College football 2010: Georgia wins nine, Tech loses four
Washaun Ealey's Bulldogs will again run this state. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
It’s time — actually, it’s a week past due — for our annual Memorial Day college football predictions, and I begin with a word in my defense: I actually got a few things right the last time around. I said Georgia Tech would go 10-2 and win the ACC, which it did. I said Georgia would lose four games, inducing many among you to cast aspersions; the Bulldogs actually lost five games. Against that cheery backdrop, we begin:
• Georgia will go 9-3 but will finish third in the SEC East. Todd Grantham represents an upgrade. Given time, Aaron Murray will represent an upgrade. Thing is, the Bulldogs’ second game is in Columbia, and that seems a bridge too far. (More precisely, a bridge too soon.) The guess is that Georgia will be rolling come November, but that Sept. 11 loss — and one the next week against Arkansas in Athens — will keep the Bulldogs from a true breakthrough.
• Georgia’s true breakthrough? That comes in 2011.
• South Carolina will likewise lose three SEC games. It will shade Georgia in the East standings on the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Gamecocks will lose to Auburn, Alabama and Florida.
• Florida will go 11-1 because of a remarkably kind schedule. The Gators play four road games: Two against teams (Tennessee and Florida State) with new coaches and one against Vanderbilt. The Gators will lose in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 2, but they’ll see Alabama again.
• Florida will beat Alabama for the SEC title. Just one of my dumb hunches. Like the one that told me Texas would beat the Tide for the BCS crown. And the Longhorns would have except for Mack Brown’s SHOVEL PASS! (Don’t get me started.) (Alas, too late.)
• Don’t get me wrong: Alabama will be outstanding. But I recall the 2008 BCS titlist going undefeated in the regular season and losing beneath the Georgia Dome. I don’t believe the Tide in 2010 will be any better than the Gators were in 2009. And I do believe it’s tough to go through the SEC unbeaten twice in succession.
• Florida will beat a Big Ten representative for the BCS title. I’m tempted to pick the Big Ten rep, but I’ve seen that game before. I know how it ends.
• The Big Ten rep will not be Ohio State. It will be Iowa. Ask Paul Johnson about the Hawkeyes.
• Tim Tebow will win the Heisman Trophy. Whoops. Force of habit. Case Keenum — Houston QB — will win the Heisman Trophy.
• Boise State will go 11-1 but will be remembered for the “1,” not the “11.” The Broncos play Virginia Tech in Washington D.C. on Sept. 6. That’s a Labor Day “L.”
• The ACC Coastal will be the nation’s toughest division. There’s not a great team therein, but there are four good ones. Miami will be the disappointment. North Carolina will be the surprise. Virginia Tech will win the division. And Georgia Tech …
• … will finish third. I yield to no one in my esteem for Joshua Nesbitt, who had a busy offseason. (He had surgery and added two vowels to his first name.) But I cannot believe a team that bid adieu to four NFL draftees early will be quite as good. (Didn’t Georgia suffer a bit without Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno?) The Jackets will lose three road conference games: At North Carolina, at Clemson, at Virginia Tech.
• Florida State will win the ACC Atlantic. By default.
• Under Derek Dooley, Tennessee will win its final four games. The Vols will, however, lose six of their first eight.
• Southern Cal will finish fifth in the Pac-10. Lane Kiffin: Money for nothing and quips for free.
• Georgia will beat Georgia Tech. A.J. Green will catch the winning touchdown pass from Murray with 41 seconds remaining. The score will be 27-24. Paul Johnson will suppress the urge to punch somebody in the face.
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668 comments Add your comment
Zoolander
June 5th, 2010
5:45 pm
BS:
I guess you’re new to college football. People put out magazines about college football. The 2 best predictors over the last 10 years have bene Phil Steele, and Athlon. Look em up on the internet. Here’s their track record:
http://preseason.stassen.com/prediction-accuracy/2010-5yr.html
BS Patrol
June 5th, 2010
6:03 pm
Zoolander,
No, I am far from new,but a sucker is born every day. Go back & read my post @ 5:31. I challenge you to answer my question.I’ll bet this Steele clown is off by at least 50.
