A little off topic

Normally I only discuss sports here, but I'd like to stray off topic to something that hit me today.  I've realized that my favorite song of all time may be "Susanne" by Weezer.  It's not because the song is epic or complicated, but the sheer talent in Rivers Cuomo comes out in that song.  If you've never heard it, the song is played at the end of Mallrats and it's about an A&R Assistant at Geffen Records when Weezer was first starting out.  It just amazes me that someone can put those words to lyric about how someone touched his life.  I've been playing guitar since I was 14 years old and this song caused me to realize that Cuomo has more talent in his left pinky fingernail than I do overall.  I realize it's just a random thought, but I felt I should share it.  This song amazes me every time I hear it and I wish I could write songs like that guy.

We're Back

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Santa brought you everything you wanted.  I'm well rested and still full from the home cooked meals.  I'm going to get back to posting soon, but have some stuff to catch up on at work that I put off due to the holiday.  In lighter news, I'm currently 4-8 on my bowl picks in the office pool I participate in.  If I ever give you gambling advice, please cover your ears and run away.  That is, of course, unless you like losing your money.

Merry Christmas!

Well, I'm leaving today to head home for some quality time with the parents.  Internet is on the fritz there, so I expect little to no posting the next few days.  Since I won't get a chance tomorrow I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and safe traveling.  See you in a few days.  BTW, if Notre Dame loses tonight and has two straight losing seasons, does that mean they'll be calling Urban Meyer tomorrow?  We can only wish.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Georgia Basketball; Epic Fail Thusfar

I shouldn't be surprised. I've even said so before. Last night, the UGA men's basketball team played an epic, OT thriller and lost on a last second half court. Their mighty opponent, you ask?

The mighty Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders, of course!

Sigh....

Where does the basketball program go now? I realize it's quite a knee jerk reaction to immediately place the blame on a coach, but seriously... This is the second loss this season to a team with hyphens in its name. I really don't expect a lot when it comes to our basketball program. I realize that Georgia is, and always will be, a football first school. To use a quote from Damon Evans, there isn't even a "blind spot" with this program. The perception outside is that it's crap, and quite frankly the perception within the Bulldog Nation is that it's crap.

Coach Felton got dealt one turd of a hand when he took the reclamation job from the pits of the Harrick downfall. He literally put up flyers in the dorms asking students to come out and walk on because he was so desperate for warm bodies. But we're past that point now. The scholarship reductions are gone. No, the lack of talent is a product of kicking our most talented players off the team, or guys like Billy Humphrey having multiple run-ins with the law. I really don't know where to go at this point, but it can't get any worse, can it?

The only reason Coach Felton wasn't on the chopping block last year was because of that miraculous run on GA Tech's basketball court. Damon Evans didn't tie his hands by making some contract extension to Felton, which was smart. My belief is that Felton was as good as gone otherwise. The way this team is playing right now, the NIT looks like a far reach. Heck, maybe we'll turn it around and post some impressive showings in conference play. Right now, I'm just not seeing it. I implore you Coach. Please do not lose to Kennesaw. That would just give bragging rights to every stripper in Atlanta. (For those not in the know, next time you're at the Cheetah or Pink Pony, ask the lady where she goes to school. I guarantee you she will say Kennesaw State.)

Playoffs?!?!

That's right, Falcon fans. You can rejoice. We're going to be playing football in January. I'm still in disbelief. You don't come into a season with a rookie HC, rookie QB, rookie GM, and on the heel of the Petrino/Vick debacle last year and expect to make the playoffs. What a job this group has done. After the Cowboys decided to lay an egg Saturday night in likely its last ever game at Texas Stadium, and the Bucs decided not to show up for the 4th quarter against San Diego, the Falcons needed only a win at Minnesota to clinch at least a wildcard spot. Despite being outplayed by the Vikings, the Falcons used seven Viking fumbles to jump out to a big lead and ironically the Falcons scored the winning TD on a Matt Ryan fumble that was recovered by Justin "Johnny-on-the-Spot" Blalock for his second huge Ryan fumble recovery in as many weeks.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's your rookie QB!

To top the day off, the Giants and the Panthers clashed in New Jersey last night for a classic game that decided the top overall seed in the NFC. The Giants emerged victorious and the Panthers have still only wrapped up a playoff spot. By some miracle, should the Falcons dispatch of the Rams on Sunday and the Saints defeat the Panthers in New Orleans, the Falcons would win the division, grab the #2 seed, and be playing a home game in January for the right to play in the NFC Championship. What an early Christmas present Mike Smith, Matt Ryan, Thomas Dimitroff, Michael Turner, Roddy White, John Abraham, and company have given Falcons fans. Thank you Arthur Blank for making the right choices and setting this franchise in the right direction.

Update:  Smitty came to his senses and told Ryan to cut that Superman crap out.

Thank you Mike Smith and Matt Ryan

The Atlanta Falcons have made this fall pretty special for me and this was icing on the cake. With the win yesterday, the Falcons have guaranteed a winning season this year. If you told me at the beginning of the season that the Falcons would have a winning season, be in playoff contention with two games left to play, and their rookie QB would only truly play like a rookie two times in fourteen games thusfar; I would have asked you to sell me what you are smoking. The Falcons season has softened the blow of the disappointment that was UGA's season and the presumed incompetency that has been the Atlanta Braves' offseason moves for me.

Thank you Mike Smith and Matt Ryan. The next round's on me, fellas.

If you thought what Auburn did was strange...

Ball State's head coach, Brady Hoke, has taken the head coaching job at San Diego State. Is this really a move up? At best, it's a lateral move. I don't see the Mountain West as that more prestigious a conference than the MAC. People are making some silly decisions these days when it comes to coaches.

Update: (H/T Doc): Looks like San Diego State could possibly be tripling Hoke's salary which right now stands at a relatively-speaking, paltry $240K. Pretty damn hard to turn down a 300% increase in salary. It certainly makes a lot more sense for the move. Also, I hear the weather in San Diego isn't half bad.

It's not Patrick Nix, but...

Auburn has hired Gene Chizik from Iowa State as its next head coach. Chizik went 5-19 in his two years at Iowa State including a 10 loss streak this season in which he avoided playing Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. Congrats Auburn, looks like you got the man to lead you into further futility. Seriously, could this have been a worse hire? Turner Gill seemed like the obvious choice. I don't know if it feels better to beat Auburn, or if it feels better for Auburn to beat Auburn.

Update: In an even crazier turn of events, Iowa State essentially told Auburn they could one up them. I mean, hiring an ex-Auburn defensive coordinator worked out so well for them last time... Will Muschamp has to be wondering why no one's made an offer that exceeds his head coach in waiting status at Texas.

My argument for Matthew Stafford

I posted this over at DawgSports, but I thought I'd share it with anyone that would like to read it here:


215 completions on 352 attempts for a 61.1% completion rate. 3,209 yards through 12 games for an average of 267.4/game, 9.12/attempt, and 14.9/completion. 22 TD's to only 9 INT's for a 2.4 TD/INT Ratio. An overall passer rating of 153.17 which places him 15th out of 119 passers, behind only Tim Tebow in the SEC.

Asides from the quantitative measures I mentioned above, have you guys seen the games he's kept us in this year? He played most of the second half of Alabama after getting his bell rung pretty good and helped make the score a little more respectable. He was the only player on the offense making plays in the South Carolina game. He was nearly flawless at Kentucky, at Arizona State, and against Georgia Tech. If he doesn't have the games he had at Kentucky or GA Tech, we get blown out of the water. He made huge throws in the LSU game. Dude is 20-5 the last two years, same as Tim Tebow.

My question to what seems like a growing faction of the Bulldawg Nation; Do you honestly believe yourself when you say we'll be better off next year without Matthew Stafford lining up behind center? That production is pretty difficult to replace (keep in mind he's done this behind one of the greenest and thinnest O-Lines I've ever seen). Imagine what next year could be like playing behind an offensive line that is more mature and stronger. I don't think we'll see it as the $$$ are pretty hard to pass up, but Stafford is Damn Good Dawg and anyone who thinks otherwise, please prove me wrong. Sure, he makes the mind-boggling throw every now and then, but tell me what QB doesn't that isn't Tim Tebow or Sam Bradford. Keep in mind the O-line issues when comparing those three. Of the Oklahoma games I've watched this season I don't think I've seen Bradford get touched and Tebow has a more than adequate line. Put those guys behind UGA's O-Line this year, and I have a sneaking suspicion their numbers wouldn't be so outrageous. His one bad game this year was Florida, but that was a case of him being the only player on the field that seemed to give a crap and tried to force things because no one else was.
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Stafford may never win an SEC or national title, but it's not like it's all his fault or our problems are going to be magically solved if he leaves. If anything, we're going to regress on the offensive side of the ball and have to rely on the defense even more next year. And we all know how I feel about that...

Let me know what you think.

My Christmas List

Santa,

I've been a very good boy this year.  Please let this happen for me.  I'll never ask you for anything else again, I promise.

-AuditDawg

Final Coaches Poll

USA Today has posted the results of the final Coaches' Poll today (HT: The Senator). Both Pat Hill of Fresno State and Urban Meyer voted Georgia #21 in the last poll. I guess Urban is going to continue sticking it to the Dawgs even after he's out of timeouts. Maybe Mark Richt can use this as motivation next year? Lord knows the motivation tactics can't possibly be any worse than they were this year.

Mumme Poll, Week 15

Here it is kids, my final Mumme Poll for the regular season. As always, top 5 noted by asterisk with explanations to follow:

Alabama*
Florida*
Texas*
Oklahoma*
USC*
Penn State
Texas Tech
Utah
Boise State
Ohio State
TCU
Oklahoma State

-Alabama is in top five despite the loss to Florida. They didnʼt get their doors blown off like I expected and showed that maybe they did deserve that #1 ranking. The game with Utah should be interesting, but I expect them to win fairly easily. Obviously, project #1 for Nick Saban has to be to figure out a way to throw the ball when needed. Once they get down two scores, they donʼt have much of a chance at coming back.

-Florida had their most impressive victory of the year IMO. Thatʼs the first team thatʼs not crapped its pants just because Florida was on the other sideline since Ole Miss. Iʼm impressed with this team this year and I wonder whether Oklahoma can beat them. They have the championship team mettle and that showed during the SEC game.

