US LBM Coaches Poll: Georgia team to beat in SEC
USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg breaks down the latest US LBM Coaches Poll and has Georgia as the SEC’s top contender after Texas blowout.
- James Franklin to Virginia Tech would be a big-boy move for Hokies.
- CFP selection committee gains some vindication with Texas A&M, Notre Dame results.
- Don’t sleep on Georgia. Gunner Stockton and Kirby Smart are quite a pairing.
The college football firings are on pause. Now, we await the hirings (and perhaps a few more firings).
But, first up, our television show we love to hate will return with a fresh unveiling of the College Football Playoff rankings. The biggest question surrounding the playoff: How many Big Ten and SEC teams will finish with at least 10 victories? Too many, perhaps, for a 12-team playoff to accommodate.
Here are some burning questions after college football’s Week 12:
Will Virginia Tech make best hire?
Virginia Tech might be a James Franklin contract signature away from making the best hire of the coaching carousel, despite not being anywhere near the best job available.
Franklin becoming the carousel’s best hire is contingent on two things: The former Penn State coach saying yes to the job, which would mean Franklin surrendering his hope of landing a better job. And, also, Lane Kiffin staying put. Because, if Kiffin leaves Mississippi for either Florida or LSU, that trumps whatever hire Virginia Tech could make.
And apparently Franklin has said yes, according to multiple reports Monday afternoon.
Regardless of Kiffin’s movements, Virginia Tech securing Franklin is a big-boy move, reinstalling gravitas to a program that went the Group of Five hiring route to replace Frank Beamer, and then went the coordinator route with Brent Pry to replace Justin Fuente.
It’s not hyperbolic to say Franklin would be far and away the most accomplished coach to ever accept the Virginia Tech job. Beamer’s stardom occurred after taking the Hokies job, not before.
We can point to some big-name hires going splat in recent years, but let’s resist the urge to compare this potential situation with Virginia Tech and Franklin to LSU hiring Brian Kelly.
Kelly failed at LSU because LSU expected him to become something he’d already proven he wasn’t: an elite recruiter, a big-game shark and a national championship coach. When Kelly performed much like he did at Notre Dame, LSU decided that wasn’t good enough.
Virginia Tech doesn’t need Franklin to reinvent himself. It would just need Franklin to be who he’s been his entire career.
Virginia Tech requires a program rebuilder who’s shown consistent competency. Those are Franklin’s top attributes, for whatever his faults. He’s experienced pulling talent from the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia), too, pivotal recruiting terrain for Virginia Tech.
Franklin is less than one year removed from the best season of his career. His biggest flaw — he stinks in big games against premier brands — isn’t applicable to Virginia Tech. I don’t see Ohio State anywhere on Virginia Tech’s future schedules.
Franklin’s inability to develop an elite quarterback means he’ll never win a national championship, but unlike when LSU hired Kelly or Texas A&M hired Jimbo Fisher, Virginia Tech doesn’t have national championship aspirations, if it’s being honest with itself.
Franklin couldn’t meet his own bar at Penn State this season, but he’d be a boon for Virginia Tech, within a conference where standings-climbing can happen in short order.
The CFP selection committee joined Georgia and Oklahoma as big winners in Week 12.
How do I figure that? Well, Texas suffered a third loss in a lopsided result at Georgia. That ended the possibility of seven SEC teams with at least 10 victories, which would have been a heartburn scenario for the committee.
Also, the committee earned some vindication in its decision to rank Texas A&M behind Ohio State and Indiana after the Aggies looked awful in the first half against South Carolina, before rallying to victory.
And, the committee’s favor for Notre Dame aged well after the Irish stomped a ranked Pittsburgh team on the road.
Is Georgia a national championship contender?
Yes. The Bulldogs played closer-than-expected games against Florida and Auburn. They needed second-half rallies to survive Tennessee and Mississippi. They lost to Alabama.
All true. Also true: They’re starting to peak as the postseason nears.
You’ll recall that in Georgia’s 2022 national championship season, the Bulldogs survived a scare at Missouri that October and won a clunker at Kentucky a month later.
Just last season, Ohio State lost two games before hitting its stride in the playoff.
Overwhelming, wire-to-wire dominance is not required to winning national titles. Georgia isn’t the national championship frontrunner, but it’s on the shortlist of teams that could win it all.
Georgia’s Gunner Stockton leads the SEC in completion rate. Kirby Smart paired with a quarterback? Yeah, that’s a national championship contender.
Are the Power Four firings finished?
Waiting on you, Florida State.
Maryland joined Wisconsin as Big Ten schools to announce they’re going to kick the can down the road with embattled coaches. That clears up some hot seat drama, but Florida State’s gone silent on Mike Norvell since announcing it would decide his fate at the end of the season.
The Seminoles are 5-5, with games remaining against NC State and Florida. Also of note, Norvell’s buyout tops $58 million.
Elsewhere, the possibility of a how-can-he-survive-this 3-9 finish remains in play for Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith. He’s working for an athletic director and a president who did not hire him.
At Kentucky, Mark Stoops has rallied to 5-5, and freshman quarterback Cutter Boley is playing well. That, plus the start of basketball season and Stoops’ buyout topping $37 million, makes a case for retention. Mum’s the word from Kentucky, though, with games left against rivals Vanderbilt and Louisville.
Blake Toppmeyer is USA TODAY’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