Zoolander
June 5th, 2010
6:31 pm
Still is THE best most accurate guy in the business, and he says Tech not a top 25 ranked team. No one has a 100% success rate, but he’s the best. If you choose to not take his advice, you will be wrong more often than him.
Zoolander
June 5th, 2010
6:38 pm
BS:
If you claim to be better at college football rankings and predictions than Steele, please stop the B.S. and provide the proof from some sort of unbiased website we can all check out.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
6:47 pm
Zoolander … if you’re so sure Steele is going to correct on his GT prediction then put your $$ where your mouth is and get paid for the Vegas folks. It’s a no-brainer according to you.
Yes GT will lose 5 games in 2010, just your dogs did in 2009, if they are as undisciplined & turnover prone as the world beaters in Athens. But I’ll bet they don’t play like that – PJ has too much control of his program to allow it.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
6:56 pm
Adam … pick a story and stay with it! Which is it genius – 6 wins (at most) or 7-5 – for GT??? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out the 2 posts of yours I’m saving for December so I can remind you how stupid you are …….
Adam
June 5th, 2010
3:57 pm
Agree totally with the 2 most accurate pickers–Athlon & Phil Steele. Ga Tech not a top 25 team this season. SO many good teams in the ACC this year that are better like NC, Clemson, FSU, Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami. No way Tech beats Georgia, Miami, NC, Clem or VTech. 7-5 in 2010 for CPJ.
Adam
March 23rd, 2009
11:43 am
GT will be the most overrated team this year. Option offense is not a long term offensive strategy. Once a team gets it figured out, it’s not hard to shut down. I predict, at most 6 wins for GT this year.
I guess you & your idiot brother, Zoolander, will be rolling in Vegas $$ with your astute observations/predictions.
FromNYC
June 5th, 2010
6:58 pm
Good column, Bradley, but I think UGA will do better than you think, maybe 10-2 or 11-1. And I’m a Bama grad, so this isn’t coming from a Bulldog homer. The Dawgs can beat Florida this year (and they’ll definitely take care of South Carolina.)
As for Bama, the analogy comparing this year’s Tide to the 2009 Florida team isn’t accurate. Last year’s UF team didn’t have an offense even close to what Bama is going to put on the field this season. As for Bama’s defense, the front seven may be the best in college football, and the secondary will be OK, despite the losses to the NFL. Mark Barron will anchor the secondary, and considering NIck Saban personally coaches the DBs, they’ll do just fine. There’s a lot of talent there.
I totally agree that it will still be hard for Bama to run the table, considering how hard it is to do that two years in a row. (And it would be three in a row in terms of the regular season.) But Bama has a lot of depth and it’s possible they can do it.
It’s also possible UGA could win the SEC East.
Zoolander
June 5th, 2010
7:02 pm
Yes, of course, betters would lay their money on Steele instead of B.S or GT Fan’s predictions. B.S. or GT Fan have not proven they are more accurate than Steele. Over 5 years, even over 10 year’s, Steele’s been the best.
Adam
June 5th, 2010
7:09 pm
GT Fan:
That was a different Adam from March 23, 2009, not me.
And you forgot to supply proof of where you got it form, conveniently. Oops!
Nice try.
Like most sensible people, I’m going with Athlon & Steele and saying Ga Tech won’t finish in the top 25.
BS Patrol
June 5th, 2010
7:11 pm
Zoolander,
I patiently await your response to my challenge of 6:03. Don’t try to dance me around this time. You may be embarrassed.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:11 pm
Zoolander … and make sure your tool brother Adam reads this. Below are the 2009 preseason top-40 predictions of Mr. Steele’s. Gee, he had GT ranked 28th last season too! And your dogs 13th! He’s one thing for sure … consistent! Put these predictions in your genius pipe and smoke’m, dorks!
