Bradley’s grid picks: Tech wins eight; UGA wins the SEC East
My credo. (AJC photo by Ben Gray, doctored by Mandi Albright)
Six months ago I wouldn’t have imagined this pick, but here it is: Georgia will go 10-2 and win the SEC East. And how’s that for a snappy beginning to our annual long-range look at college football?
What changed my mind about Georgia? The Dream Team. I’m not the biggest believer in recruiting rankings, but this class rekindled a fire that, after 8-5 followed by 6-7, was down to embers.
Six months ago I saw a program that had run out of ideas. (How do you not score a touchdown against Central Florida?) Today I see a team primed to seize its opportunity. The SEC East is as rickety as it has ever been: Urban Meyer is gone from Florida, Tennessee is in flux and South Carolina’s breakthrough season — the Gamecocks finally won the division — fizzled at its end.
Georgia’s schedule sets up beautifully. The Bulldogs open against a team that figures to be ranked among the nation’s top five, but the team is Boise State (meaning: less talented than Georgia) and the game is in the Georgia Dome. The next week South Carolina comes to Athens. After winning those two games, the Bulldogs will find themselves in the Top 10.
Their two losses? Even with Florida under new management, one will come against the Gators. (One Georgia loss always comes against the Gators.) The other will come against Mississippi State even though the game is in Athens. (I’m not sure the fourth-best team in the SEC West couldn’t win the East.) As for Georgia’s opponent in the SEC title game … well, keep reading.
• Georgia Tech will tighten up on offense and defense — fewer turnovers, fewer points allowed. This will enable the Jackets to go 8-4 and finish third, behind Virginia Tech and Miami, in the ACC Coastal. They’ll miss Joshua Nesbitt but profit from a kinder schedule. They don’t play Florida State. They get North Carolina, Maryland and Clemson here, and they should win two of those. They get N.C. State, Miami, Virginia and Duke on the road, and they can win at least two of those.
• Andrew Luck, the Stanford quarterback who spurned the NFL, will win the Heisman Trophy.
• Nebraska, new to the Big Ten, will win the Big Ten (now up to 12 members). Ohio State, as you may have heard, has issues.
• With Nebraska gone and Texas in retreat, Oklahoma will tear through the Big 12 (now down to 10) and finish first in the BCS standings.
I foresee a great leap forward. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
• As big as the Georgia-Boise game is to us around here, it will pale in comparison nationally to the other neutral-site game of Sept. 3: LSU-Oregon in Arlington, Texas. LSU 34, Oregon 31.
• Boise State won’t lose after Sept. 3, but from a national perspective it won’t matter. Boise State registers only when unbeaten.
• Auburn goes from 14-0 and the BCS title to 7-5 and fifth in the SEC West. That’s unless Russell Wilson, the baseball-playing quarterback who was released from his scholarship by N. C. State, chooses the Tigers over Wisconsin. Should that happen, bump the Tigers up to 8-4 and fourth. Wilson isn’t Cam Newton, but he’s good.
• Florida State will lose to Oklahoma in Tallahassee on Sept. 17 but will run through the ACC undefeated, beating Virginia Tech in the conference title game (now housed in Charlotte).
• Florida will beat Georgia and still finish 7-5. The Gators must play Alabama and LSU. (Georgia gets neither.) The odd Will Muschamp-Charlie Weis alliance will be in tatters by Halloween.
The string of losing seasons ends at one. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
• South Carolina will go 10-2 — its other loss will be to Arkansas — and lose the division title on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
• Tennessee will finish 6-6. Its new athletic director, whoever he/she is, will not be pleased.
• Utah will win the South Division of the newly configured Pac-12. Stanford will win the North because its biggest game — Oregon on Nov. 12 — is at home. Lane Kiffin and Southern Cal will finish 7-5, if anyone still cares.
• As for the SEC West … Alabama has the better schedule, but LSU has the better team. The Tigers will lose early at Mississippi State but not again. They’ll take down Alabama, which won’t lose to anybody else, in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 5. I see LSU beating Georgia for the SEC championship and Oklahoma in the BCS title game, which will, conveniently enough, be staged in New Orleans.
• Georgia State will go 8-3. It will, however, lose 51-10 at Houston on Sept. 24. Which, when you consider the Panthers lost 63-7 at Alabama last season, will be a sign of progress.
• After the doings of this offseason — Auburn’s trees, the Fiesta Bowl follies, the fall of Jim Tressel and the weirdness at West Virginia — the games themselves will seem almost staid. Even Tech versus Georgia will be nothing special. The Bulldogs will win by two touchdowns.
By Mark Bradley
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746 comments Add your comment
WDE
June 10th, 2011
3:04 pm
@Richt`s Hammer Boise has the best D line ?? Stop it ! Put down the bong! Get help quick!
