sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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International Polar Bear Day, a day organized by Polar Bears International, draws attention to the threats that polar bears face in the warming Arctic, as a result of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The day is dedicated to reflecting on what can be done to help polar bears, and how carbon emissions can be reduced. Arctic warming has already had an effect. For example, in Western Hudson Bay there were about 1,200 polar bears in 1987, but by 2012 there were only 900. Climate change has lead to lower body weights in polar bears; lower body weight in females has affected their offspring, yielding smaller litters and causing fewer cubs to survive.
Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are detrimental to polar bears because they cause the loss of sea ice. Polar bears need sea ice to catch most of their prey—because that is where their prey resides. The number one food for polar bears is the ringed seal. It is high in fat—including beneficial omega-3 fatty acids—and calories, enough to keep polar bears healthy. Although ringed seals are the most prevalent, polar bears also eat bearded seals and other prey if it's available. In the summer, polar bears follow retreating ice, following their food source.
SU News
Syracuse Football NFL Combine Preview: EDGE Kendall Coleman (itlh; Esden Jr)
Syracuse football pass rusher Kendall Coleman is joining 3 of his old teammates at the NFL Combine. Here’s a full preview with everything you need to know.
Here is our final NFL Combine preview for the four Syracuse football players in Indy. Kendall Coleman is one of the most underrated college football players in this process.
Coleman received an invite to the annual East-West Shrine Bowl and earned defensive MVP honors during practice week for his consistent play. In addition, he had a very nice performance during the game and created some nice buzz for himself ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Collegiate production:
Kendall Coleman played four years on the hill securing 15.5 career sacks, 26.5 tackles for loss, and 137 total tackles.
Although one of the most impressive feats of his career is earning playing time as a freshman beating out older more experienced players for a starting gig. Coleman played in 44 career games and as a senior led all DL with 48 tackles as a senior which helped him earn the team MVP award at Syracuse.
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Who Has Offered the Most/Fewest 2020 Recruits? (RX; HM)
Who Has Offered the Most/Fewest 2020 Recruits?
College football programs are only allowed to give out a maximum of 25 scholarships per year - and then only as long as the total number of players on scholarship doesn't exceed 85. Those are the NCAA rules in a nutshell.
What may surprise you is that virtually every school in the FBS offers far more than 25 high school seniors football scholarships every year - then they chooses the best 25 from the kids whoever says they want to accept those offers. That means sometimes telling a player "Sorry - I know we offered you a scholarship, but we don't have one for you anymore." While that sounds unethical - like lying, to call it what it is - it's not against the rules.
True, some schools pride themselves on their relative restraint - like Clemson, who "only" offered scholarships to 106 kids in order to get 23 "commits". Out of 130 FBS schools, 122 of them made more offers than the CU Tigers.
On the other end of the ACC spectrum is Louisville, which made 446 offers - knowing they only had 25 slots available. That was 3rd most in the country, and tops in the ACC.
Here's the table of all ACC football teams (plus Notre Dame), showing their national rank, number of offers, and number of commits; for the rest of the FBS, click the link below:
| Rank | Team | Offers | Commits |
| 3 | Louisville | 446 | 25 |
| 10 | Syracuse | 382 | 22 |
| 18 | Boston College | 351 | 15 |
| 32 | Virginia | 290 | 16 |
| 34 | Pittsburgh | 289 | 18 |
| 40 | Florida State | 274 | 25 |
| 41 | Virginia Tech | 272 | 15 |
| 42 | Georgia Tech | 269 | 24 |
| 52 | Miami (FL) | 253 | 22 |
| 71 | Duke | 206 | 17 |
Links, news and rumors - 2/27/20 (RX; HM)
Links, news and rumors - 2/27/20
Teams that Must/Will Turn it Around in 2020
From 247Sports:
College football coaches facing pivotal seasons in 2020
These are the coaches who will soon begin feeling some heat if they don't win big in 2020...
* Scott Frost, Nebraska
* Tom Herman, Texas
* Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
* Half of the Pac-12 South: Clay Helton, USC | Chip Kelly, UCLA | Kevin Sumlin, Arizona
* Will Muschamp, South Carolina
* Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Fuente did an excellent job at Memphis. And it was almost universally agreed upon that he was a good hire for the Hokies. But the program has been hampered by transfers and roster turnover, and in-state rival Virginia won the ACC Coastal in 2019. Recruiting has not gone well, either.
