Thoughts of the Day: November 24, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:

THE HIGH COST OF DOING BUSINESS The cost of doing business for the next head coach at the University of Florida whether it’s Billy Napier, Lane Kiffin or anyone else, took a shot upward Tuesday morning when Penn State coach James Franklin signed a 10-year extension with $70 million guaranteed, retention bonuses of $500,000 a year every year as long as he remains at Penn State, and incentives that could add another $1.5 million per year to the deal. The buyout clause for the new deal starts at $12 million for 2022 and descends yearly until it hits $1 million in 2025.

Mel Tucker has a 10-year, $100 million deal on his desk at Michigan State that he either has signed or has agreed to in principle. Earlier this year Jimbo Fisher signed a 10-year extension at Texas A&M that has already bumped his pay by $1.6 million per year to more than $9.1 million and includes escalation and incentive clauses. Don’t think for a second that the fine folks at Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame haven’t noticed. They aren’t about to let their head coaches make less money than coaches who have never made the College Football Playoff.

At Kentucky, where Mark Stoops ($6 million) is on hot lists to move somewhere else, the risk is to lose the second winningest coach in school history (Bear somebody is the first) if a similar long term deal isn’t agreed to in a hurry. State law in Mississippi forbids any coach from getting more than a 4-year deal, so both Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) and Mike Leach (Mississippi State) are expected to be offered new deals that add at least a couple million or so to their current contracts that pay $5 million. Kiffin is said to be on Florida’s short list. Leach is a BYU grad who coached for years at Washington State and Washington is currently open. Oregon pays Mario Cristobal $5 million but is willing to pay whatever is necessary to keep him from leaving for Miami or Florida, where he’s home and the weather is warmer. Even Liberty, which will be joining Conference USA no later than 2023, has ripped up Hugh Freeze’s old deal and given him a new seven-year deal with $28 million guaranteed and much more in incentives.

By saying no to LSU, which was willing to make Jimbo Fisher the highest paid coach in the country, Jimbo Fisher essentially has forced AD Scott Woodward to pay bigger bucks than what the market price might have borne out just a few weeks ago for Dave Aranda (Baylor), Billy Napier (Louisiana), Matt Campbell (Iowa State) or Bill O’Brien (Alabama offensive coordinator) to replace Ed Orgeron (was paid $9 million, got $17.1 million buyout money).

Aranda has leverage because Southern Cal wants him and will pay in upwards of $8 million with a long term deal if he agrees to bring Joe Brady (former LSU OC, now OC Carolina Panthers) to run the offense. Baylor is also working on a long term deal worth a lot more than the $4 million Aranda is being paid to keep him in Waco. If LSU wants Aranda, the price won’t be cheap.

Napier makes $1.2 million per year and his incentives that include winning the Sun Belt Conference championship game in two weeks could total more than $300,000. Florida has given Napier an offer sheet that lets him know he’s the No. 1 choice to take over the Gators. Speculation is that it’s a six-year deal worth at least $6 million. If LSU makes Napier the object of its affection with a longer term deal worth more money, how high is Scott Stricklin ready to go to seal the deal for Florida? There is no shortage of money at UF, but what is the ceiling for a coach who has never headed a Power Five program much less one in the Southeastern Conference? Also, what is the ceiling for Stricklin’s backup plan, thought by some reasonably well informed people to be Kiffin? Kiffin already makes $5 million at Ole Miss and by Saturday may have the leverage of Miami, which could part ways with Manny Diaz. Numerous former Miami football players that are openly campaigning for The U to jettison Diaz and hire Kiffin.

In a best case scenario as far as Napier and the University of Florida are concerned, the offer sheet is being converted into a legal document and there is no turning back. Chances are it’s for more money than anyone would have dreamed of spending even a few weeks ago but Florida isn’t responsible for the high cost of doing business. Fortunately, however, the Gators have the financial resources to compete.

OHIO STATE JUMPS BAMA IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF POLL; CINCY 4TH

Oregon’s blowout loss at the hands of Utah last Saturday night created the first real shuffling in the College Football Playoff Poll. With Oregon absorbing its second loss to drop out of the top four, the Pac-12’s playoff hopes went down the chute, but that opened the door for Cincinnati to become the first Group of Five team in the history of the playoff to move into playoff contention.

Cincinnati gaining the No. 4 ranking wasn’t the only serious move on Tuesday, however. Former No. 4 Ohio State leapfrogged Alabama for No. 2 with Bama dropping down to No. 3. If the playoff were held today, No. 1 Georgia would face Cincinnati in one semifinal with Ohio State and Alabama in the other.

In the next two weeks, we could see plenty of movement in the top four if Alabama beats Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, No. 5 Michigan beats Ohio State Saturday, and Cincinnati loses either to East Carolina Saturday or to No. 24 Houston in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. Additionally, the door remains cracked at least for No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 7 Oklahoma State, who play this weekend, and for Notre Dame, which should finish the season 11-1 and doesn’t have to play a conference championship game.

