Saturday was a good day for the Dawgs. Georgia defeated the typically stingy BYE while a number of hated teams fell in what can only be described as epic fashion. But this presents a very real problem: heading into the WLOCP, its highly likely that Georgia will be ranked in the BCS standings.
Georgia currently sits at # 26 (others receiving votes) in the Coaches Poll, #27 (others receiving votes) in the Harris Poll, and #25 in the AP Poll (the one that doesn't count). The Dawgs are unranked in the BCS standings, which suits me just fine from a team mentality standpoint as we prepare to take the field against the hated Gators.
That's probably all about to change...
Washington (#25 Harris, #25 Coaches, #25 BCS) -- Lost to #8 Stanford 65-21 -- Falls to 5-2
Illinois (#20 Harris, #21 Coaches, #23 BCS) -- Lost to unranked Purdue 21-14 -- Falls to 6-2
Georgia Tech (#18 Harris, #19 Coaches, #22 BCS) -- Lost to unranked Miami 24-7 -- Falls to 6-2
Auburn (#21 Harris, #23 Coaches, #20 BCS) -- Lost to #1 LSU 45-10 -- Falls to 5-3
WVU was more highly ranked (#14 BCS) and got waxed by unranked Syracuse -- Falls to 5-2 but likely still in.
Polls are meaningless things on their own. However, there is unquestionably a mental sense of value placed on those little numbers beside a team's name. As this week's games show, that number has no bearing on who will win any given game but an issue arises from the belief it instills in the media, fans, and (God forbid) players about who should win.
Given our history with the Gators, I'm not thrilled with the idea of any outside factors impacting our mentality as a team or a fanbase. No one needs to be thinking about how we're ranked and they're not. No one needs to be thinking about our 5 game winning streak or their 3 game losing streak. And no one needs to hear from anyone in the media that we're favored in this game.
All anyone needs to be thinking is: They're Florida. We hate them. They've owned us for the better part of two decades, but starting on Saturday we're gonna beat some ass. Their turncoat coach and Jabba the Hutt offensive coordinator better start running now cause the new look Junkyard Dawg D is 'bout to KTMFD!
I'm going to be composing a letter to the BCS asking that they "forget" to release the rankings this week. In the meantime, I hope you'll share your thoughts about the upcoming WLOCP in the comments. Welcome to Hate Week!
GO DAWGS!!!
*Please note that this reference is based on Dan Rydell's interpretation of Eli's Coming... not the meaning Three Dog Night intended.