The Bulldogs were able to win despite sleepwalking through their SEC East-clinching game against Kentucky.
Seriously, your big announcement that you're going to the SEC Championship Game is beating Kentucky 19-10?
Georgia (+30.5) over Kentucky 52-10
I was going to pick UK to cover up until I sat down to write this picks post, actually. I thought UGA was going to take it easy and coast to the win. However it occurred to me that with the SEC East title officially theirs with a victory, the Bulldogs are probably going to make this about as emphatic as possible. It's been six years since their last division title, and with this game being in Athens, it's going to be a three-hour party.
Which leads to the conspiracy theory for why this might be relevant for SEC fans.
There are two programs, Ole Miss and Kentucky, who are very likely to be looking for new head coaches after this season. . . .
Interestingly, only two teams came out above average in both offense and defense: Alabama (finished fourth in the SEC West) and Georgia (finished 6-7 overall, 3-5 in conference play). Last year was not a year for balance in the SEC, that's for sure. The only team with a semblance of "balance" that succeeded in the standings was South Carolina, who was average on offense and slightly below average on defense. This fact also underscores the malaise that surrounded Georgia last year. You can't find many justifications in their numbers as to why the Bulldogs finished the year under .500.
If you were to combine the likelihood of an SEC East team going undefeated or having just one loss and having the schedule that would put it in the national championship game, I think Georgia is the best choice.
The UCF football team is scheduled to wear black jerseys and gold pants when the No. 25 Knights face Georgia in the Liberty Bowl Dec. 31. The Bulldogs have the option of either wearing red or white jerseys.
If there is some sort of documentation through Facebook that Hawkins misrepresented himself to Green, that is different. That is proof that Green didn't know what he was doing -- beyond, of course, the original issue of selling the jersey in the first place. If there were ever an extenuating circumstance, you would think that would meet the definition. In that case, the NCAA should consider reducing Green's suspension to the two games he will miss.
Going into his 10th season, some folks are wondering how much time is left for him in Athens. I personally am wondering if that is more a reflection of his record (unlikely) or just the fact that we're not used to SEC coaches sticking around for that long.
The big concern in 2010 is redshirt freshman QB Aaron Murray. Any time you are starting a redshirt freshman, you worry. Will he be enough to help Georgia win more games?
What if I offered you this line: 53% completions on 260 attempts, 1750 yards, seven TDs, and 13 INTs? How does that sound? It's not great, but that was basically what Matthew Stafford did as a true freshman in 2006. That is the only season in the last 10 where a Richt-coached quarterback finished outside the top half of the nation in passing efficiency. And you know what? Georgia won nine games that season and dropped three other winnable contests.
Murray, being a redshirt and not a true freshman, should do better than that this season.