I like to think of myself as being reasonably optimistic about Georgia’s chances this season.
College Football News is making me feel like Larry Munson, though, as Georgia checks in at #3 in its preseason rankings.
I tremble to paste this:
Why Georgia Should Be No. 1: Don’t be fooled by last year’s slide. The loss of Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, along with a laughable array of injuries, kept Georgia from being Georgia, but this year’s team should be back to form thanks to a deep offensive line that will be among the best in the country (if everyone stays healthy), a phenomenal linebacking corps, a strong backfield, and a future NFL star in WR A.J. Green. Throw in the best kicking game in college football, and shhhhhh … here’s your sleeper for the national title.
Gah! And what is this “phenomenal linebacking corps” you speak of?
That being said, I do have to give credit for recognizing this:
Key to the Season: Turnover margin. Georgia, with enough talent and speed to hang around with anyone in the SEC, forced two fumbles and picked off ten passes, while the offense gave it away 28 times.
That is comical.
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I would add that subscriptions to the UGA Scout site must be way down, and CFN got an edict to help them out.
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I am sure if we dont end up as #1 or #2 some of our rivals will point to this as another example of UGA being overrated. If we do end up #1 or #2 then I dont really care what the rivals say.
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Gee whiz, you guys whine like crazy when you feel slighted by the pundits, but are skeptical of the ones who envision greater success. Granted, Adelson is a moron, but a harmless one. So who cares. The sensible ones among us understand that UGa will be a solid team that can easily contend for the SEC East this year.
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I guess that means we’re thinking that somewhere between 3 and 64 sounds about right. 😉
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120 teams. 50/50 shot. i like those odds. hey, roulette tables are red and black. and sometimes green, like the jersey Samuel wears. what’s up with his knee?
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Out of all the linebackers in the country, ours are some of them.
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+1
Let’s hope they’re some of the better than average ones!
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I assume that they have Bammer and UF ranked #1 & #2?
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Alabama and Ohio State. UF is #4.
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But of course…
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I just saw the article on Foxsports.com. Alabama is ranked 1, and Ohio State is ranked 2. Florida is 4. Yeah, I have a hard time believing that we’re that good, but my favorite part is that GT wasn’t even ranked. And the whining from the nerds has begun in earnest (from the comment thread):
swBUZZman
8/10/2010 9:55:40 AMThis is the most rediculous thing I have ever seen. Excuse me, where is GT? You have Arkansas on here with a projected record of 8-4, and Oregon State on here at 7-5. If you think they are going to be that bad, why are they on this list at all?
HAHAHALOLROFLMAO
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Simple answer to them would be that those teams are not projected to suck as bad as GT will suck.
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The Tech boards are indignantly aflame as we speak.
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I love how some of the Tech posters find it so hard to separate a power ranking and a ranking based on final record. The article clearly states that it’s based on how good they think the teams are right now…now what they’ll be ranked at the end of the year after playing their entire schedule. Simple reading comprehension must not be one of the oh-so-difficult courses taught to the engineers.
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Not*
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A trait that they share with the likes of Boise State.
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haha I like that one poster refers to UGA as “little sister”. Where have the been the last, oh I dunno, 100+ years?!
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This is one of throw away picks that get tossed into pre-season rankings on the chance that the team has a break out year and the publication or pundit can claim that they touted them from the beginning….it is a pick that costs nothing, but could look good if it pans out….at the end of the year no one will remember it unless it turns out to be correct.
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We will be as good as but not better than the best teams we play this year. We do have a shot & they will too.
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We’re as good as Ohio State.
We are probably as good as Florida.
We could play with OU on any given Saturday.
So, while I don’t envision us as a top 5 team at the moment…I also do not believe we’re that much worse than those ranked below #1.
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This is a team that has the potential to be great. CFN is right to be bullish about this team. If we can stay healthy and run the ball like we did at the end of last year, we are going to be a very difficult team to beat.
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The problem is the CFN is usually wrong. Perhaps not as bad as SI but usually their rankings are way off.
