Bradley’s Buzz: For 2010, SI has Tech 8th, UGA 22nd
Will Georgia again outrun the Yellow Jackets in 2010? (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
You’ll never guess who’s No. 1 in SI.com’s college football power rankings for 2010. Actually, you will. Alabama is the easy choice, same as Florida was easy in preseason 2009. (And who was preseason No. 1 in 2008? Why, Georgia.) But the top spot isn’t why we’re here. It’s to focus on the locals, both of which appear in Andy Staples’ Top 25.
Georgia Tech is No. 8. Georgia is No. 22. I’d say that’s too high for the former, about right for the latter.
I reserve the right to amend my opinion in light of developments — if, say, either one finds a defensive coordinator, or if Herschel Walker forgoes his MMA dreams to reclaim that fourth year of collegiate eligibility — but I’d say, as of Jan. 14, 2010, that Tech will dip slightly in 2010 and Georgia will rise a bit.
My take on Tech: It won’t be bad on offense — quoth Paul Johnson: “I’d be stunned if our B-back doesn’t gain 1,000 yards next season” — but Demaryius Thomas is the irreplaceable part, not Jonathan Dwyer. Given the nature of his offense, Johnson isn’t apt to find another receiver half as good as Bay-Bay. (Johnson inherited Thomas, it must be noted, from Chan Gailey.)
The defense will surely benefit from a new coordinator, but not many defenses can lose its two most gifted players and spike upward in production. Through these long-range lenses, I can see Tech winning nine games next season and finishing second to Virginia Tech in the ACC Coastal.
One word of caution, however: The Coastal is going to be tough. Three other teams are included in Mr. Staples’ rankings: Virginia Tech at No. 9, Miami at No. 14 and North Carolina at No. 18. And the Jackets must play two of the three on the road.
As for Georgia: I could see the Bulldogs winning nine games if things break right. The offense could be terrific if Georgia finds a quarterback. One note: The past two times Mark Richt has entered a season with a new quarterback, his teams have finished 9-4 and 8-5. And I’m thinking Aaron Murray (or Logan Grey, or Zach Mettenberger) won’t quite have the impact Matthew Stafford did at the end of 2006.
Loading ...The defense lost a big-timer in Rennie Curran, but Marcus Dowtin should fill that tackling-machine role. At issue is how fast the new coordinator, assuming Georgia finds one, can make a difference. My guess: Soon, but not overnight.
Mr. Staples has only one SEC team rated above Georgia in the SEC East: Florida is No. 11. Only two SEC West teams are in the Top 25 — LSU is the other, at No. 23 — and Georgia doesn’t play either. If Richt can find the right quarterback and the right coordinator, the door is open. But I, as suggested in yesterday’s post that was loved by one and all, see South Carolina as the team primed to give the Gators the hardest run.
Oh, and if you’re wondering which team will win at Sanford Stadium on Nov. 27, here’s your final score:
Georgia 27, Tech 24.
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584 comments Add your comment
Michael
January 15th, 2010
4:06 am
How bout that Sundiata Gaines!!!! Go Dawgs!
GWB
January 15th, 2010
5:05 am
When was the last time SI got anything right? They have a pretty poor track record when it comes to prognostication..
Conyers Yellow Jacket
January 15th, 2010
5:08 am
Mark: I hate to say this butI do not believe GT will be a top 25 team with the loss of starting players. We will be lucky to win 7 games due to above and the schedule.
Also, I have to say that it is irrevelant as to quality of receivers GT has in their one dimensional offense.
GWB
January 15th, 2010
5:47 am
It’s not where you start. It’s where you finish. GT hasn’t shown in 2 years under PJ that they can finish. There’s a reason PJ would like to play UGA the 1st game of the regular season instead of the last. Think about it.