-Texas is still in top 5 after being idle. They get a consolation prize of the BCS punching bag known as Ohio State. Letʼs see them take out their frustrations on the sweater vests.

-Oklahoma obliterated another team. This teamʼs offense is clicking on all cylinders right now and showing no signs of slowing down. I wonder if the surgery on Bradfordʼs hand will affect him in the title game. Iʼm excited to see this team go up against an elite defense and see if they can still chuck it around like theyʼve been doing.

-Penn State is smelling roses. I still donʼt think they can beat Alabama or USC, so that keeps them out of the top five. Weʼll find out half of that assumption on New Yearʼs Day.

-Texas Tech sure fell off the map quick. Apparently Leach is target #1 for Auburn. I wonder how Bobby Lowder will respond to Pirate football. This team gets a chance to redeem itself against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. That should be a good one.

-Utah is going to the Sugar Bowl. Hereʼs hoping they play more like Utah of ʽ04/Boise State ʼ06, than Hawaii ʼ07.

-Boise State remains in the top twelve after an unbeaten season, but no BCS dreams for them.

-Ohio State is going to the Fiesta Bowl. Hopefully because this game doesnʼt have national title implications riding on it, theyʼll actually show up and be competitive.

-TCU is in the top twelve. Maybe TCU deserves some national title credit. They along with Texas held the Oklahoma offense to its season low output of 35. Oh wait, they lost to Oklahoma. Nevermind then.

-This last spot was difficult to pick because Ball State decided to crap the bed against Buffalo. I mean who else are you going to put here. I went with Oklahoma State because they were the least embarrassed by Oklahoma in the last few weeks.

-This took about 10 minutes to compile as the only change from last week is Ball State being replaced by Oklahoma State. Itʼs been a fun ride this year. Iʼm curious to see how everything turns out after the bowls. Are we going to take it upon ourselves to crown a champion or are we going to be like the Coachesʼ Poll and automatically vote the BCS Title game winner?

Bowling & Basketball

Whoo!!!  We're playing a bowl game in Florida.  What, that's not the one we wanted??  Aww, gee shucks, I'm just thankful we got some SEC wins this year.  (That was my best Mark Richt impression, BTW)  Hopefully the boys come out fired up and bring hell to Michigan State, but I have to agree with the good Senator.  I don't know what would be more frustrating; for the team to make a marked improvement showing they had the ability all year long, or the team to continue playing without a care in the world and showing that it's continued regression from the beginning of the season never stopped.  

With the basketball team's awesome show in Chicago yesterday, I'm real fired up about what I hope is the last year in the Felton regime.  The first post I made in this blog regarded Coach Felton, and I advocated he should be fired (granted, this was before the miracle run in Atlanta, but I was one of the few that felt he should still be out of a job).  While I attended UGA from 2002-2007, I worked as a basketball usher from 2004-2006, so I got to see a lot more basketball than the average UGA fan.  The typical Felton team has not changed one ounce from his first year.  Every game the team plays relatively solid defense, but seems to always go on a 10 minute scoring drought and still can't make a free throw if a gun were held to its head.  I don't expect much from our mens hoops team, but I think we can do better than cellar dweller.  Florida was a perennial joke in basketball until they made the effort to improve.  Unless Coach Felton gets this team to the NCAA tourney this year without needing some kind of miracle again, he should be shown the door at season's end.  If I weren't so adamantly against mid-season firings, I'd suggest he be shown the door now.  The program's talent level and stature within the SEC has not improved at all during his tenure.  We're now in year 6 and he's been free of the reduced scholarship burden long enough that the team should be at full strength.  Coach, I love your hard-nosed attitude, but sometimes the results have to match the effort, and I'm not seeing it with you.  In the end, wins are all that matters, and sadly there have been not enough wins to keep Coach around.

Is it me??

After the epic suckage that was the Atlanta Falcons defense today, I started wondering that.  Why is it that my favorite football teams from the state of Georgia seem to go on these mind-boggling defensive lapses where your grandmother could get five yards a clip rushing the ball?  I dunno, but all I know is their playoff chances took a huge hit today.

Mumme Poll, Week 14

Okay, it's been a couple of days and now I've had time to relax and reflect after Saturday. I've gone on to more constructive things like my weekly Mumme Poll! Results should be up at the Senator's site tomorrow. Top 5 are noted by asterisk, with explanations to follow:

Alabama*
Florida*
Texas*
Oklahoma*
USC*
Utah
Texas Tech
Penn State
Ohio State
Boise State
TCU
Ball State


-My top five hasn’t changed from the past week

-Alabama and Florida set to meet in one of the more anticipated SEC title games with a bid to the BCS National Championship Game on the line.

-Texas and Oklahoma finish tied in the Big 12 South with Oklahoma representing the South in the title game due to BCS rankings. I don’t know if one can say that Oklahoma was not deserving, but that’s sure got to sting for the people in Austin. I guess looking at the season as a whole, beating Cincinnati and TCU is more impressive than anything Texas did out of conference. I’m sure that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

-USC put the proverbial final nail in Charlie Weis’ coffin on Saturday. How did this team lose to Oregon State?? Their defense took the 1st half of that game off and has been lights out the rest of the season. I’d love to see a USC/Florida bowl game.

-Utah is idle, likely has its bid to New Orleans locked up.

-Texas Tech squeaks by Baylor. I guess in the end, a Cotton Bowl bid isn’t a bad consolation, but it’s certainly strange that they were completely out of the running for the Big 12 South. The loss to Oklahoma certainly was crippling, but this team went from national title front runner to 3rd best team in the Big 12 in a week. Using the BCS was definitely the wrong way to go about it.

-Penn State locked up its Rose Bowl bid and was idle. Joe Paterno also had successful hip replacement surgery so hopefully he'll be on the sidelines for the game. Say what you will, but Joe Paterno should stick around as long as he wants. He's one of the reasons why I love college football so much more than the NFL. He's an institution.

-Ohio State, also idle, is looking at a BCS at-large bid. Who would have thought that after the demolition in LA back in September. Kudos to Jim Tressel for keeping the troops focused and to the rest of the Big 10 (outside of Penn State) for being a glorified pillow fight. The Big Ten is kinda like the SEC this year with a huge gap between the top and the middle.

-Boise State was idle this past week, but they likely won't get a BCS bid. Per Mark Schlabach's chat on ESPN.com today and here (H/T, Senator), the gears are turning to get a bowl matchup with Ball State. That could be exciting. Like the Senator, I remember that great Liberty Bowl in 2004 when Boise State played Louisville. Maybe the most exciting game I've ever watched.

-TCU is the next best team IMO so they get in.

-Ball State gets in b/c they’re undefeated. I wanted to put GA Tech here, but I can’t get over the thrashing by UNC, the near miss to Gardner Webb, and Virginia Tech game. Tech was no doubt impressive in its last two games, but they got beat by some pretty inferior competition this year. Then again, that's the story of the year in the ACC this year. Their slogan should be "Thursday night in the ACC!!: Where ranked teams go to die". Ball State gets in by default as I refuse to consider a Big East team or any other ACC team.

-This took me 15 minutes.

-The first 10 teams were pretty easy to pick, but the final two were a toss-up for me. I don’t think Boise or Ball State are great teams, but honestly who else are you going to put there? Missouri lost, Oklahoma State got thrashed to home, and Georgia played the most depressing game since the loss to Tech in 1999. Of the three loss teams, I believe Tech may be the best, but who knows.

I know everyone hates this word, but I think it rings truer today than ever in college football. Parity exists, folks. The top flight programs are still going to stay at the top, but with the spread of talent due to scholarship limitations, any team is vulnerable on any given Saturday.

Uggh

Go to hell Jon Fabris. Go to hell Willie Martinez. If either of you are employed in Athens next year, rest assured the Athletic Association does not have to worry about money coming from me.

Update: I really regret posting this at the time. My views on Coach Martinez haven't changed, but there's a civil way about doing things. Just a little FYI for all you kids, drinking and blogging don't mix.

Bye-Bye Knowshon

I think this pretty much seals the deal for Knowshon heading to play on Sunday.  With McCoy coming back, Knowshon will likely be the first or second back taken in the Draft come next April.  Due to the short shelf life most backs have in the league and the high potential for injury, I can't blame him for coming out.  Damn good Dawg, but that's a lot of money to say no to.

Mumme Poll, Week 13

After the crazy shake-up that was the weekend in college football, here is my Mumme Poll for Week 13.  The results will be up at the Senator's site on Wednesday.  Top 5 noted by asterisk with explanations to follow.

Alabama*

Florida*

Texas*

Oklahoma*

USC*

Utah

Texas Tech

Oklahoma State

Penn State

Ohio State

Missouri

Georgia

- Alabama remains in the top 5 after an idle week

- Florida remains in the top 5 after an idle week.  Wait, they played this weekend?  I thought that was a scrimmage.  They put up 70 points on a hapless FCS school?? Oh, I guess that's supposed to be impressive.  Does anyone remember the scene from "There's Something About Mary" where Matt Dillon's character is playing the group of mentally handicapped people in flag football and he just runs over everyone while stiff arming them and essentially kicking their helpless asses?  Yeah, that's what Saturday's game for Florida vs. the Citadel was.  Let's see if they put up 70 against FSU, then I'll be impressed.  It really is a joke to me that big time schools would schedule an FCS opponent this late in the season.

- Texas has hope again after Oklahoma beat Texas Tech this weekend.  In the current BCS rankings, Texas is ranked above Oklahoma so as of right now, they are in line to represent the South in the Big 12 title game.  That could change if Oklahoma beats Okie State this weekend.

- Oklahoma remains in the top five after depantsing Texas Tech on national television.  I can't remember the last time a team absolutely embarassed it's opponent like that on the national state.  Oh wait, I forgot that Georgia played Florida and Alabama this year on the national stage this year, and got embarassed both times.  I digress.

- USC switches places with Texas Tech because of Tech's loss and USC's bye week.  They take on Notre Dame next weekend in LA.  That should be the final nail in Charlie Weis' proverbial coffin.  I'd really like to see this team play Florida because I think their defense against Florida's offense would be a great matchup.  Right now it looks like USC will be playing post-season ball in either Tempe or New Orleans because it's becoming clearer that Oregon State will be in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl.

