They get more than the academic education.  If the athlete aspires to play professional football, he gets everything he needs to help him achieve that goal, including: many hours of personalized instruction from coaches; a field upon which to display and hone your talents; high quality competition; excellent film of yourself in practice and in games; a phenomenal training facility with a strength and conditioning coach; an opportunity to become nationally (and certainly regionally) known, which gives you a head start on endorsements after college; etc.

I'm not saying the players get the best end of the deal, but what they get is highly valuable.  It is worth much more than just the free tuition and room/board.

Non-athletes, because they usually don't make money for the school, often have to pay for an education and get unpaid internships before reaching a place where they can have a high-paying career.

My choice is Mark Dantonio from Michigan State.

He won at Cincy and has won in East Lansing.  They may not have looked too good the last two weeks, but he has that program in a good place.

He played at South Carolina, so there are some southern ties.

I would like us to look at Dantonio from Michigan State (and I was thinking that even before they beat uga).  Saban went from there to the SEC and did great.  Dantonio has had more success at Mich State than Saban did.  Cincy fans loved him when he was there.  They say Brian Kelly won with all the talent Dantonio brought in.  This senior class for Mich St. had the best record of any class they have ever had.  Heart issues aside, I think he would be the best hire we could possibly make.

If we knew we could get him, I would like to get him now.  There is very little continuity anyway with 3 assistants now gone.  If we can't get him or Boise's coach or TCU's coach, then we wait and see what happens in '12.  The only way you fire Dooley now is if you KNOW that you can make a phenomenal hire.

It is worse now than 1977.  

The 1977 team lost at Kentucky (21-17), but Kentucky went 10-1 and won all of their SEC games.  The 1977 team finished the season with a 42-7 win over a terrible Vandy team.  The 1977 team was more competitive in rivalry games.

This is the worst era since 1909-1911.

I agree with the larger point, but would point out that the FG attempt would have been into a 25 mph wind.  Ark later tried a FG into that wind and it blew way off course.  I don't blame Dooley for making the calculation that a successful FG was unlikely, therefore the best play is to go for it.

I do think our team has the mentality of losers right now.  You see on the field and in the player interviews (not just the Poole interview).

We even had a player disagree with the premise that we have a mental edge because we beat Vandy virtually every time:

From govols.com:

Isn't that the way it often is with Vanderbilt? In the end, something doesn't go their way?
And because of that, come crunchtime, won't Tennessee always have a mental edge?
"Not this year,'' Jackson said, breaking into a grin.

I haven't heard from Emiril, so I've put them on stubhub.  I'd much rather be sure a UT fan gets them.  They are in the UT section.
If you respond in time, I'll pull them off stubhub and sell them to anyone on this board.  I paid about $200 for the pair and would sell them for that price.

I'm still planning to go.  I have a pair that I'm using and the extra pair.  So, we could meet in Tuscaloosa to close the deal.

Emeril,

I posted a response to your ticket request.  I've got an extra pair for Alabama.  Let me know if you're interested.  We could meet up before or after the LSU game.

I wound up with an extra pair.  I paid about $100 each for them and would sell them to you for that.  They are in the UT section.

I'm going to Knoxville on Saturday and will pick them up that morning (a friend in Knoxville has them).  We could meet up before or after the game.

We don't have to be wedded to current East/West thinking.  If we split divisions another way, I'd be all for adding Missouri because it would make the Third Saturday a division game.  The following setup preserves all significant rivalries:


In one division:

Missouri
Arkansas
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
South Carolina
Alabama

The other:

Florida
Georgia
Auburn
LSU
Ole Miss
Miss. St.
A&M

1 permanent rival each:
Alabama v. Auburn
Missouri v. A&M
Ole Miss v. Vandy
Miss. St. v. Kentucky
Arkansas v. LSU
South Carolina v. Georgia or Florida
Tennessee v. Georgia or Florida

3 divisions of 5 teams each might create my dream division:

Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, and Vandy.  It's balanced and it re-creates the Auburn rivalry.