Houston Dawg
January 15th, 2010
6:43 am
While we’re on the subject of coaching, here’s a great story on Vince Dooley who won the Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award last night here in Houston. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/solomon/6814862.html
ACC Coastal vs SEC East
January 15th, 2010
7:19 am
So the consensus is that the ACC Coastal is better than the SEC East. Who would have ever thought that. So much for SEC superiority …
Top Dawg
January 15th, 2010
7:24 am
Todd Grantham is a very solid choice for DC. I am glad we (apparently) have him.
Smoke Porterhouse
January 15th, 2010
7:25 am
DAWG named Stupid Buttsniffing leghumper – what?
Top Dawg
January 15th, 2010
7:25 am
Does anybody know how many years in a row that the SEC has won the National Championship? I have lost count.
WonderDawg
January 15th, 2010
7:51 am
Kiss of death (sadly shaking my head) …..
Great to be a UGA Fan Tonight
January 15th, 2010
7:52 am
Tech’s offense just left the building!
those games meant nothing to Tech
January 15th, 2010
7:58 am
AS long as the tech/GEORGIA game means nothing to the their fans and their coach…who cares where tech is ranked ….really i mean…like tech has a chance to beat georgia or win a bowl..lmfao……the acc champion = the world’s tallest midget
bamafan
January 15th, 2010
8:00 am
Mark – Why does your reply to DROCK appear on my blog before his question for you?
WonderDawg
January 15th, 2010
8:03 am
So GT Joe, looks like you’re riding you some coattails (UF). It’s so sad …..
j
January 15th, 2010
8:20 am
Bradley,
You are a jerkoff. UGAY is overrated at 22 and they won’t be finishing in the top 25. They will be worse this year than last year. You seem to forget that UGAY has no QB
JB
January 15th, 2010
8:29 am
Tech has/had 5 or 6 players that made them “special”. They will return to earth next year with loses to VT, NC,Miami,FSU and Georgia.
How about the guy from Texas Tech?
January 15th, 2010
8:37 am
The interim head coach at Texas Tech who coached the bowl game, isn’t he a defensive guy with that background? Not advocating a DC from the Big Twelve, but hey, it HAS been like a year since we had a DC right?
Stinger
January 15th, 2010
8:46 am
We all know what happened the last time the dawgs were ranked in preseason the last 2 years. They tanked all the way from #1 to unranked in two years.
1eyedJack
January 15th, 2010
8:48 am
SI 2010 rankings? We haven’t written the first chapter of this book yet. How can you even begin to gauge your 2010 rosters? Both teams are in flux defensively with no coaches, the 2009 classes haven’t been signed yet, both teams have a spring practice to go through, weight lifting, eligibility, personal problems, legal problems, money problems, baby mama problems, etc., etc., etc.,
How will the “Sheriff” do without Chan’s bullets? Transition Gailey’s recruits with CPJ’s recruits. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.
How will the new DC maximize the potential talent of the Georgia defense? Will Murray/Metz be able to “manage” the games without making too many freshmen mistakes.
Team chemistry? Injuries?
Stinger
January 15th, 2010
8:51 am
Todd Grantham !!!! Ahh, haaa, haaa, LMFAO. Worse than Willie, mark my words.
REALIST
January 15th, 2010
8:57 am
Tech wasn’t a top 20 team this past season and they won’t be this year either. Look at the incoming class…ouch. Johnson will have this wannabe program almost totally devoid of bonafide Div 1 athletes before long. But remember they own Duke.. UGA has it’s own set of problems…new QB’s in the SEC will struggle…that won’t change this fall.
Dawg Fud
January 15th, 2010
9:42 am
agree that South Carolina has the highest expectations in the East
Dawg Fud
January 15th, 2010
9:43 am
Stinger,
how worse than Wille? seriously, i am interested in why you think.
collegeballfan
January 15th, 2010
9:49 am
Tech will not be top 10 next year, maybe not even top 20. Take a hard look at the schedule. Clemson, NC, VT, Kansas & UGA on the road, Miami at home. I can make a case for 5 losses there. And do not turn your back on MTSU (home). The 2009 schedule was a cream puff compared to this.
