Next year starts at the Outback Bowl.

Mark Richt, on the bowl game:

… It’s also the first game of 2012, and the way everything is set up in the BCS system, I think how you finish has something to do with how people see you when the season begins the next year. I think it’s important for the future too to play well and try to get the victory.

What was once – and not very long ago – laughable is now something to be considered seriously.  And Richt’s not the only one harboring such thoughts.

“I know I’ll have to compete with Jarvis though,” Rambo said, smiling. “Some of the team goals: We made it to the SEC (championship), we won the SEC East, but we didn’t win the SEC, and that’s one of the goals I want to achieve. And also the national championship. I never had a chance to win a ring playing any sports, and I think next year will be a great year for us.”

Senior cornerback Brandon Boykin went through this process last year. At one point he had decided to leave, but changed his mind.

Boykin said the juniors considering the job should “really think about it, not make a decision off of what they feel at the moment.”

“I know everybody’s goal is to go to the NFL,” Boykin said. “I know everyone wants to get out and make money and stuff like that. But to just really think about the situation, what’s best for them. I know everybody’s situation is different.

“Definitely for me I wanted to come back and make sure I got closer to my degree. Make sure you help your draft stock as much as you can. For me, a huge thing was coming back on a winning season. So with us winning 10 wins this year, a lot probably want to come out and win the SEC next year.”

First off, it goes without saying that if a kid’s good enough to go pro, when the time comes, I’ve got no problem with the decision.  But it’s been a while since Georgia players like Rambo and Charles have had a tougher choice to make between the pocketbook and collegiate success.  If we see them decide to stay, there’s something to be said about the 2012 bandwagon gaining momentum.

As Seth Emerson points out, there are reasons to be optimistic about how Georgia’s next season shapes up.  For one thing, the schedule may prove to be even more favorable than 2011’s was.

Georgia had a fairly easy schedule this year, and it could be even easier in 2012. All four of its non-conference games are at home, with Georgia Tech the only opponent from a BCS conference.

And the Bulldogs may catch a break in the SEC’s re-worked schedule: Reports out of Missouri are that school will open its SEC membership by hosting Georgia early in the season. While that may not be an easy game, it could replace a previously scheduled trip to Alabama.

And you’ve got to like the prospects for a defense when Todd Grantham says finding a nickel cornerback would be his main issue this coming spring.

Still, baby steps.  It will be worth watching three things before spring practice arrives:  (1) Georgia’s attitude and effort at the bowl game; (2) how well that staff closes on national signing day (particularly at running back and offensive line); and (3) how many juniors forego the jump to the NFL.

Sunday morning buffet

Sample the wares, folks…

• Mike Bobo wants Murray and Jones to come up with a gameplan for Michigan State:  “I haven’t gotten that much from them,” Bobo said, “but they like to think they’re coaches.”  Hmm… maybe he should try that approach with some fans on the Internet.
• John Infante suggests the NCAA should consider combining the $2000 stipend proposal with a college football playoff run by the NCAA.  As always, it’s so easy.
• For Steve Spurrier, Dabo Swinney is the new Philip Fulmer.
• This pro-BCS piece is a little too smug for my taste, but it’s hard to argue with one point:  “… before 1992 the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in The Associated Press poll met just eight times to determine the national champion. When the Bowl Alliance/Bowl Coalition was in place, because of the Big Ten/Pac-10 tie-in with the Rose Bowl, the top two teams met just three of the six years it was functioning.”
• The first rule of bowl games:  Everyone else picks up the tab.
• Will Muschamp interviews Kerwin Bell for the Florida OC opening.  Maybe Muschamp’s trying to assemble a staff of coaches who know what it’s like to be on the losing side in the Cocktail Party.
• RU-DEE!  RU-DEE!
• New phrase from the New Orleans Bowl:  illegal stemming.  Sounds like doing something questionable with flowers.

Who says bowl games are meaningless?

Penn Wagers caps off a series of blown calls/replay explanations at the end of the Potato Bowl by referring to the (African-American) receiver who fumbled the ball at the goal line as “the boy who caught it…”.

He’s a fabulous good will ambassador for the SEC.

By the way, enjoy this timely piece from Kevin Scarbinsky.  Maybe Wagers and his crew were befuddled by NO SEC SPEED, BABY!