Thanks (or no thanks) to Kentucky, your finger-lickin' good SEC teams are 21-2 in non-league play. The spoilers: Wake Forest on an ultra-late field goal to shatter Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech on a small-school football clinic at Mississippi State.
Other than the Mildcats in Lexington, the SEC fraternity had it easy, though Vanderbilt was level with Rice at halftime before smelling the roses 38-21. LSU drilled North Texas State 41-3, Ole Miss sleep-walked over Samford 34-10 and Alabama gutted Western Kentucky 41-7.
A harsh spotlight was on Tennessee, tripped up in its previous game by UCLA. The Vols cut back on their "crapload of plays" from L.A., says wide recever Gerald Jones, and beat the crap out of UAB 35-3. UT would love a mulligan against the Bruins, which lost to BYU by something llike 123-0 Saturday. Or so it seemed.
Amid the non-league pushers, one figures to push back next week. Arizona State lures Georgia into the desert.
Concerned about the Sun Devils, Dawg fans?
Showing posts with label Tennesse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennesse. Show all posts
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Should Georgia Bulldogs be ranked No. 1?
My college football guru, Beano Cook, enlightened me years ago that forecasting a national champion boiled down to one factor.
Think of your real estate agent's mantra -- "location, location, location." In the prediction game, it's "schedule, schedule, schedule."
Georgia has been honored (burdened?) with the preseason No. 1 rating. Half of its 12 opponents are ranked, three in the top 10. The Dawgs commute to five of those six games. Tack on an SEC title match, and no team ever will have survived a comparably gory gauntlet en route to the pot of gold on the back end.
Let's examine the skeds of Nos. 2 through 5.
Southern Cal gets all three of its ranked foes (Ohio State, Oregon, Arizona State) at home. Same with Oklahoma (Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech).
The Buckeyes travel to confront its three (USC, Wisconsin, Illinois) but dabble in the softer Big Ten. Florida's once daunting non-SEC quiniela of Miami and Florida State no longer strikes fear, and its sole ranked obstacle on the road is No. 18 Tennessee.
Georgia does benefit from the expanded 12 games per team that often allows for one misstep by a school with a lofty strength of schedule. So, if no two members of the power conferences sweep through their seasons unscathed, the Dawgs likely would land in the BCS title tilt with one defeat.
Take another look at the schedule from Hades (including a 13th game in the SEC championship). I see two losses. I don't envision Georgia in the exclusive location, location, location of national champion.
Do you?
Think of your real estate agent's mantra -- "location, location, location." In the prediction game, it's "schedule, schedule, schedule."
Georgia has been honored (burdened?) with the preseason No. 1 rating. Half of its 12 opponents are ranked, three in the top 10. The Dawgs commute to five of those six games. Tack on an SEC title match, and no team ever will have survived a comparably gory gauntlet en route to the pot of gold on the back end.
Let's examine the skeds of Nos. 2 through 5.
Southern Cal gets all three of its ranked foes (Ohio State, Oregon, Arizona State) at home. Same with Oklahoma (Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech).
The Buckeyes travel to confront its three (USC, Wisconsin, Illinois) but dabble in the softer Big Ten. Florida's once daunting non-SEC quiniela of Miami and Florida State no longer strikes fear, and its sole ranked obstacle on the road is No. 18 Tennessee.
Georgia does benefit from the expanded 12 games per team that often allows for one misstep by a school with a lofty strength of schedule. So, if no two members of the power conferences sweep through their seasons unscathed, the Dawgs likely would land in the BCS title tilt with one defeat.
Take another look at the schedule from Hades (including a 13th game in the SEC championship). I see two losses. I don't envision Georgia in the exclusive location, location, location of national champion.
Do you?
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