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No. 6 Notre Dame clinging to slim lead against No. 24 Virginia Tech at half

By Bryan FischerOct 6, 2018, 10:00 PM EDT

No. 6 Notre Dame jumped out to a two-score lead in their biggest road test of the season but saw No. 24 Virginia Tech slowly, but surely, reel them in to cut the Irish’s halftime lead to 17-16 in a game dominated by stout defenses taking advantage of some equally shaky offenses.

The Irish struck first on their initial two drives of the game and generally quieted the hostile Lane Stadium environment in the first half but simply couldn’t execute down the stretch. Some of that had to do with quarterback Ian Book, who threw for 163 yards but made a bad throw in the second quarter for his first interception of the season. The signal-caller never seemed comfortable in the pocket and had a few notable overthrows of open receivers as well. It didn’t help that there wasn’t much of a run game to lean on though as the team was held to negative yardage (-2) when factoring in sacks.

It’s not like the Hokies were all that better moving the ball but they did take advantage of some short fields. A muffed snap on a punt early in the second quarter was a turning point that seemed to give the home crowd life but they could only muster a field goal after the turnover — a common refrain on the night.

Taking over for the injured Josh Jackson behind center yet again, Ryan Willis generally had a tough half against the attacking Irish defense. He threw for 139 yards (one touchdown) and rushed for another 19 but he turned the wrong way to blow up a critical play near the goal line and fumbled just before halftime that turned into a scoop-and-score for Julian Love. The run game wasn’t a lot to write home about for Justin Fuente either with Steven Peoples’ 41 yards the top mark on the ground.

While it looks like Notre Dame is the slightly better team in this one, the offense isn’t quite clicking on all cylinders and the door is still open (especially at home) for Virginia Tech to make things even more interesting in the second half.

Jim Delany was highest paid conference commissioner in 2017-18; NCAA president Mark Emmert’s salary climbs to nearly $4 million

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By Bryan FischerMay 25, 2019, 4:26 PM EDT

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The life of a conference commissioner is not an easy one given the amount of criticism from just about every level but at least they are well compensated for their troubles.

Really well in most cases.

Thanks to the latest round of 2017-18 tax returns from the various Power Five conferences and the NCAA being released, we now have a good picture at how everybody stacks up and business booming has resulted in even larger paychecks for most. Here’s the latest figures for the Power Five and NCAA President Mark Emmert:

The Big Ten’s Jim Delany moved into the top spot as the highest paid commissioner thanks to a reported $5.5 million paycheck, per USA Today.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott was not far behind his Rose Bowl counterpart with over $5.2 million in compensation, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Big 12 head honcho Bob Bowlsby was bumped to a total of $4.1 million.
ACC commissioner John Swofford took home slightly over $3.5 million.
SEC leader Greg Sankey was by far the best bargain of the group, with the most recently appointed commissioner making right around $2 million last year.
Emmert’s salary was the biggest mover of the group of power players as Yahoo! Sports notes his take-home pay jumped 60% by going from $2.4 million the previous year to $3.9 million. All told, the NCAA’s public face has seen his salary jump by some $2 million since 2015 alone.

As you all know, the compensation for the student-athletes officially remained at $0 in pay for the same time period.

Alcohol sales expected to be hot topic at SEC spring meetings

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By Bryan FischerMay 25, 2019, 3:25 PM EDT

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It just means more… beer?

It certainly could in the SEC as early as this upcoming season depending on how the league’s annual spring meetings in Destin, Fla. go next week. As Sports Illustrated reports ahead of everybody’s trip down by the beach, repealing an archaic conference rule banning alcohol sales in the general public sections of stadiums is expected to be the hot button topic that will drive the conversation among school presidents, athletic directors and coaches:

Many of the conference’s high-ranking administrators are optimistic that league presidents will not only seriously discuss the alcohol ban but will overturn an archaic policy that exists in no other major conference. The bylaw will be “front and center” during the four-day event at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort, says one athletic director; another AD says it’s “the main thing.” The administrators spoke to Sports Illustrated on a condition of anonymity.

It probably goes without saying that SEC fans have been clamoring for overturning the rule and expanding sales beyond the club areas where adult beverages are currently allowed to be sold. The conference is one of the few holdouts in this area as college football has swung back from being relatively dry the past decade-plus. Half the Big Ten will permit sales in 2019 and other programs like Oklahoma became the latest big program elsewhere to join the trend earlier this month.

There’s two positives supporters of an SEC repeal will no doubt trot out next week, the first being the increased revenues schools can make by opening up sales and the other being the decrease in binge drinking just prior to kickoff. The latter in particular is not something likely to escape the conference presidents given some of the game day atmospheres in the league.

We’ll see if things ultimately get over the finish line in terms of a repeal after a few years of discussion but it probably speaks to the health of the league that throwing a few drinks back is the topic de jour down in Destin this year.

Thanks to resurgence under Kirby Smart, Georgia donors have contributed $140 million the past two years

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By Bryan FischerMay 25, 2019, 2:24 PM EDT

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Kirby Smart is just plain good for business at Georgia as much as the head coach is for the Bulldogs on the field.

Like, really good for business.

The Athens Banner-Herald recapped a number of the financial figures for UGA athletics’ recently approved 2020 budget and while the overall $153.89 million figure was notable and the projected $44.5 million distribution from the SEC Network somewhat striking, it was one nugget buried in the story that was really eye-opening:

‘Fueled by the football team’s success the last couple of seasons under coach Kirby Smart, donors have contributed about $140 million total over the last two years.’

$140 million over two years!

“Sustainability in college athletics is an ongoing challenge and we are fortunate to be one of the few institutions being on solid ground,” AD Greg McGarity told the board.

We’ll say. That $140 million figure over two years is slightly more than what fellow SEC peers Kentucky and South Carolina brought in just last year in terms of total revenue, per USA Today’s finances database, and even if you split it in two is still a figure that greatly exceeds most Group of Five programs entire budget. And keep in mind this is just donations for the Bulldogs, not revenues from media deals, ticket sales and other items.

Given that UGA has made the national title game and the Sugar Bowl the past two seasons, it’s probably not a huge surprise to see a big uptick in donations but that quite the whopper of a figure thanks to the Smart-led resurgence in Athens.

Wyoming set to ask the state for funds to help with War Memorial Stadium renovation

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By Bryan FischerMay 25, 2019, 1:30 PM EDT