But 2020 has the chance to be a bounceback year. The Hokies are sixth nationally in Bill Connelly’s returning production metric. They have a friendly ACC schedule which dodges Clemson and has Miami come to town in mid-November when it should be cold. This almost has to be the year for Fuente to prove he is the man for the job, or not.
* Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
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From CollegeFootballNews:
20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 19: Teams That Will Rebound Big
Here are their 5 teams they think WILL turn things around in 2020...
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers
4. Stanford Cardinal
3. Syracuse Orange
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ACC Football: 10 Most Intriguing Non-Conference Games of 2020 (athlonsports.com; Kinne)
Clemson at Notre Dame will be one of the most anticipated games of the 2020 season
The ACC has faced plenty of criticism in regard to scheduling over the past couple of seasons. With the league coming off a lackluster 2019 season, coupled with being one of the two Power 5 leagues playing an eight-game conference slate, ACC teams need to make hay in their 2020 non-conference matchups.
Fortunately, there are plenty of statement opportunities outside of league play. Not only do ACC schools play teams from the SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten, there are also showdowns with some of the elite Group of 5 programs. Plus, Notre Dame will have six ACC games this coming fall.
Of the ACC non-conference tilts, here are the 10 most interesting.
10. Temple at Miami, Sept. 5
The Owls are coming off an 8-5 season that ended with a loss to North Carolina in the Military Bowl. They'll open the season by going to Miami to face Manny Diaz, who was the Temple coach for 18 days before taking the Hurricanes job in December 2018.
9. Georgia Tech at Georgia, Nov. 28
The Bulldogs have wiped out the Jackets three years in a row, and the boys from Athens will be loaded once again. But Geoff Collins' team made improvements as the 2019 season went along, and the 2020 team should be much different by the end of November.
8. Louisville at Notre Dame, Nov. 21
It was evident in their 2019 season opener against the Irish that the Cardinals were considerably better than the 2018 version. Like Geoff Collins' Jackets, Louisville should take another step forward this fall in year two of Scott Satterfield, and the November game in South Bend will provide a big stage
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Miami Football has ACC Coastal best roster, top 20 nationally (caneswarning.com; Rubenstein)
Based on the talent on the roster, the Miami football program should play in Charlotte in December. The Hurricanes roster was ranked the best in the ACC Coastal, third in the conference overall and 17th nationally according to Athlon Sports.
Steve Lassan, the College Football Editor for Athlon Sports ranked the last five recruiting classes for each of the Power Five teams plus Notre Dame and BYU earlier this month. The Miami football program is ranked 17th on the list, third in the ACC and tops in the Coastal Division. The talent is there for Miami to perform better.
Over the last five seasons, the Miami football recruiting classes have ranked an average of 16.6. Starting with 2020 and continuing through 2016, Miami has ranked 13th, 28th, eighth,13th and 21st.
Other than the 10-3, 2017 season when the Hurricanes won the ACC Coastal and played in the Orange Bowl the results have not translated on the field. The Miami football program has a 40-25 record from 2015-19. That’s an average of 8-5.
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Swinney Not On Board With ACC's One-Time Transfer Stance (si.com; Senkiw)
Before the ACC made its statement last week in favor of allowing a one-time transfer to student-athletes in every sport, the conference didn’t ask one of its own coaches how he felt about the hot topic.
“Nobody asked me my opinions and nobody cares what I think,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I heard about it like everybody else. I read it.”
When asked Wednesday if he was surprised the league didn’t consult its coaches, he replied: “Nothing surprises me.”
For the record, Swinney is not on board with what the ACC’s and Big Ten’s proposal to allow players to get one free transfer without having to sit out a season.
“I don’t like whatever’s been proposed,” Swinney said. “I don’t think it’s good for the player. I don’t think it’s good for college football.”
Following support from those two conferences, the NCAA announced last week it’s taking the massive change in college athletics under consideratio
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Links, news and rumors - 2/26/20 (RX; HM)
Links, news and rumors - 2/26/20
Miami will be playing their spring game at Traz Powell Stadium in Miami on April 11.
Hard Rock Stadium is not available that day.
For the third time in the last four seasons, the Miami Hurricanes will not be able to play their football spring game at Hard Rock Stadium because of scheduling conflicts. Instead, it will be played April 11 at Traz Powell Stadium, which is shared by seven local area high schools... on the one hand, talk about small: it only seats 8,000 people! On the other hand, there is some tradition behind it (I suppose); according to an article posted by CanesWarning [LINK]:
Here's a "Canes Warning" for you Miami fans: expect to get some ribbing about this!
