Glass-half-full dept.: How UGA might still win the SEC East
"Over? Nothing's over until we SAY it's over! Who's with me?" (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Having spent the week hammering Mark Richt and Georgia, doing everything from crunching numbers to imagining the worst that could happen, it seems only fair to offer a corresponding best-case-scenario. Here goes:
The Bulldogs could win the SEC East.
I know, I know. They haven’t yet won a conference game, and they surely won’t be favored to beat either Florida or Auburn. (And Kentucky looks like a toss-up.) But it’s conceivable Georgia could finish 5-3 in the SEC, and that might — might, I said — enable them to take the division. Here’s how it would work:
Step 1: Georgia wins out. (Duh.)
Step 2: South Carolina, which has already beaten Georgia and lost to Auburn, loses to Alabama on Saturday, to Arkansas on Nov. 6 and to Florida the week after.
Step 3: Florida, which has lost to Alabama, loses to LSU on Saturday and to Georgia on Oct. 30.
That would leave Georgia and Florida at 5-3 in league play, with Georgia holding the tiebreaker because of its head-to-head victory, and South Carolina at 4-4. (At this early date there seems no sense in discussing how a three-way tie might be broken. Nor does there seem a need to assume any of the above will lose to Vanderbilt.)
Among the things Georgia had going for it this season was this basic bit of logistics: It wasn’t scheduled to play Alabama, and both Florida and South Carolina were. That still holds. And Georgia does get the three Eastern lesser lights — Tennessee, Vandy and Kentucky — in a row. (So does South Carolina, but two of those games are on the road. The Bulldogs get both the Vols and Commodores in Athens.)
There’s a chance Georgia could go to Jacksonville at 3-3 in league play, and if you get to 3-3 there’s at least a mathematical possibility of finishing 5-3. And 5-3 might just win the division, provided South Carolina finishes 4-4. Which could yet happen.
Understand: I didn’t pick Georgia to win the East — I picked UGA third, behind Florida and being shaded for second by South Carolina — and I’m not picking it now. But if I’m going to imagine the horror that might be unleashed if the Bulldogs lose to Derek Dooley’s team, I might as well be even-handed. As lousy as this season has been, there’s still a chance something really good could come of it.
A chance, I said. A chance.
(Oh, and if Georgia loses Saturday, forget I mentioned this.)
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
647 comments Add your comment
Rocky Top
October 8th, 2010
10:46 am
John:
I just get tired of the absolutely rabid, obnoxious fans that have no connection what so ever to the the school. I am sure UGA does not have a patent on these types of fans, but they are they ones we have to see and hear locally (Atlanta) and in the local media. My questions is, would they be UGA fans at all if the school concentrated more on academics and the football team went 6-6 each and every year?
Large Orange
October 8th, 2010
10:51 am
I live in Georgia and was in the local Kroger the other day……all UGA merchandise was marked 50% off. LMAO on that one! Even Kroger has given up on the Dogs! Vols 24 Mutts 13 Its great to be a Dawg…NOT!
Coachin' Em Down
October 8th, 2010
10:59 am
Phil Steele also said he thought UGA could run the table in the SEC this year. In case you’re blind to the obvious, Steele is a UGA homer. Where’s that picture of Steele giving the thumbs up with his red Bulldawg shirt and cheezy pornstache?
KennyP
October 8th, 2010
10:59 am
i used to like Calvin n Hobbs, then Get Fuzzy, but now i think Mark Bradley has the best page in the comics
Rocky Top, You'll Always Be . . .
October 8th, 2010
11:00 am
A bunch of inbred hillbillies to me.
Rocky Top, I think the same can be said about the fan base around the thriving metropolis of Knoxville.
