Let’s see what’s on the minds of some Dawgs fans as we dip into recent Junkyard Mail.

The letters from readers below have been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Bill, I expect you saw the stories this week about the SEC and Big 10′s efforts to insure they get four teams each in the College Football Playoff in the future, even if that means expanding it yet again. I’m of two minds there. I admit that those two conferences are the best in college football, but I’m not sure I like so many CFP spots being guaranteed to a conference, whether it has four playoff-worthy teams or not. What’s your take?

— Harry Burr

I have a similar reaction to yours, Harry. I agree the SEC and Big 10 play the best football, but aside from the four power conference champs and the Group of 5 champion ranked highest by the committee, I’m not sure there should be any other guaranteed playoff spots. Besides I don’t think the SEC and Big 10 need to stack the deck with four guaranteed spots each, as they’re considering proposing when the playoff is rejiggered after the coming season. Based on the performance of both conferences’ members in most years, they’ll generally get about that many playoff spots anyway the hard but fair way — with teams earning them on the field during the regular season. As Stewart Mandel of The Athletic put it recently: “They produce more CFP-caliber teams than the other leagues, which is exactly why they don’t need automatic berths.” Besides, guaranteed spots might mean a team with four losses making it in some years, and that’s not what the playoff needs.

However, my main concern about the playoff is the “seeding” this past season that gave the SEC and Big 10 champs a harder path forward than those conferences’ runners-up. I think seeding should be completely separate from those guaranteed spots for conference champs. The seeding should be based on the final CFP ranking of the regular season, with the No. 1 team getting the No. 1 seed and so forth.

And that brings me to another problem I have with this past season’s CFP rankings: They generally did not take into account strength of schedule and instead put greater emphasis on win totals, which can be deceiving. That’s how the playoff ended up with a lightly regarded interloper such as Indiana making the field, despite its wins being largely against weaker opponents.

Hey Bill, unlike a lot of old-school Dawgs fans, I don’t have a problem with players getting NIL money or the revenue sharing plan that appears to be in the works. But this business of players having unlimited transfers, which means coaches (and fans) don’t know who’ll be on next year’s team, is really impacting my enjoyment of a game I’ve loved since I was a boy. What do you think can be done about that?

— Randy Wallace

As I wrote in my recent Blawg about why we still watch college football despite all the changes to the game, I’m glad that players now can profit off their name, image and likeness, as the universities had been doing for years, but, like you, I do have a problem with the wide-open portal, which makes it much more difficult for coaches like Kirby Smart to build a roster with the sort of depth that allows you to compete at an elite level. As my brother Tim put it: “There needs to be some way to regulate them better. It’s crazy that there are players playing on their fifth team next year.”

I think the latest change coming, as part of the settlement of the House lawsuit against the NCAA — which could be approved in April and would allow schools to pay players directly (without them being considered employees of the school) — provides the tool to tame this Wild West scenario. As I said in that earlier Blawg, I think athletic programs ought to be able to require those players receiving payments or revenue sharing from the school to sign contracts. It’s contracts that keep NFL teams from having constant personnel departures; players serve out their contract and only then become free agents. In college football right now, every player is a free agent all the time, and that’ s just not workable.

Damon Wilson was expected to compete to be Georgia’s starting edge linebacker but entered the transfer portal instead. (Jason Getz/AJC) (Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com/Dawgnation)

As for the NIL money, I think the collectives that pay it should start putting some sort of stipulations on it. As in: We’ll pay you this amount, but you must stay at the school for a certain period in order to get all of the money. There also has been a somewhat more controversial idea put forth: “claw-back” clauses in NIL deals that require players to pay back the money they’ve received if they leave the school. I’m not sure that plan would hold up in the courts, unless they were prepaid and then left before actually playing. But something along those lines might provide a means to end this constant churn of players from one program to another.

Other observers think the only way college football ever will be able to get all of this under control is via collective bargaining and declaring student athletes to be employees. That might happen one day, but I don’t think we’re there yet.

