I personally am sorry for having to write this, but it seems once again that the legal system has affected the sport we love so much

A Dallas judge signed an order Thursday that prohibits the NCAA, the SEC and its commissioner Greg Sankey from stopping a group of athletes — three of whom are currently listed on NFL rosters — from returning to college sports for one more season of play.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jordan Hudson, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and Chiefs wide receiver Omari Evans are among the 41 players listed as plaintiffs on the restraining order. Christeen Iwuala and Bailey Maupin, who both signed contracts with WNBA teams earlier this summer, are also named on the order.

Their case is the latest in a growing number of legal challenges to the NCAA’s eligibility rules. The judge’s order in the Dallas case is the first case to specifically block a conference from creating rules that could punish schools in their league for signing any of the plaintiffs. The order specifically says that the NCAA, SEC and Sankey cannot block the players’ return based on transfer portal rules or their time on a pro roster. It also states that if any of those groups want to prohibit any of the plaintiffs for a different reason, they would need to come to court and argue their case in front of the judge.

In this day and age, a judge is not exactly the best purveyor of truth, especially when it comes to the NCAA. I hesitate to think this is gonna come out in a positive way.

“As long as they would have been eligible to continue playing college sports in the following semester if they had a fifth year of eligibility, they are eligible today,” Judge Martin Hoffman wrote in the order.

All four power conferences voted this week to adopt similar new rules that prohibit teams from playing athletes who have previously signed contracts for a professional sports team. The rules were a direct response to other ongoing legal battles about who is eligible to play college sports.

“The [leagues] can’t come out and create a rule with immediate effect that has such draconian effect punishment that no school will take any of these players,” said attorney Ryan Downton, who represents athletes in the Dallas lawsuit along with cases filed in several other states.

Draconian? That means cruel and unusual by the legal terms, what is cruel and unusual by giving a person a chance to play for four years at a NCAA football program and try to apply for the NFL draft?

If abuse is the defense, then the offense is being paid to play more at the college level than at the pro level?

cry me a river.

Take the money and run. As long as you have free legal in your corner, why not?

It’s been too long of an offseason and only a little over a week remains until the Dawgs tee it up to start the season. Plenty of content out there about our 2026 team, how we stack up against college football’s elite, projected win/loss record, how Lane Kiffin impossibly became even more dislikable over the offseason, etc. I don’t have anything unique to add in those arenas. But, I do have some thoughts on what I’d like to see, maybe some things I’d rather not see, and a warm/hot take or two for Georgia’s 2026 season. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.

1. More Dwight Phillips. He’s the fastest guy on the team and has shown some big play promise. I get it, he’s not a huge guy and isn’t going to remind anyone of Earl Campbell. I’m not asking for him to play the Josh McCray role from last season and I’m not asking for 15+ touches a game. I just want us to scheme some ways to get him the ball with a little space to work with. Maybe 4-5 touches a game in non-garbage time moments?

2. Could we ease up on the 3^rd and long WR screens a little bit? I know, I know…Branch was a unique talent and he averaged over 7 yards per reception on WR screens last year. He even broke a couple for really big gains and/or touchdowns. But, we also killed more than a couple drives when we telegraphed WR screens and/or got holding penalties on the outside. If we’re using the WR screen on early downs and getting 7+ yards to get us in favorable down and distance, you won’t hear a complaint out of me. But, running an essentially announced WR screen on 3^rd and 12…not a fan.

3. Wouldn’t it be cool to see our TE’s catch more passes? Todd Hartley has put together the deepest TE room in the history of college football (hyperbole?) with a blend of size, speed and skills. It would seem criminal to finish any game where the TE group has 2-3 receptions for 20 yards. Surely we can create some mismatches with this group and take advantage of this crazy deep situation.

4. Can we do something about the slow starts on defense? It definitely got better towards the end of the year, but DAMN…those games against Tennessee, Bama and Ole Miss gave me some stomach ulcers. We’ve got some great defensive personnel, playing experience and coaching stability…surely this won’t happen again, right?

5. Get to the quarterback. I’m not talking about just sacks (although more would be nice). If we can at least get consistent pressure (especially on obvious passing downs), mess up the timing of plays, force incompletions and get off the field on third down, that’s good enough for me. I don’t want to have any more sleepless nights thinking of Trinidad Chambliss playing sandlot football in the Sugar Bowl. Maybe Chris Cole turns into Jalon Walker? Loved what I saw out of Zayden Walker to close the season, is he one of the answers? Will Elijah Griffin be the catalyst to get more pressure? Harris and Johnson should only be better. We’ve got some guys like Linton, Ikinnagbon and Gibson entering their second year…at least one of them can help the cause, right? My point being…we don’t lack talent to get this done. It needs to happen.

6. Use the whole field on offense. We have a quarterback entering his 5^th year in the program. We almost certainly have the best TE room in the country (see #3). Humphreys has shown his receiving versatility, we went to the portal and landed a proven commodity in Canion, Sacovie is in his 3^rd year, Talyn Taylor was a borderline 5-star talent, CJ Wiley and Craig Dandridge were both top 20 WR recruits. I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t be able to competently throw and complete passes somewhere other than the sidelines. Last I checked, a football field is 53.3 yards wide, but we tend to focus on that space 10 yards inside of each sideline. Hell, I’d be thrilled to see us target receivers running more than 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. If we get a nasty case of the “dropsies” or our receivers prove they can’t get separation, I’ll (un)happily admit I’m wrong.

