Just because I’m in the mood, a rare sighting — The Saturday Blog.
1. If you thought Alabama-Auburn was big before … the tag team of GusChamp vs. SabaLane should be something. I think Will Muschamp made the right choice, turning down a Houston program that is on the periphery of big-time football to stay in the SEC. It’s pretty amazing that Muschamp and new Florida coach Jim McElwain will be making roughly the same salary this season. But in this conference, you had better be ready to compete with dollars if you’re going to stay in the fight.
2. And Florida is making a lot of people rich. Muschamp, McElwain, Hugh Freeze. Ole Miss was expected to give Freeze a raise this year but Florida’s supposed interest in the Rebels’ coach surely drove up the money. He’ll make $4.3 million this year and I’m not trying to be critical because he’s got Ole Miss trending up. But think about this for a second — Ole Miss just gave a raise of more than $1.5 million a year to a coach who is under .500 in three seasons in the SEC (11-13). Meanwhile, Butch Jones’ latest extension puts him at $3.6 million a year after going 3-5 in the SEC. I’m in the wrong business.
3. It’s time we transition a bit into basketball and even though it was Yale and Texas Southern, it looks like Billy Donovan’s team is making progress. One good thing for Florida in terms of the NCAA Tournament is that the SEC actually piled up some decent wins last week. I know it’s still early but the league has four teams (Kentucky, LSU, Arkansas and Alabama) in the top 25 of RPI. Florida, believe it or not, is 97th after Friday night’s win.
