From today’s The State, five guys say why Georgia is #1 going into the ’08 season:
Five members of The Associated Press’ Top 25 college football voting panel tell us why they’re leaning toward putting Georgia No. 1 on their preseason ballots:
1. Stewart Mandel, SI.com. Of the teams that finished high last year, Georgia has by far the most key players coming back, with the possible exception of Ohio State. But there’s obviously reason for skepticism with the Buckeyes.
2. David Jones, Florida Today. Knowshon Moreno is just beginning to show how good he really is. He’s my preseason Heisman favorite over [Florida’s] Tim Tebow.
3. Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram. In Matthew Stafford, the Bulldogs have a veteran quarterback with more skins on the wall at the college level than the guy who will start at Southern Cal, Mark Sanchez.
4. Tom Luicci, (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger. I’d go with Georgia because of the wealth of talent, particularly on offense, it has back. I’m not sure the national champion this year was even the best team in the SEC at the end of the season.
5. Joe Person, The (Columbia) State. Here’s hoping success doesn’t spoil Moreno. The way the Heisman candidate sprints back to the huddle after every carry is reminiscent of how Pete Rose ran out every ground ball. That kind of energy is infectious.
Get The Picture 
I can’t wait to hear the chicken fans I work with reaction to this Monday. Although I’m sure they still think they’ll be National Champions this year.
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The obvious response is the geographical spread the comments come from, including two from the home turf of our SEC rivals. It doesn’t mean that we are, or should be, regarded as the best team going into the season, but it does mean that national respect has been achieved in advance of whatever we accomplish. Like many, I don’t like pre-season rankings because nothing has been achieved at this point, but I do feel we deserve to start the season among the top tier of programs…..somewhere among the best 6-7 teams that have a chance to play in the season finale.
Given the strength of our schedule, if we go 12-1 going into the bowls with an SEC title, there can be no doubt we have to one of the best 3 teams in the country for 2008, and that is as high as you can achieve under the current system that does not allow a playoff. It would also mean we have tied TN with 13 SEC titles and that means only one school has won more of the most prestigous titles in all of CFB. That is where we want UGA to be, and we would be positioned to move into 2nd alone within the next two years. UGA has long had that potential, but only under CMR are we showing it on the field. What a run this has been!
These writers certainly pick up on the obvious strengths of Stafford and Moreno, but surprisingly seem to be missing the real strength, as I see it, of the 2008 UGA team….the defense. I don’t think we have ever had the quality of defensive players we will put on the field this fall, and we are talented 2-3 players deep at all positions. I am not knocking the potential of the offense, just saying that our defense is where we will have a huge edge over every team we face. A defense this good can put the offense in excellent position with short fields to work with, and allow us to have more possession time. This defense looks so dominating, especially the front 7, that our offense may outscore every other SEC team this year. That is a stat you just don’t see at UGA historically. The writer from New Jersey feels our strength is the offense. If he is right, we could realize the “impossible dream” and make it through this gauntlet of a schedule unbeaten. What dancing in the streets that would inspire! I don’t think I have ever looked so forward to a season of UGA football, and that is going back a few decades. Go Dawgs!!
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UGA does have the toughest SEC schedule this year, but if you look at it closely there is one huge advantage in my opinion. No team has an off week prior to the Dawgs. My concern is possibly
being faced with beating one team twice(reg. season, SEC Championship).
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