I picked GT, UGA & the Falcons to all win 8 games in 2009. Tech is the only one I missed badly. Today I will pick GT for 8 wins in 2010 and to miss out on the ACC championship game. But, of course, I will hope I miss it like I did last year.
Peachtree Pete
January 15th, 2010
9:56 am
The ony reason SI says this is because it forgot that Tech plays in the ACC, or the “Anyone Care Conference?”.
Silly Mark
January 15th, 2010
9:57 am
Mark, you actually typed this:
“Yes, South Carolina lost to UConn. But Alabama lost to Utah in its bowl last season. How’d Alabama finish in 2009?”
Please let us know when South Carolina gets the same level of talent as Alabama. Here’s a pro tip: It will not be in 2010, or anytime soon thereafter.
As for the ranking, it’s shocking that Staples has GT #8 even after Dwyer, Morgan, Thomas and Burnett announced leaving for the NFL. They are still a top 25 team, but they are going to experience some growing pains next season without their best RB, WR, DL and DB.
UGA in the top 25 seems right, although I bet many fans wish Aaron Murray would have had some playing time this season to be ready for the helm in 2010.
cluett peabody
January 15th, 2010
10:28 am
Hey Mark, Thanks for picking Georgia against Tech next year. No offense to you but it seems whomever you pick in that game the other wins so keep picking the dogs.
C. Gordon
January 15th, 2010
10:38 am
Without Ole Miss listed somewhere in the Top 20, this is not a valid ranking. Good try, however.
Jo
January 15th, 2010
10:40 am
MB, What yo said rings true unless GT has a better defense. If that is the case, 11-1 will be the final tally with GT winning games 20-17/21-14 instead of 40-35 lol. Defense is the GT wildcard. At least they will easily beat Georgia next year and for that, we are all happy.
UGAFAN8
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
And now you are back in my good graces, Mr. Bradley.
Bruce Mac
January 15th, 2010
10:52 am
Dawg Fud, don’t humor him. He has no idea about Grantham, he is just your typical mouth flapping, bowl losing, get annually bitch slapped by UGA, idiot Tech fan with massive inferiority complex.
GWB
January 15th, 2010
10:58 am
m and SAINT SIMONS seem to have been resurrected in a variety of screen names. Is stinger one of them?
Jeckyll Island
January 15th, 2010
11:26 am
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
Dawgs OWN Tech!!!!
GAyTECH
January 15th, 2010
11:28 am
They didn’t locate Georgia Tech next to mid-town and Piedmont Park for nothing!
Dead Mike
January 15th, 2010
11:54 am
Bring back Donnan!
Rankings
January 17th, 2010
12:18 am
As a GT fan, I always thought GAWGA was a much better team than their ranking (or lack of) showed. Penalties and coaching killed them.
GT should be ranked around 12 or 13. I’ll still take it but I do not think the losses will be that noticeable EXCEPT at the wide reciever position. We are loaded at A and B backs and when Dwyer didn’t get 100 yards, the others stepped up and did. Johnson’s offense is designed to give backs big yards regardless of elite skills. Allen will step in just fine and we have some great players to back him up.
A new DC will inject new life into a shaky defense and we do return (2) starters who missed most of the season. That offets the loss of Burnett. Replacing Morgan is a big task but moving to a 3-4 d minimizes the loss.
BuzztheKiller
January 17th, 2010
9:46 am
I see Tech being at least as good on offense, the scheme is the thing, the players are interchangable. Can’t be much worse on defense, so I see the 3-4 helping. We have several fast, atheletic linebackers, and that is the key in the 3-4. Got to stay healthy on both lines, that was a problem last year. Just cut an average of 5-6 points off the average given up last year, and it could be another title run! Can’t wait to find out…
hedgepruner
January 17th, 2010
3:30 pm
DAWG named bee killer “where were you ranked ?” NOT RANKED and GT ranked 13th and will be better next year, enjoy your past , it aint going to last as long as Paul Johnson is around …..
hedgepruner
January 17th, 2010
3:35 pm
sec has won several NC back to back, where is uga in that mix, THERE NOT !!!!!!! hahahahahaha…LOSERS that wear black helmets and pink panities too…..
