Tag: vols football news

Jay Bilas criticizes NCAA following Cade Mays’ denied eligibility

The NCAA has denied the immediate eligibility request of former UGA offensive lineman Cade Mays. Jay Bilas criticized the decision.

The NCAA has denied the immediate eligibility request of former Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Cade Mays. Mays is trying to play this season in Knoxville with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt stated that the school plans to appeal the NCAA’s decision.

Mays, who committed to UGA as a five-star recruit in the class of 2018, announced his intentions to transfer to Tennessee and play for the Vols following Georgia’s Sugar Bowl victory over Baylor. Mays is from Knoxville and has a brother, Cooper, who plays for the Vols.

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas spoke out regarding the denial of Mays’ transfer request. Bilas sides with Mays. He thinks Mays should be immediately eligible. The NCAA is inconsistent on transfer rulings and that’s a source of both his and college sports fans’ frustration with the NCAA.

Here’s what Jay Bilas said on Twitter:

The NCAA has been frequently ruling quarterbacks immediately eligible, including Georgia’s J.T. Daniels. Alternatively, the NCAA is known to be tougher on transfers within the same conference.

One key difference between Cade Mays and J.T. Daniels is that Daniels missed much of the 2019 season with an injury. Mays on the other hand played throughout last season and didn’t miss much action.

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NCAA reaches decision on Cade Mays’ eligibility, UGA OLB Nolan Smith reacts

The NCAA has made a decision regarding the eligibility of former Georgia football OL Cade Mays, now with the Tennessee Volunteers.

The NCAA has reached a decision regarding the eligibility of former Georgia offensive lineman Cade Mays, who transferred to Tennessee following the 2019 season.

The NCAA has denied Mays’ request for immediate eligibility this season in Knoxville.

Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt stated that the school plans to appeal the NCAA’s decision.

Mays, who committed to Georgia as a five-star offensive lineman in the class of 2018, announced his intentions to transfer back home to Tennessee and play for the Vols after two successful seasons in Athens. Mays is from Knoxville and has a brother who plays for the Vols.

Additionally, Mays’ family is suing UGA for an incident that transpired while on a high school recruiting trip.

Over the course of two years Mays started in 18 games for Georgia and was set to be a starter for the 2020 Dawgs.

Georgia pass rusher Nolan Smith took to Twitter following the news that Mays would have to sit out the season.

 

Georgia low, Florida even lower in Phil Steele’s preseason CFB top-25

Georgia football checked in lower than expected, but not as low as Florida, in Phil Steele’s preseason CFB top-25.

Phil Steele has released his annual preseason college football top-25, and this year he is not terribly high on Georgia.

Steele has the Dawgs sitting at No. 7 in America, by no means a bad a ranking. It’s just not necessarily where DawgNation would like to see their guys start the season — Most outlets have placed the Bulldogs anywhere from 4-6.

In these rankings, Steele has Georgia as the fourth best team in the SEC. Conference teams ranked ahead of the Bulldogs include Alabama, LSU and, surprisingly, Texas A&M.

You’ll have to scroll allll the way down to No. 13 to find the Florida Gators, a team that is receiving a ton of preseason hype by practically every analyst other than Steele.

Georgia returns 8 defenders from last year’s No. 1 ranked defense, added two elite quarterbacks, signed the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class and got an upgrade at offensive coordinator.

We’ll see.

Here’s Steele’s full rankings:

  1. Ohio State
  2. Clemson
  3. Alabama
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Texas A&M
  6. LSU
  7. Georgia
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Oregon
  10. Penn State
  11. USC
  12. Texas
  13. Florida
  14. Wisconsin
  15. Michigan
  16. North Carolina
  17. Miami
  18. Virginia Tech
  19. Auburn
  20. Tennessee
  21. Kentucky
  22. UCF
  23. Iowa
  24. Oklahoma State
  25. Memphis

College Football News ranks SEC head coaches: Where’s Kirby Smart?

College Football News ranked the top SEC head coaches. Where is Georgia football’s Kirby Smart?

Pete Fiutak of College Football News recently released a list ranking the SEC head coaches heading into the 2020 season.

Checking in at No. 3 on the list is Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who trails only Nick Saban (1) and Ed Orgeron (2).

At No. 4 is Dan Mullen and at No. 5 is Gus Malzahn.

As much as I’d love for Smart to be in that No. 2 spot, I do not disagree with Fiutak here.

Smart’s time will come, and within the next five years he may very well occupy that No. 1 spot.

