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I LOVE when coaches acknowledge the spread.
Because any form of gambling is considered taboo, it’s often avoided by politically correct coaches. I get that. It’s a slippery slope when a coach even hints that he knew about the spread during a game.
Enter Lane Kiffin, stage left.
The Florida Atlantic coach fired off this tweet after his team took an interesting safety to ensure that it wouldn’t cover the spread:
Didn't want to cover because of too much rat poison #keptuwatching #5-0 #cometothefau #playersgetweekendoff https://t.co/HCsRjZKh4E
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 4, 2017
Glorious.
So when Mark Dantonio was told that his team was a 16-point underdog for Saturday’s showdown against Ohio State, he provided the perfect reaction. He gave an “oh really?” look. As one would expect, he followed that by saying he “didn’t care” about the point spread. Right. You could practically see the chip forming on Dantonio’s shoulder as he smirked at the podium.
Why can’t we have more of this? Even if you don’t gamble — legally, of course — point spreads are fascinating. They say a lot about expectations, respect and all that good stuff.
Dantonio and others can pretend like they ignore point spreads, but in all likelihood, there are a lot more Kiffins in college football and really all sports. And quite frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that.
OK, mini rant over. Let’s give some B1G teams too much rat poison.
LAST WEEK
- Connor O’Gara: 5-2
- Dustin Schutte: 4-3
- Garrett Kroeger: 3-4
SEASON
- Schutte: 45-35-1
- O’Gara: 42-38-1
- Kroeger: 40-40-1
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.