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.)
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647 comments Add your comment
Andy
October 7th, 2010
12:57 pm
67% of the time, when Meyer gets his 1st loss around the end of Sept/Early Oct, it means he’s going 5-3. Look at 05′, and 07′. True, in 08′ he had the loss around that time, and ended up going 13-1. But he had Tebow, Percy, and Strong.
67% chance Meyer goes 5-3 in SEC East in 2010.
Barbara Dooley
October 7th, 2010
12:58 pm
Buck Belue says the Dawgs will be fine. The offensive line is young but getting better. There is hope for that victory over Idaho State. Have faith and keep wearing those red panties.
Dogs Smell
October 7th, 2010
1:00 pm
Ray – Did your parents produce any children that lived?
Reality Stinks
October 7th, 2010
1:00 pm
Lowering the crime ranking on North Ave, from #1 in the country to #2 is more likely to happen than:
UGA winning the East
Barbara Dooley
October 7th, 2010
1:01 pm
Those Buffaloes were tough. After all Cal barely beat them. I think the score was Cal 55 Buffaloes 7.
Andy=Patrick
October 7th, 2010
1:03 pm
good afternoon, how is the chihuahua?
Barbara Dooley
October 7th, 2010
1:03 pm
Wayshon made a C – in his defensive driving course. He has been promoted to first team bus driver on future road trips.
Black Out
October 7th, 2010
1:03 pm
RED INK: We should black out…
Victorias Secret
October 7th, 2010
1:04 pm
Free red panties to the first 500 fans.
Reality Stinks
October 7th, 2010
1:05 pm
UGA is more likely to win the SEC east than Paul Johnson Apple Seed getting Tech an appearance just to play in the national championship game
dawgfan
October 7th, 2010
1:05 pm
Bradley, you need to drink some coffee. This is the dumbest column in the history of dumb columns.
Barbara Dooley
October 7th, 2010
1:06 pm
Sub Hub has requested that Thuga fans do not send any more tickets for future games in. They are now giving them away if people make a donation to the homeless.
harold
October 7th, 2010
1:07 pm
A JOKE OF AN ARTICLE……..
Athens Bail Bond Service
October 7th, 2010
1:07 pm
We are offering a special this weekend. Any dawg players arrested after the game will be given a 50% discount. Should the number of arrests exceed 10, we will increase the discount to 60%.
Barbara Dooley
October 7th, 2010
1:07 pm
If Georgia goes 1 and 11, the week after the last game, Bradley will predict that Thuga will win the National Championship next year. What a red and black kool aid drinking homer.
Reality Stinks
October 7th, 2010
1:12 pm
UGA has a better chance winning the SEC east than Tech filling their high school stadium with Tech fans
Spray tan
October 7th, 2010
1:16 pm
And always,
no obsession here, just an opportunity to revel in the pain of the country’s most delusional, bandwagon jumping fan base. Did I also mention consistently the most classless? Taken a ton of crap from you losers over the last few years, nice to see your chickens coming home to roost. Enjoy your slide to obscurity.
Spray tan
October 7th, 2010
1:17 pm
Nice to see you on here Reality Stinks trying to focus on other programs rather than addressing your own problems. Consistently prove my previous post.
tony
October 7th, 2010
1:20 pm
They always had the players to win the sec but Mr.Richt hasn’t made good decision for the team. This are a few suggestions for Mr.Richt.
1) Put Ealey in the I-formation – sweep right and sweep left on 1st and 2nd. Get the big boys up front to blow people off the ball so Ealey came blow by people. That’s what made him so successful in high school.
2) Move Dallas Lee( 6′4 295lbs) to the defensive line. This young man is a beast on defense. I saw this young man just manhandle my old hs team(Dublin Fighting Irish) in the State Championship Game. Dublin was no push over by no means. I am shock that Mr.Richt didn’t recruit him as a defensive lineman. Dallas Lee and D.Tyson should play end and let K.Geathers play the nose. Geathers just need to hold the point of attack while Dallas Lee and Tyson create havoc in the opponents backfield.
3) Start Alec Ogletree at safty. This young man is a playmaker and the biggest hitter on that team. He’s a different player when he is in a live game.
4) Mr.Richt need to wear ear plugs so Todd Gratham can do his thing.
5) Mr.Richt need to let the fans know that he will hold his whole coaching staff and the players accountable for how they perform on the football field. When a player do a stupid thing that could of been avoided Mr.Richt need to bench him for the rest of the game. Put someone else in the game. He could be the right person for that position.
DumbAndDumber
October 7th, 2010
1:21 pm
Lloyd: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me… ending up together?
Mary: Well, Lloyd, that’s difficult to say. I mean, we don’t really…
Lloyd: Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I came a long way just to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I’d say more like one out of a million.
[pause]
Lloyd: So you’re telling me there’s a chance… *YEAH!*
Keyser Soze
October 7th, 2010
1:22 pm
And always,
UGA is really an obsession? Three of the four teams you listed have won national championships since your last one. It’s simply mind over matter, we no longer mind because you no longer matter. Just enjoying the chaos coming out of NE Georgia. And in the event that you are still trying to get your GED, Athens is in NE Georgia.
1eyedJack
October 7th, 2010
1:22 pm
Georgia’s chances of winning the SEC East is about as good as Tech winning the ACC.
Reality Stinks
October 7th, 2010
1:24 pm
Yea Tech fans enjoy your delusional hopes of the middle school option veer taking you to the promise land too
teacher
October 7th, 2010
1:24 pm
Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Kill em all!!!!
teacher
October 7th, 2010
1:24 pm
No coffee—-maybe 12 diet cokes?
teacher
October 7th, 2010
1:25 pm
Yes folks all of this is possible————if you stop Demps Florida is beatable—-the rest is ————–oh well we will see.