STATEment
June 10th, 2011
3:04 pm
31 years and counting
Kerryb
June 10th, 2011
3:06 pm
I think that Boise game is going to remind everyone of the Chik-fil-A game in 2008. #10 Clemson got rocked by #24 Alabama. Alabama within 4 weeks was the #1 team in the country.
puppykiller
June 10th, 2011
3:13 pm
Sanford and Son stadium will only be half full for THuga’s home games by midseason.
iTiSi
June 10th, 2011
3:14 pm
Mark Bradley has been drinking the same thing that Derek Lowe was drinking.
WDE
June 10th, 2011
3:17 pm
@puppykiller 1st your wrong and 2nd our house still holds more half full than that High School stadium on North Ave…and you still can’t fill it…we until the Bulldogs come to call…
HBTD
June 10th, 2011
3:19 pm
WDE. Lay off puppykiller. Judging from many of his posts today, he’s a young child who apparently has never attended a colege football game.
Artie
June 10th, 2011
3:21 pm
The Broncs (with QB Moore, RB Martin, and a top-rated DL) will romp in the Dome!!! Mark it down, Mark!!!
Z-Dawg
June 10th, 2011
3:21 pm
puppykiller, I’m starting to get nervous about pickin on you for being ‘tarded because I’m thinking now you actually may be…..if so, sorry. “Sanford and Son” stadium is only funny in Alabama. Post that on one of the Alabama papers for those that move into the state and can read. You’ll be a hero there. Here,it just makes you look like a tool. I’m just tryin to help you out.
edumacated
June 10th, 2011
3:22 pm
Everyone needs to step back and realize that we had great players the last two years as well. What we don’t have is great coaches.
Artie
June 10th, 2011
3:22 pm
BTW…many preseason annuals have Boise’s DL rated as a top unit.
Artie
June 10th, 2011
3:23 pm
…maybe UGA fans should read more often!!! LMAO
Oversigning Tin Foil Hat Society
June 10th, 2011
3:24 pm
I have some really awful news for you and the UGA faithful: GEORGIA WILL LOSE TO BOISE.
As per usual, the Broncos have a soft schedule and they are focusing ALL their attention on beating UGA. Just ask Va Tech last year and Oregon in 2009. They started preparing for Georgia in January and that is all they are thinking of.
Georgia on the other hand is and will look past Boise to South Carolina and end up losing both games.
.
BYRDDAWG
June 10th, 2011
3:27 pm
2005 Boise St came to Athens and was spanked 48-13!!!!!! They went 12-1 the yr before……SEC SEC SEC!!!!! Nuf said…..
WnE
June 10th, 2011
3:28 pm
Your predictions are little too rich for GT Mark.
Coach Kung Fu Panda loses more personnel than than any other team in the ACC, and they were only 6-7 last season, in order to go to 8-4 you have to assume that the RSs and back-ups from last years Roster will somehow be better playing in 2011 vs. a schedule of equal difficulty.
The fact is, is that Coach Fish Fry has not Recruited at a high enough level to assume that RSs & back-ups will win more games than in 2010.
GT still doesn’t have reliable WRs, and the offense loses Nesbitt & A. Allen, and in a triple-sloption Offense those losses are huge, CPJ’s first 3 yrs. he has had either Allen or Dwyer a 230-pounder with NFL-level talent, now he’s gonna have a 210-215 pounder that figures to be a “solid” CFB player but isn’t a guaranteed future NFLer, with these types of subtle drop-offs at key positions it’ll be hard for GT to improve over last yrs. 6-6.
GT’s only saving grace is that they play in the crappy acc (a conf.that doesn’t merit Capital Letters).
HBTD
June 10th, 2011
3:30 pm
Byrddawg………..I think we benefitted from the fact that they had never played in humidity like we get here in the south. Unfortunately, we play in the dome this year.
Mark Seminole
June 10th, 2011
3:31 pm
Bradley, South Carolina didn’t fizzle at the end…they just lost to better teams.
FSU will have it’s hands full against OU but otherwise we can run with anyone else on the docket. I sure would like to beat another SEC team in a bowl game next season – Sugar would be nice.
Hey, it’s June – must be time for false optimism from UGA. THis time last year I was at Neighbors in Va-Hi listening to some GA clowns talk about going 10-2. Must be the sun beating down on them.
Snoop Dawg
June 10th, 2011
3:32 pm
Mark Bradley’s candy sure goes good with Mark Wrecked’s koolaid…
willie
June 10th, 2011
3:32 pm
As a GT fan, I would love to see 8 wins. We only won 6 last year and now Nesbitt is gone. Could get ugly.
HBTD
June 10th, 2011
3:33 pm
Seminole. Of course you can run with “anyone else on the docket”……………you play in that mickey mouse a she she.
Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!
