An ESPN-fueled buzz gathers around the Georgia Bulldogs
Isaiah Crowell hasn't played a collegiate down but casts a long shadow. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
More and more folks are thinking warm thoughts about the Georgia Bulldogs, and some of those folks work for ESPN. (Which makes their thinking significant, given that ESPN runs the part of college football Mike Slive doesn’t.) Citing cases:
• Bruce Feldman of ESPN Insider lists Georgia as his No. 8 best-value choice to win the BCS title. (Link requires registration.) Not the SEC East, not even the SEC — the BCS.
By “value,” he means getting long odds in Las Vegas on a team that has a legitimate shot. Feldman notes that Georgia opened at 40-1 to take the BCS but is down to 25-1 already. Feldman’s rationale for including UGA:
If the Dawgs were still at 40-1, they’d probably be a spot or two higher on this list. I’m on record as picking them to win the SEC East. I expect QB Aaron Murray to emerge as a star and for Isaiah Crowell, the nation’s top-rated RB recruit, and a healthy Caleb King to boost one of the SEC’s worst running games. They have talent on the defense, and it’s Year 2 in Todd Grantham’s 3-4 scheme.
• Esteemed former colleague Mark Schlabach, also of the worldwide leader, has Georgia rated 17th in his post-spring Top 25. That’s up one spot from his post-Signing Day ranking, but the bigger news lies elsewhere. Schlabach now places the Bulldogs ahead of South Carolina, which he drops from 15th to 19th.
See, Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia has been suspended again. Which leads us to …
• KC Joyner, also an ESPN Insider, puts Garcia’s presumed replacement Connor Shaw atop his list of shaky spring game performers. (Link requires registration.) I’m not sure how much weight should be placed on any spring game, but Joyner studied film and graded Shaw poorly.
All of which reinforces a notion that has been stirring these past couple of months: The team that finished 2010 by losing to Central Florida will enter 2011 as a team with buzz attached to it. Part of this has to do with the Dream Team. Part has to do with Georgia’s schedule: No Alabama, no LSU, no Arkansas — plus South Carolina and Mississippi State and Auburn at home. A bit of it has to do with Garcia and the Gamecocks.
Add it up, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see the Bulldogs considered the favorite to win the East by the team SEC Media Days arrive. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see them actually go out and do it.
By Mark Bradley
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652 comments Add your comment
juvenal
May 12th, 2011
9:26 am
always prefer to be under-rated, myself-especially by SI & you, Mark……
JB
May 12th, 2011
9:27 am
I would be just as happy to see Brandon Smith get 10 touch’s as Ealey
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:28 am
Nothing about Crowell. Rumors flying that he will go JUCO,that Jenkins can’t get in UGA and that King has 18 hours to pass this summer to play this fall.
If these things are true, I’ll be the first in line voting for somebody to get fired.
How do you place all of your hopes on 3 people, key people at that who can’t play this fall because of grades and 2 of them are recruits???
I hope it’s all just a bunch of baloney and they all get to play.
Joey
May 12th, 2011
9:28 am
You’re right, Matt. Richt has to conquer that UF demon this season.
But, if a pass rusher emerges to replace Houston, Jenkins plays like a Nose is supposed to, the LBs are as good as advertised, then the D should be really, really good.
Then, if Richt teaches Bobo to be more “cutting edge” (pun intended) in his game planning and schemes, and less predictable in his play-calling, the O-Line, and thus the O can be adequate, or better.
Worm
May 12th, 2011
9:29 am
Mark, Russell Wilson will be at South Carolina as the backup-starter?
H DAWG
May 12th, 2011
9:31 am
FIRE BOBO !!!!!!!!!!!!
JB
May 12th, 2011
9:31 am
Russ, the good news is we don’t even need a mascot, or even have a fill in, to beat our once arch rival Georgia Tech. Going 9-1 the last ten years really takes the rivalry away, but I know Tech still get’s geeked up for it. Good for them. I know Johnson thought he could turn it around, but the greatest coach on earth with that sure fire offense just can’t seem to get it done. We’ve been told that Tech didn’t really lose, they just had some bad luck….and ran out of time. Missed a good chance the last two years, with Dawgs being down and all.
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:32 am
Seth Emersons Bulldogs Blog Killed the anon posters
May 12th, 2011
9:26 am
@ DawginLex…… You need to purchase the leftover tickets along with Dawgstephen for the Boise game. You can sell them with free kool aid too. Good luck!
******************************************************************
What did I say in my post to indicate I’m a kool aid drinker?
You need a lesson in reading comprehension. Plus, the Boise game is sold out.
