Before we all get geared up for Wednesday's basketball game against Fresno State, I would like to take a moment to interject a note about football following the conclusion of the first week of spring practice.
Paul Westerdawg said it best: Georgia's spring practice will only tell us so much and most of our questions will not begin to be answered until Labor Day weekend.
Since current data are inconclusive and will be for the foreseeable future, our only recourse is to look to the past when predicting the sort of season the Red and Black are apt to enjoy in 2007. Accordingly, you will want to give consideration to the following facts, for whatever they might be worth:
- Last fall, for the 11th time in series history, the Bulldogs shut out South Carolina. In three of the last 10 seasons following an autumn in which the Red and Black held the Gamecocks scoreless, the 'Dawgs won a conference championship. In years after shutting out the Palmetto State Poultry, the Classic City Canines are 5-0 against South Carolina, 4-1 against Florida, 7-2-1 against Auburn, and 5-1 against Georgia Tech.
- In 2006, the Bulldogs beat the Rebels in Oxford for the ninth time. The seasons immediately subsequent to the previous eight such campaigns saw a trio of S.E.C. titles for the Red and Black. In years following a Georgia win in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the 'Dawgs are 8-0 over Ole Miss.
- In retrospect, the start of the Classic City Canines' turnaround this past season may have been a narrow loss in Jacksonville to the eventual national champion. Last year marked the sixth occasion on which Georgia lost to Florida by exactly a touchdown and an extra point. In the previous five seasons following seven-point setbacks to the Gators, the Bulldogs posted a pair of 11-win seasons and were 3-0 in postseason play.
- Aside from Georgia's loss to Vanderbilt, the worst outing of the Red and Black's 2006 campaign came when the 'Dawgs fell to the Wildcats in Lexington. Prior to last autumn, the Classic City Canines had lost to the Bluegrass State Felines on 10 occasions and, in the seasons directly following those 10 campaigns, the Bulldogs were 7-3 against Florida . . . and 8-0-1 against Kentucky.
Go 'Dawgs!