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Editor's note: Send questions for future Mailbags to stewart.mandel@fox.com.
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I've been watching a lot of David Letterman lately in anticipation of his final episode Wednesday night, and I must say, I'm in awe. May we all be so fortunate at 68 to still be trading pleasantries with Julia Roberts and Scarlett Johansson. Or bantering across a desk with the president of the United States.
Personally, I have a bad feeling that 30 years from now I'll still be answering strangers' questions about conference superiority in college football.
Stewart, the SEC is considered the best conference, despite missing the national championship for two straight years. The primary reason for the SEC's success is its location in some of the country's top recruiting hotbeds (Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, etc.). With location in mind as a determinate for overall conference strength, shouldn't the ACC be, at worst, the second-best conference? It has teams in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, western Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
-- Jacob Thigpen, Augusta, Georgia
The ACC has arguably been the second-most talented conference for some time. In the most recent NFL Draft, its 47 picks trailed only the SEC's 54. Ditto the year before (49 to 42) and in fact most years over the past decade. Meanwhile, on the field, the ACC has made considerable strides over the past couple of years when specifically compared with the SEC. Most notably, its teams went 5-3 head-to-head against the SEC last season -- including 4-0 in their annual Thanksgiving rivalry games -- for its first winning record in more than a decade.
Right now, though, I'd still rank the ACC a distant third, behind the SEC and Pac-12, and the reason is depth (or lack thereof). While home-grown talent is unquestionably an important factor in a conference's success, it's one of many. The quality of coaches is most important, followed by resources and support. I'd only describe four of the 14 ACC programs as "football schools" -- Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Miami. Others -- like Georgia Tech, Pitt, Syracuse and Boston College -- have decent football histories but limited fan support. North Carolina, NC State and Virginia continue to fall far short of potential.
Contrast that with the SEC, where 13 of the 14 members (all but Kentucky) prioritize football and throw money at it. The Pac-12, meanwhile, enjoys its own backyard recruiting hotbed (California), and while it may not equal the SEC or Big Ten in terms of number of rabid fan bases, nor are there noticeable pockets of apathy like in the basketball-crazed ACC. Everyone from USC and Oregon to Utah and Washington State is all-in on football.
But the ACC quietly upgraded its product last year by adding Louisville, the rare school that supports both football and basketball at a high level and in fact produced 10 of those recent NFL draft picks. It's too early to say, but the Cardinals could end up having a bigger impact than most other leagues' realignment additions. The conference is no longer the punching bag it was for much of the BCS era. In fact, it's gone 3-1 in BCS/New Year's Six games the past two seasons. The mighty SEC during that same span is 0-5.
Stewart, now that we know Everett Golson is headed to FSU, what is the likelihood that he will start over Sean Maguire?
-- Foster, Wilmington, North Carolina
If the only factors were talent and experience, I wouldn't hesitate to say very likely. But Golson faces a considerable challenge in trying to master Jimbo Fisher's pro-style playbook in less than four months. Maguire has a three-year head start. Obviously Fisher can trim things down and tailor the scheme to Golson's strengths, but considering he and Maguire are very different quarterbacks, and FSU will have only about three weeks in August to determine which one's the starter, it's unrealistic to think he'd essentially develop a completely different plan for both.
Realistically, Golson will not go into the opener with anything close to a 100 percent comfort level in Fisher's system, so the question becomes: Will Golson's considerable advantage in game experience (23 career starts to Maguire's one) sufficiently counter that disadvantage? Also, Golson's ability to scramble and extend plays -- something most of Fisher's previous quarterbacks lacked -- may prove particularly advantageous going into this FSU season, when the 'Noles will be breaking in first-time starters for at least three offensive line positions. All in all, I'd be surprised if Golson's not the starter, but then again, this time last year we all assumed grad transfer Jake Coker would beat out Blake Sims at Alabama.
Being a Tennessee fan and living through the long rebuilding process, I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel with Butch Jones. But I am troubled that there are some national sportswriters out there talking in terms of a 10-win season this year. I feel that is an overreach (I see 7-5 to 8-4 range) and may set fans up to be critical of Jones if he fall short. Thoughts?