Crush
May 12th, 2011
9:35 am
Ha! Garcia will be back with no problem at Carolina. He graduated and met with Spurrier on Saturday. And Lattimore/Jeffery are still Gamecocks. UGA is so mismanaged. The Dawgs are losing Ealey and King in a matter of three weeks. And ya’ll expect a freshmen to come in and be the savior of the program. Wow. An undersized freshmen at that. Hahahahahahah.
This is a stupid Prediction
May 12th, 2011
9:36 am
UGA couldn’t beat Central Florida…UGA was 6-7in 2010….UGA couldn’t score a touchdown against Central Florida. Correct me if I’ wrong, but Crowell, the saver, hasn’t played a down in the SEC. A year ago, we heard similar comments for the “talking heads”; and UGA finished 6-7. You can’t win the BCS by starting 0-2.
dawgfacedboy
May 12th, 2011
9:36 am
We are going to win the East and compete for a NC with our O-line and RB as the biggest question marks on the team????
JB
May 12th, 2011
9:37 am
The season will be cemented after the first two weeks….good or bad.
Bo
May 12th, 2011
9:37 am
So many 15 year old douchebags on these boards. I wish the AJC would force people to register to comment or use their Facebook/Yahoo profile to cut down on the trolling. These things are getting unreadable.
Matt
May 12th, 2011
9:37 am
Joey- that’s a lot of “ifs”.
Matt
May 12th, 2011
9:38 am
Just beat Florida.
Seth Emersons Bulldogs Blog Killed the anon posters
May 12th, 2011
9:39 am
Boise game is not sold out as of yesteday morning.
Joey
May 12th, 2011
9:40 am
Yeah . . .
Seth Emersons Bulldogs Blog Killed the anon posters
May 12th, 2011
9:40 am
Tenn game isnt sold out either.
Sven Ottke
May 12th, 2011
9:40 am
Pretty much done deal: CK ineligible, AJ Harmon ineligible, Jenkins won’t get in.
Seth Emersons Bulldogs Blog Killed the anon posters
May 12th, 2011
9:42 am
DawginLex……….Didnt say you were a kool aid drinker. I said you could sell to the kool aid drinkers.
Ryno
May 12th, 2011
9:42 am
Ugha is not going to win even the East so Let’s get that settled right now. Skinny Fulmer will be out of a job in early December.
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:42 am
Tenn game is in Knoxville. Why do I care about that?
Lowcountry Bulldawg
May 12th, 2011
9:42 am
Glad to see one article about UGA can bring out the hate so early in the morning. Good to see we are on so many of your minds, good or bad. Hate all ya like b/c its great to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Les W. Moore
May 12th, 2011
9:43 am
So Mark Richt is starting his 11th or 12th season and he is relying on FRESHMEN to contribute early and often? So much for building and maintaining a successful program…
Auburn Fans are horrible.
May 12th, 2011
9:43 am
So…if you average these 3 ESPNers with Mark May’s ranking the dawgs as the worst team in all of college football (for the 30th consecutive year) and Kirk Herbstreit ranking the dawgs 6 places higher; ESPN ranks the dawgs at a healthy #67. But if you weight the rankings of each talking head by their reach as announcers…I think we rank somewhere around #90 according to the all knowing (and all poll affecting) ESPN.
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:43 am
Sven,
How do you know about the 3 players? Do you work at UGA?
JumpHook
May 12th, 2011
9:43 am
No way.
ESPN doesn’t even have Georgia pre-season top 25.
Scout says this is Richt’s last season.
Richt loses more games than the year before 7 out of last 8 seasons
so 88% chance he’ll go 5-7 or worse.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
May 12th, 2011
9:45 am
Who cares where ESPN has UGA ranked. Look where they have Auburn! Then go and take a look at what Auburn lost and then look at the schedule. That ranking alone makes it laughable.
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:45 am
100% chance Jumphook is our stat spouting TROLL from previous days.
JumpHook
May 12th, 2011
9:46 am
Orlando Sentinel was right last season, picking Georgia to finsih #64.
They have Georgia at #18, that was counting on Ealey heavily in their anlaysis.
Ealey gave up on Mark Richt and transferred.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-01-11/sports/os-2011-preseason-top-25-college-foot20110110_1_college-football-preseason-rankings-buzz-defensive-front/3
TommyJack
May 12th, 2011
9:47 am
Any references to Schlabach or that cheap-suit wearing Pollock destroys any credibility here.
BulldogBen
May 12th, 2011
9:48 am
I like what I’m hearing about the D now fully grasping Grantham’s 3-4 and flying to the ball rather than trying not to screw up and I like Aaron Murray. Other than that, we’ve heard the same positive spin on upcoming seasons the last 3 years.