June 10th, 2011
3:38 pm
What is football?
Artie
June 10th, 2011
3:40 pm
Never fails…every summer…the national championship dream plays out in every UGA fan’s head. Thirty-one years running now!!!
charlie
June 10th, 2011
3:41 pm
Techs lucky if they win 5, last years last 6 games was the precursor to 2011. PJ can’t recruit and it going to bite him in the butt.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 10th, 2011
3:47 pm
“Yeah…and what does confluence mean? I am going to need simpler words please.”
You should look it up Fulmer Cup Champions or wear a life vest around it.
WDE
June 10th, 2011
3:50 pm
@Oversigning Tin Foil Hat Society really the dumbest post of the day….CMR and UGA looking past Boise..are you drinking already?? CMR knows this is the most important game of his tenure at UGA and the players do to…troll on moe troll on.
Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!
June 10th, 2011
3:50 pm
Chuck
I am predicting 5 also. Someone on here thinks Tech wins 10 games? That is crazy. I am also predicting Fish Fry is gone after next year or this year if his mouth blows up.
Dawgs win 9 and first in the SEC east. Lose to LSU in the Dome. 2012 is where a great season awaits the Dawgs.
puppykiller
June 10th, 2011
3:54 pm
THUGA fans are the only fans in college football that can thump their chest after losing their arse the season before and claim the national champion is a “joke”. The rest of college football laughs at you. Go win something for once and THEN the rest of us may allow you to strut a little bit.
charlie
June 10th, 2011
3:58 pm
Nerds.You haven’t counted the 5 moral victories.
Runnin With The Dawgs
June 10th, 2011
4:02 pm
I like the way you think MB. I just hope you’re right about the Dawgs except about the loss in the SEC championship game. I look for Tennessee to play the spoiler in a couple of games this year.
Jane Kemper
June 10th, 2011
4:05 pm
It’s true that Georgia Tech can’t compete with UGA’s dummies, but Tech players don’t end up pushing shopping carts or working in menial jobs like UGA players after Mark Richt dumps them when their eligibility is up.
That’s just one of those inconvenient truths for UGA alumni and fans.
Simple Techster
June 10th, 2011
4:05 pm
You puppies and assorted other yutzs who like to pick on the ACC….why don’t you look online for any stories about the conference as a whole abusing scholarship offers and “grayshirting” players. In the past NFL draft, 15 of the first 60 players drafted were from the ACC. The SEC had 10. Look at the scandals going on around and about the SEC in general. Since 1990 8 of the SEC schools have been punished for MAJOR violations. Since we are allowed to go back a few years, in the past four years the ACC is the only conference to beat the SEC in head to head competition during a season. As far as ranked teams, the ACC has proudly stood on its own two feet. Last year the ACC was 4-5 vs. the SEC. The SEC’s overall winning percentage vs. the ACC is .532. Not at all overwhelming. So quit acting like you are head and shoulders better than everyone else. You are not. This year, the ACC will go 4-1 vs. the SEC. Clemson will beat Auburn. FSU will beat Florida. GT will beat Georgia. Wake will beat Vandy. Clemson will come close, but lose to USC. Wow, yeah, the SEC surrrrre is soooooo impressive.
MS. Bully
June 10th, 2011
4:06 pm
He didn’t pick LSU to go 12-0. He picked Mississippi State to beat them early in the year. I can hear the Cowbells already. Go State!!
Simple Techster
June 10th, 2011
4:07 pm
Picking the dawgs to win 8, 9, or 10 games is absolute insanity. CPJ’s seat is nice and cool. Richts seat is blazing. And that is simple common sense. Our program is heading upwards, yours is mired, sinking I can smell the stench 300 miles from Athens.
BIG BEE
June 10th, 2011
4:07 pm
Hey Mark, we won’t know who wins the games until after they are played ,will we? But if you are right, can I go with you on your next trip to Vegas?
Simple Techster
June 10th, 2011
4:10 pm
Charlie, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is…and go into detail about why you think CPJ can’t recruit. He is doing just fine.
Simple Techster
June 10th, 2011
4:12 pm
“Mark Richt, Georgia
Last season, I put Richt on the Hot Seat and Georgia fans let me hear it. However, the Bulldogs struggled, finishing with a losing record (6-7) for the first time in 14 years. Top it off with an embarrassing loss to UCF in the Liberty Bowl and the heat was turned up a few notches on the 51-year-old. In the offseason, new athletic director Greg McGarity relieved Richt of some of his administrative duties hoping to free him up to focus more on the football team. Since going 11-2 in 2007, the team has been on a decline finishing 10-3, 8-5, and 6-7. Off the field troubles including several high-profile arrests didn’t help. This offseason, Richt has managed to pull in a top ten recruiting class as well as develop quarterback Aaron Murray.”