-- Howard Waldron, Morristown, Tennessee
It's a reflection of just how beaten down Vols fans were by the Kiffin/Dooley years that they've remained as enthusiastic and patient as they have during Jones' first two seasons, in which Tennessee went 2-6, then 3-5 in SEC play. In this, Year 3, with Jones coming off signing consecutive top-five classes, it's fair to start expecting better results than 7-5. For one thing, there's no SEC East team that stands out as being head-and-shoulders better than the Vols, who either beat or were competitive with every team in that division last year and return more experienced players than all of them. And secondly ... it's 2015. No one does four-year rebuilding jobs anymore. You're pushing the limit once you get to three.
By no means will Tennessee's season be a disappointment if it fails to win 10 games, but it should, for the first time in eight years, be a serious contender for the SEC East crown. Maybe Georgia or Missouri wins it instead, but it's fair to expect Josh Dobbs and the Vols to be in the mix late in the year. Furthermore, Tennessee is still so young that it should be even better in 2016 than '15.
But if you're Jones, you want the narrative next year to be another pursuit of a championship not, "Is he finally going to get over the hump?" So in that regard this is a critical year for Jones, because he's reaching the point where success in February will no longer be enough to appease the masses.
Not to keep beating a dead horse, but how do you define so-called traditional programs? Do you not count Oregon only because it hasn't won a national championship? Would you consider Washington a "traditional" program because it has a title (1991) and more historic success, despite being Oregon's whipping boy for going on two decades? Which do you think is more likely to win a national championship in the next 25 years, Oregon or Washington? Missouri or Pittsburgh? Boise State or Minnesota? I would argue the "non-traditional" program has a better chance of climbing that mountain in all four cases.
-- Scott, Champaign, Illinois
It's my fault for using the term "non-traditional," when the better description of the class Oregon is trying to get over the hump and join is "bluebloods." Generally speaking they're the 13 programs I classified as "Kings" in an old SI.com feature, and no, they don't include Minnesota or Pittsburgh. (Unfortunately some of the formatting in that 2012 piece did not carry over during my former employer's redesign, but it should still be decipherable.) Bluebloods/kings are programs that A) have won multiple national championships; B) have built and sustained success over the span of many decades; and C) still carry much the same cachet today that they did 20 years ago.
Oregon is unquestionably more successful today than several of the programs on that list (Nebraska, Penn State and Miami for starters), but bluebloods are such that when the right coach is in place, they're going to clean up in recruiting. Oregon in my mind still needs to win a national championship to ascend the ladder to that top tier. If and when that day comes, it will be universally viewed in the same category as an Ohio State or Alabama, at which point it should be able to recruit the same caliber players. The problem, though, as I wrote in that column, is that presently it's always going to be at a talent disadvantage if it meets one of those schools in a national championship game.
Hey Stewart, I've noticed that over the past four or five seasons, Twitter, Vines, and GIFs have changed how fans and the media watch and process college football games. My question for you is, was there a game or games you wish had taken place during this Social Media Era? For example, my choice would be the 2007 Fiesta Bowl with Boise State upsetting Oklahoma thanks to the Statue of Liberty play, followed by the proposal to one of the cheerleaders.
-- Samuel Fleming, Durham, North Carolina
No question, the final moments of that game might have melted Twitter. But technically, the Social Media Era had already begun. I, for one, definitely had both Facebook and MySpace accounts at the time. YouTube was a thing. You've got to go truly old school to properly answer this one. My top five:
1) The 1966 Notre Dame-Michigan State 10-10 tie. Can you imagine the fury on Twitter when people realized Ara Parseghian was playing for the tie?
2) Doug Flutie's Hail Mary to beat Miami. I imagine that moment would be very end-of-the-2013 Iron Bowl-esque.
3) The 1984 Miami-Nebraska Orange Bowl. How quickly would someone get up the Vine of the Huskers' Fumblerooski play?
4) Charles Woodson against Ohio State in 1997. I picture Tennessee fans taking to Periscope to deliver live rants about why Peyton Manning should still win the Heisman.
5) Johnny Rodgers' punt return in the 1971 Game of the Century. Actually, let's not kid ourselves. In a world with Twitter mobs, there's no way Rodgers would still be on the team after helping rob a gas station.