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20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 18: Teams That Will Take A Wee Step Back (CFN; Fiutak)
The sequel is almost never as good as the original.
For five key teams, trying to recreate what happened in 2019 is going to be next to impossible.
It doesn’t matter how good you are. If you’re coming off a huge season, you probably won’t get the same breaks, the right timing with the schedule, or that magical blend that made the previous campaign so special.
The five teams on this list aren’t going to be bad. On the contrary, most should be massive factors in their respective division and conference races.
However, just one extra loss could be enough for each of these five to take a wee step back.
Going from the lowest-ranked team in the 2019 final rankings to the highest …
5. Virginia Cavaliers
2020 FINAL RANKING
AP NR (29), COACHES 25
FINAL RECORD: 9-5
What Made 2019 Special?
Bronco Mendenhall did it.
He took an okay program that was happy just to get to a bowl game on a regular basis, and he turned it into the Coastal Division champion that got to take its cut at the ACC Championship.
So what if Virginia got blown out by Clemson? So what that it lost to Florida in a tough Orange Bowl fight? It was a blast of a season with a win over Virginia Tech for the first time since 2003, a great finishing kick to take the division, and again, it all ended up with a trip to the ACC title game and a New Year’s Six bowl game.
Why 2020 Will Be A Bit Worse: Returning Talent
Virginia is good enough now where it can rebuild a bit and not worry too much about falling off the map. However, you don’t get better by losing a heart-and-soul quarterback like Bryce Perkins.
Bryce Hall was a special corner, the receiving corps drops some key parts, and Jordan Mack was a killer in the middle of the linebacking corps, but a whole lot of strong players return.
If all goes to plan, as many as nine starters on the offensive side are back and seven should return on D. Throw in the developed depth, and how is Virginia going to be any worse?
Lose four regular season games after dropping three last year.
Why 2020 Will Be A Bit Worse: Schedule
– 2020 Virginia Football Schedule Analysis
Virginia might have been tough and good, and there’s no dogging that win over Virginia Tech, but it also did a little bit of bum-slaying in a miserable year for the ACC.
It didn’t have to play Clemson until the ACC Championship, and while it got past Pitt and North Carolina, it also had wins over William & Mary, Duke, Georgia Tech, Liberty, and a mediocre Florida State team.
This time around, Virginia has to go to Virginia Tech and Clemson. Miami is going to be better – at least, it should be – Louisville, Pitt and North Carolina are going to be dangerous, and in non-conference play, opening up against Georgia isn’t great.
But the schedule isn’t all that bad. This should be another strong Virginia team, but losing just three regular seasons games again is asking for a bit much.
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Tech Moves NIU to ’21 Opener, Adds ’23 Date with BG (ramblinwreck.com)
Georgia Tech football will open the 2021 season at home versus Northern Illinois, Tech announced on Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets will host the Huskies at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Sept. 4, 2021, three weeks earlier than the previously announced date of Sept. 25.
After opening the 2021 season against NIU, the Jackets will host Kennesaw State on Sept. 11 (the first-ever meeting between Tech and KSU was originally scheduled to be played on Sept. 4 at Bobby Dodd Stadium).
Georgia Tech will open each of the next three seasons at home in Atlanta, beginning with this season’s opener versus longtime rival Clemson on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Bobby Dodd Stadium. After the 2021 lid-lifter against NIU, the Jackets will once again open the campaign against Clemson in 2022, when the teams meet on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Other
Monster CNY solar farm would replace corn and soybeans with power for 30,000 homes (PS; Knauss)
Imagine every inch of the New York State Fair covered with solar panels. Now double it. That’s the size of a solar farm that developers hope to build in Cayuga County.
The proposed facility in the rural town of Conquest would contain hundreds of thousands of solar panels spread across 2,000 acres, or more than three square miles.
That’s an area the size of Otisco Lake.
A proposed Cayuga County solar farm would spread across three square miles. roughly the same size as the village of Baldwinsville.
The Conquest project would generate up to 200 megawatts. Over a year, it could supply enough electricity to power more than 30,000 average homes, assuming the solar panels produce at a typical capacity factor of 14%. That’s roughly enough power for every household in Cayuga County.
It would be far bigger than any solar array built thus far in New York state. But there are even bigger projects on the drawing board. Dozens of huge solar farms have been proposed across Upstate in recent years.
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