This column is sponsored by Uptown Cheesesteak Company, located at 114 Broad Street in Kingsport, TN. Mention I-81 Sports when placing an order at Uptown and receive 10% off your bill.
I had a tough time identifying a single topic to write about this week. So, instead, I’m writing about all of them.
You’re welcome.
This piece is going to steer clear of Tennessee basketball and Rick Barnes. Our SEC Insider Chris Dortch has that territory well-covered, and you’ll read his thoughts on Tuesday. I will say, while it certainly is bitter to reach the Elite Eight and lose in three straight years, I hope Vol fans — a notoriously demanding lot — realize just how difficult it is to reach that stage three straight times. In fact, if my math is right, Tennessee is one of just 10 teams to reach the Elite Eight in three straight years since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
BRACKET CHALLENGE UPDATE
First, some business, as the I-81 Sports Bracket Challenge has entered the home stretch. Here’s the current leaderboard:
Oh man, if Scott Felts wins, he’ll never let me hear the end of it in the bi-weekly I-81 ports staff meetings. Scott needs Michigan to beat Arizona in the semifinals and, ideally, win the national championship to lock up his victory. Eric Howard is right on Scott’s heels, and picked Arizona to win it all, so the rooting interests for that semifinal game are clear. A reminder… first place in the contest gets two tickets to the Tennessee football season opener on Sept. 5 against Furman. Second place gets a gift card to out great sponsor, Uptown Cheesesteak Company. Third through fifth place get a handsome (or lovely) I-81 Sports T-shirt.
Good luck to all our Challenge participants!
STELLAR SEMIFINAL
It feels like Saturday’s national semifinal between Arizona and Michigan is going to be the de facto national title game. I felt like the Wildcats and Wolverines were the two best teams in the country over the course of the entire season. They just happen to find themselves on the same side of the bracket. The advanced metrics bear out that line of thought. Michigan and Arizona currently rank first and second in the Ken Pomeroy overall ratings. They’re also first and second in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings. This could be the game of the Tournament — an honor that I currently would bestow to the Texas-Purdue game in the Sweet 16.
MONEY TIME IN KNOXVILLE?
One of the best players in the Big Sky Conference, Montana guard Money Williams, announced on Monday that he was entering the transfer portal when it opens next month. This is pure speculation on my part, but I think Williams could be a good fit for the Vols. Williams is a score-first point guard who led the Big Sky in scoring this past season and set a Big Sky tournament record with 91 points across three games in the event. Williams also might have fond feelings for Vol Nation, after, in 2024, Tennessee fans contributed more than $50,000 in three days to the Gofundme for Williams’ family.
Also worth remembering: before he came to the Vols, Dalton Knecht played at Northern Colorado, also located … in the Big Sky.
No matter where he ends up, Williams is probably going to reap a significant NIL payday.
ROCKY START
After Tony Vitello became the first individual to make the transition directly from college head coach to MLB manager, there was widespread speculation on how Vitello would fare with the San Francisco Giants, given he never played or coached in professional baseball prior to signing on with San Francisco.
Initial returns have… not been good. San Francisco got off to an 0-3 start and scored just one run total in getting swept by the Yankees in the opening series of the season. Vitello also has attempted some of the motivational tactics he would have used at the college level. Results, again… not good! After posting back-to-back shutouts to begin the season, Vitello attributed the struggles potentially to a “fire and brimstone” speech he gave the team a few days prior. Vitello, who is 47 years old, also has waxed philosophic on having to change his approach now that he is in the big leagues, joking that he “can’t talk down to guys anymore.”
Look, there’s no doubt that Vitello knows baseball. But there’s a lot more to managing a professional team. and especially a big league team, than that. How is Vitello going to be able to handle all the parts of the job that have nothing to do with what occurs between the lines during the course of nine innings of baseball? The multiple daily requirements with the press … every single day … for six-plus months. Managing egos and personalities more than lineups and pitching rotations. It’s not easy. You could actually argue that new Nationals manager Drew Butera, who is 31 years old but spent eight years as a coach, manager, and player development in the Tampa Bay organization, is better equipped for the requirements of a big-league managerial job than Vitello.
The Giants shook up their lineup for Monday’s game at San Diego. and it resulted in a 3-2 win. San Francisco led 3-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, and the Padres got within one run after a two-out, two-run homer by Jackson Merrill. Vitello got a beer shower from the team to celebrate the win.
TIME LIMIT?
You might have missed this but on Sunday, the rubber game of a Big Ten softball series between Oregon and Northwestern ended in very curious fashion. The final record will show Oregon won Sunday’s contest by a 4-2 margin. However, that reflects the score through the first six innings, because the seventh inning was still going when the game reached the agreed-upon time limit.
Wait! It gets weirder. When the time limit was reached, Oregon led 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, but Northwestern had the bases loaded and the potential tying run batting.
Why the time limit in the first place? Oregon had a cross-country flight to catch.
Let’s acknowledge the geographical ridiculousness of Oregon and Northwestern (which is located in the Chicago area) being in the same league. This is proof positive of the collateral damage of these super conferences. Teams in the non-revenue sports have to navigate these complicated conference schedules and sagas of travel just to fill out their league docket.
Make no mistake, the money in college sports is out of control. But, why is the focus of the outrage usually placed on an athlete who might seek a raise in NIL compensation or go into the transfer portal? Or a coach who leaves for a bigger opportunity? But we don’t mention the conferences who have forsaken natural rivalries or geographical sanity for the mega-dollars of TV deals made available to super conferences for their media rights? What does more damage to the beloved, if antiquated, sanctity of college sports: Joe Linebacker wanting six figures to play for your school of choice? Or the volleyball team at your school of choice forced to endure a cross-country flight to play a single conference game?
I thought so.