I don’t want to paraphrase Bruce Feldman here, so just read.
After spending a lot of time watching the NCAA hoops tournament and hearing about sleepers and favorites, I couldn’t help but think a time or two about how the 2013 BCS title race shapes up. After checking the latest 2013 BCS championship odds (viabetvega.com), this week’s Top 10 list: the most intriguing team lines at this point of the off-season based on personnel, schedule and other minutia.
1-Georgia, 14-1: There is a lot to like about the Dawgs in 2012: Aaron Murray is back for a third season as the starting QB; they are deeper at RB and almost everyone from a nasty defense returns. Another huge factor of why I’m thinking of boarding this bandwagon is the schedule: You realistically cannot get a much more manageable route as an SEC team that what Georgia has this fall: They avoid Bama, LSU and Arkansas, the league’s three most talented teams; they traded Boise State for Buffalo in the non-conference; they get Ga. Tech in Athens. And Florida and Tennessee are still sorting out rebuilding issues. The one snag is an October trip to South Carolina. Oh, and they have the SEC juice of six BCS titles in a row. I still think Bama and LSU have better shots to win it all, but at 14-1, the Dawgs would be a tempting pick.
To avoid undue giddiness, repeat after me: “offensive line”. Repeat as necesssary.
Get The Picture 
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Dear Santa,
I have been a good boy and would like to have a schedule just like my friend UGA.
Sincerely,
Aubie
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No kidding. We don’t have any tough teams from the SEC west on the schedule. Cake walk.
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You would of course want a schedule like Georgia’s, because that would mean not playing Georgia. That didn’t go over so hot last year.
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Dear Aubie,
Unfortunately, I can’t help you much with that. You’re stuck played LSU and Alabama due to being in the SEC West. I wouldn’t worry much about Arkansas, they’re as overrated as they were last year. Also, you’re still stuck playing Georgia since Mike Slive hasn’t managed to get rid of the game yet, and they’re a team that has beaten you five of the last six seasons. Your administration is looking out for you, though, since your nonconference schedule is a relative pillowfight with Alabama A&M, New Mexico State, ULM, and Clemson coming to town. Clemson’s pretty much on par with Georgia Tech.
In closing, try to put together a team that is capable of coming within 30 points of quality opposition in 2012 before complaining about the schedule. Utah State was nearly too much for you last year.
Sincerely,
Santa
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Better call on someone besides Santa.
“He sees you when your cheating,”
“He knows when you’re a fake”
“He knows if you’ve been bad and when
your star’s Daddy’s on the take”
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+1
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*clapping*
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Aubie, has been a good guy, hahahahahaha! Know that right there is funny.
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Seriously. That is like Miami, Ohio State, and USC saying they have always been pristine regarding character and integrity. The AubieCanes, dirtiest team in the SEC.
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Yeah we’ve got issues but so does every eventual national champ every year. That schedule won’t be as easy as it looks on paper (I’m betting on UF being significantly improved and a tough game from USC) but you still won’t find an easier path to Atlanta for the BCSNC play in game. Time to man up boys, there’s a golden opportunity in front of you. This team has the potential to be the best Georgia team Richt’s coached so far, which is sayin’ something.
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In what way is Arkansas more talented than Georgia?
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People seem to keep overlooking that they lost their top THREE receivers, which was undoubtedly the strength of their team last year.
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We’ve had every OL variation/combination of experience, returning, games played, no experience over the last few years. Not sure what we roll out this year can be worse than any of the rest. Should we be a little more encouraged that at least we have some natural tackles to man the position rather than just putting our best guard there?
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+1.
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Football as in life, things can always get worse. Always. And anytime anyone ever floats the meme that a team or position group will improve simply due to addition by subtraction, keep in mind that as crappy as the guys who left were, it’s not like the guys who are now assuming those posititions could take those jobs away from them. Not saying the OL can’t improve just that the meme of “well, we’ll be better because the upperclassmen sucked/ were showboating prima donnas and now we have the hungry/talented underclassmen stepping in” should be met with a healthy dose of skepticism.
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I don’t think the guys that left were crappy but rather they just weren’t in their natural position. CGlenn and BJones were crappy? Bean was, but that was because he was out of position. I’m not saying that we’ll improve from addition by subtraction, just that perhaps by having actual tackles manning the position (and guards at the guard position) that the results ultimately “might” not be as bad as one would expect from having 3 new starters on the line. I’m just hoping, that is all.
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We’ll probably just end up with a guard at LT again anyway.
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As predictions go I only would take that one with a grain of salt except for the fact that Feldman is a really smart guy. This is encouraging.
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I’m trying to squirrel away some money before the War Dept catches on. This is similar to my odds on Bama last year. If you didn’t pull the trigger then, you probably won’t now, but a few on here did last year and we were rewarded. Hell, $100 to $1200 will get you to Cancun for a week. That would include reef dives and everything. Course, it could help your glaucoma immensely.
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What’s most encouraging to me is that I can’t remember a recent season where if someone asked me “name your top 10 players,” I would have struggled to select just 10. It just feels like we’re so loaded with play makers on both sides of the ball that there’s no way we don’t make a serious run. It’s ALL right in front of us, and unlike the 2008 pre-season when it was talked about as an expectation, this team seems to have the feeling about it that they know they’ve still got a lot to prove. The final two games of last season gave them something to work for. But even with those two losses, it just felt like we were SO close to putting it all together. So here’s to an injury-free Spring and a title run this Fall. GATA.
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