- Utah pretty much assured themselves of another trip to Tempe.  By securing a second BCS trip in four years, I believe they reached the level of national respect that most teams in the BCS conferences get.  Congrats, Utes.

- Texas Tech, where do I start with you? Garrrrr, Bob Stoops stole all your pirate gold.  Let me go ahead and sent out a big THANK YOU for going ahead and crapping your pants on national television on Saturday.  Georgia won't be the only team that did it this year.

- Oklahoma State remains in the top twelve after a bye week.  They have a big game with Oklahoma this weekend that could boost their credentials for inclusion in the top five.

- Penn State is smelling roses.  Penn State clinched its first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1994 with an utter demolition of Michigan State on Saturday.  Congrats to Joe Paterno who told the pep rally crowd on Friday that he will be returning for another year in 2009.  He underwent a successful hip replacement surgery on Sunday and should be ready for the Rose Bowl on January 1st.

- Ohio State kept Michigan in that game for far too long.  Still, their only two losses are to USC and Penn State, so all in all a pretty good year for the sweater vests.

- Missouri remains in the top twelve on an idle week.

- Georgia also remains in the top twelve on an idle week.  Things may change next week depending on how they handle the NATS.

- This took me about five minutes to compile.  The only changes were switching USC and Texas Tech in the top five.

A Pleasant Surprise

Normally, I only talk about the Georgia Bulldogs, but it's hard for me to discount my first two true sports loves.  Before I got serious about being a Bulldogs fan (and eventually an alum), I was always a die hard Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons fan.  The college game didn't come around to me until I was in the 5th grade or so, so I'd always followed the NFL and specifically the Falcons.  

The 18 months prior to the beginning of this season were the most difficult 18 months that I believe any professional franchise has endured in the history of professional sports, save maybe the 1919 Chicago White Sox who got ripped apart by the 1918 team that was found to have conspired to throw the World Series.  It just seemed that everything that could go wrong for the Falcons did.  First, your $100M QB gets thrown in jail for making some boneheaded decisions, you have a pretty bad season, and your top-dollar coach flees by the cover of night for the brighter pastures of Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

Then comes the 2008 NFL Draft and the Falcons have a choice about whether to build along the lines (their most pressing need IMO at the time) by taking Glen Dorsey or to take what many scouts think is a franchise QB, but was pretty inconsistent and threw a lot of picks in a less than stellar conference his senior year.  Everyone knows what happened for that one.

I'll go ahead and apologize because I was one of the people very critical of the selection of Matt Ryan at the time.  Let me preface and say that it had nothing to do with Ryan himself, but as I stated earlier, I thought the Falcons were better served to build through the line by taking Dorsey.  Well, this is me eating crow and loving it.  Matt Ryan right now is playing at an unheard of level as a rookie.  People are making the Ben Roethlisberger comparisons, but I think Ryan is better at this point in his career.  Roethlisberger wasn't a vital part of his offense his rookie year, he merely had to hand the ball off to Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker.  Matt Ryan's taken this offense by the reins and the coaches trust him to run it the same as if he were Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.

The Falcons then traded back into the 1st round to take Sam Baker to protect Matt Ryan's blind-side.  Once again, I was skeptical of the pick.  Although he's out now and may be gone for the rest of the season, Baker was a force when healthy and proof that he was deserving of the lofty pick.  So far, GM Thomas Dimitroff is 2 for 2 in the 1st round, IMO.

The next three picks are Curtis Lofton at LB, Chevis Jackson at CB, and Harry Douglas at WR.  All three have contributed big time at one point or another this season, the most recent being Douglas' performance today.  By my count, Dimitroff is now 5 for 5 with his first 5 picks.

The icing on the cake was the shrewd signing of free agent RB Michael Turner early in the free agency period.  Turner, long the understudy to Ladanian Tomlinson in San Diego, is the 1st back in the NFC South this year to rush for 1,000 yards, he set the franchise rushing record with 220 yards in his first ever game, and he currently is one rushing TD away from tying the franchise record for rushing TD's in one season.  Make that 6 for 6 for Dimitroff so far.

This is a team that I didn't expect anything more than a 3-13, 4-12 season.  I figured they might upset a team  along the way, but honestly thought they were a few years away from seriously contending.  Right now, the Falcons stand at 7-4 and  one game back in the division.  No rational Falcons fan would have predicted this at the beginning of the year.  This team is the most pleasant surprise of the year to me and it certainly has softened the blow of the disappointment that is the Georgia season.  Thank you Arthur Blank for hiring the right guys and thank you Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith for bringing hope and excitement back to Atlanta at least for this fan.

Mumme Poll, Week 12

Posting's been pretty light the last week. I'm trying to wrap up an audit at one of my clients so real life has taken some precedent. Here's my Mumme Poll for Week 12. The results for the poll are located here. Top five noted by asterisk, explanations to follow:

Florida*
Alabama*
Texas Tech*
Texas*
Oklahoma*
Oklahoma State
USC
Missouri
Utah
Penn State
Ohio State
Georgia

- Florida is the best team in the country right now. They are playing at a level that hasnʼt been seen since the Nebraska teams of the mid-90s. Sure upsets can happen (see Ole Miss), but I honestly donʼt see the point for the teams left on their schedule to even show up right now. Not one team left on their schedule will stay within 21 points of this team, Alabama and whatever Big 12 team they play in the MNC game included.

- Alabama gave a scare for one half after Miss. St. went up 7-5, but ended up pulling away and blowing them out mostly due to special teams play and defense. Has there been a more unimpressive QB on a national title contender in recent years (Craig Krenzel & Matt Mauk included)?

- Texas Tech remains in the top five during the bye week. Weʼll know more about the MNC after Saturday when they play Oklahoma. They surely will be underdogs and we can see if the pirate power can stand up for one more big time game before the Big 12 championship.

- Texas took care of business against Kansas and besides Florida is still the most impressive one loss team in America.

- Oklahoma remains in the top five after dispatching a helpless Texas A&M team this weekend. They have a good chance to get back in the MNC carousel if they can beat Texas Tech this weekend. Iʼm guessing Oklahoma will be about a seven point favorite or so.

- Oklahoma State took care of a tougher than expected Colorado team and are probably the best of the two loss teams at this point.

- USC remains in the top twelve after fighting off another scare from the Cardinal and pulling away in the second half. This teamʼs defense could keep it in the game against just about anyone. Iʼd love to see them play Florida if both miss out on the MNC.

- Missouri is in the top twelve after dispatching of Iowa State pretty handily on the road. They still have a chance to throw a wrench in the BCS if they should win the Big 12 title game.

- Utah destroyed San Diego State and the only thing between them and a BCS-at large bid is a game next week against BYU at home.

- Penn State stays in the top twelve during an idle week.

- Ohio State beat the Fighting ʽZookers on the road and other than the crap your pants effort at USC, this team hasnʼt looked half bad this season.

- Georgia is the last team in. It was a toss-up between them and Boise State for me. Boise State struggled on the road with a hapless Idaho team while Georgia struggled on the road with a hapless Auburn team. Iʼm more impressed by the Auburn struggle than the Idaho struggle, therefore Georgia gets the final spot. This team better spend the next two weeks learning to tackle or Jonathan Dwyerʼs going to make them look silly.

-I spent about 5 minutes compiling this as my ballot didnʼt change from last week.

It's Pirates Galore, GARR

Looks like they let Mike Leach get loose in Somalia.

It's getting feisty over there...

This thing has certainly been interesting to watch. Hooray for hate week?? I thought that was when we played Florida. I don't hold the level of disdain for Auburn as many that commented on that post. I guess it just depends on what part of the fan base you run into. I've always experienced gracious winners (I played flip cup with a bunch of Auburn folks before and after the game in 2005) and gracious losers (many a fan shook my hand in 2002 and 2006 in Jordan-Hare Stadium). A lot of those responses seem to give credence to Buzz Bissinger's tirade this past year. Many post under the veil of Internet anonymity and leave rude comments and take shots that they would never be man, or woman, enough to say to that person's face. Here's to being cordial and acting like adults.

An early look at Auburn

Just some SEC rankings for fodder:

UGA - #1 in total offense, Auburn - #7 in total defense
UGA - #8 in total defense, Auburn - #8 in total offense
UGA - #2 in scoring offense, Auburn - #4 in scoring defense
UGA - #11 in scoring defense, Auburn - #10 in scoring offense
UGA - #5 in rushing offense, Auburn - #9 in rushing defense
UGA - #3 in rushing defense, Auburn - # 6 in rushing offense
UGA - #1 in passing offense, Auburn - # 4 in passing defense
UGA - #10 in passing defense, Auburn # 9 in passing offense

Don't know what these numbers really tell me. Looks like UGA's passing defense won't bite them in the butt this weekend as the forward pass is something that hasn't been seen in Auburn since 2005. Both teams are getting lit up on the scoreboard this year. Auburn is middling in all offensive categories while UGA is middle to bottom in all defensive categories except rushing defense. At the beginning of the year, Auburn was supposed to have the meanest D in the land, but the numbers don't seem to back that up. Right now, UGA's offense has been putting up some monster stats that aren't always translating to the scoreboard. More analysis to come later this week. The big stat that can't be mistaken is the fact that this is going to be the Raycom Sports game. Auburn tends to not wake up in time for those games as they start at 11:30, local time.

Some people take this way too seriously...

I see stuff like this, and I don't understand how someone can get this serious about a game played by kids. Most of us that participate in this online discussion are grown men that probably have a real problem because we let the outcome of football games affect us like they do. I do, however, believe most of us are rational enough to not take it to the level this fellow did. In the end, this is just a game and in the grand scheme of things is not what should be most important to us in this world. We all have families and faiths that trump anything "insert your favorite college football team" does on 12 Saturdays in the fall. Going forward, I hope we all can keep it in perspective and enjoy the things that truly do matter while mixing in a little college football on the side.