Coachin' Em Down
October 8th, 2010
11:00 am
Steele in May of 2010:
“If I was going to pick another one out of the stack there,” Steele said Friday on ESPN’s College Football Live, “I would have to say the Georgia Bulldogs. I think they’ve got a shot of even winning the SEC East and could very well run the table.”
http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2010/05/31/phil-steele-georgia-bulldogs-could-very-well-run-the-table-this-year/
Dogs Smell
October 8th, 2010
11:14 am
Remember when you start calling Tennessee Hillbillies, they filmed Delivernce in Ga for a reason. Secondly Who tradionally wins when these 2 teams play and lastly, how many of you “Homers” have ever been to Athens on a weekday ?
GT
October 8th, 2010
11:27 am
My aching head. This is such a hard pill to swallow for the state of Georgia when it is their dawgs who have the journalism school Until they realize how bad they are they will never get better. Tech did it with very little sympathy from anybody, and probably because of that. If you are running a bake sale for charity and the cakes don’t taste like they are 20 dollar cakes who cares. This is a multimillion dollar enterprise where players are expected to be more mature than the people they report to. If they ran the table suddenly the red panties and hood like personalities are back to being hidden by the press. I have and have had a very hard time believing the press couldn’t see weakness in character in Athens long before now. I think Richt is a facilitator of all this. We put a choirboy on the cover and we can have nasty pictures inside the magazine. Losing is just the byproduct of a bun run operation. See no evil, hear no evil reporting facilitates this. I think Vick and Va. Tech was part of this blind man’s bluff too. “We had no idea Hitler was that bad, peace in our times”, but if those guys at Florida poke one eyeball,off with their heads.
DaShawn
October 8th, 2010
11:33 am
Da way I see da world.
Dogs defense is smack. I check da nuymbers, Todd Grantham’s first year is right there with Nich Saban’s first year at Alabama back in 07′. I knew da dude was good, but Nick Saban good? That’s a + sign. Anytime you beatin up on Saban, that’s a + sign.
The Dogs QB is off the chain ya’ll. This kid’s a freshman, after 5 games, he’s already #11 all-time for yards for Freshman QB’s. He’ll probably finish in the top 5, easy. The dude’s protecting the pigskin–8 touchdown’s, 3 picks, better than Bama’s McElroy, ain’t too shabby. The kid’s gettin 225 a game in the air, and hitting on 61% of his tosses. Anyimte you see a QB beatin up on Greg McElroy, that’s a + sign.
Large Orange
October 8th, 2010
11:44 am
@ Da Shawn………dude get off Da Weed. I have a friend named Jack Schitt and you really need to meet him because its obvious you don’t know Jack Schitt. Vols spank the Little Pups tomorrow. And thats Da Truth.
A Dog Fan
October 8th, 2010
11:46 am
Mark Bradley:
To be a TRUE OPTIMIST, you have to go ALL THE WAY with possibility. Throw caution to the wind.
Why UGA WILL win the SEC in 2010.
Now that’s optimism. And possible.
A Dog Fan
October 8th, 2010
12:01 pm
Mark Bradley:
You in rose colored glasses, hard to picture, but thanks for this article
I do appreciate your attempt to try and see some of the positives going on at the University of Georgia. Very refreshing.
And as long as the positives, are balanced fairly with the critical articles, no one should complain.
Good journalism.
A Dog Fan
October 8th, 2010
12:06 pm
Coachin’ Em Down–
Steele’s the most accurate guy in college football.
Come on now, play fair. With AJ Green, Georgia’s 3-0 in SEC play.
Get real.
No way Steele thought AJ’s be suspended for 4 games.
SEC lunch links | SportsTalk South
October 8th, 2010
1:12 pm
[...] Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a glass-half-full stance and examines how Georgia might still win the SEC East. [...]
Voice_of_Reason
October 8th, 2010
1:14 pm
Georgia could win the east, but they would still be a horrible team. Also, didn’t all SEC east teams lose their games last weekend?
?????
October 8th, 2010
1:21 pm
Is it the strongest conference in college football if an 0 and 3 team can win it?
