Live from UGA’s clincher: Could Sugar be falling from the sky?
Georgia's last taste of Sugar. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Athens – Overheard a fascinating conversation in the McDonald’s on Prince Avenue this morning, and I found it so fascinating I rushed to Ye Olde Stadium and started asking my colleagues if the gist of the conversation could in fact be true.
My fellow patron — didn’t catch his name, but he was wearing a Georgia cap, which I believe differentiates him from everyone else in town today — was speaking of Oklahoma State’s loss to Iowa State and saying it could clear the way for the Bulldogs to lose in the SEC championship game and still play in the Sugar Bowl. His reasoning: LSU and Alabama appear bound for the BCS title game, leaving the tied-to-the-SEC Sugar without a conference representative.
And this old eavesdropper put down his Sausage McMuffin and said, “Hmmmmm.”
Upon entering the press box, the first person I saw was esteemed colleague Tim Tucker, who’s the best person to see when you have a question about procedure. (Because Tim, I’ve learned over these past 27 1/2 years, knows everything.) He said he was pretty sure BCS rules precluded three teams from a conference being selected to the five BCS games, but he looked it up to be sure. I did the lazy thing and e-mailed Charles Bloom, the SEC’s director of communications. And here’s what we found:
There is a way for a conference to have a third team play in a BCS game, but there’s almost no way that waiver could apply to Georgia this year. From Bloom’s e-mail:
A third team from a conference can get into a BCS bowl if the top two teams from the conference are ranked 1 and 2 and participate in the national championship game and are not the conference champion. The conference champion would thus give a conference a third team in the BCS. Hope that helps.
It does. As odd as the final BCS standings figure to be, it’s impossible to imagine that LSU and Alabama could finish No. 1 and 2 with neither being SEC champ. For that to happen, LSU — assuming it beats Arkansas on Nov. 25 and wins the West — would have to lose to Georgia in the Dome but drop only one spot in the rankings. And if LSU loses to Georgia, then the Bulldogs’ destination is already moot: They’d be in the Sugar Bowl as SEC champs.
Ah, well. It sounded pretty good 45 minutes ago.
As for today’s game: Georgia needs to beat Kentucky to win the SEC East. Georgia will beat Kentucky by four touchdowns. Most years, the softest SEC scenario would be to be playing at home with Vanderbilit as the opponent. Let the record reflect that Vandy beat Kentucky by 30 points last Saturday. I say no more.
And with that, the floor is again open for questions, comments and bowl projections. I welcome your company. And if anyone happens to know the identity of that gentleman in McDonald’s — he had a beard; I know that narrows the field even further — give me a heads-up. I owe him a hearty tip of the MB cap.
By Mark Bradley
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1,508 comments Add your comment
Jason
November 19th, 2011
1:18 pm
Ogletree is a beast…let the beast play.
SEC Commissioner
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
It is a good call, and before each game the captains are told to not push, punch or strike another player after a play ( it was a point of emphasis this year) by the SEC.
rg
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
We are going to give them the game.
Mark Bradley
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Kentucky always gets all the calls.
81Dawg
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Uncatchable ball there. Another poor call.
Heath
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Yep. Now Georgia has let them hang around long enough that the refs are playing Georgia too.
Arx Ferrum
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Uncatchable!!
Grantham's Mother
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Another great contest in the SEC LEAST!
oldbird
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Late call and bad call.
evil empire
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
MIles and Chavis are shaking in their cleats worried about the uga juggernaut…
Mark Bradley
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
UK leads.
He Hate Gator
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Did a few here count their sugar before it hatched?
Send'em Uhauls
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
I can hear all the Richt apologisst now… Its the SEC its tough every week….
Bigguy
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Merry christmas
J.J.M.
November 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
chokeeee alert
Harry Dawg
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
All this is because Bobo can’t coach up the Offense – they need to step up!!
Sometimes I wish these kids couldn’t read… maybe they’d be ready for the game – lol.
