How Nashville could host CFP national championship at new Tennessee Titans football stadium

The timing could be right for Nashville to land a college football national championship game if the proposed Tennessee Titans stadium is built by 2026.

The $2.1 billion enclosed stadium would greatly increase the chances for Nashville, according to TransPerfect Music City Bowl president and CEO Scott Ramsey, who plans to bid on the national championship game when the next bid cycle opens.

The national championship game is already set for the next four seasons.

Ramsey, who also serves as president and CEO of the Nashville Sports Council, already planned to bid on an early-round College Football Playoff game for Nissan Stadium after expansion from four to 12 teams was announced for 2026.

Ramsey set his sights higher when the Titans and Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced on Oct. 17 details of the deal to build the new stadium, which would meet the baseline criteria for the national championship game.

"I certainly think (the NCAA) will continue to bid out the national championship and right now they're not going to come to a Mid-South, open-air, natural grass facility in mid-January (like Nissan Stadium)," Ramsey said. "They just don't want the national championship game to be dictated by inclement weather, which I understand."

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The proposed 1.7-million-square-foot stadium, which would be located next to Nissan Stadium, would be a game-changer. It would have an artificial turf playing surface and translucent stationary roof. The plan will require approval from Nashville's 40-member Metro Council.

Ramsey publicly endorsed the building of the stadium last week.

The next available national championship game site is for after the 2026 season, currently scheduled for Jan. 11, 2027, just after the new Titans stadium could be completed if ground is broken in 2023 as proposed.

The next four national championship games will be at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles at the end of this season, NRG Stadium in Houston in 2024, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in 2025 and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in 2026.

"It will line up pretty well for us for 2026 and beyond," Ramsey said. "Certainly that's something we're starting to really gear up and position for so we're ready when they open that bid process up and pursue it pretty aggressively."

Music City Bowl needs volunteers

Speaking of the Music City Bowl, volunteer opportunities are now open for this year’s game.

The opportunities are available throughout bowl week (Dec. 28-31) including special events, media credential distribution, youth football champions ceremony and more.

The game will be played on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. at Nissan Stadium. Volunteer opportunities take place at Nissan Stadium and other locations.

For questions contact volunteer manager Joseph Donaldson at JDonaldson@NashvilleSports.com or visit bit.ly/3zvBBtP.

Former Vandy player and TSU AD Teresa Phillips joins Commodores broadcast

Jake Lyman is the new Vanderbilt women’s basketball radio play-by-play voice and former Vanderbilt player and TSU coach and athletics director Teresa Phillips is the analyst.

Lyman, who worked in the athletic communications department at Virginia Tech, replaced Charlie Mattos, who served as the Commodores voice for 30 years.

Mattos called games alone, so Phillips’ position is new.

Phillips played from 1978-80 and was the first Black female athlete at Vanderbilt.

She began her coaching career at Fisk and moved to TSU in 1989 where she coached for 11 years before becoming the AD. She retired in 2019.

Vanderbilt opens the season Monday at Western Kentucky.

Hank Hutcheson joins father at Lipscomb

Hank Hutcheson, the son of Lipscomb athletics director Philip Hutcheson, has transferred from Trevecca and will play his junior season at Lipscomb.

Hank is a 6-foot-6, forward who started in three games and played in a total of 16 over the last two seasons at Trevecca.

One of the games he played in was against Lipscomb when he was a freshman.

Hank played at Lipscomb Academy where he averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds as a senior.

Pete Weber skips Predators road trip with lower body injury

Nashville Predators play-by-play radio voice Peter Weber went on injured reserve for the team’s five-game road trip, which began Tuesday.

Weber is recovering from a hip injury and expected to rejoin the broadcast later this month.

Max Herz, who handles the Predators pregame, postgame and intermission shows, replaced Weber.

Brandt Snedeker announces new date for Simmons Bank Open

After announcing the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation would be elevated to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals Wednesday Brandt Snedeker revealed a new date for the tournament and that all four rounds will be televised on the Golf Channel.

The 2023 tournament will be played at The Grove Club in College Grove Sept. 14-17. It was played this year May 5-8.

"September is a huge benefit to our tournament," Snedeker said. "The golf course will be firmer and faster. The rough will be thicker. It will play tougher. It will be a better test for these guys, especially for a playoff kind of test to find who the best and brightest are coming for the PGA Tour the next year. And I cannot wait to see how the golf tournament comes across in the fall on national TV."

Rick Byrd recovering from hamstring injury

Retired Belmont basketball coach Rick Byrd tore his hamstring playing tennis.

He underwent surgery Tuesday and will be in rehab for six months not able to play tennis or golf.

Byrd is a scratch golfer, who was inducted into the National Collegiate Hall of Fame in 2021 and received the John Wooden Award “Legends of Coaching” honor earlier this year.

MTSU's Jaylin Lane added to Biletnikoff watch list

MTSU wide receiver Jaylin Lane was added to the 2022 Biletnikoff Award Watch List.

Lane was added to the list Wednesday coming off a seven-catch, 147-yard performance in a win at UTEP.

The sophomore from Clover, South Carolina, has three 100-yard receiving games and is on pace to become the Blue Raiders’ first 1,000-yard receiver since Richie James in 2016.

Mac Grisham shoots age and a hole-in-one

Local golfer Mac Grisham shot his age (80) Thursday at Richland Country Club and made a hole-in-one.

