Pigskin pickin’: Tech wins its division; UGA takes the SEC title
The Honey Badger had his way last season. But that was then. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Georgia will go 11-1 and win the SEC East. Then it will beat LSU for the SEC championship. And then … well, what destination traditionally awaits the SEC champion? (Hint: It ain’t beautiful downtown Shreveport.)
With that, we commence our annual long-range look at college football, which is guaranteed to please absolutely no one. If I pick your team to do less well than you think it should, you’ll be miffed; if I pick your team to do better, you’ll gripe about the Bradley Jinx. Which didn’t, I should note, seem to trouble Georgia overmuch last season: The Bulldogs, as predicted, did take the East. And this year, for better or worse, I foresee better.
Georgia Tech will upset Virginia Tech on Labor Day night and will win the ACC Coastal Division. I can’t really believe I’m making this call. (Perhaps you share the feeling.) But before you succumb to an outbreak of whooping scoff, check the Jackets’ schedule. They’ll play only one road game — that at Clemson — between Sept. 4 and Nov. 2, and their final three ACC games are against Maryland (2-10 last season), North Carolina (new coach plus a bowl ban) and Duke (still Duke).
One game doesn’t usually a season make — you’ll recall Georgia losing to Boise State — but history does note that the Tech-Tech winner has become Coastal champ every year there has been a Coastal. History also notes that Virginia Tech doesn’t always start quickly. History also notes that Paul Johnson is pretty good as an underdog. I’m thinking he coaches the heck out of that game and his team goes 9-3 (losses to Miami, Clemson and Georgia) and wins the division on a tiebreaker. I’m also thinking nobody else will agree — except maybe Paul Johnson.
Georgia Tech's Tevin Washington against the Hokies last year. That didn't end so well, either. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
LSU will lose a regular-season game but win the SEC West. Maybe the loss will come at Auburn, or at Florida, or even at Texas A&M. Just for the heck of it, let’s go with the new-to-the SEC Aggies. I do not, however, believe LSU will lose against Alabama on Nov. 3 or Arkansas on Nov. 24. The men of Miles will rise up for those Titanic tilts. (I also don’t think Bama will be quite as good as advertised, and I can’t see John L. Smith lifting Arkansas to great heights.)
Once again, South Carolina will beat Georgia but lose the SEC East. Because the Gamecocks will lose at LSU on Oct. 13 and at Florida the next week. (The Gators will start to get well this season. They’ll go 9-3.) Another 10-win season will leave South Carolina frozen out of the SEC title game — mostly because of the imbalance in SEC scheduling. Steve Spurrier is right: Somebody does need to do something about that.
Speaking of significant openers … Tennessee cannot lose to North Carolina State on Aug. 31. Derek Dooley’s Vols could be positioned for a rebound — provided they beat the Wolfpack in Game 1 of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff. And State, which was 8-5 last season even after letting Russell Wilson leave for Wisconsin, won’t be easy. But this is a must game for the Vols, and I’m thinking they’ll take it. Besides, the SEC always beats the ACC, right?
Hold that thought. I like Clemson over Auburn the next night in the same building. Cam Newton: Gone awhile. Gus Malzahn: Gone to Arkansas State. Auburn’s 2010 national championship will soon be rendered one of those how-did-that-happen comets if Gene Chizik doesn’t think of something fast, and I’m not sure G-Chiz is about to make us say, “Gee whiz!” The schedule’s not that bad; I just don’t see Auburn being that good. Eight wins, tops.
Florida State will win the ACC because somebody has to. League loyalists point to the good coaches entering the conference — Mike London of Virginia, Al Golden of Miami, Larry Fedora of North Carolina — as reason to believe. Honesty compels me to confess that I’ve rarely seen the ACC appear less imposing. (So why am I picking Clemson over Auburn? Because I’m stupid, that’s why.)
Southern Cal will go undefeated behind their boy genius coach and will play Georgia for the BCS title in Miami. I’m not going to make a pick on this one yet — I’ve done enough damage for one day, don’t you think? — except to say this: Lane Kiffin absolutely owns Mark Richt. (OK, so they’ve only met once.)
Kidding aside, I really do think Georgia has the makings of a championship team. Great defense. Good quarterback. Lots of running backs. I have the same concerns as you about the offensive line, but no team is without blemish. And the schedule — no Alabama, no Arkansas, no LSU, not even a Boise State — looks mightily inviting. Not to heap pressure on anyone, but you have to wonder: If Richt doesn’t play for the BCS title with this team, will he ever?
Lane Kiffin at work against Georgia: Oct. 10, 2009. His team won by 26. (AP photo)
By Mark Bradley
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624 comments Add your comment
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:23 pm
I guess I was wrong. Tech is at the bottom of the ACC.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/looking-at-georgia-tech-1210059.html
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:23 pm
Kerry B you understand that it is easier to graduate in those football player majors offered at UGa. Tech doesn’t dumb down classes for players.
GA 13-1
May 31st, 2012
10:24 pm
Georgia will only lose 1 game, win the SEC easily this year over lsu and beat oregon for the title by 13+. This is the best Ga team since 1980—they are loaded at every position.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:27 pm
Tech is difficult and takes pride in running off some of the smartest students in the world.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/high-achievers-admitted-to-1387483.html
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:27 pm
I just looked at the Tech football roster. Most of them are majoring in management not Physics or Engineering and they are still at the bottom at the ACC. I guess they are planning for that McDonalds management career.
evil empire
May 31st, 2012
10:27 pm
too bad osu backed out…probably don’t want to expose their squad to the garbage dump called sanford…i remember a home and home lsu had with the buckeyes in the late 80’s… two great games…of course, they don’t compare to blowout victories against georgia southern and buffalo…what a joke program…loser program, loser fanbase, loser state…
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:29 pm
I will not be surprised if UGA wins every regular season game this year. What does South Carolina have? Their best players on defense but 1 graduated. Their QB pulls the ball down and runs all the time. They have no Alshon Jeffery and Lattimore is coming back from major knee surgery.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:30 pm
Kerry B where does GT management program rank? Where does the UGa management program rank? What highly ranked Programs do UGa players choose to study?