For now, he’s sitting at No. 3 on Fiutak’s list, likely right on the verge of taking over that No. 2 ranking. As long as he keeps winning the SEC East, beating rivals and putting his team in striking distance for the College Football Playoff…he’ll be considered a top-five coach in America.

Orgeron or Smart at No. 2 was likely a somewhat difficult decision. Fiutak went with Coach O since he accomplished something Kirby hasn’t yet, a national championship.

I’ve heard it all – “Anyone could win with that roster.”

Sure, Smart probably would have won it with that roster LSU had last year. But, at the end of the day, he didn’t have that roster. No other way around it.

Also, how can you not love Coach O?

As for Saban, there’s no arguing that one.

Georgia, Tennessee football in top schools for 4-star CB

The Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers are among the top schools for four-star cornerback MJ Daniels.

The Georgia Bulldogs are in the top schools for four-star cornerback MJ Daniels. Daniels is a talented recruit in the class of 2021 from Lucedale, Mississippi. He plays football at George County High School.

The four-star has excellent length and is six-foot-three. He puts the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Volunteers, Minnesota Gophers, and Indiana Hoosiers in this top schools.

Daniels released his top six schools via his Twitter account:

He remains open in his recruitment. We’ll keep you updated if he releases another list of top schools or schedules a commitment.

Kirby Smart and the University of Georgia currently have eleven commitments in the class of 2021. Georgia’s latest commitment is a wide receiver, who flipped from his initial choice of Ole Miss.

Dan Lanning and the Georgia defensive staff should be looking for two cornerbacks in the class of 2021 and possibly more. Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell, and DJ Daniel could all be leaving following the 2020 season, so Georgia must find some future replacements in this class.

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College Football News makes game-by-game predictions for Georgia in 2020

College Football News recently released its game-by-game predictions for each SEC team for the 2020 season, including Georgia football.

Pete Fiutak of College Football News recently released his game-by-game predictions for each SEC team for the 2020 season.

Fiutak also predicted which teams would be playing in the SEC Championship Game on December 5th in Atlanta.

Fiutak has Georgia playing Alabama in the conference championship, with both teams going into the game at 11-1. In this scenario, the SEC Championship would basically be a College Football Playoff play-in game.

Fiutak sees Georgia’s only loss being on September 19th to Alabama in Tuscaloosa. If so, Georgia would be hungry for revenge when the two meet again in Atlanta.

As for the Crimson Tide, Fiutak has Alabama dropping just one game in the regular season – that being at LSU in early November.

In these predictions, Florida finishes the regular season 10-2.

To see each teams’ game-by-game predictions, click here.

Here are his full UGA predictions:

2020 Georgia Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 11-1
2020 Preseason SEC Prediction: 7-1
2019 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2019: 12-2, 2018: 11-2
2020 Georgia Preview

Sept. 7 Virginia (in Atlanta) W
Sept. 12 East Tennessee State W
Sept. 19 at Alabama L
Sept. 26 ULM W
Oct. 3 Vanderbilt W
Oct. 10 Auburn W
Oct. 17 at Missouri W
Oct. 24 OPEN DATE
Oct. 31 Florida (in Jacksonville) W
Nov. 7 at South Carolina W
Nov. 14 Tennessee W
Nov. 21 at Kentucky W
Nov. 28 Georgia Tech W

Barrett Sallee picks Florida to win SEC East, projects Georgia record

CBS college football writer picks the Florida Gators to win the SEC East over Georgia football, as well as SEC records.

College football experts have already begun to submit their predictions for the 2020 season.

CBS Sport’s college football writer and analyst Barrett Sallee posted his SEC win total predictions for 2020 on Friday, via Twitter.

Sallee has Georgia as the 2nd team in the SEC East, with Florida as No. 1.  He also predicts the Dawgs to drop two games on the season, both being to SEC teams.

UGA has a rather tough schedule this season, playing Alabama away in Tuscaloosa. Georgia also has tough matchups against Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky, all of which could be ranked meetings.

The Dawgs have won the past three matchups against the Florida Gators, and have a massive wave of new talent coming in with the No.1 recruiting class in the country for 2020.  Florida had the No. 9 2020 recruiting class.

The Gators and Bulldogs face off on Halloween (Oct. 31) this year in Jacksonville.

4-star TE Moliki Matavao has made his college decision

4-star TE Moliki Matavao, a Georgia football recruiting target, has made his college decision.

