Tony’s Take | Carryover | Historically Bad | Expansion | Super 6 + 1 | Edition 117 

By Tony Duckworth, [email protected]

Carryover.  I’m not one who bows to SEC superiority.  Given the BIG10’s rise in recent years – why would I?  However, Auburn and Tennessee should thank BAMA and UGA’s heavyweight fight that led to their wins last week.   

Don’t get me wrong, War Eagle outplayed the Dawgs and Rocky Top enjoyed cigars after putting the Tide in their place.  That being said, the BAMA | UGA game took its toll on the top programs in SEC Football and the carryover into a hangover that led to the Tigers and Vols wins. 

When I was coaching small college basketball,  I was once told by a veteran head coach, to not let a D-I money game beatdown cost my team an additional game or two. Beat downs, emotional and physical games generally impact performance in the game(s) in the coming week, and this was apparent with the teams mentioned above.   

The Dawgs will enjoy their much needed off week, and hopefully the off-week weekend will not produce any off-the field issues.  Trust me, Kirby will be coaching a lot about off the field conduct than football as the weekend approaches. 

Historically Bad.  I am a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan.  It started when I was a pre-teen.  This was the era of America’s team when they were led by Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, and other stars who are part of the franchises Ring of Honor. The organization has appeared in the Super Bowl eight times, winning five.  Only the Steelers and Patriots have more Lombardi Trophies and they own six.  Sadly, Dallas hasn’t advanced to an NFC Championship since 1996 despite having periodic flashes of greatness.  Dallas is only one of four NFL teams to not make it to the NFL final four during that time.  

No NFL organization has more pre-season hype than Dallas.  The polarizing franchise is worth more than any other professional organization, valued by Forbes at $17 billion.  The off-season defensive moves were supposed to raise the defensive unit to average which would let one of the highest-scoring offenses make a run at greatness this season.   A month and a half in the season, the Cowboys have lost twice as many games as they have won and stand at 2 – 4.  As improbable as it seems, Dallas sits in second place, and Vegas odds have the Cowboys favored to win the NFC East.   

The NFC East is reeling.  Talk about stat of the day: according to Google, this is the first division to not have a team win a game in back-to-back weeks when every team played games since 1970.  The division was 0 – 6 – 2 the past two weeks thanks to the Commanders, who had an historic late-game clock management blunder against the Giants which resulted in a tie.  Falcons fans were simply called in Quinning.  Former Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was on the sidelines when Atlanta gave the Super Bowl to the Pats with poor end-of-game management.   

Time will tell if the Cowboys can turn the season around.  Odds are they can due to the ineptness of the Division they find themselves in.   

Expansion.  The best part about CFP expansion to 24 is not that there will ever be 24 Power 4 and Group of 5 teams who will enter the season with the talent to win the national championship.  Knowing expansion opens the door for an additional loss to make CFP opens the door for epic BIG10 v SEC non-con matchups.   

UGA v OSU | BAMA v INDIANA | Ole Miss v Michigan | TN v Oregon | Florida v UCLA … here is an idea … Week 0, 1 , and 2 could be the hoops version of BIG10 / SEC challenge.  This won’t happen to the scale of basketball, but I’m hopeful a smaller version of this will take place. 

The 24-team playoff will have multiple poor games due to the talent disparity, but without expansion teams were going to load their schedule with FCS (I-AA) non-conference games to avoid that extra loss that would keep them from the tournament.  Expansion gives life to early season major matchups.  

Super 6 + 1.  #7 OLE MISS @ Texas | #14 Houston @  # 10 UTAH | #6 INDIANA @ Michigan | Boston College @ GA TECH | Patriots @ BEARS | 49ERS @ Falcons | COWBOYS @ Eagles | Record 26 – 16 

Tony Duckworth is a Macon native and President and CEO of the Albany Area YMCA. Tony worked in intercollegiate athletics for thirty-one years. He served as an NCAA Division II Director of Athletics at three universities after ten years as head men’s basketball coach at two colleges. eMail Tony Duckworth at [email protected].