Rank Team
1 Florida
2 Texas
3 USC
4 Oklahoma
5 Penn State
6 Mississippi
7 Notre Dame
8 Alabama
9 California
10 Ohio State
11 Virginia Tech
12 Boise State
13 Georgia
14 Oklahoma State
15 BYU
16 Rutgers
17 LSU
18 TCU
19 Illinois
20 Iowa
21 Miami
22 Nebraska
23 Pittsburgh
24 UCLA
25 Clemson
26 USF
27 Southern Miss
28 Georgia Tech
29 Michigan State
30 North Carolina
31 Troy
32 NC State
33 Arkansas
34 Florida State
35 Nevada
36 Oregon State
37 West Virginia
38 Wisconsin
39 Tennessee
40 Arizona
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:16 pm
Dork-boy #2 (a.k.a.) I got both of your posts right here on the AJC. You GA tool-fans are easy to make look stupid. And that’s not just b/c you are, but the wild, common-sense laiden predictions you are always making. Keep’m coming smart guys; one day you all will actually take the time to research Paul Johnson’s coaching career. Until then you’ll keep let Mr. Steele & Athlon’s tell you how to wipe your arses.
Done with you 2 dorks until December! Be sure to tune in then …….
INFALLIBLE
June 5th, 2010
7:17 pm
What a crummy UGA home schedule for this fall! Back in the ’40’s, when Georgia had trouble selling tickets to their, then, 45,000-seat stadium, they used to play only four home games on a ten-game schedule.
Many, if not most, of those home games were played at night, to avoid
conflict with Tech’s afternoon games. But what is the excuse for a sorry
home schedule NOW? Athens is no longer the country town that it was then, and UGA is now the only SEC team in the state.
Zoolander
June 5th, 2010
7:19 pm
BS Patrol:
Still waiting on that proof from an unbiased site that you’re more accurate thna Phil Steele. Please share with the world your track record, since you despise B.S. or are you blowing hot air?
Zoolander
June 5th, 2010
7:20 pm
Here’s Steele’s 10 year track record. #1.
http://preseason.stassen.com/prediction-accuracy/2010-10yr.html
Mark
June 5th, 2010
7:37 pm
Clemson will win the Atlantic and not “by default”. Clemson is loaded on defense. Kyle Parker will return and be one of the top 5 QBs in the country. Ellington and Harper are going to be one of the top RB duos in the country. Write it down.
BS Patrol
June 5th, 2010
7:37 pm
Zoolander,
We don’t care what Steele’s 10 year track record is. That is not the question.Again, (for the third and last time) what is his track record on Tech for the last two years? Finally, have people been using your brain for an anvil. You must be a ga freshman.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:47 pm
Love stumbling across these ……..
Sautee Dawg
May 31st, 2009
1:01 pm
Mark
Someone slip something in your drink at the bar?
Oklahoma St. Cannot beat UGA at their house or ours.
LSU in Athens? How do you come up with a UGA loss on that one. Coin flip?
Tech beat UGA 2 years in a row? Now when’s the last time you saw that?
Will put this article in a file and save until season’s end for you Mark.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:49 pm
Jeff
July 10th, 2009
5:08 pm
what an article….Tony, why of course the Jackette’s can hang with the turkey’s in the Prominant ACC Coastal Swamp Division. havent you heard???? The Jackette’s beat UGA by three last year and they are BACK! whew! they are going to win em all. No more off seasons for them….they are BACK…..the Coastal Swamp is just the first step for these mean and awesome Jackettes…..they are the TEAM…whew! They are BACK! Just ask em….They won by 3 in Athens and are 1-8 vs UGA but by God they are IT ……LOOK OUT COASTAL SWAMP DIVISION…..hahahahahahahaha
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:50 pm
MilitaryDawgInDC
June 15th, 2009
10:44 pm
Hilarious. That is sad, 8500 at the spring game. It will be even worse this year when the geek squad loses 4 or 5. The yappy bugs will go back into hibernation in 5 mos.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:50 pm
78 DAWG
July 21st, 2009
7:57 am
The DAWGS will win every game by 7 or more, except for the gayturds and that one will be close. Losing Harvin is a major part of their offense. They got every break last year, it won’t happen again. remember I’m the one that told you DAWGS 11-1 or 12-0.