Hi Bill. With most of the tougher games at home, and a revamped and hopefully more cohesive offensive line, I am optimistic the Dawgs can go 11-1 in the regular season and make another SEC Championship Game appearance. On offense, Gunner Stockton will keep defenses honest with his ability to run — more like Stetson Bennett and less like his immediate predecessor. Nate Frazier provides a solid base to build a running game around. I know we lose a lot of playmakers on defense, but through continued solid recruiting and key portal additions we should be fast and a still a force on that side of the ball. I hate to admit it, but the sneaky game that scares me is Georgia Tech. The game is the week before the SEC Championship game, so not a great spot on the schedule. Haynes King is a warrior, and we had no answer for him last year. Plus, Tech knows they can go toe-to-toe with us. Beating them eight in a row would tie the mark The Enemy set against us in the 1950s, and we will have to survive another war to pull it off.

— Don White

Good points, Don, especially about the Tech game, which this year will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, rather than Grant Field. That rivalry is showing signs of coming back to life, if this past season’s eight-overtime affair is anything to go by.

The 2025 football game between UGA and Georgia Tech will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (University of Georgia) (University of Georgia/Dawgnation)

With the obsession with being #1 and winning the National Championship, a loss becomes the worst thing in the history of the world. Hey, I would love for the Dawgs to win every game and win another National Championship. But it’s only a game. … Having vented (thank you very much), I think we’re going to have a great season. And a fun one. Why? Chalk it up to Gunner Stockton. He’s my kind of quarterback. He understands that making first downs is the key to a great offense. Plus, he is an extremely accurate passer. Double plus, he’s a likable cuss, who knows how to motivate and inspire his teammates. And I think his teammates will help to inspire him.

— Billy Chism

Yeah, that’s one of the downsides of winning a couple of natties close together. Fans start to expect it. It sort of resets their minimum expectations and their definition of what constitutes a “successful” season.

Next up, a couple of Blawg readers have zeroed in problems they hope are addressed before the coming season. …

Bill, one of the biggest weaknesses of the 2024 Dawgs was the OL. I worry that we have no new plan for improvement in 2025. Secondly, will the defense be dominant again? Will there be a new OC? We need coaches who are not Friends of Kirby.

— Karl Chiang, MD

What’s the story with our offensive line? I never thought I’d see the day that a team was more physical than us, as with Notre Dame. But we really couldn’t run against anyone consistently.

— Stephen Segrest

Karl and Stephen, I’d go so far as to say that the offensive line was the biggest weakness of this past season’s team. (See more on that in my next answer below.) As for Bobo, as I’ve said before, I’m not convinced he is the problem — there have been some games that he called brilliantly — but I’ve seen several college football columnists opine that the coming season is a make-or-break one for him at Georgia, and I wouldn’t argue with that. As for the defense, it was a big (and seemingly inexplicable) loss losing probable starting edge linebacker Damon Wilson to the portal (where he wound up at Missouri!) but I’m hopeful that all that young talent Smart has recruited will step up. Still, a lack of experience could be an overall problem for the team, which will be young just about everywhere.

A letter writer is extremely optimistic about Gunner Stockton as Georgia’s starting quarterback. (Jason Getz/AJC) (Jason Getz/Dawgnation)

As goes the “eliteness” of both lines, so goes the distance UGA travels.

— Stu McGarity

Thanks, Stu, that’s a football truism that’s actually true. Most games still are won or lost in the trenches. As I indicated to Karl, I’m hopeful about the Dawgs’ defensive prospects. But when it comes to the offensive line, I am apprehensive. As I said a while back, I’m not privy to what goes on in terms of game prep, and I don’t like to advocate anyone losing their job, but offensive line coach Stacy Searels’ unit has underperformed the past two years. In the playoff game where Georgia was ousted by Notre Dame, part of the problem for the Dawgs was that the OL wasn’t doing a good job of either run-blocking or pass protecting. So, when you talk about the coming season being make-or-break for Bobo, I’d say the more crucial question is whether UGA’s offensive line staff needs a shakeup.