Georgia 42, Kentucky 38; Post Knee Jerk Reaction with some thought put into it

After taking a step back from my earlier position and doing some real thinking, I feel a little bit better about this weekend. I put a Fan Post up over at Dawg Sports that was ripe with emotion, but lacking logic. After reading some comment from others at Dawg Sports and some self-reflection, I've stepped back from my initial position. It doesn't help that Mark Richt makes it completely clear that he feels it's not the coaches' faults. There have been numerous breakdowns in Special Teams and untimely offensive turnovers that have contributed to the numerous points layed on this defense in the last two games. Thankfully, none of the turnovers against Kentucky came back to bite Georgia in the proverbial butt.

The Special Teams play was atrocious. A 96 yard kickoff return, a blocked punt, and a punt for 18 yards all set up scoring drives for Kentucky with the short field. It's hard to hold the short field against the defense, but I'd certainly be a little happier if those scoring drives were 3 points instead of 6. Maybe my post should have been titled "Fire Jon Fabris Now", instead of "Fire Willie Martinez Now".

Knowshon Moreno was singledhandedly a red-zone beast this weekend. Hard to believe that in all the years of Georgia football only he and some other guy you might have heard of are the only two RB's with back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons. As I mentioned post-game Saturday, I think Matthew Stafford must have forgotten he played in the SEC and thought he was playing for one of those Big 12 teams. He ended up throwing for a career-best 376 yards with 3 TD's and zero INT's. The offense in total rolled up 520 yards and 42 points. The offense was six for six in the red zone.

Demarcus Dobbs decided to pull his best Thomas Davis in 2002/Charles Johnson in 2006 impression and cause a last minute turnover that sealed the game for the Dawgs against inferior opposition. What scared me most about this weekend was the fact that Kentucky was running nothing more than a variation of the triple option and gashed the defense for over 220 rushing yards. I believe we play some team in a few weeks that is known for its option offense. Anyways, I hold hope that Coach Martinez can rally his troops and maybe they will magically start wrapping up tackles and stopping the run again.

I don't do this very often, but I do take exception to Coach Richt's comments regarding what he sees as likely the casual or uninformed fan. As a person that believes he knows a little about football, I'll go on record and say that my complaints aren't scheme based or lack of blitzing. My complaint is this team just doesn't have that killer instinct that defenses in the past have had, and it seems fundamentally undisciplined (see missed tackles, poor execution, etc.). Of all people, Coach Richt should know best that having a bad defense can get you run out of Athens. I may be wrong, but that's how Coach Richt got his current job. Now, I appreciate Coach Richt for taking this sleeping program and "blowing the lid" off it in 2002. It seems the program has a sense of complacency over it and isn't doing what it takes to get to that elite level. I just don't want to see the team become mired in mediocrity like FSU the last few years due to unwillingness to address needed change. I just ask that Coach Richt doesn't allow Coach Martinez to become our Jeff Bowden if it reaches that point.

We've got two more regular season games and a bowl game. This team can still reach 10 wins and achieve another top 10 ranking. The goal at this point has to be to send the senior out the right way. Three out of four versus Auburn, extending the streak to eight against Tech, playing in a third New Year's Day bowl, winning 10 games three out of four years, and finishing in the top 10 three out of four years. Certainly the setbacks have caused this season to be something of a disappointment, but we can still finish the season strong. Let's hunker down and GATA!

Mumme Poll, Week 11

I participate in a weekly polling over at the Senator's site. For an explanation, here is the basic premise for the poll. Below is my Mumme Poll for Week 11. Top 5 are noted by asterisks, explanations to follow. Also, note that my teams are ranked in no particular order, so just because they're the last team in the list doesn't mean I think they're the worst of the top 12 and vice-versa for first in the top 5:

Alabama*
Texas Tech*
Florida*
Oklahoma*
Texas*

Utah
Southern California
Penn State
Oklahoma State
Missouri
Ohio State
Georgia

- Alabama won the type of game that championship teams usually have one of during the year. A game that they grinded out despite playing fairly poorly.

- Now that Texas Tech is running the football and playing defense, they might have a claim to the best team in the country.

- Florida obliterated Vanderbilt on the road clinching the SEC East. They have no real challenges between them and Miami outside of the SEC Title Game. They are clicking on all cylinders and Tebow is trying to make another case for the Heisman.

- Oklahoma gets in the top five over Southern Cal because the loss to Texas is not nearly as bad as the loss to Oregon State. Oklahoma has practically quit playing defense this season once their LB Ryan Reynolds went down, but the offense hasn't let up at all. Should they beat Texas Tech, the tiebreaker for the Big 12 title game gets interesting.

- Texas remains in the top five after taking care of business against Baylor. I can't fault them for losing on what was essentially the last play of the game against Texas Tech.

- Utah is in the top twelve by virtue of their game against TCU last week which was a real slug fest if you watched it. You could argue they were the beneficiary of some missed field goals, but they're still undefeated and still beat the team that beat the OMG Best Team Ever.

- Speaking of the OMG Best Team Ever, Southern California remains in the top twelve with virtually no shot of moving into the top five the rest of the season. They've played no one of value since the Oregon State game and I'm penalizing them as such.

- Penn State drops out of the top five, but remains in the top twelve after the mind-boggling loss at Iowa. I'm blaming it on the pink locker rooms. How do you think the Rose Bowl feels about it's potential Rose Bowl match up of Penn State-Oregon State right now? For those that have forgotten, Penn State beat Oregon State 45-14 in September.

- Oklahoma State remains in the top twelve despite getting pretty much annihilated by Texas Tech. The game they played at Texas carries a lot of clout in my mind. I just think Texas Tech is playing at another level right now, so I'm not holding that against the Cowboys.

- Missouri gets back in the top twelve based on TCU's loss. Missouri's two losses are better than TCU's right now and they've pretty much wrapped up the Big 12 North.

- Ohio State is in the top twelve after a win against Northwestern this weekend. The only blemishes to date are to the two potential Rose Bowl participants, so their resume doesn't look too bad right now, but not too great either.

- Georgia sneaks back into my top twelve after a gut check win in Lexington. Honestly, if the only other team with a top twelve argument were anyone but Ball State, the Dawgs wouldn't be in my top twelve. This team has some serious issues on the defensive side of the ball right now. In the end, their two losses have come to the #1 and #3 ranked teams in the country right now. If I'm not going to hold Texas Tech's annihilation against Oklahoma State because Tech is playing at another level right now, then I reserve the right to use the same rationale for Georgia getting destroyed by Florida.

- This week's poll took me a little longer this week to work on, approximately 45 minutes.

- There's no room in my poll for any Big East teams or ACC teams at this point of the season. North Carolina came closest, but they've got this ugly losses against Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Let me know what you folks think, agree or disagree.

UGA 42 Kentucky 38; Initial kneejerk reaction with no thought put into it

Georgia wins today in Lexington. After last week, this game did not provide the soul soothing blowout that Georgia fans were looking for. The Dawgs have serious, serious problems on the defensive side of the ball. There's absolutely no reason an injury-depleted, freshman-laden Kentucky team should put up 38 points on the scoreboard. I've been a Willie Martinez apologist for a few years now, but this game was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. FIRE. WILLIE. MARTINEZ NOW. Not tomorrow, not at the end of the season, not in 30 minutes, I mean now! Special teams looked lackluster at best. The offense turned the ball over at untimely moments that allowed short field for Kentucky to work with. Sound familiar??? On the bright side, Mo Mass made up for two fumbles with a huge 77 yard reception to set up the final score. The defense did bail out Mo Mass's fumbles with two 3 and outs. Matt Stafford didn't turnover the ball once and looked like a Big 12 QB out there throwing for 376 yards with 3 TD's. Knowshon broke 100 and rushed for 3 TD's. I guess in the end, a win is a win, but I'm not inspired at all by this team's play. Many have said, but I'm now convinced that SEC referees are out to get UGA. I mean, how many momentum changing penalties can be called on one team?? I suppose it could be worse. You could be these guys. More on this game tomorrow. I'm too emotionally worn down for anything else.

Around the SEC this week

I've already covered Georgia's trip to Lexington this weekend, so let's take a look at the rest of the conference:

Wyoming at Tennessee, 1:00 PM, PPV; Knoxville, TN

The mood at Neyland Stadium should be really strange for this one. As everyone knows, Phil Fulmer was told that he wouldn't be coming back to UT earlier this week. He announced it to the world in one of the most gut-wrenching press conferences you'll ever see. Surely, this has been a big distraction this week, but they are playing Wyoming. Hopefully, Phil's boys go to war for him in his next to last home game as head coach. Tennessee wins, but they don't cover the 26.5.

Tennessee 30, Wyoming 10

Arkansas at South Carolina, 1:00 PM, no TV; Columbia, SC

Looks like Bobby Petrino finally has his team play reasonable competitive football. Still, Columbia is no picnic to walk into. Spurrier has what may be his best defense since he's been at South Carolina and Stephen Garcia brings some competency and excitement to the OBC's offense. South Carolina wins in a game that is not as close as the score indicates, but does not cover the 13.5.

South Carolina 24, Arkansas 17

Alabama at LSU, 3:30 PM, CBS; Baton Rouge, LA

Hey, I bet you didn't know that Nick Saban used to be the head coach at LSU. I didn't realize he left them and went to the NFL only to return to one of their biggest division opponents, Alabama. In case you couldn't guess, that comment was laden with sarcasm. Seriously, this one is shaping up to be an 234 on a 10 point hate scale for LSU. Saban is taking a physical, dominating Alabama offensive line down to the bayou to play an LSU team with a front 7 that is as talented as anyone else in the country, but they are very inconsistent. Alabama has played down to inferior competition and throttled its opponent in all its big road games. I'll never understand the hatred that LSU fans carry for Saban. The man did win you a damned national championship and left the program in great shape. He wanted to take on the NFL challenge. Nothing wrong with that IMO. If someone wanted to triple my salary, I'd probably take a stab at it too. I think Alabama is too fundamentally disciplined to give this one away, and they've shown no signs of losing focus at any point this season. Take Alabama to cover the 3.5 and the over/under on broken windows on the Alabama bus is 20 right now.