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:51 pm
Pensacola dawg
August 17th, 2009
12:02 pm
No way GT beats FSU, they just got lucky last year with the fumble. If you really thing GT beats UGA I have some real solid mortgage backed investments you might be intrested in!
GT Fan...
June 5th, 2010
7:52 pm
Steve
July 24th, 2009
10:39 am
GA Tech either 7-5 or 8-4 just like always. Miami and FSU will work Tech on the road and UGA owns Tech so there’s 3 loses right there. Either Va Tech or Carolina will beat them at home and just like Bradley said they will probably lose to Vandy. Can you say Mediocre?? Tech fans are so delusional, its hilarious!!! hahaha!!!
chazzo
June 5th, 2010
7:56 pm
Sorry, Mr. Bradley, I must disagree. Better than half of the “O” will be in the pros in 2011. Better get it done this year. 2012 will be solid. Part of the growing pains in sports is getting complete teams peaking at the same time. Richt’s demise the past five or so seasons is just that: the D is coming into its own, but the “O” is young. The QB is solid but the line is all freshman. Or, all is well, and then you lose half your team to injury or academics. It is the same story everywhere. It will happen for Richt, though, if folks leave him alone. One of the joys of college football is that it is so dependent on chemistry. Just the right staff with just the right recruits coming along at just the right time. I am not a Richt on the hot seat kind of fan, but, hot seat or not, winning the East would certainly be big for recruiting.
Gillislee
June 5th, 2010
8:14 pm
Love it Mark, great thinking. Wow! I hope you are right………..
Paul Johnson
June 5th, 2010
8:43 pm
You forgot the part where Mark Richt gets fired for not winning a SEC title.
whatever
June 5th, 2010
9:23 pm
MB – While you deride Florida for their soft schedule – what about Georgia’s. Heck – Even GT could go 10-2 against that schedule. Not saying that Tech’s is all that hard either – but come-on – for a school that calls themselves the Georgia Bulldawgs you would think they would play more than 3 respectable teams.
boots
June 5th, 2010
9:29 pm
Some of you Techies have way too much time on your hands. When your post is twice as long as the original article, that should let you knnow you are a geek with nothing else going on in your life. Dawgs win 10, Tech 7. Excitement around defense for UGA and the shine is off CPJ as people figure out his offense.
Dawg mad at CMR
June 5th, 2010
9:31 pm
This is the exact reason that CMR ought to have his butt kicked – he played that freak’n 5 year QB all of last year instead of allowing other QBs to get reps. BTW what # did Joe Cox get drafted?? Zero – he didn’t – and CMR PLAYED is sorry A** all season long. UGA will pay a price for that. Thanks CMR.
ugakev
June 5th, 2010
9:41 pm
If the dawgs are so irrelevant then why do some of you even get in here and waste your time speaking of us. I Promise you your comments in here are irrelevant.The dawgs are on the rise and most of you know it and it scares you all. Most of you are right about the coaching holding us back. But guess what we did something bout that at the end of last season … GOO DAWGS!
Gen Neyland
June 5th, 2010
10:35 pm
Gillislee : MB is human. He swings and misses with the best of us…
Jammer Tyme
June 5th, 2010
11:07 pm
Wish Richt could answer Andy Staples like this:
Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated:
“Hey Coach Richt, how do you feel about not finishing ranked in the top 10 nationally this past year?”
Mark Richt:
“To be honest, it felt horrible. I’ve only done that 3 times in my 16 years. But you know, 13 top 10s in final polls out of 16 seasons ain’t too bad. We’ve been pretty consistent”
Andy Staples, SI:
“But Coach, some say you’ve been inconsistent dropping out of the top 10 final poll this past year, some would call that inconsistent, do you agree?”
