Lack of BCS title doesn’t keep Dogs from decade’s Top 10
UGA fans have had a lot to celebrate in the past decade. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
We’ve heard a lot recently about how Georgia fans are disappointed with the way things have been going lately for Mark Richt’s program. But it’s worth noting that most of that disappointment is focused on the past two seasons and, in fact, is prompted in large measure by how consistently successful the Dogs have been since Richt came to Athens.
Richt raised the standards of what Georgia fans consider acceptable, and how he has to live up to those standards.
That point is driven home by some numbers crunching done by the CFB Data Warehouse (with a tip of the hat to Rivals’ Fanblogs.com for pointing this out).
Factoring in winning percentage, schedule, national championships won and Big 4 bowl appearances, the Data Warehouse folks have compiled a comprehensive college football ranking for the years 2000-2009, and UGA comes in No. 8 for the decade. (That covers Jim Donnan’s last season and all of Richt’s to date.)
Here’s how the Top 25 looks:
1. Southern Cal 2. Florida 3. LSU 4. Ohio State 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas 7. Miami 8. Georgia 9. Oregon 10. FSU 11. Virginia Tech 12. Alabama 13. Oregon State 14. Michigan 15. Auburn 16. Notre Dame 17. Tennessee 18. Georgia Tech 19. UCLA 20. California 21. Penn State 22. Iowa 23. Wisconsin 24. West Virginia 25. Boston College
What’s especially notable is that all of the teams ranked ahead of Georgia won a national championship during that decade and the Dogs are the highest-ranked team that didn’t win one.
While it might be popular to judge things from a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately point of view, Richt’s most severe critics have to concede that when you look at the overall record, he’s done a remarkable job, even without winning a crystal football.
Whether you think he can keep it up in the next decade and eventually get UGA a BCS title is certainly something that’s hotly debated in Bulldog circles. You either see this past season and a half as a hiccup for a still successful program, or you see a program starting to decline.
I’m with the hiccup crowd. What about you?
While on the subject of the decade ranking, it’s also notable that using the same criteria, the SEC was the top-ranked conference for 2000-2009, followed by the Pac 10, Big 12, Big 10, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, Division 1-A independents, the WAC and Conference USA. Which might come as a surprise to a lot of Big 12 boosters.
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307 comments Add your comment
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:27 pm
ummmmmm Just Sayin????.
Ummmm Bill Belicheck was fired from the FREAKIN browns. How’d that work out?
DawgGoneTruth
February 23rd, 2010
1:27 pm
Hey “Paul’s Johnson”….We have played for the “Big Trophy”…the SEC championship. If you are referring to the so-called National Title?…no such thing. Never will be until there’s a playoff. Right now the only national championship that exists in college football is a game played after a bunch of computers spit out their data and a bunch of money-mongers sit around a table and play “rock, paper, sissors”. Be happy that the Bee’s won the ACC championship. The conference titles are the only real championships in CFB. It’s the only one that a team can actually earn through a fair process.
War Eagle
February 23rd, 2010
1:28 pm
Will someone talk about US!!! We got a Florida reject for a coach and a florida reject for a QB next year. We will have it goin on boys!!!
Bama fan
February 23rd, 2010
1:28 pm
How2fish,
Don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house. Bama has been before the ncaa on major violations 3 times now, 4 if you count the textbooks. The only reason you think of Bama as being in trouble is because all of the cases happened in the 90s and 2000s. We didn’t have Jan Kemp, Jim Harrick and how many points for a 3 pt shot, and Herschel with his Trans Am.
You might be interested to know that Georgia and Auburn are tied with about 5 other programs with having the 3rd most major infractions cases brought against them by the NCAA at 6 major infractions cases. Just the facts sir.
The Hard Truth for UGA detractors II
February 23rd, 2010
1:28 pm
Most US colleges would simply love to enjoy the status ( whatever it is ) that UGA enjoys and all of this without a recent NC. This proves it all. UGA is still a BRAND NAME with or without the NC title.
UGA SEATS at football games more than all the other schools in the USA, except for 5 others. In other words, the folks enjoy trecking to Athens for an outting. Most techies will not take Marta to a tech game as a contrast.
In closing …………..UGA has a fabulous program and this has been true for nearly 50 years. The facts prove it. I hope that you bloggers can read but if you went to public high school, well ……sorry.
Take TCU and Boise State and Oregon or Oregon State ( i confuse these two ) as three examples of up and comers. They will take years and years and years of quality bowl WINS and top 10-15 finishes before they are in this elite status. No one right now SERIOUSLY starts the year out naming them as a sure bet for the NC or final top 5 picks. Maybe west coast sports writers.
UGA is a top program. Aaaaahhh !! I just love it.