The College Football Playoff poll, Week 4: 1. Georgia 11-0; 2. Ohio State 10-1; 3. Alabama 10-1; 4. Cincinnati 11-0; 5. Michigan 10-1; 6. Notre Dame 10-1; 7. Oklahoma State 10-1; 8. Baylor 9-2; 9. Ole Miss 9-2; 10. Oklahoma 10-1; 11. Oregon 9-2; 12. Michigan State 9-2; 13. BYU 9-2; 14. Wisconsin 8-3; 15. Texas A&M 8-3; 16. Iowa 9-2; 17. Pittsburgh 9-2; 18. Wake Forest 9-2; 19. Utah 8-3; 20. North Carolina State 8-3; 21. San Diego State 10-1; 22. Texas-San Antonio 11-0; 23. Clemson 8-3; 24. Houston 10-1; 25. Arkansas 7-4

GATORS HAVE DIFFICULT CHALLENGE IN FORT MYERS TIP-OFF

Having answered the question of how the No. 23 Gators (4-0) will play in their first basketball game away from the friendly confines of the O-Dome, Florida faces what should be their most difficult challenge of the season tonight when they face Ohio State (4-1) in the championship game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off (8:30 p.m., FS1 TV). The Gators got to the championship game with yet another outstanding defensive effort to knock off California, 80-59, Monday night. Ohio State advanced with a 79-76 win over No. 21 Seton Hall.

The Gators are off to their best defensive start in years. They’re giving up only 55.3 points per game and 28.1 percent from the 3-point line. In their last two games, the Gators have allowed Milwaukee and Cal a combined 4-22 (22.2 percent) on three-pointers.

Colin Castleton leads the Gators in scoring (17.0) and rebounding (9.8). He has blocked 14 shots so far. Also averaging in double figures are Myreon Jones (13.0, 41.7 percent on 3-pointers), Tyree Appleby (12.0 points, 4.0 assists) and Anthony Duruji (10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds).

The focus of Florida’s defense should be on 6-7, 240-pound E.J. Liddell, who is stuffing the stat sheet with 22.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 3.6 blocked shots per game. Liddell also shoots 38.1 percent from the three-point line. As a team, the Buckeyes hit 39.1 percent of their three-pointers and a very respectable 46.7 percent from the field overall. The Buckeyes go five deep off their bench and have 10 players averaging 11.5 minutes per game.

SEC BASKETBALL

Tuesday’s games: Northwestern (5-1) 78, Georgia (2-4) 62; Texas A&M (5-1) 57, Butler (3-3) 50; South Carolina (4-1) 85, Wofford (4-2) 74

Wednesday’s games: Ohio State (4-1) vs. No. 23 FLORIDA (4-0) at Fort Myers; No. 22 UConn 4-0 vs. No. 19 Auburn (3-0) at Nassau, Bahamas; Vanderbilt (3-1) at Pittsburgh (2-2)

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC (FOOTBALL) Alabama (10-1, 6-1 SEC): Linebacker Will Anderson Jr. has 13.5 sacks and 26.5 tackles for loss.

Arkansas (7-4, 3-4 SEC): Wide receiver Treylon Burks has been able to practice and is expected to play against Missouri.

Auburn (6-5, 3-4 SEC): Auburn has allowed 19 touchdown passes, bad news considering the Tigers will be facing Bryce Young (Alabama), who has thrown 38 TDPs with only three picks this season) on Saturday.

Georgia (11-0, 8-0 SEC): Wide receiver George Pickens still hasn’t been cleared to play although he has been practicing.

Kentucky (8-3, 5-3 SEC): Kentucky goes into the Louisville game averaging 230.6 passing yards per game. A year ago the Wildcats averaged only 121.5.

LSU (5-6, 2-5 SEC): This is the worst LSU offense (27.1 points per game, 370 yards) in years. Since 2009, the only worse offense were 2009 (24.8 points) and 2011 (355.1 yards).

Mississippi State (7-4, 4-3 SEC): Steve Spurrier says if he were to vote for the Heisman Trophy today, his vote would go to MSU quarterback Will Rogers.

Missouri (6-5, 3-4 SEC): Tyler Badie (1,385 yards, 13 touchdowns) leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in rushing.

Ole Miss (9-2, 5-2 SEC): Ole Miss running back Jerion Ealy doesn’t like Starkville where Ole Miss plays Thursday night. “It’s Stinkville to me,” Ealy said earlier in the week.

South Carolina (6-5, 3-5 SEC): The Gamecocks are 11.5-point underdogs at home for Saturday’s matchup with arch-rival Clemson.

Tennessee (6-5, 3-4 SEC): ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit says the Vols under first year HBC Josh Heupel have “become a fun team to watch and they’re going to recruit very well.”

Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3 SEC): The Aggies rank third in the SEC (319.8 yards per game) and 17th nationally in total defense.

Vanderbilt (2-9, 0-7 SEC): The Commodores rank dead last in the SEC in both total offense (311.9 yards per game) and total defense (458.8).

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: One of the true professionals in all of sports journalism passed away Tuesday. Cecil Hurt, the longtime sports editor and columnist of the Tuscaloosa News, died in Birmingham due to complications from pneumonia. Cecil was a warm, engaging man who loved writing about the ball games and personalities but was hardly consumed by sports. On a Thursday afternoon at the 2011 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, I found Cecil sitting in the sunshine with his iPad handy for taking notes about a game the Gators would win 6-0 and a non-fiction book about history that he would read a page here, a page there during delays in the action. We talked for about 15-20 minutes, a little bit about baseball, a bit about Florida football and how I thought the Gators were going to do in their first season under new coach Will Muschamp, and a lot about friends and family. He was genuine and legitimately left you with the feeling he really cared about everyone he met. It showed in the way he wrote about sports. Cecil understood that the final score is only a part of the story, that these are only games played by real people who pour their hearts and souls and often the hopes and dreams of their entire families into their sport. In that respect, Cecil was a dinosaur, a dying breed of wonderful writers who could make you appreciate the athletes who play the games we watch. I’m going to miss him.