A couple of readers followed up on my recent discussion here of whether fan noise at Sanford Stadium has become more intense since Kirby Smart came to town. …

I believe it’s gotten louder, for sure. I think we should know the most false start penalties we have caused and try to beat it every game. That would be a goal every game — we could put it on T-shirts and give them out at the following game: I was at the game the fans caused the record for penalties.

— Kevin Tootle

The official stats sent out after a game note the number penalties and the yardage, but they aren’t broken down into what caused the penalty, so they don’t announce the number of false starts. Sounds like keeping track of those plays is something an enterprising fan might want to take on!

Mike Bobo, seen here with defensive back Dan Jackson after the 2024 win over Tennessee, faces a crucial season as Georgia’s offensive coordinator. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

I agree Sanford stadium is louder … since Kirby was hired. The night games are the best, so we can enjoy the “light show.” But even day games against huge opponents have been epic. I look forward to the 2025 season as Kirby “reloads.” I do agree with your wife about some of the gimmicks used during the game. And I do wish they had some railings at the entrance to the seats to help us “old folks” get to our seats!

— Malinda Teasley Erwin

Yes, all those fan shots on the big screen that my wife Leslie complained about in my previous Blawg do get repetitive and, as I said then, many of us would prefer more replays. As for railings, I’m afraid the old aisles in the stadium are so narrow that the fire marshal probably wouldn’t allow them to be added, no matter how helpful they might be, because they might slow down any needed evacuation.

Of course, there are a lot of other problems that tend to make game days at Sanford less than fan-friendly, from the nonsensical closing of the bridge before games to the less than enticing concessions. But the No. 1 complaint I’ve heard from fans over the past couple of seasons — and that’s fans of all ages, not just old fogies — is the painfully loud volume of the music played over the stadium’s PA system. As quite a few fans have noted, it’s so loud that it makes it almost impossible to conduct a conversation with the person sitting next to you. And of all the things that they need to fix, that seems like the easiest. Just turn it down!

Georgia fans enjoy the light show during night games at Sanford Stadium. (Jason Getz/AJC) (Jason Getz/Dawgnation)

My Dad was at the Georgia/Yale Sanford Stadium dedication game in 1929 as a freshman at UGA. I hope to be there in 2029, and I hope they make a big deal out of it. Might be worthy of a mention in one of your articles.

— Joe Strickland

Yes, I hope they make a big deal of the stadium’s centennial, too. And I actually discussed that in the Blawg back in 2019. As I reported then, a Connecticut Public Television documentary, “Bulldog vs. Bulldog,” had suggested a rematch between UGA and Yale for the 100th birthday, similar to Yale scheduling Army in 2014 for the 100th birthday celebration of the Yale Bowl. And I advocated having Yale as a nonconference opponent in 2029. But Claude Felton, then the senior associate athletic director, told me that Georgia had tried to lure the other Bulldogs back but was unsuccessful. “We did have extensive discussions with Yale about the possibility of a game in 2029,” he said, “however, they were unable to schedule a game in Athens.”

Too bad. I think it would have been great fun.

Bill King and friend Dave Hinchberger will talk about Southern music at the Athens-Clarke County Library on March 23. (The Goody Press) (The Goody Press/Dawgnation)

JOIN ME AT MY ATHENS BOOK EVENT!

Please join me and my buddy Dave Hinchberger at 3 p.m. March 23 at the Athens-Clarke County Library in Athens for a discussion of my book “LARGE TIME: On the Southern Music Beat, 1976-1986,” for which Dave wrote the Prologue.

The book covers Southern music acts, ranging from the Allman Brothers to James Brown to Dolly Parton to R.E.M. Dave and I will chat about some of the performers I covered, including Athens’ own B-52′s, R.E.M. and Randall Bramblett. I’ll also take questions from the audience.