Alabama 24, LSU 10

Florida at Vanderbilt, 8:00 PM, ESPN; Nashville, TN

Is there any team in the nation playing better than the Gators right now? Fans in Lubbock, Tuscaloosa, and State College might argue otherwise, but I don't think there's any team better. Since losing an ugly turnover-marred game against Ole Miss on September 27th, the Gators have outscored the opposition 201-43 for an average margin of victory of 39.5 points. They aren't going to wow you on offense like Tebow's Heisman campaign, but are a solid, well-coached team that takes advantage of all its opportunities. This team has to be flying high after depantsing LSU and Georgia in the same season. Vanderbilt has promptly erased all the goodwill it accumulated earlier in the season when it started 5-0. They've since lost to three in a row to fall to 5-3 and still seeking that elusive sixth win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1982. It seems like we've seen this movie before. This one should be over quick and won't be close at halftime. Gators win easily and cover the 23.5.

Florida 45, Vanderbilt 13

That's it folks, happy viewing this weekend.

Georgia vs. Kentucky, 11/8/2008

UGA at Kentucky, 12:30 PM, Raycom Sports; Lexington , KY

It's been a long week for the Bulldog nation following the hangover from last weekend, but it's time for us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get ready for Kentucky. Hopefully, nobody's forgotten what happened the last time we visited Lexington. It was at this point that the team hit the proverbial rock bottom. This was also the the most horrific game of Matt Stafford's career, last week not withstanding. I essentially see this game as the defining game of this team's season. It's time for us to take charge and send our seniors out the right way (by beating Auburn 3 out of 4 times, never losing to Tech, and going 3 of 4 in bowl games). On the note of seniors; we are going to really miss MoMass next year. The guy has been a warrior and he really stepped it up his senior year. I hope the rest of our young guys will grow into their roles as well as he has over the last few years. We're going to find out how they handle the adversity of having their goals absolutely demolished last weekend in Jacksonville. We're going to find out about the senior leadership, if any, on this team this weekend. At this point, the team can still win 10 games and go to a bowl in Florida to take on the second or third best team in the Big 10. Certainly, not the bowl game we originally wanted to attend in Florida, but 10 wins is nothing to sneeze at. It's certainly encouraging as a fan base to see the disappointment and hurt coming from the Bulldog nation. We now expect to contend for SEC and national championships on a yearly basis. That is a far cry from when I came of age as a fan during the early to mid 90's when we were just happy to win 6 or 7 games and have the occasional upset.

Here are some of my keys to the game:

-Short memory: The Dawgs need to forget what happened last week and move on. No doubt last week was an utter disappointment, but they need to make sure the same team doesn't beat them two weeks in a row. This team's playing for pride right now.

-Contain Randall Cobb: If you haven't heard of him, you will on Saturday. He's a freshman currently rotating with Mike Hartline at the QB position. He's also fifth on the team in rushing, active leader in receiving yards after the injured Dicky Lyons, and second on the team in punt returns. This guy can do it all. The defense has got to keep him from using his athleticism to beat them.

-Ball Control: Kentucky has a pretty atrocious offense up to this point in the season. If Georgia can hold the ball with healthy doses of Knowshon and Caleb King, they can keep the Kentucky defense (which is its strength??) and not give them a chance to ever get in this game.

-Turnovers!!?!?!: I only have one request for the Dawgs this weekend. Please hold onto the ball and throw it only to your teammates. Anyone that watched the game last week realizes that Florida was the better team out there. Were they 39 points better? I don't think so. You can win by 39 points if the team gives you the ball inside their 20 twice though. Turnovers at inopportune times have been the Dawgs Achilles heel this year. They've got to shore up the turnover/takeaway ratio or we could be in for a long game.

-I'm tired of repeating this, but will one more time for emphasis: Quit kicking field goals and turning the ball over in the red zone!! This has been painful to watch. It's been a combination of miscommunication, poor execution, predictable play calling, and a young offensive line all rolled into one. For whatever reason, the Dawgs can't seem to put it together once they get inside the 20. This has got to change as we need to put Kentucky away early and often.

What I think will really happen:
I'd like to be wrong, but I really think last week destroyed this team's will. They have nothing of major significance left to play for except to beat an average team in an average bowl. Sure, GA Tech is still a big game, but only for bragging rights. With all the expectations heaped on this team this year, anything short of the ultimate goal was going to be deemed a disappointment. I don't think Georgia will blow out this Kentucky team as many fans want to see. It will probably be a sloppy game that Georgia wins ultimately due to talent. Since the game's in Kentucky, Macondawg has provided a nice concoction for those so inclined. I suggest drinking it because this one is going to be ugly. I don't see Georgia going down in an upset, but I don't see them covering the 11 points either.

My prediction: Dawgs 21, Kentucky 17

Things aren't as fuzzy anymore

Guess who won't be in my Mumme Poll come next week.....

One Time Only

Other than this one post, I'd like to keep politics out of this blog because it tends to lead to irresponsible posting, name-calling, and just plain silliness.  I think that in light of the election this week I should make my thoughts known.  I commented on Doug's site this week regarding some of the fears and criticisms I've heard regarding our new President-elect.  Trust me, I don't like Socialism anymore than the next person, but I feel some of this criticism and fear is unfair and unwarranted.  Below is what I posted to Doug's site.  

(BTW, I didn't vote for Obama before anyone starts ripping me for my below comments.)

"The South Park episode last night really hit the nail on the head.  There's extreme jubilation on one side, and extreme fear on the other.  It's sad to me that America has become so polarized.  I will preface this comment by saying that I don't see eye to eye with most of Obama's beliefs, but to judge a man's performance before he's ever been given the chance is just silly.  Many people cringe when Supreme Court justices are assigned, but if you follow history, those that were tagged as "too liberal" tend to be more conservative, and vice-versa.  Obama said it best when he said we are not identified by Republican/ Democrat/ white/ black/ gay/ straight.  We are all Americans.  If you think Obama is wrong for the country, let him prove it himself and vote him out in four years.  He has at least earned that chance.  I just ask that people give the man a chance to succeed.  When we look back in four years we should ask ourselves the same question Ronald Reagan posed to us in 1980, "are you better off than you were four years ago?".  If not, then vote him out.  But if you are better off in four years, then a lot of this early criticism is just silly."

That was my post.  Some will agree, many will disagree.  I just think that people have forgotten that in the end, we are all Americans and not just "conservatives" or "liberals".  We're in this thing together.

Okay, off my soap box now and back to more important things like Georgia football and hot women.  That's the last serious political reference you'll get from me on this site.  All others will be in jest and humor.

Update:  Ally has a nice take over at her site.

Come on Coach

This post is a couple of days behind, but I figured I should get my .02 in on it.  Most of you saw this report coming out of LA this week.  Let me preface my thoughts by admitting that this isn't the first time Carroll's mentioned that he thinks "the BCS stinks".  It just seems that his cry got a little louder this past week when his team dropped from 5 to 7 in the most recent BCS standings despite pitching another shutout.  Well Coach, I've got a little advice for you.  Quit losing to teams that you're favored to beat by 20 points and we won't have any issues!!  I'm sorry Pete, nobody is that impressed by you shutting out and blowing out Washington State or Washington this year.  Those two might be the worst two teams in the history of the BCS era.  Wazzu has given up 60+ points in 4 of its conference games this year for crying out loud!  Coach, if you had not lost to Oregon State back in September, we wouldn't be having this convo.  If you were undefeated and you dropped a couple of spots after last weekend, then you might have some legitimate beef.  On the other hand, you wouldn't have dropped if you were undefeated because USC is considered the OMG Best Team Ever in the voters' eyes.  I appreciate your frustration Coach.  My alma mater, the Georgia Bulldogs, dropped from preseason #1 to #3 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls this year despite destroying the first two teams played this season.  Those voters are a fickle bunch.  I've got some news for you though. It ain't the voters hurting you, it's the computers.  You of all people should know that your team can't afford to lose a game in the cupcake that's better known as the Pac-10 because your SOS is terrible (see the shaft your team got in 2003).  Oh, I know you play those real difficult out of conference games against mighty heavyweights like UVA and Notre Dame to enhance your reputation.  In reality, the ACC is a conference mired in mediocrity without a truly elite team, and Notre Dame is still coached by Charlie Weis, which means they're average at best.  Sure, that Ohio State demolition was impressive, but we all know that Ohio State decides to stink it up anytime the spotlight is on.  In closing; you can't lose to a 4-3 Pac-10 team that was destroyed by Penn State and lost its season opener in convincing fashion to a pretty damn mediocre Stanford team and have any beef with the current BCS system, okay??

An early look at Kentucky

Just some SEC rankings for fodder:

UGA - #1 in total offense, Kentucky - #7 in total defense

UGA - #9 in total defense, Kentucky - #8 in total offense

UGA - #4 in scoring offense, Kentucky - #6 in scoring defense

UGA - #10 in scoring defense, Kentucky - #7 in scoring offense

UGA - #5 in rushing offense, Kentucky - #8 in rushing defense

UGA - #2 in rushing defense, Kentucky - # 8 in rushing offense

UGA - #1 in passing offense, Kentucky - # 5 in passing defense

UGA - #11 in passing defense, Kentucky # 7 in passing offense

Don't know what all that means, but these teams are pretty average in a lot of categories.  UGA ranks in the top half of all offensive categories, but in the lower half in all defensive categories except for rushing.  Kentucky is pretty much middle of the pack in all major statistical categories.  On paper, this game looks like it shouldn't be close.  But as the old saying goes, "That's why they play the games".

Hopefully we won't see that Saturday.  More on this match up tomorrow.

Mumme Poll, Week 10

Hopefully any Dawg fans out there are reading the Senator. If not, shame on you. He has a weekly poll that he started in reference to the absurdity that was New Mexico coach Hal Mumme's final 2007 poll. The details of how voting works are spelled out here. Anyways, here's the Mumme Poll I submitted for Week 10. Top 5 are noted by asterisks, explanations to follow. Also, note that my teams are ranked in no particular order, so just because they're the last team in the list doesn't mean I think they're the worst of the top 12 and vice-versa for first in the top 5:

Alabama*
Texas Tech*
Florida*
Penn State*
Texas*

Oklahoma
Southern California
TCU
Utah
Georgia Tech
Oklahoma State
Ball State

- Alabama remains in the top five because they took care of business like they were supposed to.

