* FSU dodged a bullet last Saturday when it hung on to win in Tallahassee although outplayed by Notre Dame. This is obviously not the same caliber team as last year’s national champions–and it’s especially evident on defense.
Look for FSU’s 23-game winning streak–and national championship-repeat hopes to end next Thursday at Louisville. The Cardinals have a good enough team, especially on defense, the game is nationally televised by ESPN, it’s mischief night, and the crowd will be loud and possibly not sober.
By the way, the last time FSU visited Louisville the Seminoles lost in overtime, 26-20, in 2002.
* Speaking of FSU, head coach Jimbo Fisher has a lot on the (bottom) line every time the Seminoles line up to defend the nation’s longest winning streak. His contract is loaded with bonuses, including $200,000 for an undefeated season, $200,000 for finishing with a top-five national ranking, $400,000 for winning the national championship and $125,000 for coach-of-the-year awards.
* University of Florida AD Jeremy Foley still says he won’t make a decision on head coach Will Muschamp until the end of the season. Increasingly, that’s looking like a moot point. This is reminiscent of Skip Holtz’s last two years at USF. Holtz was fired and the remaining years on his contract were bought out.
In Muschamp’s case, that would be a three-year buyout at $2 million per. Like Holtz, he will wind up being obscenely overpaid. But unlike Holtz, Muschamp, the master of the dismissive interview, doesn’t even come across as a nice guy.
* As the Kansas City Royals battle the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, local attention is understandably focused on the upstart Royals, who depend heavily on the pitching of James Shields and Wade Davis, who were traded from the Rays two years ago. Without them, the Royals would be waiting yet another year since their last WS appearance in 1985.
But largely overlooked is Brian Sabean. The Giants’ general manager played at Eckerd College and coached the University of Tampa from 1980-84, the last two as head coach. Sabean, 58, has been with SF since 1996–and the Giants are now in their third World Series in five years. They won it in both 2010 and 2012.
*Seminole golfer Brittany Lincicome, one of the nicest sports ambassadors we’ve ever had around here, came ever so close to winning the recent KEB-HanaBank Championship in Incheon, South Korea. She lost in a playoff, but came away with a sizable consolation prize: a check for $157,838.