Orangeyes Daily Articles for Thursday for Football

[sutomcat]

Beware The Ides of March!

The Roman calendar, which dates back to 753 BCE, had three fixed points throughout the month: Nones, Ides, and Kalends. Ides took place around the midpoint of each month, occurring on the 13th or 15th. In March it took place on the 15th.

The Ides of March is most remembered as being the anniversary of the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated, in 44 BCE. The day did, however, have some significance before this infamous event. It had long been a day of religious observances. The Ides of each month was sacred to Jupiter, Rome's supreme deity.

SU News

Healthier Tar Heels get a fresh start this spring (espn; Hale)

Over the next few weeks, we'll be chatting with each ACC coach to go over the highs and lows of 2017 and take a look at what's in store for spring practice and the season ahead.

Next up, North Carolina's Larry Fedora, whose Tar Heels endured nearly two dozen season-ending injuries and now look to find a fresh start with more healthy bodies in 2018.

You've coached for a while. Ever been through anything like last year, with all the injuries?

Fedora: I've never been involved with anything like it. In 31, 32 years of coaching football, I've never been involved in something like that.

It's hard to grade last year's performance given how many guys were out, but looking back, it speaks highly of the character of the team that, by year's end, you were still competitive in a lot of games.

Fedora: I think in times like that, any time you have adversity, you find out a lot about who you are, who your staff is, the make-up of your team and I think we'll all be better coaches, better men, better players because of it. You learn from each lesson, and you make the best of that and then you move on. I was proud that those guys were fighting all the way to the end. They showed a lot of grit, and I think that will help us going forward in the future.
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ACC Football Rx: Links, news and rumors - 3/15/18 (accfootballrx.com; Hokie Mark)

Only a handful of P5 teams won't be playing at least one P5 non-conference game this Fall. The worst offender is Arkansas. Here's the Razorback's non-conference schedule: Eastern Illinois (Sept. 1), at Colorado State (Sept. 8), North Texas (Sept. 15), and Tulsa (Oct. 20). This is the first year Arkansas hasn’t played a Power conference member in non-SEC play since 2007.

Given the SEC and ACC’s eight-league game format (and the fact that no ACC team made the list), Arkansas’ lack of a quality non-conference foe makes it the only Power program to play just eight Power opponents in 2018.

Note: Arkansas did have a home-and-home series with Michigan scheduled for 2018 and 2019, but UM backed out of the contract to renew their series with Notre Dame. Arkansas then received an exemption from the SEC to add a road game at Colorado State and count it as their Power non-conference game.
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Two of the G5 conferences have new TV contracts - the SBC and C-USA. Here are some of the TV related details (money is rumored to be increased, but the exact amount has not been released):
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https://collegefootball.ap.org/article/conference-usa-reaches-new-multiyear-deal-cbs-sports

Having your games on CBSSN, Stadium and especially Facebook is not ideal, and Reddit was quick with the wisecracks... but the jokes are NOT on them!
Of course, the Facebook Channel will be much easier to find than the alleged Pac-12 Network..
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FSU Football among few playing multiple Power Five non conference foes (chopchat.com; Parker)

FSU football will face not just an eight game slate of Power Five teams from the ACC, but also face two power teams in the non-conference slate yet again.

Anyone who has been following FSU football over the years knows that the Seminoles have no problem playing anyone, anywhere at any time. As it turns out, the Noles are one of the few teams that still believe in doing that who are among the teams that are considered a Power Five program in the FBS.

In 2018, the Seminoles will face their normal eight game slate of conference games from the ACC – a slate that includes Clemson, Virginia Tech and Miami – while also playing two more in their annual finale with Florida and a November 10th contest at Notre Dame, who despite being an independent team gets classified as a power program for opponents along with fellow indy BYU.

It will be the fourth time in the last five seasons that FSU football is doing such a thing, and the Seminoles seem to be in the minority. Among the 64 power teams in the five major conferences, just 13 of them will be playing multiple Power Five out of conference games this season (h/t FBSchedules.com)
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FSU Football: Willie Taggart says only Power Five teams will play for title (chopchat.com; Parker)

FSU football and other Power Five teams will always have a chance to play for a national title – while other conferences never will, says their coach.

For those who have been living under a rock for the last few months, the folks down at the University of Central Florida are still claiming that they are the college football national champions for this season because they went 13-0 in a weaker conference and upset Auburn in the Peach Bowl – a publicity stunt that makes fans of FSU football and others laugh.

In reality, the Knights are just the latest mid-major team in the FBS that whines and complains about how they don’t get the proper respect – when in reality, they are not playing the same level of football week in and week out as teams from a Power Five conference (and having almost a month to prepare would make any team look good against the SEC West champs).
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Other

Record water releases: Lake Ontario level nearly as high now as last year (PS; Figuera)

Lake Ontario’s water level this winter has been high – close to what it was last winter. As a result, water releases at the Moses-Saunders Dam in Massena on the St. Lawrence River, which affect the lake’s level, are proceeding at a record pace.

At this point “while impossible to predict, the probability of a repeat of last spring’s exceptional rains and subsequent high water levels (on the lake for the rest of the year) is low,” according to a press release from the International Joint Commission.

“Nonetheless, extreme conditions may occur in any given year, so shoreline property and business owners and local government officials should always be prepared for a full range of water levels on Lake Ontario at any given time in the future,” the IJC added.

The current lake level is 74. 96 meters (245.93 feet), which is 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) above the average and 3 cm (1.2 inches) below last year.
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