Mark Richt:
“Well, Georgia still has the nation’s longest winning streak of 8 wins a season or more at 13 seasons in a row now. I’d say that’s more consistent than anyone else.”
Andy Staples (starting to sweat a little):
“Coach Richt, how do you feel about the job Meyer did with Tebow, thought you were supposed to be the QB expert?”
Mark Richt:
“Glad to finally welcome Urban into the Herisman Trophy QB Club. I joined it many years ago with my 1st, then when I got my 2nd, felt even better, came in 2nd with a 3rd QB, and a 4th QB went #1 in the NFL draft. What was your question again Andy?”
Andy Staples (Profusely sweating buckets by now):
“Some say the big knock on you is you can’t get to the big one, you know, the National Championship, where Saban and Meyer, both have 2, how do you feel about that?”
Mark Richt:
“I was the offensive coordinator at FSU & my offense finished in the top 5 for 5 out of the 7 years I ran it and we got our boys at FSU into 5 National Championships. We won 2 of em’, and the ones we lost, were because a field goal went a little wide right. Now, in 2002, we won our conference & only lost 1 game, like Florida did a couple of times, but in our case, we didn’t get invited. In 2007, we finished #1, but Herbie at ESPN lobbied for LSU and they leaped ahead of us, even though Oklahoma had gone to the National Champship without winning their conference. So, really, should have been 2 there at Georgia. We earned it. But I guess coaching in what, 5 National Championships in my career, what, is that more than Saban & Meyer have coached in COMBINED?”
Andy Staples (melting into a mass of fluid at this point):
“Some say you’ve squandered talent. All those years of top recruiting rsnkings and nothing to show for it, how do you feel about that?”
Mark Richt:
“I think the 50+ young men we’ve sent to the NFL over the last 9 years is more than Saban or Meyer or Miles or Tressel or Brown. Come to think of it, the NFL must think we develop boys pretty good, they’ve drafted more of our guys than every team but maybe 1 or 2. Andy, I gotta run, those were some excellent questions. You’re a superb journalist who everyone respects.”
BS Patrol
June 5th, 2010
11:13 pm
Come on Brad,
Explain the title of this blog.What is the difference between doggies win 9 & Tech loses 4? Doggies own the AJC proven once again.
Paul in RDU
June 5th, 2010
11:40 pm
Some of the postings by UGA fans about Phil Steele are amusing. They claim that Steele has the best record over the last 5 years or so – if you compare the total differential between where Steele picked a team and where they finished, he is the best over the past 5 years.
Where they lose me is when they start saying that Steele picked UGA as a dark horse who could run the table and so UGA is going to win the NC, etc. Only problem is, Steele has picked UGA #19 – behind 4 other SEC teams – which must mean Steele doesn’t expect UGA to run the table.
Skipper
June 6th, 2010
12:13 am
I see your Ga prediction a little different Mark. GA has everybody coming back on ofense except the QB. Last years QB was just a good high school caliber QB. Murray can’t be any worse, but could be a whole lot better. GA core offense played great down the stretch and it did it by running the ball, Dooley style.
GA defense only has to be as good as last year, but should play a little better. The big change to me will be the better special teams play.
GA really was a better team than Okl State and LSU last year. That is two games we should have won. With the same team back and the schedule this year should get us at least 10 wins. If the dogs get in a must win ballgame they just need to change the game plan to Dooley Ball (Ball Control). It ain’t pretty but Dogs showed us during the last 4 games that they can beat good teams when they set there minds to it. GO DAWGS
Idiot patrol
June 6th, 2010
1:29 am
Skipper,
Its a 2 way street. Just as you can say Georgia shoulda, coulda, woulda won the ok state and LSU games South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn, and Tech could all make a claim that they should have won the Georgia game. You were very lucky in all 4 of those games.
blackprix
June 6th, 2010
4:09 am
Tech lost 3 players to the NFL in Chan’s last season and Paul Johnson still took that team and won 9 games AND beat Georgia. You are under estimating Paul Johnson’s ability to keep this going. IMO, this guy reloads and losing players will not be a problem for GT.