Hi Stewart. Given the recent certification of three more bowl games (in Tucson, Austin and Orlando), I wonder where the line is going to be drawn. Can 82 out of 127 FBS teams win six games, with only one of those wins coming over an FCS school? There has to be a mathematical point of no return ... right?
-- David E. Ward, Charlotte, North Carolina
At this point it's a matter of when, not if, a 5-7 team plays in a bowl game. Last year there were 81 eligible teams for what were then 38 bowls (not including the national championship game) and Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Old Dominion won six games but were not eligible while still in their FBS transitions. Meanwhile, one of those 84, UAB, dropped football just before bowl season. And there's always the chance one or more six-win teams will be serving an NCAA postseason ban, either for sanctions or for failing to meet the necessary academic threshold. The only such team last year, Idaho, would not have qualified anyway, but we're only a few years removed from the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, Miami and North Carolina serving punishments.
So yeah, we're living dangerously. But whereas both the NCAA and Football Bowl Association used to monitor the cut line carefully, at this point they've basically stopped caring. We're already hearing about more possible bowls to come next year, in Little Rock and, believe it or not, Australia, despite no new FBS members currently in the pipeline. Conference commissioners, not the NCAA, essentially run the postseason at this point, and they're far more concerned with making sure all their eligible teams get in a bowl than any stigma the system might incur if there aren't enough six-win teams.
I can't pinpoint a specific reason why they've so unabashedly loosened the reins, only that they're sitting back and letting the market determine when, if ever, the industry gets oversaturated. For now at least, as long as you've got a stadium willing to host it and a TV network interested in showing it, you, too, can host a bowl game.
Personally I'm irked that the NCAA still hasn't officially recognized the world-famous Tom Bowl in Beal City, Michigan.
Assuming all four teams are great in a given season, what hypothetical four teams would generate the highest viewership numbers in the College Football Playoff? One would think multiple regions of the country would have to be represented and these programs were all traditional powers with massive alumni bases/followings.
-- Ben, Milwaukee
I remember throwing this out there on Twitter last year during the height of #SECBias!! Some had suggested, moronically, that ESPN was rooting/pushing for at least three SEC teams to make the playoff field because of its investment in the SEC Network. I pointed out the four-letter network also had a pretty substantial stake ($7 billion-plus) in the success of the CFP, and that three teams from the same region of the country would be the worst possible thing for its ratings. The actual field turned out pretty close to a TV exec's dream come true, with teams in three different time zones, big brands (Alabama and Ohio State) and big stars (Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota).
Without knowing specific storylines and players, just based on geography, brand power and fan/alumni followings, you probably couldn't beat the combination of Alabama, Texas, USC and either Ohio State or Michigan. Then just to make it extra appealing, let that happen in a year like last season when the semifinals are Rose-Sugar and on New Year's Day. And then have the pairings work out that it's USC-Michigan in the Rose and Alabama-Texas in the Sugar. Oh, the money you could print.
So get on that, Charlie Strong, Steve Sarkisian and Jim Harbaugh.
Is this Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook's 14th or 15th season this year?
-- John, New Jersey
A ha. It's time to play my favorite game of the offseason -- naming my official eighth-year senior team. Please do not take it literally (as a few e-mailers and Twitter followers inevitably do). These are simply guys who seem like they've been playing college football for at least that long.
Everett Golson, for one, has to be on there, joined by Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan and now-Louisiana Tech quarterback Jeff Driskel (formerly of Florida). But it's no sure thing any of them will beat out Utah State legend Chuckie Keeton if he recovers from his past two years' knee injuries.
Invites are also being extended to Alabama running back Kenyan Drake, Nebraska I-back Imani Cross, Notre Dame D-lineman Sheldon Day, Baylor tackle Spencer Drango, Miami safety Deon Bush, former Michigan cornerback Blake Countess (currently on the grad transfer prowl), Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo (who's somehow only a junior) and Texas A&M punter Drew Kaser.
I welcome your own nominations -- which I'll address in two weeks. Next week I'm on vacation. Who knows, maybe another name will come to me randomly while on the beach in Maui, though if that's the case then I have a diagnosable problem.
Stewart Mandel is a senior college sports columnist for FOXSports.com. He covered college football and basketball for 15 years at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter @slmandel. Send emails and Mailbag questions to Stewart.Mandel@fox.com.
