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.