Keyser Soze
October 7th, 2010
1:27 pm
And Auburn should have won a NC in 1993 and 2004, were it not for NCAA probation and getting screwed by the BCS. Why would teams with greater success obsess over UGA?
joe happy
October 7th, 2010
1:30 pm
You must have had writers block this morning… With everything going on in sports right now you write this nonsense….. Oh wait that’s right- the AJC and the Gov. dictate how much negative press can go out on UGA (ever since beatdown in 2007). Go back under the porch and think of something better to write. They can”t control you anymore Mark!!!!!!
Milburn Drysdale
October 7th, 2010
1:31 pm
For Gen Neyland, Lee and a few other UT fans saying they will win this Saturday’s game….UT sucks…..I know to a degree so does UGA, but there is a reson Vegas has UT 2 touchdown underdogs, and you can only play 11 at a time not 13 or 14.
ugadawg2005
October 7th, 2010
1:32 pm
Bradley, don’t take other people’s remarks and use them as your own. I posted this same scenerio in response to your “What if Georgia loses to Tennessee” article, as well as in several other places on the web (espn.com UGA message board and vlesports.com) in the last couple weeks.
The 3-way tiebreakers don’t work out for UGA because they lost to Colorado. First of all, Florida has to beat South Carolina, or else South Carolina takes on head to head. If South Carolina beats either Arky or Bama, and loses to Florida, then the 3-way tiebreaker would come down to the BCS standings (presuming all 3 teams are 5-3 SEC, 1-2 vs SEC West and 4-1 vs. SEC East). UGA losing to Colorado would probably have them last in the BCS standings unless Clemson beats South Carolina. FSU beating Florida would help too. Georgia needs South Carolina to be the last of the 3 in the BCS standings and for UGA to be within 5 spots from Florida.
Spray tan
October 7th, 2010
1:32 pm
A UGA fan calling Tech delusional. Now that is truly funny. Tell me reality, do our problems help you sleep at night? Is the pain of being a cellar dweller in the SEC mitigated by other teams shortcomings? Is being an 0 and 3 team in the SEC made all better by the fact that it is the strongest conference in the country? Glad to know you have found a way to ease the pain of your miserable football existence by focusing on something else. Enjoy it mutts, as CMR said himself. it could get worse.
Spray tan
October 7th, 2010
1:35 pm
A UGA fan calling someone else delusional. That really funny. Glad to see you have found a way of dealing with your pain, reality. Just be prepared, as CMR said himself, it could get worse. Cellar dwellers of the SEC.
ToothlessDawg
October 7th, 2010
1:43 pm
They can do it, only if Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn discontinue their football programs immediately. We Ruin This State!
Mike Bobo
October 7th, 2010
1:45 pm
Heck yea we can win the East. With my superior play calling, why not?
3rd and 4 boys, EVERYBODY GO DEEP!!!!!!
A Countant
October 7th, 2010
1:47 pm
And you pay this so called coach of yours how much lose 4 easy games in a row? You dumbarses need to take economics or business or something beside getting awarded a PhD in Delusional Thinking.
Ray Goof
October 7th, 2010
1:54 pm
I’m available. Call me!
Speve Stirrier
October 7th, 2010
1:54 pm
Reality Stinks – shutit, you little bitter whiney loser. You are taking up space on our trash the fleabags blog.
Lewis Grizzard
October 7th, 2010
1:55 pm
Come on Catfish. Let’s go watch the Falcons
Damon Evans
October 7th, 2010
2:00 pm
We are offering a special this weekend. Buy one pair of red panties, get one pair free.
D.E.A.
October 7th, 2010
2:03 pm
Mark, you are busted. Obviously you are a crack head. What a dufus column.
DawgFan
October 7th, 2010
2:05 pm
I HEAR YA MARK ! and THEN BEAT BAMA IN THE DOME … UGA 2010 SEC CHAMPIONS … SOUNDS GREAT !!! NOT LIKELY … BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE EITHER ! GOOO DAWGS SIC ‘EM WOOF WOOF WOOF !!!
Jack Dawg
October 7th, 2010
2:08 pm
The Dawgs will win Saturaday because CMR is leading the team out on the field. Book It!!
bigdawg8
October 7th, 2010
2:12 pm
This team will win out since they have now started practicing in full pads on Mondays!!!
Nick
October 7th, 2010
2:15 pm
Funny stuff.
Anything’s possible.
Probable?
No.
But possible!
Dogs Smell
October 7th, 2010
2:16 pm
Why can we not bring up Jan Kemp ? It is about as relavent as that 1980 Championship, is it not? The reason Vegas has UGA as a 2 TD favorite id to bring the betting to the Tennessee side. It has NOTHING to do with Ga being a better team. Its purpose is to balance the betting. The more people who bet on GA to win the more it needs to become attractive for UT fans to bet on their team.
If you listen to the bookies they all say take Tennessee and the points !
s it 1980 yet ? No its 2010 and the pups are 1-4.
Looking for Silver Lining
October 7th, 2010
2:18 pm
Mark Bradley for President!
baddog99
October 7th, 2010
2:19 pm
Has CMR thought of watching movie Rudy with the team? Maybe that will inspire them?
P. Bull Terrier
October 7th, 2010
2:20 pm
As soon as the UGA players discover that half full glass, one of them is going to think it’s a beer and drink it.
Andy
October 7th, 2010
2:23 pm
It;s more than possible, it’s 80% probable.
GTFan
October 7th, 2010
2:23 pm
Mark, I believe you’ve finally lost it or had one too many cups of the kool aid. You need to check yourself in. Most biased “journalist” out there.