- Texas Tech moves into the top five after pretty much dominating Texas for the majority of the ballgame on both sides of the ball and I'm finally a pirate believer now.

- Florida might be the best team in the country right now. They don't wow you with offense like last year, but they are well coached and like Vanderbilt earlier this season, will make you pay for all your mistakes (see Georgia and Kentucky games).

- Penn State remains in top five being idle. 

- Texas played horribly for three and a half quarters, but put it all together near the end. They have an argument with Florida as to who is the best one-loss team in America.

- Oklahoma stays in the top 12, but doesn't crack the top five. Just from the eyeball test, it looks like they've quit playing defense this year. If their offense ever sputters, there are a lot of teams that could beat them.

- Southern Cal remains in top 12 after posting another shutout. Seriously, is their defense this good, or have they not played a real offense yet? I think it's that good.

- TCU & Utah are riding together in the top 12 from the Mountain West looking to become BCS busters.

- Georgia Tech gets in after an impressive win over Florida State aided by a timely defensive goal line play that caused the game-ending fumble. Who would have thought that of the two major teams in Georgia, Georgia Tech now has the only realistic shot at a BCS bowl?

- Oklahoma State is in the top 12, and they're closer to the top five than being out of my ballot entirely. That loss to Texas was not bad and they'll get their shot against Oklahoma and Texas Tech in the coming weeks to prove they belong in the top five.

- Ball State rounds out my ballot merely because I couldn't justify putting Ohio State or West Virginia in.

- I spent about 25 minutes compiling this.

- I dropped Georgia this week from my ballot. I can't put my finger on why Georgia is fast becoming the Ohio State of the SEC, but this is becoming rather embarassing to show up for big games and continously get your ass handed to you.

Here's Why I Hate Gregg Doyel

This guy tries to pass himself off as a "journalist" when his whole premise is similar to that of a blog troller. He throws out ridiculous arguments just to incite other people's rage, and then he publishes what these people send him in a weekly segment called "Hate Mail". The fact that he publishes this "Hate Mail" segment is complete proof that his whole tactic is to exploit people's emotions to get himself published.  To quote Keith Olbermann, "You sir, are the worst person in the world.".

BTW: Not really a big fan of Olbermann the political pundit, just thought his segment is funny.

Here we go again

And for the second time this football season I've let personal items take the forefront and haven't been able to post much here. Hopefully that will change, but I make no promises right now.

Hit it on the head exactly

From Kyle's page over at Dawg Sports, this post summed up my feelings after the game this weekend perfectly.

Carolina: What I took from it

I'm certainly late in my thoughts on the game so I'll give a quick list of what I liked and what I didn't like regarding Saturday's game in Columbia.

What I liked:

(1) We beat Carolina.

Many don't take Carolina that seriously in the Bulldawg nation, but I consider them to be one of our biggest rivals.  This may be because I'm from the border city of Augusta where you are either a Georgia or a Carolina fan.  I always take delight in beating a Carolina team, no matter the circumstances.  I don't care whether it's ole' slobber knocker Holtz or Spurrier, I want to beat Carolina every year.

(2)  We beat Spurrier.

To add to my earlier comment, it is that much sweeter when Spurrier goes down in flames.  As the infamous Shaq would say "How's my ass taste?".  Spurrier was such a dick for so long to so many schools that I take great delight in seeing it handed to him like he never thought.

(3)  Blair Walsh.

Mr.  Walsh was in my list of concerns before the game, but he hit two big field goals in his first SEC road test.   Anybody remember Andy Bailey's shank at the Auburn game in 2004?  None of that for Mr. Walsh.  Well played, sir.

(4)  Matthew Stafford

Say what you will about his lack of yards or touchdown tosses, this man singledhandedly kept us alive on Saturday.   He made plays with his legs and that throw that he completed on third and forever to AJ Green for a first down is a throw half the QB's in the NFL can't make.  You can see that he's very comfortable in this offense and he has taken his game to another level this year.

(5) Knowshon's 79 yards

Have you ever seen a more gutsy 79 yard performance?  Behind a suspect line and receivers that must have soaked their hands in butter the night before, Knowshon willed his way to 79 yards against one of the best defensive front 7's we will face all year.  That TD run was a thing of beauty.  Nevermind the leap over the CMU player, that TD run may have been the best run of his career at UGA.

What I didn't like about Saturday:

(1) Kickoffs

We continually kick the ball short of the end zone when we have the ability to boom it through and constantly give great field possession to our opposition.  This might not matter early in the season, but if we give the short field to teams with great offenses, we will get shredded.

(2)  The penalties

How many times can we shoot ourselves in the foot?  This team needs to get disciplined and disciplined soon or these penalties are going to cost us a game or two down the road.

(3)  The officiating

This goes both ways on this one.  That might have been the worst officiating I've ever seen in an SEC game.  Seriously, we can't get both playclocks to run simultaneously???

(4)  Willie Martinez's "Cover Two"

For the love of everything that is holy, can we please pressure the QB and give up on this bend but don't break defense??  Seriously, Chris Smelley picked us apart in the second half.  Let me repeat that.  A QB named Smelley ripped our secondary to shreds in the second half.  'Nuff said.

(5)  The dropsies

I thought we got over this part of the way through last year.   Looks like Tripp Chandler is reverting to his old ways and passed them on to the usually sure-handed Kris Durham.  Come on guys, this is D-1 football, those are passes you should catch in your sleep.  AJ Green is putting you guys to shame.

All in all, this was quite the ugly game that we've come to expect in recent years versus Carolina.  Once again the Ole' Ball Coach had his team very ready to face Georgia.  If Carolina played like this against everyone else they might not be 522-525-44 in their history.  In the end, a win on the road in the SEC is a win is a win.  It might have cost us style points, but I think we've gained so much more by facing adversity this early in the season and realizing teams aren't going to just lie down because we're Georgia.  Hopefully, CMR beats that point into his players' heads and we come out with a vengeance next week in the desert.  

Twas' Ugly

This was an ugly win. As was much of Saturday. The thoughts have been spread around thusfar, but since work is calling today, I'll get my thoughts up later.

Friday Gator

I'm going to start a new feature here at the Hobnail Boot. We're gonna have a Gator Photo up every Friday just to remind us all why we are blessed to be Dawgs and not Gators. Here's candidate #1.

I don't know what's better, the man bag or the T-Bone tatoo?

Either way, here's to a great weekend and a victory against the 'Cocks. Go Dawgs!

It's the Apocalypse. No!!!!

Phil Steele is taking the upset even against his computers. I don't know what to think about that. (H/T: The Senator).

A Day for Remembrance

Normally, it's fun-loving Georgia Bulldog talk here, but today take a minute out of your day and have a moment of silence to remember our fallen from that terrible day seven years ago. It's a day I'll certainly never forget and one that deserves our remembrance.

Know Your Enemies - South Carolina Edition

Well, here's my first try at handicapping a Bulldog game this year:

Five Reasons Carolina Will Win:

(1) Do I even have to post this?

The simmered down Ball Coach still just reeks of evil.

Everyone that bleeds Red & Black knows that the Ole' Ball Coach has had a hankering for beating the living crap out of Georgia since we ruined his Heisman Trophy season more than 40 years ago. It seems every year, Spurrier will run those same bubble screens out to the receivers and somehow we'll miss tackles and give up larger gains than we should. Spurrier's offense has looked particularly atrocious at times the last two weeks, but I've got a feeling he's got something up his sleeve for the game this Saturday.

(2) Vanderbilt Redux.

You can't tell me those Carolina players won't be fired up to beat a Georgia team with SEC and national title aspirations after losing to Vanderbilt for the second time in as many years. This is a team that's going to be gunning for blood.

(3) September 4.

By playing that Vanderbilt loss on a Thursday, the Fightin' Cocks have 9 full days to prepare for the Bulldawgs. This gives them more time than normal to work out the kinks and perhaps get that offense rolling.

(4) That defense.

Have you watched the last two weeks? Carolina's defense has been downright scary at times. They completely shut down Vanderbilt for the better part of the game and made NC State look like they were setting offensive football back 30 years.

(5) Blair Walsh.

This is the real schedule. No more cupcakes to practice and show off how far we can kick the ball. Right now, kickoffs have been a problem for the 'Dawgs and Walsh has not been tested in a pressure situation. It seems like every year a few games come down to kicks for us. How many games were won/lost over the Mark Richt era because of Billy Bennett, Andy Bailey, or Brandon Coutu? Enough to worry about a freshman kicker in a hostile environment.

Five Reasons Why The Bulldogs Will Win:

(1) Matthew Stafford.

Remember Stafford's first major playing time? It was in Columbia two years ago when he was a blubbery, baby-faced freshman. He threw three INT's, but made a clutch play call change at the line that allowed Danny Ware to score a TD that basically put the game out of reach. He won't be intimidated by the crowd in Columbia, which might be the loudest stadium with the most rabid fanbase I've ever been to. You also can't discount his performance in last year's game, which was pretty pitiful. The way he's played thusfar this year, he looks heads and shoulders above the guy that lost in the Carolina game last year so I look to him to make big strides.

(2) Chris Smelley/Tommy Beecher/Stephen Garcia/whatever random Carolina fan Spurrier decides to plug in as QB.

If you haven't noticed, the 'Cocks have been having a few problems with the QB. If the QB's perform like they did against NC State or Vandy this one won't even be close. They got away with tons of interceptions because NC State nor Vandy have any offense to speak of. Let's see that fly against a good offense.

(3) Knowshon Moreno will touch the ball more than 14 times.

Last year Knowshow had 14 carries for 104 yards. If he touches the ball less than 14 times in the first half, I will be shocked. I think we'll see that Carolina defense get a healthy dose of 'Shon on Saturday. This team started rolling last year once Knowshon became the focal point of the offense and as the old quote goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I look for a big time game from Knowshon. Who knows, maybe Sportscenter might show a highlight of him this team, but only if he's in the background of Spurrier.

(4) Mark Richt.

The proclaimed "King of the Road" is at it again. The man just knows how to prepare a team to play in a hostile environment, evidenced by his road record in the SEC. After that win in Knoxville in 2001, I think Dawg fans realized this wasn't Jim Donnan or Ray Goff anymore and UGA wasn't going to lay down just because we were outside the hedges (except for Jacksonville, of course).