DawginLex
February 23rd, 2010
1:28 pm
I still think we have a shot to take florida down this year with what is going on down there but I’m not stupid enough to say it’s a sure thing. I have made many a trip to jacksonville where we won and we had no business winning. They couldn’t beat us most times and they always had talent. I guess the tables have turned over the last 20 years.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:30 pm
yeah ok, good point but he won the next place he went. Grantham didn’t even call plays for the Boys. Since when do you hire a lineman for a coordinator. All the good ones were either DB’s or LB’s when they played.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:31 pm
Les Miles………..79 wins in 9 years and 1 SEC title with the SEC
Mark Richt ………90 wins in 9 years and 2 SEC titles with the SEC
Saban……………81 wins in first 8 years…2 SEC titles
Mark Richt ………82 wins in first 8 years…2 SEC titles
Meyers…………..2 SEC titles in first 5 years
Mark Richt……….2 SEC titles in first 5 years
Hmmmmmmmm
DawginLex
February 23rd, 2010
1:31 pm
just sayin,
It remains to be seen if Grantham will work out but i like his energy and his background is solid. We needed a change in scheme, attitude, motivation, well everything.
No one with a brain is guaranteeing anything but a fresh start was needed.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:32 pm
The Hard Truth for UGA detractors II, those facts just warm my heart and make me want to give even more to the suntanned man and just go to sleep humming glory glory to ole georgia.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:33 pm
yeah ok then, how about this one. Meyer or no other coach at UF has lost to Vandy and Kentucky at home in forever.
Brewdawg
February 23rd, 2010
1:33 pm
just sayin, Get a life… just sayin….
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:33 pm
Grantham was hired to coach the Dline at Dallas. Unless I am mistaken Dallas has one of the best Dlines in the NFL and I believe they led the league in sacks. Looks like success to me.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:34 pm
Just Sayin…..has UGA lost AT HOME to Ole Miss?
Joe
February 23rd, 2010
1:35 pm
wow- top 10 in the decade…..wonder if UF…Bama…USC….LSU….make a big deal of these things like you Bill…oh, thats right…they dont have to. Were always the ones talking about the past and the “next” year we will possibly win it all
ozzfest
February 23rd, 2010
1:36 pm
We have owned LSU this decade, much like the Gators owned us.
Ugh.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:36 pm
UNDER Richt
Vs. SEC foes: 43-22
.
Vs. Top 25 foes: 29-18
.
Vs. Top 25 foes away from home: 18-12
.
Vs. Top 10 foes: 8-6
.
In postseason games (bowls and championships): 9-3
.
In games decided by a touchdown or less: 34-14
.
Record at home: 47-9
.
Record on the road: 27-6
.
Losses to unranked teams: 6
.
Top 25 finishes: 8
.
Top 10 finishes: 6
Name another SEC coach with a better record.
Lets keep subjective …. voted into …. mythical NCs out of it for a moment
SnoopDawg
February 23rd, 2010
1:37 pm
SEC Coaches with national Championships
Les Miles
Steve Spurrier
Urban Myer
Nick Saban
With all the talk about how great CMR is when (if ever) is he going to produce what these other SEC coaches have. Some of them have “gasp” more than ONE National Championship
So my question to the bulldawg nation is: How long is just having a “winning record” good enough??? Is the next level attainable???
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:37 pm
yeah ok then, how did they end up 11-5 thats about the percentage you should expect.
Dawghater
February 23rd, 2010
1:38 pm
Hence the problem with the UGA nation. Until the Puppy Dawgs deal with reality they will be eternally upset with CMR! It’s a fantasy world in Athens.
How2fish
February 23rd, 2010
1:38 pm
Bama fan OK the facts and nothing but the facts..Bama is staring once again down the barrel of NCAA sanctions…right now in the real world UGA is not, Auburn is not…we payed for our wrong doings…but I’m happy to say Bama is getting very good at paying for theirs….practice,practice,practice…not quite as easy to beat your chest while back pedaling from possibly voiding 20+ wins in over a 3 year period…but hey it really won’t count it was just a few players helping out their buddies right? Of course unless it happened at any other school but Bama..
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:38 pm
Fact:………UGA was 12-1 in 2002 (prior to bowl selections)
.
Fact ………Fla was 12-1 in 2006 (prior to bowl selections)
.
Fact ………Not UGAs fault there were 2 unbeatens that year. “unlucky”
.
Fact……….Not Flas credit that there was only one unbeaten in 2006. “Lucky”
.
Fact:………Luck (not merit) had more to do with Fla getting an invite to the BCS not that Fla was more deserving to go to a NC than UGA with identical records.
.
Fact:………No SEC team has ever lost a BCSNC game and if UGA would have been invited nothing indicates that it would have been different
.