Matter-of-fact, after 2 seasons in the ACC and now getting his own players, I believe his foundation is better and the players are his and know the offense. Lots of starters back, an important part of having a good season. A new DC WHICH IS very important and should show improvement (which I believe will win us a game or 2), unlike the last 2 seasons.
GT can and will beat UNC and Clemson … VT is up for grabs. VT gets the edge because their at home but I wouldn’t count GT out of this game.
Tech will beat GA this year … Johnson will not go 1-2 with them! This series may go back and forth as long as Johnson is at GT.
gahillbilly
June 6th, 2010
5:46 am
Mark, if I had a nickel for every time you use the word “alas,” I’d be a rich man. How ’bout finding a new literary crutch, eh?
Not a Prophet
June 6th, 2010
8:17 am
Lets double knot the cleats, and fasten the chin straps! Play’em one game at a time. Goal should be the SEC championship.
dawg4life
June 6th, 2010
8:23 am
JoeMac- Have you been alive for the last 10 years? Tech reloading? Sooo, you just lost the only hangovers from the Gailey era that were worth a flip, and you expect to “reload”? Hard truth- no one wants to play for this gimmick offense. It has no translation into the NFL. You will never be able to “reload”, only hope your conference is weaker than it was last year. You just better worry about “reloading” with someone that can tackle our RB’s because both of them are still running…
Beast from the East
June 6th, 2010
8:39 am
Jammer Time,
Do you really wish your coach to address the media with BS and excuses? What a pathetic loser.
gtfanfrom1951
June 6th, 2010
8:55 am
Mark you got backwards Tech 11-1 UGA 8-4 …..tech wins ACC again
ToeMeetsLeather
June 6th, 2010
8:57 am
Hey ButtSniffer4Life, had your big uglies on the OL not been allowed to HOLD all night and your big ugly on the DL not tried to twist Nesbitt’s knee off at the knee cap, your leg humpers lose by double digits. CPJ will remember that play on Nesbitt. See you in NOvember. Happy Thanksgiving!
Burdell
June 6th, 2010
9:05 am
Jammer— Get a life.
ToeMeetsLeather
June 6th, 2010
9:05 am
ButtSniffer4Life, had your big ugly on the DL not tried to twist Nesbitt’s knee off at the knee cap and your big uglies on the OL not been allowed to HOLD all night long, your leg humpers lose by double digits. CPJ will remember that play on Nesbitt. See you in November and have a happy Thanksgiving!
frank james
June 6th, 2010
9:42 am
gtfanfrom1951 – That tough ACC, why don’t Tech get back in a real football league.
frank james
June 6th, 2010
9:46 am
Coach Richt – How does it feel to be the most popular coach in the nation? You are the topic of many. No wonder UGA leads in merchandise sales, like the Braves they are America’s team.
jeff
June 6th, 2010
9:50 am
wow mark…what a surprise…..loser! Can you ever get off the Fla and Teblow kick?
kb
June 6th, 2010
10:11 am
Nice safe predictions, Georgia wins 10 or 11 , Florida will very good, but not as good as 2008 or 2009,
Gators lose 3, this is a very young UF team , Techs only hope is the ACC stays horrible,PJ’s just hasn’t recruited well enough to compete against teams with superior athletes.
frank james
June 6th, 2010
10:21 am
I have always said precdictions are for losers, but I guess they do make for a conservation piece. You can anaylze and break it down all you want, but it comes down that Tech and UGA are well coached and will be prepared more than not. Also it goes back to not only recruiting talent but you better recruit heart and that is getting harder to fine. A kid like David Pollock can make a season and championship run. I hope UGA has recruited that.