There seem to be really wild swings media perception about UGA at this point. #3 in CFN, unranked in SI, 17 in another, 21 in a fourth.
Let’s hope we just make it through the first game of the season with a win and NO injuries.
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We have the talent to beat every team on the schedule. No one wants to believe we can beat Fl and that is exactly the problem. We have the talent and we’ve had the talent most years. And I’ll put our Coordinators against theirs any day of the week. Let’s go down there and punch them in the mouth like Moreno did and start expecting to be top 5. And then punch em again… And again. A new QB and def is not an excuse for them and shouldn’t be for us.
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I am willing to say that you guys are a little under the radar this year, which isn’t a bad thing. I see you guys contending for the East. GA has so much talent on the defensive side of the ball. Now if you guys make it to the SEC Champ. game, all bets are off.
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Hey, I think if we make it to the SEC Championship Game, we have a real good chance to beat LSU, thank you very much…
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I think you meant Auburn.
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I think you meant Arkansas, this year’s pre-season Ole Miss, which was the pre-season Georgia of the year before last, which was like an imaginary dream-team somebody had “been waiting 55 years to be the head coach of a football team that has this much potential, and I guarantee you that we’re going to get it done” or something like that given the relative inexact science of pre-season predictions.
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I think you really meant Mississippi State which was sooo close last year and is going to get over the hump this year when LSU, FLA (from the East), Bama and Auburn all beat each other up. A couple of upsets and they are there.
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No, I think you really meant Ole Miss which now has the PAC 12 Player of the Year at QB.
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It is better to be an optimist than a pessimist or even a realist. People who are optimist never gets depressed as there will always be next year. The DAWGS will be the National Champions in Football this year. Why be a fan if you do not believe so.
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So the prevailing sentiment is it is OK to rank UF in the Top 10, but not Georgia because these guys are clueless and everyone else has such a stellar record? Even though UGA returns more starters, lost fewer impact players from 2009, both having a new DC, and both having a QB with no real experience?
Look, I don’t think either deserves to be in the Top 10 at the start of the season because both have to answer some questions (maybe 11th and/or 12th would be right). Between 3-7 seems a little gawdy and presumptuous for either UGA or Florida, but both have the potential to end up there if a few things roll their way. Why look at one getting a high ranking and accept it, but the other is assumed to be unrealistic? Remember, Steele himself picked UGA as the team that wouldn’t shock him if they went all the way. But ranking us at #19 shows he feels we have to prove it, and that is why we play the season and always find many schools that were both significantly over, and under, rated prior to September.
The good thing is no one’s opinion can keep us from winning our Division, or the SEC title, that happens on the field where opinions are worthless. And why the SEC title is the most meaningful title in CFB. I just hope we get a shot at it. And that is no disrespect to Bama who deserves to be the betting favorite at this point. But that is just another opinion, which is all we have in mid-August.
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I like being ranked lower personally. We all see the great potential but last year “should” set us up as a team not worthy of top 10 hype.
My own opinion is we can beat anyone on the schedule with the luck some of our fellow SEC teams have had. Actually, we can beat them without luck but injuries and horrible calls (LSU) do come in to play.
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I am in that camp as well, prefer the players have a chip-on-their-shoulder attitude. But I do think the majority of polls have us too low based on our relative strengths. As noted, it changes nothing and now there is something for everyone. If forced to do a pre-season poll for some gargantuan pot of money, I would put put us just outside the Top 10. Like you, I don’t see a team we don’t have a 50/50 chance of beating, or better.
That said, 10-2 is the most comfortable prediction I can come up with if Am stays healthy. Could be a little better, might be a tad worse, simply because all the bounces don’t so your way and we do play some teams with talent.
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Glad to know that someone else besides me believes the SEC Title is the most meaningful championship in CFB.
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I think if CFN had said a phenomenal backfield and solid linebacking corps it would be more like it. Nonetheless, I tend to agree with their overall analysis…#3 may be a little high, but I do think we are a darkhorse natty candidate.
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Do they realize that Rennie is in the NFL?
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