Amarillo Tide

I like to think the fact Bama seemed to bring in some larger defensive linemen should help the defense not getting pushed around so much.

Have a little faith. I truly feel the O line will be improved with better coaching and some quicker players. Other than Brailsford, we had 4 incredibly slow guards and tackles who consistently got smoked all day every day.

Yes, most of the new O linemen don’t have a lot of starts, I’m pretty sure they’ll be quicker, which is huge. They will have better coaching. This makes a gigantic difference.

Yeah, the Tet Offensive analogy isn’t a good one. Yes, initially the NVA were successful but ultimately, we inflicted such massive casualties on them and they lost so much equipment and supplies that it literally took them years to launch any kind of large scale operations after that.

Of course, the media gleefully portrayed it that the US had been defeated when that was simply not true.

Saying Tet was a massive defeat for the US is analogous to saying the US lost the Battle of the Bulge. Similar in that the US had some initial setbacks but ultimately crushed the enemy.

Franklin has brought in a massive talent upgrade to Blacksburg relative to what VT had on campus when he arrived. While I don’t expect them to have top ten team, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them win 8-9 games next Fall. Barring a boat load of injuries, they’re going to surprise people next year.

I can’t speak for every grad from Southern New Hampshire but one of my supervisors at my last job (I’m retired now) was an SNHU grad. Dumber than a box of rocks. Made me wonder just how challenging that school is.

Well, to those guys (UVA), cultural fit is very important, and I can assure you they very much look down their collective noses at the SEC.

UVA is a great school academically but it ain’t happening.

If wanting greater exposure for the SEC into Virginia is a thing, probably Virginia Tech would be better fit. Trouble is, VT is at a bit of a crossroads. I don’t know about now with James Franklin taking over but I do know up until recently VT had pretty much no NIL game.

Some of the powers that be at VT don’t care about NIL or even being competitive in sports. Some do care. My guess is Franklin only accepted that job if VT would get serious about NIL.

I agree being on campus is/was (for me anyway) a really great experience but not everyone can do that. Some people can’t afford to live on campus. Some people have small kids. Some people have jobs/careers.

I do think eventually the SEC will expand. May not be in the next 12 months but I guarantee when the ACC implodes in 2036, the SEC will poach at least a few schools from there. If so, which ones?

I feel like the SEC will place a huge value on tv market/viewership and as such, these four would make the most sense-

Miami-scoff all you want but Miami pulls in about a little more than 3 million viewers per Saturday. This is more than Tennessee, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Missouri. Miami is the 12th most watched team in the country.

Florida State-The Seminoles pull in about 2.37 million viewers per week. FSU is the #16 most watched team.

Georgia Tech-I know some old timers may say "Hell no" but I've always felt they belong back in the SEC. Believe it or not, GT is the #19 most watched team with just over 2 million viewers each week.

Clemson-they pull in just under 2 million viewers per week and are the #21 most watched team.

I may be wrong but the powers that be in the SEC seem to put a gigantic premium on the numbers of viewers that watch as a part of their criteria for expansion.

Jarrett Johnson had more heart than most players. That was a guy who never, ever, EVER gave up on a play or a game. Didn’t matter how bad the situation was, he gave it 110% at all times.

He was the kind of player Coach Bryant loved. A guy who was just pretty good but played way bigger than his ability.

Hiller would be gigantic (pardon the pun, the dude IS gigantic). He's a big time player.