine choice.
So would Appleās ā1984ā spot or one of the commercials featuring talking babies or chanting frogs.
A personal favorite: Michael Jordanās battle with Larry Bird for MJās Big Mac in 1993.
Jordan and Bird went back and forth to see who could hit the toughest shot without missing. It was great.
They were also able to film the commercial without a cable TV debate the following Monday over which player performed better in the ad.
Whatās your favorite Super Bowl commercial?
Enjoy the MJ/Larry Legend throwback below.
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