Tony’s Take | VSU Conference Realignment | Hate | Round 2 | Bubble | CFB and NFL Picks

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT FOR VSU? Imagine waking up to the following headline: UGA JOINS THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE. UGA will play in the East Division joining in-state institutions Georgia Southern and Georgia State. UGA’s other SBC east division opponents will include Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Old Dominion, and Marshall.

HBCU Gameday reports “Multiple sources indicate that VSU is considering joining a new league – and that the SIAC might be the landing spot”. Albany State is a member of the SIAC.

VSU is currently a member of the Gulf South Conference. The GSC is historically regarded as one of the premier D-II leagues in the country. The GSC is losing three football members to conference realignment in 2025 and Mississippi College recently announced it is dropping football. GSC members have struggled with scheduling in recent years due to members reclassifying to D-I and conference realignment.

While VSU may feel desperate to fill an 11-game D-II schedule with the GSC only having four football-playing members, a move to the SIAC is equivalent to UGA’s fictional move to the Sun Belt Conference. Moving from premier D-II to mid-major D-II, at best, will impact recruiting and frustrate the fan base once the novelty of playing new schools wears off.

#1 Valdosta State (11 – 0 ) hosts #25 Virginia Union (10 – 3) in the third round of the NCAA Division II playoffs on December 7 in a quest to capture their 5th national championship.

HATE. The Dawgs survived the Yellow Jackets in the 8th overtime 44 – 42 to improve to 10 – 2. UGA entered the game knowing they would face the winner of the Texas | Texas A&M game following a wild week 13 when Bama and Mississippi fell, and a loss to Tech would likely require winning the SEC championship. Clean Old-Fashion Hate saw a combined 968 yards and 86 points. As epic as the game unfolded, I will continue to say ending the game in alternating 2-point attempts is a farce. What’s with the walk of shame following the game continuing when the 2-point attempt didn’t determine the winner?

Speaking of going for two, I disagree with Kirby doing this following UGA’s first touchdown making the score 17 – 6. Kirby was steadfast that analytics led him to his decision. Had UGA converted the extra point, the Dawgs would have led 28 – 27 with 1:01 remaining in the game likely avoiding the overtime periods. I have no idea why a coach would chase points with 9:53 remaining in the third quarter. With points, I would keep analytics in my back pocket until the 4th quarter.

ROUND 2. UGA will meet Texas for the SEC Championship. Some lines have UGA as 2.5-point favorites while others place Texas as 2.5-point favorites.

The Dawgs went to Austin and punched the Longhorns in the mouth leading 23 – 0 at the half before winning 30 – 15 in mid-October.

Having watched UGA and TX multiple times this season, I believe the Longhorns play more consistently from start to finish and are a more complete team than the Dawgs.

Texas will win for the following reasons: Winning a second time will be too much for UGA, we just watched GA Tech physically win in the trenches over UGA, and UT’s HC Sarkisian is a more innovative play-caller than UGA’s OC Bobo. Look for TX to protect their QB better combined with play calling, and explosive downfield plays to be the difference.

BUBBLE. In a recent column, I suggested Power 4’s need to eliminate their conference championship game in favor of a flex game with their best two CFP bubble teams. Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Carolina have three losses.

Alabama joined #2 Texas, #5 Georgia and #7 Tennessee in the latest CFP ranking top 12. Mississippi and S Carolina are #13 and #14 respectively but on the outside looking in.

Here is where things get interesting. The Big12 Champion (#15 Arizona State or #16 Iowa State) will secure the #12 spot. #11 Alabama is praying Clemson does not beat #8 SMU as that would give them the #11 spot by virtue of being ACC champs. One theory has the CFP committee bumping SMU out to keep blue-blood Bama in the field despite Alabama fatigue.

Back to the SEC flex game. If the SEC punted the championship game in favor of an Ole Miss | S Carolina matchup, the winner would improve to 10 wins with another quality win. The committee would then need to determine if the winner of the flex game is more worthy than one of the #9 – #11 seeds. While unlikely, this would fuel the debate and help drive ratings which is a big part of the CFP. While this scenario would not play out to benefit the BIG10, Big12, or ACC this season – it could in the future. Imagine a scenario where the P4 conferences flexed two bubble teams, creating 4 play-in games before the CFP tournament begins. That would be glorious!

SUPER 6 + 1. | #5 UGA v #2 TEXAS | #1 OREGON v #3 Penn State | #8 SMU v # 17 Clemson | #15 AR STATE v #16 Iowa State | Packers @ LIONS | Falcons @ VIKINGS | Chargers @ CHIEFS | BOLD = Winner | RECORD 51 – 27

Tony Duckworth is a native of Macon and currently resides in Albany. Tony worked in intercollegiate athletics for thirty-one years. Between 2007 – 2023 he was an NCAA Division II Director of Athletics at three different universities, including Albany State, following ten years as a head men’s basketball coach at two colleges. Follow Tony on the X platform at @tonyduckworthsr.