Well hello there.
Welcome to the AJC’s freshly re-expanded “Sports Daily” newsletter — now with a new host (me) and a new time (11:30 a.m., or thereabouts, every weekday).
Give me a shout at tyler.estep@ajc.com if you ever have any questions, comments, suggestions or good jokes. Pass this email along to a friend or nine and tell ‘em to sign up, too.
But in the meantime? Let’s talk football.
Quick links: Challenges for Falcons’ new DC | Hawks lean into adversity | Tech women make history
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MIDWEST MELEE
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The College Football Playoff championship game has landed in our fair city. A city that, with apologies to the folks in Birmingham and our friends at Georgia Tech, remains the beating heart of SEC country.
Funny thing, though: it’s two Midwest powerhouses in town vying for the title.
And in a sport universally celebrated for its ability to accept nuance, that’s ample ammunition for some to declare SEC dominance dead.
And they may have a point! Well, to a point.
AJC/DawgNation reporter Connor Riley put it this way: “If only because that era of super teams — ‘19 LSU, ‘20 Alabama, ‘21 Georgia — in college football is over. I still think the SEC is the most talented conference in college football and will more often than not find a way into the championship game, but it won’t be the birthright it once seemed to be.”
Seems about right to me.
The SEC will be just fine, despite NIL and the transfer portal making it a whole lot harder to just stockpile (and keep) ridiculous quantities of top recruits.
🐝 How Georgia Tech gave Notre Dame a blueprint for success
💸 StubHub: CFP title tickets on track to break record
None of that’s exactly groundbreaking analysis — but it is an invitation to chill out a little bit.
Tonight’s game is football! Good football! Don’t be a hater just to be a hater.
“Instead,” my colleague Doug Roberson writes, “embrace the history of Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, with each team featuring several players from Georgia, if that helps increase interest. Or just appreciate that it’s a potential life-changing few hours for those involved.”
Not that we can’t have a little fun.
We can still make up stats and say Notre Dame has a slight edge over Ohio State in both AHF (Alumni Haughtiness Factor) and PCFARFYLP (Percentage of Casual Fans Also Rooting for the Yankees and Lakers, Probably).
We can totally suggest that Big Beard Dye funds the Buckeyes’ NIL program.
But you can also root for Irish head coach Marcus Freeman to make history (on MLK Day in Atlanta, no less). Or pull for any of these kids, who want to make their parents proud. Or, you know, just enjoy it and wait for the confetti.
Because after tonight, we’re looking at seven long months before another college football game.
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THE LOCAL ANGLE
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
All told, 11 players from Ohio State or Notre Dame suited up for Georgia high schools. The full list is below, but none of them are more notable than All-American Buckeye safety Caleb Downs — who starred at Gwinnett County’s Mill Creek, spent a year at Alabama and then headed north.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Downs told the AJC of the chance to win a title back home. “Just an honor knowing that everybody who put (their energy and belief) into me has seen it come to fruition.”
🍑 Notre Dame: WR Deion Colzie (Athens Academy); OL Anthonie Knapp (Roswell); DL Cole Mullins (Mill Creek); WR Jayden Thomas (Pace Academy)
🍑 Ohio State: WR Kojo Antwi (Lambert); TE Bennett Christian (Allatoona); CB Jordan Hancock (North Gwinnett); DE Eddrick Houston (Buford); DL Kayden McDonald (North Gwinnett); OL Seth McLaughlin (Buford, injured).
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NUMBER OF THE DAY: 5
That’s how many teams will have won a playoff game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after either the Irish or the Buckeyes join the club.
✅ Already on the list: Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Texas.
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WIDE LEFT
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Ohio State, of course, had a chance to beat UGA and claim an ATL playoff victory back on New Year’s Eve 2022. But the would-be winner from Buckeye kicker Noah Ruggles drifted juuust a bit outside. (RIP, Mr. Baseball.)
Senior defensive lineman Jack Sawyer called the loss “painful” but dubbed MBS an “awesome” venue: “We’re excited to get back in there and have a chance to redeem ourselves in that stadium.”
🤔 For what it’s worth: Current Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding is 11-for-15 on the year, with a long of 46 yards.
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MEANWHILE, IN FLOWERY BRANCH
The Falcons have never even played a postseason game at The House That Arthur And Our Tax Dollars Built.
A better defense might’ve landed them one last weekend, thus coordinator Jimmy Lake’s departure — and the team’s announcement over the weekend that Jeff Ulbrich will replace him.
You may remember that Ulbrich (recently of the New York Jets) spent time in Atlanta from 2015-2020, mostly as linebackers coach. And mostly with his hat on backward.
📊 Judging by the results of an extremely scientific poll on D. Orlando Ledbetter’s X account, y’all aren’t much impressed with the choice. And fan approval ain’t the only issue to tackle.
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MAN AT THE GARDEN
The Hawks play today — but not at home, as is their usual MLK Day habit. You can thank the CFP and the urge to avoid a downtown mega-crowd for that.
🎲 The upside: Trae Young gets another chance to play villain against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff’s at 3 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Southeast.
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ALSO INTERESTING
» Effort not among UGA basketball’s regrets in Auburn loss
» Boys basketball: LeBron’s son sinks Grayson
» Photos: Simone Biles attends UGA gymnastics home opener
» 3 takeaways from Braves’ latest international signing class
» Coco Gauff reaches Australian Open quarterfinals
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Derik Hamilton/AP
Credit: Derik Hamilton/AP
Former UGA linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. helps pick up former Bulldog quarterback Matthew Stafford during Philadelphia’s 28-22 playoff win over Los Angeles.
This weekend’s conference championship matchups: Bills at Chiefs, Commanders at Eagles.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I do not take for granted that I am a representation for many guys on this team that look like me.”
— Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, who could become the first Black coach to win a national title.
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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