Jason
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
SEC Commish, see the reply? Your reasoning, although good in theory, is irrelevant in that case.
Kane337
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
UGA SEC champs
bill
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
The 2nd half will show us what kind of coach CMR really is…
Grantham's Mother
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
My boy’s head is gonna blow….it’s only a matter of time. Probably won’t see it until next week on YouTube.
81Dawg
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
Maybe now we will get our heads out of our butt and start playing.
Arx Ferrum
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
We gots zebra fleas now to boot.
Send'em Uhauls
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
FIRE THESE CLOWNS NOW MR MCGARITY!
Richt
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
GO AHEAD Give Richt a contract extension.and live on the bottom of SEC next ten years
jack bull
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
anybody worried yet?
Hairy Dawg
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
Time to get in some people’s faces over on that sideline. I don’t care how bad Vandy beat these guys. This ain’t last week. Compete like you have a pair and close this division title out.
Jason
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
BFD, it is early and we will catch our stride.
Heath
November 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
Not to worry, now we’ll run it up the middle 3x
G
November 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
That ball was 10 yards out of bounds. Maybe a hold but not pass interference
Send'em Uhauls
November 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
Todd Grantham is a bust…..
SEC Commissioner
November 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
“Holding” Has NOTHING to do with being “UNCATCHABLE” or ‘CATCHABLE”…just clarifying an obvious point.
Bigguy
November 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
@harry dawg- i doubt reading is the problem
Send'em Uhauls
November 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
Gamecock fans are going wild!!!!
bill
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
I was thinking UGA might go 8-4 this season, but one of the losses wasn’t against this Wildcat jauggernaut!
jack bull
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
relax people.
Dan Dan Dawg
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
What the creapy crap is going on? Looks like Joker actually studied film on us and we studied film on LSU. Our guys are getting out coached right now. The players are looking like they deserve everything but are earning nothing. I sure hope we have some second have adjustments otherwise this is going to be an Iowa State-OKST replay from last night. WTH?
evil empire
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
can we play coastal carolina in the second half??? they were easy…kentucky is hard…
Borodawg
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
Some of you folks crack me up, pretty early in the game to be throwing the towel in.
Grantham's Mother
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
Hey MB,
Are you stating the obvious to help keep the non-viewer’s up to speed with our stupid comments?
Jason
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
True fans on this forum., very few. Imposters who want to comment on a real team, plenty. Perhaps some of you should subscribe to GameDay and watch your teams.
St Simons - we're on Island time
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
this is just a taste of what we’re gonna get in the Dome. It’s gonna be 11 on 17, all of LSU and 6 refs that have been told by Slive not to let LSU lose.
Eric C.
November 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
This would be the biggest upset I can remember…at least Iowa St. was playing at home and had a winning record.
Arx Ferrum
November 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
Not terribly, horribly worried… yet. Just need to stop feeding them boys twinkies before the game.
evil empire
November 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
great call commissioner…
Send'em Uhauls
November 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
Borodawg is into the kool aid
Kane337
November 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
Kentucky deserves to go to the SEC championship game
Bradley Curse
November 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
“Georgia will beat Kentucky by four touchdowns”
“Let the record reflect that Vandy beat Kentucky by 30 points last Saturday. I say no more.”
Schultz made the claim that just because the Rams beat the Saints meant the Falcons would be them too. MB has made a similar claim and UGA is looking terrible
SEC Commissioner
November 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
Jason
November 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
SEC Commish, see the reply? Your reasoning, although good in theory, is irrelevant in that case.
Sorry, Jason,
I attended the preseason Officials Meeting, preseason Coaches/Officials Meeting and the Off Season meeting and the COACHES REQUESTED this be a point of emphasis this year.
Grantham's Mother
November 19th, 2011
1:24 pm
There he is! Blowing his stack again.
Heath
November 19th, 2011
1:24 pm
Grantham is fired up! “Guys, I just told my agent to act like other teams want me! Help me make more money!”