Georgia misses out on 4-star tight end Moliki Matavao…

On Monday, 4-star 2021 tight end Moliki Matavao (Henderson, Nevada) released a top-four of Georgia, Oregon, Penn State and UCLA.

On Wednesday night, Matavao put an end to his recruitment and announced that he will be attending Oregon.

He ranks as the nation’s No. 151 overall player, No. 4 tight end and as the top player in Nevada.

The Liberty High School prospect holds 30+ scholarship offers and had been predicted to sign with Oregon for a little while now, according to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball.

Georgia put up a good fight for Matavao, but in the end the 6-foot-6, 240-pound prospect likely wanted to remain closer to home.

As for Georgia and the tight end position, the Bulldogs are still heavily recruiting 4-star Brock Bowers out of Napa, California. At 6-foot-3, he is the nation’s No. 51 overall player according to 247Sports.

It’s not all bad news for Georgia on the recruiting trail, though. On Tuesday, the Dawgs picked up a commitment from 4-star outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss. Then on Wednesday night, just a few hours before Matavao’s announcement, Georgia received its first 2022 commitment from 4-star cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew.

Georgia currently has eight commits in the class of 2021 and has the nation’s No. 16 ranked class.

Athlon predicts Georgia record, final SEC standings — High on Florida

In Athlon Sports’ SEC season preview, the Florida Gators are 2020 SEC East champions over Georgia football. Details and the full list here.

Last week, Athlon Sports released a preview of its annual magazine, a look at the top 25 teams in college football and a prediction of the final college football rankings at the end of the 2020 season.

The 3-time defending SEC East champion Georgia Bulldogs didn’t get much love. Florida was projected to finish the season at No. 6, ahead of Georgia at No. 7.

“Georgia has an edge in overall roster talent,” Athlon Sports wrote. “But the Gators have a small advantage in crossover play (at home versus LSU compared to at Alabama for the Bulldogs) and coach Dan Mullen’s team has more continuity in staff and scheme.”

While I agree that at home versus LSU is not as challenging as Alabama on the road, “continuity in staff and scheme” is a reach. In 2019, Georgia rolled into Jacksonville with a new offensive coordinator and still scored 24 points and secured their third win in a row versus the Gators.

A new aspect of Athlon Sports’ magazine this year is its SEC season preview, and sticking with its previous predictions, Athlon has Florida as the 2020 SEC East champions over Georgia.

Athlon predicted the final SEC standings and projected each team’s overall record as well.

See here:

SEC East

#1 Florida, 11-2 overall, 7-1 SEC

#2 Georgia, 10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC

#3 Tennessee, 8-4 overall, 5-3 SEC

#4 Kentucky, 7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC

#5 South Carolina, 6-6 overall, 3-5 SEC

#6 Missouri, 5-7 overall, 2-6 SEC

#7 Vanderbilt, 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC

SEC West

#1 Alabama, 12-1 overall, 7-1 SEC

#2 LSU, 10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC

#3 Texas A&M, 9-3 overall, 5-3 SEC

#4 Auburn 9-3, overall, 5-3 SEC

#5 Ole Miss, 7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC

#6 Mississippi State, 6-6 overall, 2-6 SEC

#7 Arkansas, 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC

SEC Championship Game

Alabama over Florida

This year, Georgia has more offensive power behind transfer quarterback  Jamie Newman and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, with a record-setting returning defense.

Georgia fans, don’t worry seeing Florida in the headlines. Jacksonville is our home-away-from-home and it always works things out.

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UGA’s Tom Crean trolls Coach Duggs ahead of key match-up

Georgia Bulldogs basketball coach Tom Crean trolls Barstool’s Coach Duggs of Tennessee ahead of a key SEC game.

Georgia Bulldogs basketball coach Tom Crean is entering into his third season in Athens. Crean wasn’t afraid to troll internet sensation Coach Duggs ahead of Duggs’ match-up with the Georgia Bulldogs.

As a part of Barstool Big Cat’s series of NCAA Football games, Coach Duggs has become one of the most popular figures to follow in e-sports. Coach Duggs has bounced around from Florida State to USC to Texas Tech before landing at Tennessee. He’s off to an excellent start to the season at 5-0.

Here’s how Tom Crean trolled Coach Duggs ahead of the game against Georgia:

Before coming to Tennessee, Duggs considered taking the job at the University of Georgia. Instead, he opted for the Volunteers. Now, we’ll see if Duggs can handle the meat of the SEC schedule. Coach Duggs has a lot on the line:

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