Grisham aced the par 3, No. 15 hole, which was playing 112 yards across water.

He used a 9-iron and the shot was witnessed by his playing partners Marshall Taylor, Jim Redd and Cotton Newton.

Nashville ranked in top 25 for Best Cities for Soccer

Nashville is ranked No. 23 in the 2022 Best Cities for Soccer Fans by WalletHub.

WalletHub compared more than 290 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional soccer team across five divisions and examined each based on 52 metrics. The data ranged from minimum season-ticket price for a game to stadium accessibility to number of championship wins.

The top five cities in order were Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Orlando and Kansas City.

Other cities in Tennessee included Memphis (38), Martin (155), Knoxville (159), Chattanooga (196), Cookeville (206), Clarksville (212), Johnson City (217) and Murfreesboro (256).

The complete list is at Best Soccer Cities.

Belmont basketball teams ranked in Mid Major Top 25

The Belmont women's basketball team is ranked No. 9 and the men's team is No. 21 in the Mid Major Top 25 by collegeinsider.com released on Monday.

The women's team is coming off a 23-8 season, which included a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It also received votes in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll.

The men's team went 25-8 and played in the NIT last season.

Belmont is moving this season from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Missouri Valley. The men open the season Monday at home against Ohio and the women open Tuesday at home against Chattanooga.

Tennessee Tech also received votes in the women's poll and Lipscomb received votes in the men's poll.

Joe Hall makes hole-in-one at Ted Rhodes

Joe Hall, publisher of the Nashville-based Tee Times newspaper, made a hole-in-one at Ted Rhodes Golf Course on the par 3, No. 3 hole.

The hole was playing 147 yards and Hall used a 7-iron.

It was Hall's third hole-in-one. He was playing in a tournament sponsored by St. Edward School. It won him a weeklong vacation in Destin, Florida.

XFL has ties with local coaches

The official reveal for the XFL teams and mascots came Monday. Eight teams are set to play their first season in 2023.

The are some local connections on two of the staffs.

The Washington D.C. Defenders coach Reggie Barlow has the most individuals with local ties on his staff.

They include defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who served as the Titans defensive coordinator from 1997-2000 and returned in 2013, and offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss, who spent two stints at TSU from 1997-99 and 2006-10.

The Defenders quarterbacks coach is former TSU quarterback Shannon Harris, who was on the Tigers staff from 2002-09, was an intern for the Titans from 2014-15 and returned to TSU from 2018-20, and the offensive line coach is Russ Ehrenfeld, who spent three stints at TSU and two at Austin Peay.

The Vegas Vipers coach is Rod Woodson and the director of player personnel is former Tennessee Vols wide receiver Joey Clinkscales.

Brentwood Academy's Mensi Stiff named All-American

Brentwood Academy's Mensi Stiff was named to the Track & Field News 2022 All-America team.

Stiff, an Ole Miss commitment, made the team as a shot put and discus thrower. She is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in the shot put and fourth in the discus.

Stiff was the Gatorade Tennessee girls track and field athlete of the year as junior.

Nasse wins All American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway

Stephen Nasse went from fifth to first after the top three crashed in the 38th annual All American 400, then held off Luke Fenhaus on the final lap to win the race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway

The All American 400 serves annually as the final race of the season at the track.

Fenhaus was disqualified in the post-race inspection, moving Gio Ruggiero to second, Kyle Crump to third, Casey Johnson to fourth and Derek Thorn to fifth. Defending champion Matt Craig was ninth in the 40-car field.

Nasse, 27, a native of Pinellas Park, Florida, overcame several equipment issues, including a broken axle in practice, to claim his third straight win. He won the Southern Super Series finale at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, on Sept. 24 and the Winchester 400 at the Winchester (Indiana) Speedway on Oct. 16.

Along with Craig, Dylan Fetcho from Gladeville and Conner Jones, Gabe Sommer and Michael House from Columbia rounded out the top 10.

In other races:

• Jake Bollman won the final pro late models points series race of the season on Friday. Chase Johnson was second and Fetcho was third. It was Bollman's first win in the 10-race season. He took the lead on lap 98 of the 100-lap race when the leaders, Jackson Boone and Cole Williams, ran into each other coming off the corner. With the third-place finish, Fetcho claimed the pro late model series championship.

• Brett Hudson won the CRA street stocks race, and Kyle Stark won the Vores Compact Touring Series race.

TSU's Lacey will play in the HBCU Pigskin Showdown

Tennessee State offensive lineman Robert Lacey accepted an invitation to play in the HBCU Pigskin Showdown.

The game will be played on Dec. 17 at the Marion Military Institute in Alabama.

Lacey, a 6-foot-4, 340 pound senior from Mobile, Alabama, is on the Preseason All-OVC team and the Senior Bowl watch list.

He played his first two seasons at Hutchinson Community College.

Sports on Nashville TV

The five highest-rated sports events locally for the week ending Oct. 30 in Nashville:

1. NFL: Titans-Texans, 21.4

2. College football: Tennessee-Kentucky, 14.

3. NFL: Cowboys-Bears, 11.7

4. NFL: Packers- Bills, 11.1

5. College football: Florida-Georgia, 8.4

Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 senior programming directorEach rating point is equal to 11,685 TV homes in the Nashville market.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans stadium could lead to CFP championship in Nashville