Fact……….UGA has 2 SEC titles..same as Fla in last 9 years and equal amount of total wins (90) over all.
.
Fact……….UGA has been ranked more times top ten in last 9 years than any SEC team at 6. Fla has only been ranked top ten 3 times in 9 years (real impressive).
.
Fact……….In 9 years under Richt no SEC team has more wins
Fact………..UGA has won 4 str8 bowls….more than any other SEC team.
.
Fact……..UGA has won 11 of last 13 bowls…Thats more than any team (tied with LSU and more than FLA)
.
Fact…… UGA has won 8 or more games in last 13 years…more than any other team in the nation including Fla.
.
Fact…….UGA is clearly as good or better than any SEC team over last 9 years. Only a fool or a fan of the mythical BCSNC selection process (non playoff) would think otherwise.
.
Fact…….UGA had same record when they won the SEC title in 2002 as Fla did in 2006/8 when they won the SEC title. But UGA had the misfortune (luck) to have that record in a year that had 2 other teams with undefeated records.
Hardly an indictment on UGA but rather on the NC selection process.
Skydawg
February 23rd, 2010
1:40 pm
Agree with the rankings for the most part except Miami at #7. Sorry, I just don’t see it. In the 90’s it’s a given. But I just don’t see Miami being a top 10 program the past 10 years.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:40 pm
“next level”???? You mean make it to the playoffs and win? Oh wait there is no playoffs. Its just an opinion …luck filled…one game ….not recognized by the NCAA…BCS NC.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:40 pm
yeah ok then , funny except when dawgs talk about 1980 it was mythical championships. Your stats kinda look like crazy patricks….ummmmmmmm.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:41 pm
please educate yourself prior to writing your propaganda. Richt has finished in the top 10 six out of his 9 seasons at Georgia (yes he finished #10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll in 2008, the same poll that hands out the BCS Natl Championship trophy).
You have to be very lucky to “win” a “Natl Championship” – Florida would not have been in the Natl Champ game in 2006 without USC inexplicably losing its final game to Karl Dorrell and UCLA. Look at LSU in 2007 and the circumstances in which that two loss team made the championship game. Richt simply has not had that kind of luck bestowed on him yet – matter of fact he should have been playing for the Natl Championship in 2002 and 2007 if not for some luck of the opposite kind.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:42 pm
You dawgs are good entertainment and if I didn’t live here, I would think that all of these people are Bill King and he is making it up, but you just cant make up crap like this, You guys are stuck in a 1980 time warp and just cant get out. Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:43 pm
Richt has put them in a position to be in the SEC title hunt every year. How many other programs in the SEC can say that? That’s the problem with a lot of UGA fans (and you), you only see what UGA hasn’t done. You don’t see what they HAVE done.
All Richt needs is one lucky year. Its interesting to note that UF and LSU have won national titles with the same record UGA had when it won its two SEC titles. Its not that UGA is not as good of a program as either of the two, they have just been luckier than UGA.
And that’s the truth.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:44 pm
yeah ok then, one last comment. I know Richt is just unlucky and listening to all of the jawja fans after the games, the refs always cheat jawja. Try listening to yourselves; you need help.
ga gator
February 23rd, 2010
1:45 pm
Bill you got these folks worked up!
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:45 pm
So lets stop this non-sense about UGA having fallen behind the other schools. lets see what UF does next year when Tebow is gone before we crown them as being a better program. And for god’s sake, lets stop griping about what Richt hasn’t done. Would you rather have Ray Goof or Jim Donnan? I don’t think so.
Brewdawg
February 23rd, 2010
1:46 pm
Just sayin, it really looks like you are stuck on a UGA Blog, if you need to get out just hit the “X” button on the top right of this window, open a new one and try to find a Florida Blog. Im sure you wont find any UGA fans posting there… just sayin….
How2fish
February 23rd, 2010
1:47 pm
Dawghater…just for the record we hate you right back!
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:47 pm
yeah ok then, I mean Patrick, I would rather have Donnan, but please dont fire Richt, the SEC East loves him.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
1:48 pm
Brewdawg, yall are more entertaining.
AngryDawgFan
February 23rd, 2010
1:48 pm
Being the top ranked team on the list who didnt win a championship is kinda like going to prom with your sister. We need to get to the next level. If Richt cant get us there then we need to find someone who can. Being really good but not good enough is getting old.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:48 pm
In 2002, Ohio State went 12-0 in the regular season with a paltry five-point win over Wisconsin, a miniscule six-point win over Penn State, and a pathetic 10-6 win over Purdue where Craig Krenzel threw a 37-yard touchdown pass on fourth down in the final two minutes.