WalDawg
October 8th, 2010
2:21 pm
UGA clearance isle three!
kgtech
October 8th, 2010
2:25 pm
MB is smoking crack!!! Fla loss(for sure),Auburn loss(for sure), KY loss, TECH loss,sorry.
Great article if you to are smoking crack!!!
droopydawg
October 8th, 2010
2:33 pm
Having no uga has clearly been the problem.
From your last article:
# Richt’s record with Neil Callaway as offensive line coach: 60-17.
# Richt’s record with Stacy Searels as offensive line coach: 30-14
That seems like the problem to me.
TechSmart
October 8th, 2010
2:58 pm
The Dawgs are pretty bad. No amount of dreaming will change that.
Start following Tech. I can’t help it. You Dogs suck. There, now go read a book.
Damon
October 8th, 2010
3:22 pm
UGA win the SEC East? Mark there are comedians out of work and your cracking jokes!
John
October 8th, 2010
4:04 pm
Rocky Top sez: “My questions is, would they be UGA fans at all if the school concentrated more on academics and the football team went 6-6 each and every year?”
Point taken. A lot of us who didn’t attend or graduate from UGA probably would take our entertainment dollars and fan allegiance elsewhere. Alums are loyal during lean times as well as fat.
But that does beg the question: Who do I follow if not the Dawgs? Tech? Be serious. Georgia Southern or Georgia State? Not yet. Morehouse? No, women’s schools don’t field football programs. I kid, I kid.
And I’m not confusing Morehouse with Spelman either. Some of us white folks know the difference.
lakesidegator
October 8th, 2010
4:09 pm
A hex upon you, Sir, for coming up with some crazy s*** that just might come true. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Signed,
Gator Nation
KingToenail
October 8th, 2010
4:10 pm
You have got to be kidding! The only way the win the SEC East is if Richt retires.
Billy Bob Cletus
October 8th, 2010
4:17 pm
Imma a big Jawja fan……lets see I dunn got me some PBR, beef jerky, pork rinds, and some of them 99 cent Totino’s frozen pizzas from the Walmarts. Heck while I wuz there I went ahead and got me one of them $5 hats with a big G on the frunt. My wife Nadine got her one of them shirts with a big G on it. She shore wuz lucky they had a XXXXL to fit her. We will a bee watchin the game from the cumfort of our dubble wide if Comcast don’t discunnect my cable cauz I ain’t paid my bill in 4 munths. Shore is grate to be a UGA gradiate and a big UGA athaletick supportar. Goooo Doggies……woooo weeeee!! Whoop them Vowels.
Jon Hardwick
October 8th, 2010
4:25 pm
Does anyone realize we will soon have a 12th player? No one seems to realize the importance of having the right UGA Dawg on the sideline. When we get the right Dawg in his dawghouse we can beat anybody. In stead of throwing all the players, coaches, an fans under the bus, let’s throw the fill in UGA Dawg! Georgia over Tenn. because we not practice full-speed and in pads….with a little hitting, blocking, and passion. Go Dawgs!
Party school
October 8th, 2010
5:07 pm
Starting to see how MB got the nickname “Bark Madly”
Chuck Uga
October 8th, 2010
7:22 pm
Gut feeling:
1) If Richt loses Saturday, he will not return for the 2011 season.
2) UGA wins big Saturday for some reason, 38 – 20.
Vegas isn’t stupid, they must know something. 13-point favorite.
Rebel Ace
October 8th, 2010
9:07 pm
Sir, I do not know what you are drinking, but it must be top-shelf stuff. I just hope you are not doing it on the job, for your sake. BTW, if Georgia couldn’t beat Mississippi State, they ain’t gonna beat anybody.
Enjoy the fall.
911
October 8th, 2010
9:09 pm
Mrs. Cox has a better chance of surviving an entire season with Bobby at home. In fact she should not only wear the catcher’s mitt that Bobby wears in the dugout also don a mask.By the way, I still say that Chipper’s career ends as a result of injury incurred while engaged in coitus.