…says it all. Compliments of the Orlando Sentinel
BIG BEE
June 10th, 2011
4:13 pm
Mark, did you fall off the bed on your head? The “Dream Team” will all be freshmen football players. Probably not more than 5 will play next season and you know what? They will still be freshmen!!!!
Fulmer Cup Champions 2011--Auburn Tigers
June 10th, 2011
4:16 pm
gdawginkalamazoo…already wearing one. That and my helmet chafe after a while.
Beast from the East
June 10th, 2011
4:19 pm
• 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.
That was your prediction last year. As we know, they only managed 6 wins and none against a winning team. I suspect UGA will win 8 this year and that will not get them to Atlanta in December. Too many question marks even though the schedule is easier than last year.
That being said, I don’t expect my Gators to be much better. However, one of our 8 wins will come against the Dawgs!!!
Go Gators!
Sir Hit a lot
June 10th, 2011
4:23 pm
You must be on crack to pick UGA to win the SEC WEAK East! It is down but my money says BOISE ST and USC both beat UGA and they will lose at least 2 more games during SEC play. UGA could easily also lose to GT. That could spell 5 losses in my book.
Boise came across and beat VT in their back yard last year so playing in the Georgia dome will not be an issue for them at all. Have they not proved they can go on the road and beat good football teams? What makes you think UGA has so much more talent anyway? Boise has a coach who could coach circles around CMR. The kiss of death for UGA has spoken! SEC champs….what a joke!!! You give the fan base plenty to play up to mark but if the fans have any common sense then they buy into your goofy predictions! Just sayin….
WnE = Puzzy
June 10th, 2011
4:23 pm
Enter your comments here
HBTD
June 10th, 2011
4:24 pm
Simpleton………..CPJ’s inabiity to attract top offensive HS players is directly related to the type of offense he runs, i.e., what top notch player would waste his talents playing an offense that is completely unmarketable to the NFL. Quite frankly, unless a kid wants an engineering degree, I have no idea why anyone would want to spend 4 years at tech – an ugly campus with crime all around and a relatively crappy athletic program.
HBTD = Clue-Less UGA Idiot
June 10th, 2011
4:39 pm
According to USNEWS & Princeton Collegiate Review,
here are the ranking of the TOP US BUSINESS SCHOOLS (Undergrad & Masters):
#22: Emory University
#26: Georgia Tech
#52: UGA <————— (Way Down Here)
ROTFLMAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fulmer Cup Champions 2011--Auburn Tigers
June 10th, 2011
4:41 pm
HBTD…don’t forget about the chicks! If you are looking to meet a leviathan you should head to North Avenue.
Stony Curtis
June 10th, 2011
4:43 pm
@BYRDDAWG Isaiah Crowell was 12 years old in 2005. Enough with the history lessons.
HBTD
June 10th, 2011
4:48 pm
Fulmer Cup Champions 2011–Auburn Tigers
June 10th, 2011
4:41 pm
HBTD…don’t forget about the chicks! If you are looking to meet a leviathan you should head to North Avenue.
Yeah. That was part of the “ugly campus” reference.
Ron D
June 10th, 2011
4:49 pm
Let’s revisit this article prior to the Boise St/U.GA game.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 10th, 2011
4:51 pm
All I can guess is the Boise State is a hell of a lot better than UCF.
So somebody should get off their arses and get busy coaching, working out, figuring out game plans, and getting a hell of a lot better than we were at the end of last year. Can they do THAT much over a summer break? It only took one summer to go from 8-5 to 6-7. So maybe somebody can remember how to win.
FSUnole
June 10th, 2011
4:57 pm
Mark, I like alot of what you said, but OU will not beat FSU in tally. OU is no where near as daunting on the road as they are in norman. Plus, they are coming into an extremely hostile enviornment and meeting a team that is ticked and hungry. Fsu will roll the sooners…you heard it here first…I think we will lose one, either at BC or Clemson..
truedawg
June 10th, 2011
4:59 pm
Boise will come out and score 7 first, then UGA 3…maybe 14-6 at the half. 3rd qtr, uga pust up 14, Boise 7, now 17-14. 4th UGA scores 14 more Boise maybe 7 . 31-21. UGA or if Boise is dumb and tries to run the ball..could be 28-10 in a UGA victory. Boise has a great line on both sides, and a great passing game. but grind it out against the size and strength that UGA has on D and you will see some tired Boise line men by the half. Add the crowd noise, the special teams of UGA and I see no way UGA loses this game. USC will always be the same game, close, was close for last few yeasr and will come down to one position just like last year. never can tell, but given that UGA hasn’t lost 2 straight to the Chickens in the past decade its just like UGA vs UF don’t beat on the chickens against UGA…and if you don’t buy into that Gator fans then what makes you think UGA will lose to UF thsi year??!!!