Don't shoot the messenger...

It's beginning to sound like LSU will not be getting a commitment today like originally thought.

2024 four-star LB Sterling Dixon is making his announcement today. I put my FC in on him earlier this month but I've flipped the pick to Alabama this morning and here's why...

Throughout Dixon's recruitment over the last few months it's fair to say LSU has been the leader. He visited more times than I can count without actually looking it up BUT he then visited Alabama for the Iron Bowl and coming off that visit made his decision very difficult. He's from Mobile so there's no doubt that the Crimson Tide didn't want to lose an in-state player and it seems as though the Tide impressed him enough to take the lead just as he's planned to announce this afternoon. Obviously still a ways to go before he actually signs and I'm sure LSU will continue their relationship with him because he has grown close to the staff. At this point though, I'm not expecting him to pick LSU today.

Dixon is ranked as a Rivals250 prospect and a top ten player in Alabama.

Login to view embedded media

Let’s see if the staff takes any interest

The College Football Playoff announced today that the members of the CFP Board of Managers have agreed to begin the newly-expanded 12-team playoff during the 2024-2025 season and that the Allstate Sugar Bowl will serve as a CFP Quarterfinal in each of those seasons.

“We’re delighted to be moving forward,” said Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff. “When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work. More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen.”

“The CFP announcement comes as good news for the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans and Louisiana,” said Jeff Hundley, Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO. “Simply put, this means the Allstate Sugar Bowl will carry national significance on an annual basis, and that should translate into a lot of positives for all involved.”

Next season will be the final season of the current four-team playoff format and the Allstate Sugar Bowl will serve as one of the two Playoff Semifinals on January 1, 2024. It will mark the fourth Playoff Semifinal for the Sugar Bowl.

In 2024, the first round of the expanded playoff will take place the week ending Saturday, December 21, at either the home field of the higher-seeded team or at another site designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7, and No. 9 at No. 8). The specific game dates, likely late in that week, will be announced later.

For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the four quarterfinal games and two Playoff Semifinal games will be played in bowls on a rotating basis. The 2024 quarterfinals will take place in the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the Playoff Semifinals. The 2025 quarterfinals will take place in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl will host the Playoff Semifinals. Specific dates for all quarterfinal and semifinal games will be announced at a later time.

The national championship games will be played January 20, 2025, in Atlanta, and January 19, 2026, in Miami.

This year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl will be played on Saturday, December 31 and will feature the champions of the Big 12 Conference and the SEC unless either or both of those champions are selected for the College Football Playoff. If either of the champions do qualify for the playoff, another highly-ranked representative from the conference(s) will play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. In the case of the SEC, the replacement team would be the top-ranked non-playoff team. In the case of the Big 12, the replacement team would be the next non-playoff team with the best record in the regular-season standings.

LSU comes in at No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings after dropping the regular season finale to Texas A&M.

A lot of posters on this site believed that A&M would just roll over and quit and I tried to warn them not to take that team lightly. They had too much talent to think all we had to do go into their stadium and they would just crumble. Instead, what happened was what I was afraid would happen.... They finally put a whole game together and their best players made the plays necessary
to win the game. Give them credit and shame on our team for taking them too lightly. I know our team and coaches will learn from this loss and be better for it.

We still had a GREAT SEASON and if we give Georgia our best game and with a little luck, we might end up SEC Champions! GO TIGERS!
S.C.

If you didn't see my post earlier, LSU offered a new 2023 tight end Tuesday.

Brian Kelly, Mike Denbrock & Co. extended an offer to longtime Cincinnati tight end commitment Jackson McGohan, who actually committed to the Bearcats while Denbrock was still on the staff. With Luke Fickell leaving Cincinnati for Wisconsin, there's an opportunity potentially to reunite Denbrock with the tight end who committed to him.

I'm told that McGohan and his family are big Cincinnati fans as well as his girlfriend's family so take that for what it is. Not sure how important it may or may not be to him. But he does have a great relationship with Denbrock.

"It’s an incredible feeling and I am just very blessed to even be in this position," the three-star tight end told me right after his offer. "Coach Denbrock and I have a great relationship and we have maintained that. I committed while he was still at Cincy so another door is opening between the two of us that I could do the same thing!"

Login to view embedded media
I'm also still monitoring Vanderbilt commitment Ka'Morreun Pimpton, who's senior season just ended this past weekend with a playoff loss. There's mutual interest between Pimpton and LSU but an official visit has not been set just yet because the tight end isn't sure yet if he's signing in December or February. The hope would be to get Pimpton to sign in December and take his OV the weekend before the ESP.

At this point I think it would be a matter of which tight end wants him and who's willing to commitment first.

Login to view embedded media

Now that the portal is about to open and recruiting is about to get really hot for the early signing date, I see all of these posts about getting some really good players from the portal from P5 programs. I just wonder how many of these players aren’t just using the portal as leverage to get the best NIL deals they can get without ever intending to leave their current program.

I thought the officials sucked Saturday night. I know this sounds like sour grapes; however, I never understood how they could call off the interference call on A$M after the DB jumped on the receivers back, nor the fact in a couple of critical situations the stripes called holding on LSU but nary a holding call on A$M.
Can't wait to see what the zebras bring to the SEC championship game.

LSU picked up another 2023 baseball commitment from Dallas Dale II from Apopka, FL. He's an OF/1B and rated a "9" on a 10-pt. scale by Perfect Game.
Login to view embedded media

Is there a site that follows WBB, recruiting, stuff like that?
Looks like I might be getting interested in who Ms Kim is bringing in here!
@Julie Boudwin

2021 6.0 4* rb
Login to view embedded media

Not sure any conference in the Nation can claim better coaching and recruiting talent than the SEC West.
Kids will want to play for these coaches, universities and in the SECW. Not necessarily in that order.

Nm

If not too many people have voted Stroud’s Heisman just disappeared. Michigan should send big time gambling a bill.

The OSU is a dirty team. Ryan needs to do something about it. But no CFP for Ohio State. They were drubbed today.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Knew this was being felt as another inevitable one, but we’ve now lost our 2nd DL commit in the last week.

Notice how he always says something along the lines of "that's on me" or "we have to coach better"? He puts himself and the staff at the forefront of accountability and responsibility for losses or mistakes (yes, it's a small sample so far with only one season, but that is what we have to go on). Contrast that with NS who talks about "didn't make the plays we needed to", "players did not play to their potential", etc. Rarely have I heard him ever say it's on the coaches. As I said, it's a small point, but with this generation of players and the current environment with NIL/portal, it's a small thing that could go a long way.