I’ll believe it when I see it. The proof will be in the pudding. There is no benefit of the doubt. Zero.
JumpHook
May 12th, 2011
9:48 am
Scout’s normally very high on Georgia, says this is Richt’s last year.
Ranks Richt #7 coach in SEC.
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1065899.html
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:49 am
UGA stated yesterday that its 53,000 seat allotment for the opener was sold out. onlineathens.com
If Boise’s don’t get bought, we will buy them
JDawg1785
May 12th, 2011
9:49 am
Good to feel the love from ESPN, but this team really deserves no national acclaim, especially after that pathetic bowl game. I’d rather see the 2011 Dawgs fly under the radar all season long and shut the haters up along the way. Go Dawgs!
JumpHook
May 12th, 2011
9:50 am
ESPN’s team of 38 experts also didn’t put Georgia in their pre-seaosn top 25.
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/20992/preseason-top-25-features-three-from-pac-12
Lowcountry Bulldawg
May 12th, 2011
9:50 am
I for one could care less what a newspaper in FLORIDA would say about a program out of there state. They have to many teams to cover properly to truly have a pulse of what is going on in Athens. They can speculate, go off of the past but essentially each Fall anything could happen.
Football365
May 12th, 2011
9:50 am
Where are you guys getting this info that jenkins cant get in? Last I heard he wanted to enroll in may but his paperwork would not be complete in time so he is set to enroll in june with the other fresh. lets not spread rumors like middle school girls if you have facts stand up behind them if not keep your mouth closed. men shouldnt be jealous thats a female trait!
Sven Ottke
May 12th, 2011
9:51 am
No Lex but I have strong Athens based sources and it’s very, very bleak for those 3. Virtually irreverseable.
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:51 am
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1069333.html
Some folks need to learn to read. Scout has UGA at #21.
Wonderful Ohio on the Gulf 'Dog
May 12th, 2011
9:52 am
“‘Dream Team’ Mass Enrolls at Georgia Military College!”
“Linebacking Corps Flunks Out!”
“Tight Ends Transfer to Florida!”
“Murray Breaks Legs and Arms Playing Soccer!”
“Georgia Can’t Sell Out Dome!”
“Georgia Tech Signs Football Player!”
Wow, so much doom and gloom.
It’s the end of the world as we know it!
NOT!
Lowcountry Bulldawg
May 12th, 2011
9:53 am
I have a source that says Martians walk among us. Namely a anonymous blogger named Sven.
JB
May 12th, 2011
9:53 am
Ealey giving up on Richt. Yea, right. Ealey has obligations as a Div1 scholarship football player and has failed at most of them. Richt can not get in a guys heart and mind and only has about 2 hours a day with this man along with 100 others plays plus staff. I believe Mark gave up on him Jumphook, not the other way around.
JumpHook
May 12th, 2011
9:54 am
Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated didn’t put Georgia in his top 25 last year, he was right.
This year, he has Georgia at #21.
http://www.sectalk.com/boards/sec-football-talk/100085-andy-staples-sports-illustrated-2011-preseason-rankings.html
Auburn Fans are horrible.
May 12th, 2011
9:55 am
LowCountry…maybe ESPN has the scoop on a story of an as yet unannounced player purchase the Auburn boosters have made that will affect their season!
Jumphook FYI…the AJC : Orlando Sentinel :: The Wall Street Journal : The National Enquirer.
The Orlando Sentinel is the written equivalent of Mark May and Kirk Herbstreit–only with a smaller reach. They talk trash about UGA every chance they get!
Now go away son.
bruce mac
May 12th, 2011
9:55 am
Why do so many idiot Tech fans keep referring to the Preseason number one as such a debacle. UGA finished number 10 in the country that year and won a New Years Day Bowl. When is the last time Tech finished in the TOP TEN and won a New Years Day Bowl? Ignorance is a life long affliction.
JDawg1785
May 12th, 2011
9:55 am
LOL, Gulf Dog!
JumpHook
May 12th, 2011
9:55 am
Scout ranked Georgia #21 before #1 rushing back Ealey spurned Mark Richt and left the team.
Gatorhater
May 12th, 2011
9:56 am
Lay off the kool-aid Mark. There is no way to win the BCS with four to seven losses.
DawginLex
May 12th, 2011
9:57 am
Ealey wasn’t even on the post spring depth chart. His injury that kept him out of the spring game was a fake. richt had no plans to play him this year that’s why he trashed him at speaking stops in Macon and augusta.
Keep it up jumphook. I’ve got an answer for every one of your lies.