(5) Because it's South Carolina.

Come on. Yeah, our neighbors to the east every now and then come up and take a bite out of the 'Dawgs, but for the better part of this series, it's been pretty darn one-sided. The overall record following last year's loss "Between the Hedges" stands at a pretty robust 44-14-2. Georgia has won 73% of the games in the history of this "rivalry". That is astounding. Coming into this year South Carolina's overall record as a program was 521-523-44. They have to finish at least 7-5 this year to be .500 overall as a program. Is that mediocrity, or what?

Being from Augusta, this is the first time since 2001 that I won't be personally attending this game. So, I've got the beer, chips, and CBS HDTV ready to watch the Dawgs romp at 3:30 tomorrow. Despite all my talk earlier, my prediction:

Dawgs' 27 Carolina 13

Go Dawgs!!

More Updates Coming

As I mentioned earlier, the updates are going to keep flowing now that the craziness that has been my personal life the last few months has finally calmed down and now I can focus on more personal things: Georgia Bulldawgs! I added my earlier post over to Kyle's great website for all to see. Later, a preview of our mortal enemy for this week, South Carolina and the OBC.

Why It's Great to be a Bulldawg These Days

Obviously, I've not been posting much lately, but I'm trying to change that. Work and family obligations come up and since I'm the only one maintaining this site, the responsibilty falls on me to update it. Anyways, the reason for this post is that I keep seeing on various message boards and blogs is about how overrated these Bulldogs are this year and they are not a great team. Messages like "Bulldogs are overrated, the higher the ranking, the higher the fall". To all those spitting the vitriol, I say "BRING IT ON". For the better part of my 25 years on this Earth, autumn Saturdays in Athens have been a regular tradition. And also for the better part of my 25 years, the Bulldogs have been largely irrelevant not only in the national picture, but also the SEC picture. Sure, we had the occasional 1992 or 1997 seasons to perk up our hopes, but for most of my life I've known mediocrity, underachieving teams, incompetent coaches, boneheaded plays, freakish calls, and all the rest that has gone with this previously dormant program. And you know what, for all the badmouthing about this team, I've never enjoyed being a Bulldog fan and alum more than I have this past 11 months beginning in Jacksonville last year. For once, our team is relevant outside of the Georgia stateline. Other schools in the SEC now see us as a team that should they beat us, they've accomplished something. It's like Florida in the mid-90's, Tennessee in the late-90's and LSU for the better part of this decade. This last 11 months have really made me realize how lucky we are as a team to have a coach like Mark Richt. There are a lot of Bulldog fans out there very shortsighted that don't remember years like 1994 and losing to Tech, Tennessee, and Florida regularly. I do remember and that's what makes these days that much sweeter. You know, there's a chance the Dawgs could fall flat on their collective faces this year and screw the pooch by losing three or four games. Then all those Tech, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Carolina haters will come out of the woodworks proclaiming how overrated we were and we never deserved those lofty expectations. And they'd be right. But you know what. Right, now I wouldn't have it any other way and I'm going to enjoy this season no matter what happens. Because in the end we are so much better off now as a program than we have been since a guy named Herschel decided to test the professional waters as a junior. My fellow Dawg fans, it has never been better to be a Dawg and as long as Coach Richt is at the helm, I don't see these level of expectations dropping anytime soon. We have become what we so wanted to be; the team that contends for titles every year. And we haven't been able to say that for awhile. Folks, it's gonna be a great ride no matter what happens this year and we are in good hands for the years to come.

Go Dawgs!

We're #1

Doing my early morning internet perusing before work got started and I stumbled across this I hope that this doesn't go to our players' heads like that 1988 FSU team that Coach Richt keeps alluding to. Hopefully this doesn't give them a sense of entitlement. I hope they see this today and realize that they've been given an opportunity by the coaches to be the best team in America and they have to work hard if they want to earn it. I believe those might be the exact words from Coach Richt's mouth. Either way, it's a great day in Bulldawg Nation. Go Dawgs!

NCAA Football 09

I just picked up my copy of NCAA Football 09 for the Xbox 360.  If anyone enjoys playing online, my gamer tag is Peckman0581.  I'll probably put up a review of the game after I get to log some time with it.

Mark Teixiera: To Deal or Not to Deal? That is the Question.

Now that we're through the All-Star break, we look forward to see what the Braves plans are for pursuing the NL East crown. Obviously, the biggest story is whether the Braves will trade Mark Teixiera or hold onto him to make a charge at the division. The Braves currently sit 6.5 games out of first place in the East and 7.5 games out of the wild-card lead. The rumors being reported are that the Red Sox are potentially interested in Teixiera. In that situation, the Braves clearly want a serviceable 1B, which more than likely would have to be Kevin Youkilis. The Braves probably would also want a stud prospect as they traded away a lot of young prospects to get Teixiera from Texas last year. These are the Braves possible options for Teixiera:

(1) Trade him at or before the trade deadline and hope to get a 1B/young prospects out of the deal.
(2) Hold onto him for the rest of the year and take your chances with free agency next year. It is rumored that the bidding from Scott Boras, Teixiera's agent, is gonna border on the $20+M/year total contract value at ~$180M. If the Braves can't resign him, they will receive compensatory draft picks from the club that does.
(3) Trade him for a firestorm of prospects similar to how he was acquired last year.

I believe scenario 3 will only happen if the Braves hit the 10 games out mark before the trade deadline. This would essentially be the first time the Braves have waved the white flag since the late 1980's. I think as long as they are within 6-8 games out of first place, this scenario won't happen.

Scenario 2 is one that I'm not too confident that Braves should pursue. I just feel like Teixiera will be too willing to go home to Baltimore or to one of the New York teams because they will likely make him an offer he can't refuse and the Braves aren't known for running up the bidding wars (Unless your name is Greg Maddux and it's 1996. I would argue the Braves are partiallly responsible for the money Barry Zito got paid because they put such a premium on good starting pitching in the 90's.)

Scenario 1 is the one I'm most open to if the Braves are still in the hunt at the deadline. But only if they are assured Kevin Youkilis in a deal with the Red Sox. My opinion is the Braves won't have much of a chance to resign Teixiera next year, even though the removal of Smoltz, Glavine, and Mike Hampton from the roster will clear about $37M in cap space to attempt and resign Teixiera. But as I stated earlier, I don't think the Braves will stick around in a bidding war. Now, if the Braves get Youkilis and a young prospect I think it's a deal they have to make. It will be much easier to resign Youkilis for next year and with him you don't have that huge of a drop-off at the plate or in the field. As much as I'd hate to see Tex go, I just think this is the best deal to be made based on the information available to the public. Maybe Tex really wants to stay in Atlanta and is willing to be reasonable, but with Scott Boras in the fold I just don't see a future with him in Atlanta.

Urban Meyer/Liar??

There was a post to the Bleacher Report the other day regarding Urban Meyer's recruiting tact, or lack thereof. It basically is a compilation from several other Universities who recall recruiting tales where they felt slighted by the actions of Meyer. Either way it's an interesting read, but I wouldn't hold too much stock in it. Avoid the comments section if possible, because it just degenerates into Gator fans defending Urban without logic and everyone else ripping Urban because they're jealous. Although a personal fave of mine was "FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991". Hilarious. Later, I'll be posting an early preview of Georgia's schedule. Tune in later.

Pre-season Top 25:Part Two

Today I posted an early look at who I think the top 25 teams in college football should be 44 days from now when the long-awaited college football season kicks off. Now we will look at each of these teams starting at 25 all the way to 1 to describe why I think they belong in their respective positions. Also, let me preface by stating my preferred method of voting. As the Mayor described today, there are two predominate forms of voting today. (1) The Phil Steele method, which entails ranking based on where you think teams will end up. (2) The starting off point. This method basically ranks teams based on their current position and not where the voter thinks said team shall finish. Now, during the season events may occur that can influence where one thinks a team belongs, but to use an accounting term, this method of voting is like the balance sheet (a snapshot of a company at a given time). I make my rankings using method (2). Without further ado, here goes:

#25 - Alabama
Certainly, the 'Bama nation is not going to like their team being ranked so low. Honestly, this last selection for me came down to which 6-6 SEC team from last season did I feel belonged. Well, 'Bama made a bowl game so they got the nod over South Carolina for the time being. That is, until the world's greatest recruiting class of all time shows up for the Sabanator this fall. Maybe then, 'Bama can reclaim its 25 year rise back to glory.

#24 - Fresno State
What can I say? I'm a sucker for awesome mustaches and teams that aren't afraid to play anyone, anywhere. If they can beat Boise this year, they just might have an outside chance at the BCS. Until then, I reserve the right to judge (Fresno fans can thank 'ole Colt Brennan and the Rainbow Warriors for that)

#23 - Penn State
Joe Paterno marching the sidelines for another season is about as trendy as saying "daddy-o" and walking around with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve of your white t-shirt. Seriously, Joe, it's time to go. I'm fairly certain Joe's not leaving til his other elderly brother in Tallahassee does. One of these two is going to die on the sidelines, I'm convinced.

#22 - South Florida
Gradually rose to #2 in the country before late season losses ended their title hopes. They have their returning starting QB in Matt Grothe and the coach with the meanest look in all of college football. Plus, they've got that traitor Jenn Sterger on their side now, so what could possibly be bad about that?

#21 - Oregon
Oregon may have been the best team in the land last season until that fateful Thursday night game against Arizona last year when Dennis Dixon destroyed his knee for good. They dropped off after the loss of Dixon, but had a huge bowl game against South Florida. With another athletic QB in the wings this year, Oregon is primed to be a darkhorse in the USC-dominated Pac-10.

#20 - Pittsburgh
This is the year to make or break the Dave Wannstedt era. He's got one of the nation's top running backs in LeSean McCoy and a mean, mean defense (See the West Virginia game from last season). If Wannstedt doesn't make a serious improvement this year, he may be on the coaching scrap line at year end.

#19 - Illinois
The Fightin' Zookers return this year after the demolition that was known as the 2008 Rose Bowl against USC. They begin their season again with a neutral site showdown with last year's Big XII runners-up in Missouri. Win that game and the Zookers may be looking at something special this year in the Big 10 leading up the showdown with Ohio State at home in November.