7. Who is going to be the player that has “been killing it in the offseason” that will not meet impossibly high expectations. This could be called the Carlton Thomas award. Note: This does not mean I think someone is a bad player. I’m going with Talyn Taylor on offense. It’s not because Taylor isn’t a supremely talented dude, or I have a low opinion of him. I think he is likely the best wide receiver on the team. I just don’t think he’ll get the targets for one reason or another. On defense…I’ll go with Elijah Griffin. He’s a total dude and I think he’s going to be great…but I think a lot of people are expecting a Jalen Carter level of play and that’s unicorn stuff. I’ve been wrong many times before. I definitely don’t want to be right on either of these takes.

8. Who will be the player who produces more than expected? Maybe this could be called the Donald Glover award. Can’t say Zykie Helton because he’s already appeared to crack the OL starting lineup. I’ll take a guess with Craig Dandridge. I know he’s made some noise in the offseason and had a lot of targets at G-Day, but I think he still qualifies. It’s tough for freshmen WR’s to get a lot of opportunities, but I think Dandridge will earn some snaps and make some meaningful plays…also biased because Dandridge attended Cambridge High School, where both of my boys go currently. On defense, I’ll go with Tyriq Green. He’s a total Kirby “football player” guy…played for a great HS program, played at a high level on offense, defense, special teams…think he’s got an opportunity to make an impact.

9. When the throat is exposed, step on it. I can’t say this was a recurring theme last year because we played in a LOT of tight games. But, flashbacks to the Tennessee game continue to haunt me. We had two very good opportunities in the second half to extend a lead, kill their spirit and we did very little with either of them. I love a good run heavy, soul crushing drive as much as the next guy…but I’ll take points however we can get them when those opportunities arise. Instead, we got all of 3 points on those 2 drives (if memory serves me correct), Tennessee hits on a deep touchdown pass on their next drive, we’re back in a dogfight, and needed a huge play combined with a small miracle to get the win.

10. Keep Gunner healthy. I’m on record as saying Gunner is the toughest QB in the nation…that’s CFB and the NFL. Some of the hits that guy took last year and was able to still get up, play the next down and lead the team was otherworldly. I don’t want to take his legs out of the game because he’s great on keepers and can move the chains on broken plays. That’s a big part of his differentiation and value. I just want to keep the guy in one piece for the entire season because it sounds like the backup QB situation is…unsettled? I don’t know how any of this looks in a game situation, but I trust coaches will make sure Gunner is keenly aware of the risk/reward scenario when it comes to potentially big hits.

11. Bonus Take – Ellis Robinson wins the Thorpe award. Towards the end of the year, he began to turn into the lockdown CB many of us envisioned. Think he’ll take home some hardware at the end of the year and be a first rounder.

Would love to hear what all of you would like to see (or not see) this season and some of your warm/hot takes for this 2026 team. Looking forward to Week 1 and being back in touch with the GTP Refugee community.

Do you have a white Georgia shirt or polo? I know I don’t.

So I guess it’ll be a white out. Good thing is, it might be appropriate given the heat nowadays.

The tshirt is just $45.

Lord.

Was editing a post and hit Publish instead of Save. If you came here for a post that recently got emailed out, sorry about that, I’m incompetent.

Go Dawgs!

In what I hope will be the final reference to soccer on this blog for a while after a way too slow summer for Georgia football (which is also good with fewer players in trouble!), allow me to show you this soccer jersey from one of the most well known clubs in South America. From The Athletic ($$):

Based in Lima, the nation’s capital, Deportivo Municipal are one of the nation’s most historic clubs and four-time national champions but currently play in the nation’s third division and have encountered financial problems.

After losing its main kit sponsorship, the club decided to launch a new campaign which would redesign its jersey with a pixelated grid made up of a thousand small black-and-white squares, each of which had room to showcase an individual sponsor.

Each square, available for a price of $60 (£44), represents an advertising spot for a small business located around Lima, and the club’s campaign turned its shirt into a crowdfunding platform.

If financially strapped ACC or Big 12 schools get desperate, they could always go in this direction.

Your move, IPTAY.

As a reminder, I’ll need to install the first 2026 Mumme Poll for tomorrow…so stay tuned.

So we’re playing two top 10 teams and three in the initial Top 25.

Now insert my yearly mystery into why Mizzou gets so much credibility each year.

Discuss.

Folks, it’s right around the corner.

I mean, he does have another year of eligibility now…

Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado has granted a class-wide preliminary injunction that requires the NCAA to declare eligible all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted four seasons of eligibility this spring, according to documents obtained by On3’s Pete Nakos. Boise State associate professor Sam Ehrlich first reportedthe news.

Plaintiffs in the suit requested that transfer rules, the NCAA’s rule of restitution and roster limits be suspended. It is currently unclear what Sweeney specifically granted or did not.

“All persons in the United States who began to play in collegiate sports in the 2022-2023 season, competed in NCAA Division I sports, and completed four years of eligibility as defined by the NCAA’s prior rules by the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season, and are therefore barred from playing a fifth season due to the NCAA’s adoption and immediate implementation of the Five-Year Eligibility Rule,” the class certification reads.

Everybody gets another year of eligibility…feels like Oprah handing out cars.

Kirby Smart laughs at this pregame material.

She’s cute and all, but she’s not of much use in the SEC.

Get the remover ready, but nothings making this go away. I think I would’ve told the interviewer that he enjoys shooting heavy artillery or something, but not pedicures. He enjoys beating the walls with a tack hammer. Anything but this

Enjoy your jorts…at least your toes will look good.

Shot:

Chaser:

Don’t fall for the lack of hype…Oklahoma at Georgia is going to be a heavyweight match of the season.

How Oklahoma can have that much talent and be ranked below LSU and Alabama is beyond explanation.