Then the Buckeyes needed a sadly pathetic overtime to beat Illinois and beat Michigan 14-9 with a miracle touchdown with less than five minutes remaining. Ohio State could have seen its national championship dreams derailed several times but to the Buckeyes’ everlasting credit, they always found a way to win.
Mark Richt’s best team at Georgia (12-1 with a loss to Florida), which finished No. 3 in the BCS Standings, just needed for Ohio State to lose one of those games and the Bulldogs are in the Fiesta Bowl against Miami.
I guess in a playoff UGA could not have beaten the mighty Buckeye’s? And we still think the BCSNC is legit? LOL
How2fish
February 23rd, 2010
1:49 pm
just sayin…you said you were leaving…so GO already!
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:50 pm
But then dont let something as simple as facts get in the way of Richt bashing.
Brewdawg
February 23rd, 2010
1:53 pm
How2fish, I was just thinking the same thing.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:53 pm
The flames of ignorance burn without pain
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
1:55 pm
Just sayin is okay with his wife fantasizing about Tim Tebow during sex, because he is doing the same thing.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
2:00 pm
In terms of “Just Sayin’s” comments, I say thank you. Thank you for your dedication and daily concern for UGA.
This guy wakes up every day thinking about UGA.
That is so funny to me.
What is more amazing to me is that you are only here in hopes of getting attention. that is pathetic. That obsessive behavior indicates just how superior you view UGA.
You attempt to distract people from the topic at hand.
Suggestion for “just sayin” who blogs on a daily basis about UGA:
“Please Notice Me” would be a better name.
That would be a very fitting name because of your desperate need to get members of the CFB family to notice you.
Before you refute that statement, ask yourself why you are not blogging on any other subject at any other time except about UGA.
You are so unoriginal and pathetic you will probably copy and paste that comment and subtly change the content to make it appear as your own work.
How2fish
February 23rd, 2010
2:01 pm
Even when a Gator highjacks another bloggers name they can’t stop talking about Tebow sex..
check the facts...
February 23rd, 2010
2:02 pm
Yeah ok then…spin all you want but UGA isn’t anywhere close to UF with or without Tebow. For all those stats you threw out about Richt’s tenure the FACT is he’s 2-7 vs. Florida, he’s NEVER gone to the SEC Championship game without having to have someone else beat UF for him to get there and UF has 2 NC’s and 3 13-1 seasons, Richts best record, since Meyer has been there. You’re not on the same level no matter what BS spin you want to throw out there. UGA is far from being close to UF. Richt is far from being equal to Meyer. Spin away….
hatfieldgeoff
February 23rd, 2010
2:04 pm
Squirrel Dogs is right about complaints about Richt. Richt has made some mistakes, the biggest was making Martinez the DC and then not firing him soon enough. But Richt made UGA football relevant again just as the SEC was also becoming the best conference in America. That is much more impressive than anything Vince Dooley ever did. Dooley was an average on-field coach and without Herschel Walker we might have won 1 SEC title from 1980-82 and no way we win the NC (Herschel and an underated defense did that). If Dooley had been willing to evolve as a coach(throw the ball) we might have won the NC in 81 and/or 82. Dooley was a good administrator but not a good field general. Remember the 1978 Wonderdogs, they played in the Blue Bonnet Bowl because Vince screw up the Auburn game (Went for two to tied when that was as bad as a loss, no time to explain it all, look it up.) Saban and Meyer do have more of the “Go-for-the throat” mentality than Richt and that probably makes them more successful sooner, but Richt’s Mentor Bobby Bowden was at FSU 15 years or more before he won his first NC. I for one am willing to back Richt and bet he can do the same in Athens.
JB
February 23rd, 2010
2:08 pm
Nowhere for these folks to go but an Atlanta Georgia paper, so they sleep and hang with Dawgs. Every Trailer trash SEC town outside of Georgia has no place to vent except on a bench at an old gas station, hell that ain’t no fun. They show up in Atlanta, The capitol of Georgia talking on a blog, not so much about UGA always, but mostly Dawg fans. Go to Bammer and maybe get a fuzzy 5,000 watt AM station talking Football and moon pies. Geez.
Got 12?
February 23rd, 2010
2:10 pm
It’s all about what you’re (rightly or incorrectly) accustomed to. At Bama, we are accustomed to winning championships. Most years, that’s not a realistic goal but that’s still what we, Bama fans, expect. If it was within my control, I’d take an occasional national championship over nine annual wins, any day. But to each his own.
yeah ok then
February 23rd, 2010
2:11 pm
Check the facts.
UGA 90 wins under Richt with 2 SEC titles.
Fla in same time frame….90 wins with 2 SEC titles.
Yep clearly Fla is the better team.
just sayin
February 23rd, 2010
2:11 pm
see how you girls behave when un-monitored.