#18 - Kansas
The defending Orange Bowl champs won't be sneaking up on anybody this year. The loss of Aqib Talib in the secondary is a big hit, but as long as Todd Reesing is running the show behind the center, they should be pretty good on offense. The biggest factor against the Jayhawks this year has to be the schedule. They avoided both Oklahoma and Texas last year and face both this year.

#17 - Virginia Tech
Despite losses the last two years in bowls, a Frank Beamer team will always show up and play hard. They return both Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor at QB this year. The loss of Brandon Ore certainly hurts. This team should still be the 2nd best team in the ACC. If they can get some sort of production out of that offense, watch out.

#16 - Wisconsin
The best team that no one seems to think highly of each year. The Badgers should be solid this year with PJ Hill carrying the rock. Game of the year in the Big 10 may be Wisconsin/Ohio State with a berth to the Rose Bowl potentially on the line.

#15 - BYU
This year's Hawaii. The team everyone and their mothers thinks has the best chance of playing with the big boys in the BCS. All the Hawaii comparisons aside, this is a pretty solid football team with a reasonable schedule. They had a good win over UCLA in the bowl game last year. I'm currently taking advice for a nickname for this name. My current favorite is "The Stormin' Mormons". Like you wouldn't watch that team.

#14 - Arizona State
Another one of the "sleeping giants" in the Pac-10. This team far exceeded expectations and expect to flex their muscle with a huge early cross-sectional game against Georgia. With Dennis Erickson around, this team could be good for awhile to come. But we all know, it's a matter of time before half of an Erickson team is either in jail or kicked out of school. So Sun Devil fans enjoy it while it lasts.

#13 - Texas
It seems blasphemous that Texas isn't penciled in at #10 like they were for most pre-seasons under Mack Brown. For the last few years it's been Texas, Oklahoma, and everyone else in the Big XII. With the rise of Missouri and Kansas last year, as well as the return of a defense to Nebraska, the Big XII looks as wide open as it has in recent memory. Texas should again be solid at QB with Colt McCoy looking to rebound from an average year last year. They will be seeking to replace Jamaal Charles who singlehandedly beat Nebraska last year.

#12 - Tennessee
This is a team that everyone seems to be sleeping on. They are an automatic pick for 3rd in the SEC East and an afterthought beyond that. Have we not learned anything over the last few years? When little things are expected of Phat Phil, they are the most overachieving squad of all time (or at least the luckiest). For examples of Phat Phil's enduring luck, please see Vandy, Kentucky, and South Carolina games last year, or even take a look at that Arkansas game from 1998. I personally think they're going to be a pretty good football team this year. They always have a strong running game with probably the meanest offensive line in the SEC. If this team finds a way to knock off Florida in Knoxville, this ranking may be too low and they might just make it back to Atlanta for the second year in a row.

#11 - Texas Tech
All right Mike Leach. Your team is finally getting credit and are picked as a sleeper to make the BCS this year. Are you ready to prove us wrong and win the games you're supposed to win? Or are you going to fall back into that old Texas Tech formula of one big upset and finishing 7-5?

#10 - LSU
No Ryan Perilloux, no worries. The loss of Ryan Perilloux will not greatly alter this team. Sure, they may be playing a transfer from Harvard, but who needs a dynamic QB when that offensive line is going to demolish everyone they play and that scary, scary defense will wreak havoc in SEC backfields. This team is very, very solid. Les Miles has something good going on down in the bayou right now. Auburn/LSU game determines who wins the West this year and potentially one half of a BCS title game.

#9 - Clemson
It truly pains me to place this team this high as long as Tommy Bowden is calling the shots there. No offense Clemson fans, but they have underachieved miserably under the other Bowden son. Sure, he beats daddy regularly, but then he finds a way to lose to the nerds and Wake Forest every year. Despite that, this team is so loaded, I don't see how they don't at least win their division and potentially ten games. But if history holds true, this team will probably finish ranked around 23 or so with an 8-5 record.

#8 - West Virginia
This is another team that I don't know exactly how I feel about ranking them so high. On one hand they have the most dynamic QB this side of Tim Tebow that can will his team to win. See Fiesta Bowl last year as well as Louisville game last year. Pat White should be a Heisman hopeful this year and the offense will still be scary good with him and Noel Devine in the backfield. They do have to replace the meanest FB of all time though, and we'll see how they respond to the whole Rodriguez to Michigan saga. I still believe Bill Stewart was the wrong hire that was made at a time of high emotion for the team and ultimately that will come to bite them in the ass. But not as long as Pat White is still there. This team wins the lackluster Big East easily.

#7 - Auburn
This team could be the most overlooked team in the SEC this year other than Tennessee. While Tennessee may contend for the East, but ultimately get smacked around in the SEC title game by Auburn or LSU, Auburn is definitely on the short list of national title contenders. The defense will be scary, as is usual under Tuberville. The loss of Will Muschamp will not hurt as much as people think it will as Tuberville snatched up the man that shut down West Virginia keeping them out of the national title game. The graduation of Brandon Cox is addition by subtraction tihs year. The big question mark is how well they will be able to run Tony Franklin's offense this year. If the Peach Bowl against Clemson is any indication, watch out for this team this year. They are my sleeper team to win the SEC this year.

#6 - Missouri
Gary Pinkel has found his QB in Chase Daniel. This team was very solid on both sides of the ball last year, but the offense was the difference maker. The loss of Tony Temple will put more of the offensive burden on Daniel, but he's got plenty of playmakers around him as well as the experience of having been ranked #1 in the country last year. The schedule doesn't get any easier this year as they replace Oklahoma from the South with Texas. The games that determine whether they reach the Big XII title game again this year will be against Texas, at Nebraska, and a neutral site showdown with Kansas. This team should reach the Big XII title game again this year with a chance for redemption against Oklahoma.

#5 - USC
This is probably lower than most polls will vote this team at the beginning of the year. I honestly am questioning myself for placing them so low (I know, you know that you're a powerhouse when pre-season #5 is considered too low). Obviously, the biggest question mark is Mark Sanchez this year. Knowing Pete Carroll, Sanchez will probably step in and deliver right away. This program is clearly at another level than the rest of D-1 football. All eyes are focused on September 13th when the Buckeyes come to LA for a game that probably will decide one half of the national title equation. I don't see another team stepping up to dethrone the 6 time defending Pac 10 champions anytime soon. These days are good for Trojan fans.

#4 - Oklahoma
I know, I know. Why would you have a team that absolutely got demolished by West Virginia last year in the Fiesta Bowl so high? My response is, have you seen this team play at all over the last five years? This team is rapidly becoming the Atlanta Braves of college football. If only that national championship trophy could be handed out at the end of the season and not after the bowl games. Any Bob Stoops team is going to come out, play hard, and probably beat you on any given Saturday. I don't see anything different with this team and despite the outcome of their bowl game last year, I still think they got jobbed by not getting into the national title game over LSU.

#3 - Florida
Ah yes, the hated Gators. They possess greatest living human being of all time, Tim Tebow. I believe John Lennon once said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Well, down in Gainesville, Tim Tebow is bigger than Jesus and any number of deities from whichever religion you choose to follow. No doubt, the guy is incredible. When he's not performing circumcisions on Spring Break or curing cancer, he's running over LB's like a Mack truck and he's throwing wobbly passes 10 yards behind your secondary because Percy Harvin is already there. You don't score 55 touchdowns in a season and win the Heisman Trophy without being some kind of awesome. I'd say the biggest question mark this year is whether the Gators can find a running back to take some of the pressure off Tebow. They have Chris Rainey and transfer Emmanuel Moody looking to fill that role. This may be the best team in the SEC and potentially a pre-season #1. The main thing holding them back is the aforementioned healthiness of God (excuse me, Tebow), and the fact that the defensive secondary couldn't cover my grandmother last year. With the recent rash of injures it remains to be seen whether this team can improve in the secondary. If that secondary does improve, this may be a team we're talking about for years to come because they may not need to play defense this year with Tebow and Percy Harvin running things. Biggest game of the year: The Cocktail Party. I firmly believe that one half of the national title equation is coming from this winner.

#2 - Ohio State
What the heck am I doing? I'm an SEC homer and I believe Ohio State is the second best team in the nation? Am I drunk? Well, maybe, but have you seen that roster? There may be three first round NFL draft choices on the defensive side of the ball with another one in Beanie Wells carrying the ball. Todd Boeckman was very solid in his first year as starter and only looks to get better. This team is just as loaded as any team out there. Obviously the question is will they be ready for the big time after another weak Big 10 slate this year? That question will most definitely be answered if the Sweater Vest defeats the Men of Troy in LA. Sadly, a win over USC will likely result in an Ohio State team that goes largely unchallenged in the Big 10 resulting in the annual Ohio State beatdown by an SEC team, better known as the BCS National Championship Game. FYI: It is a celebrated holiday in some southern states. But all joking aside, this is a very good team that gets a bad rap for losing to two very good teams the last couple of years. You don't hear that same kind of backlash against my #4 team despite losing despite losing four BCS games in a row including two national title games, and owning the ignominy of the worst defeat in the history of the BCS.

#1 - Georgia
You didn't really think I would put Ohio State over Georgia, did you? But all homerism aside, this team is absolutely loaded this year. They have one of the top five running backs in the nation with a guy under center that will probably be the first or second QB taken in the NFL draft next year. The offensive line has another year of experience and the defensive secondary may be the most solid unit since Richt's tenure in Athens began. Obviously the glaring weakness this year is the toughest schedule in the history of modern civilization. That's what the pundits believe anyways. All exaggerations aside, the schedule looks pretty brutal on paper. But that's why they play the games on the field and not in the stat books. I would probably rank this team around 5 or 6 if I based my rankings on where I think a team will finish. But there aren't many teams that can boast the same experience and talent as this team coming into the season. This team also was the best team at the end of the season last year. Last season's ending was eerily similar to 2002 where the team was on such a roll that they probably would have beaten anyone, but didn't make it to the national title game because they lost a game to a lesser opponent during the regular season. There is great reason for optimism in Athens this year.

There it is. You may not agree with me but that's how I see it (pre-season, of course). A preview of the Bulldawgs to come.