Eric
October 8th, 2010
9:31 pm
Vols 27, Dawgtards 24. More hobnail boots in the face!
Sparky
October 8th, 2010
9:32 pm
I’ve never understood how anyone – even an alumnus – could support and take pride in UGA’s football team. When you look at their history for the past forty years, how can anyone ignore Jan Kemp and the “remedial studies” scam, the Jim Harrick fiasco, the DUIs in the athletic office, the DUIs and other arrests of players, the #1 party school tag (i.e., the most drunk students), the suspensions and outright dismissals, the Fulmer Cup, and on and on?
As disgraceful and humiliating as it is, I don’t see many alums and fans demanding an end to this sordid activity. It sets UGA apart as the kind of school most people abhor, and it’s become an embarrassment to the whole state of Georgia.
Will it never end? Apparently not while Mark Richt is at UGA. Richt is perhaps the biggest hypocrite in the United States. But even with all the cheating and lawlessness that he ignores, he still can’t win the SEC.
So you’re paying him to be BCS champions, but he can’t even win his SEC division. So why do you pay him millions of dollars a year?
Just asking.
Looney Blogger
October 8th, 2010
9:52 pm
Uh oh. Dawgturds lose again.
Pitbull
October 8th, 2010
10:35 pm
Vols are a much better coached team than Ga. Dooley is starting with a new everthing! But his team puts Ga to shame. I don’t see his defense making any of the mistakes the Dawgs make. Pitiful!!
Harry from da Burn
October 8th, 2010
11:16 pm
THUGA has a better chance of keeping A.J “Buy it now” Green for his senior season.
Party school
October 9th, 2010
1:42 am
If Green’s selling his jersey, I think it’s fair to say he’ll go NFL as soon as he can.
MattMD
October 9th, 2010
4:11 am
Trying to figure out how Georgia could win the SEC East is like telling a GED how they could figure out how to attend Georgia Tech.
Slow down. It’s obvious that beating Colorado and Miss State was too much, how planning a somewhat more attainable goal like winning a game?
What a dumb column.
Amazing
October 9th, 2010
7:36 am
What a way to sell newspapers to the inbreds that support Richt.
LHardingDawg
October 9th, 2010
8:31 am
Amazing
A “special” type of jerk.
John Belushi
October 9th, 2010
9:01 am
OVER? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!?
Bama Stan
October 9th, 2010
9:46 am
Wow, I’ll never get those couple of minutes back it took me to read that column. What a waste! There’s a better chance you doggies finish with a losing record and watch the bowls at home. Maybe Shreavport wasn’t so bad after all huh? Hold down the cellar boys! Keep Mark Richt
Paul
October 9th, 2010
10:07 am
The only thing that matters the rest of the season is ….BEAT THE GAYTORS.
Brook
October 10th, 2010
10:50 am
You don’t have to consider the Western Conference in this equation. All that needs to happen is…
Dawgs beat Gators and run the table
Gators beat SC
Vols beat SC (or another Eastern team)
That gives Dawgs only 1 East Conference loss and SC 2
Brook
October 10th, 2010
2:02 pm
This really may be the wildest season we’ve seen in the SEC in a while. We could see both sides send a team to ATL with 2 conference losses this year. This conference is getting more and more competitive, and that is why we love it!
Wayne
October 10th, 2010
8:23 pm
Who would want to see anymore from Alabama and that gate opened up over there to allow them to be Here!!!!!
Gambs
October 10th, 2010
11:29 pm
Problem one with that plan: South Carolina thumped Alabama on Saturday.
Morning Mullet Wrapper – Monday Special « Jean Shorts Torture
October 11th, 2010
10:39 am
[...] a blowout win over a terrible Tennessee team. A week earlier Mark Bradley pointed out that UGA could still win the east. Now he’s talking about running the table. It’s still the same team that lost to [...]