HelluvaEngineer
January 17th, 2010
6:52 pm
I am a lifelong Tech fan and being a very talented engineer that is rich beyond any of your imaginations I am uniquely capable of seeing the big picture where others can’t. There is no significance whatsoever to the loss to UGA and Iowa. It means nothing that our overpowering offense has scored 10 points in 2 bowl games. What GT fans have to focus on is the monumental achievement of finishing #13 in the nation. #13 guys. Do you realize how big that is. More enlightening is the fact that after losing 2 out of our last 3 games we STILL finished #13. A lessor team would have dropped to at least #20, which in itself proves that GT is a giant in the minds of those that rank football teams.
THWG
Reality
January 17th, 2010
6:53 pm
Top 10 ….. one team from the SEC. two teams from the ACC. Things that make you go hummmmmmmmmm.
I’m glad that Tech is ranked highly pre-season – even it they don’t deserve it. That is because unless you are highly ranked pre-season there is no chance at all of moving up in the top 5 (or at least it just doesn’t happen often. Tech needs to just keep winning and everything will take care of itself.
Let the uga pitiful fans have the “larger” stadium, the “higher” ticket sells, blah, blah. We just want the wins.
Let them continue to call us a ‘high school offense’ all the while they lose with whatever you call that mess that they run. We just want the wins.
Let them continue to get arrested in that small country town of Athens for dui, whatever. We just want the wins.
I drink my whiskey clear and always will
January 17th, 2010
8:17 pm
GT win will big games on the road, raising eyebrows..yep they will be the road warriors of 2010…go get’em Jackets!
Small Johnson
January 17th, 2010
9:03 pm
Tech #8 I agree, in the ACC
Blah ha ha haha ha ha ha
Tim Tebow's Girlfriend
January 17th, 2010
9:08 pm
@Nerd Central… First of all, you are no St. Simons. 2nd, your post about the hedges in the mouth thing… thats cute.
30-24 NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UGA = REDNECK
January 17th, 2010
11:17 pm
What was GA’s final ranking again. That’s right you fools are UNRANKED. All those recruiting classes, all that talk. What a bunch of trashy rednecks. BTW GT is 13TH!!!
Alfred Neuman IV,Summa Cum Laude,UGA'90
January 18th, 2010
12:44 am
But our stadium is HUGE! IT’s so BIIIGGG!
Tech Fan
January 18th, 2010
12:56 am
Georgia Tech will have a better year most definitely.
Atlanta GT:
January 18th, 2010
12:57 am
Hey UGA: Tough schedule next year with Louisiana Layfette, and Idaho State. Colorado was 3-9 last year and suxs. Vandy always suxs, as does Miss State. You talk about the almighty SEC, but your in conference and out of conference is a joke. You still lose 4 games. Those being: SC, UF, GT and ARK. You might even lose to Auburn and Vandy. LMFAO. What a joke. Get a real schedule. Let’s see how many of the teams you play are preseaon ranked in the Top 25 compared to GT’s schedule. Enough about the SEC. Your team suxs azz! THWG!
Atlanta GT:
January 18th, 2010
1:00 am
Better look out for Louisiana Layfette. They are a powerhouse. Hey, maybe your crappy running back can jump one of their players like KNOWSHOW did against the Chippewhos!
It even get’s worse for 2011, as you play Army and the Coast Guard. I love it, a homo and homo series with Army. What a joke. The Coast Guard might be able to keep your sorry azz team from sinkng, but I doubt it. As for Grantham, he looked awesome in the playoffs. LMFAO! THWG!
Idaho State Fan:
January 18th, 2010
1:03 am
We are coming to Athens loaded with talent. You better watch out for our superior running back. His name is Johnny Sirsuxalot. WTF, Idaho State. Are you kidding me! Oh, I forgot, it’s a rebuilding year. You win the NC in 2012. That’s right, my bad.