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:32 pm
Georgia is also playing South Carolina in October not September. Georgia historically starts rolling in October and South Carolina historically starts collapsing at about that time of year.
Cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
10:33 pm
Difference…i accepted the challenge…..name it and I will meet u and your crack friend at the corner of north ave and collect my MONEY……no time tables on your 12yr old bet moron
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:34 pm
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:30 pm
Kerry B where does GT management program rank? Where does the UGa management program rank? What highly ranked Programs do UGa players choose to study
_____________________________________________________________
College is college. They are both on the University system of Georgia program which mandates the requirements.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:35 pm
I guess the next thing you guys will starting wanting to argue is that your management professors are better than our management professors.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:39 pm
College is College now that is funny. Colleges are not all the same and if you think they are you need to go back to school again.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:42 pm
Tech fans are so neurotic. You start showing them how inferior they are at athletics and they come back with ” our diplomas are worth more than gold”.
IggyStooge
May 31st, 2012
10:43 pm
Beano Cook picked UGA to win the national championship last year with an equally agreeable schedule. How did that work out for ya?
Bigjoe
May 31st, 2012
10:43 pm
Bradley has never been right in his predictions. He has this love affair with the Bulldogs. UGA will lose 2 SEC games and South Carolina might lose one but could run the table just as easy. Spurrier is loaded this year with Lattimore back and a much improved Offensive line. Clowney and Taylor are beast on the defense and the defense will dominate again. I predict Gamecocks and Bama in the SEC title game.
OneBaby
May 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
Idiots. Georgia is the preseason champ every year. This is the SEC we win national titles not preseason titles. At least they’re trying to help UGA with these consistently soft schedules, its just unfortunate that Georgia players don’t step up till they’re in the league.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
Tim Tucker playing with the truth. If the SEC wants to UGa v AU game it can be done even with a 9 game schedule.
“The presidents of the SEC schools plan to adopt a firm position Friday on how the league wants a college-football playoff to be structured, as well as determine whether the 120-year-old Georgia-Auburn football game will continue on an annual basis.”
IggyStooge
May 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
You are right, kerryb. It’s much more important to be good at football than life.
Does cdpridg know what time is???
May 31st, 2012
10:46 pm
cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
5:53 pm
8 wins is nice in any other conf but not in the ACC….that is a conference that if somebody stepped up would dominate it for yrs. Coaching is subpar within the conference. The conference will likely cease to exist in the near future…
—-
cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
7:13 pm
Crackboy….i dont have paste anything on a wall….i will stick to the most common approach which is for you to read..if able. If you need to be reminded….then scroll and reread. You are elementary…bet I will play along…how much…..what time period and even if a decade from now what street corner do u want me to meet ya at so I can collect?
Cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
10:33 pm
Difference…i accepted the challenge…..name it and I will meet u and your crack friend at the corner of north ave and collect my MONEY……no time tables on your 12yr old bet moron
—-
In just the space of 5 hours we have gone from “soon” to “a decade” to “no timetables”.
As well as not knowing what time is, cdpridg also seems to be geographically challenged. He wants to meet on the corner of North Avenue. Surely, you have to have a cross street to have a corner?
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:46 pm
IggyStooge
May 31st, 2012
10:43 pm
Beano Cook picked UGA to win the national championship last year with an equally agreeable schedule. How did that work out for ya?
___________________________________________________________
At least we were thought of in the conversation. Tech will never be.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:48 pm
IggyStooge
May 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
You are right, kerryb. It’s much more important to be good at football than life.
___________________________________________________________
I think UGA grads are doing pretty well in life. I know their football players are holding more degrees than Tech players.
IggyStooge
May 31st, 2012
10:49 pm
Let’s see.
Last national championship for UGA: 1980.
Last national championship for Tech: 1990
Why are you guys gloating again? All you do is underachieve each and every year.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:51 pm
So, we’ve beaten Tech 10 out of the last 11 years and WE are underachieving.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:51 pm
How could they not with test questions like…..How much is a 3 point basket in basketball worth? Really hard to get that P.E. coach degree.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:51 pm
At least we aim high. Tech just aims to beat Georgia.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
10:52 pm
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:51 pm
How could they not with test questions like…..How much is a 3 point basket in basketball worth? Really hard to get that P.E. coach degree.
______________________________________________________________
So that’s an actual test question because you say so?
Cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
10:53 pm
How about this for a bet…after conference realignment I highly doubt that any major conference worth its salt will want tech. I see tech seeing that they already have a division 2 coach stepping down to that level and maybe GSU taking their place as the college football team in the city of Atlanta.As far as street corners..sorry….dont hangout on the ghetto streets, in and around gtu.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:53 pm
Yes KERRY B! What has UGa done with all that TALENT? UGa gets top SEC talent but is typically #5 or #6 in the league.
IggyStooge
May 31st, 2012
10:54 pm
You are laughable. All UGA fans care about is football. Tech students have a life. AND, they still have more championships than UGA, and a more recent one. Let’s see, 31 years and counting.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:55 pm
Kerry B where have you been it was posted in an article in the AJC.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
11:02 pm
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:53 pm
Yes KERRY B! What has UGa done with all that TALENT? UGa gets top SEC talent but is typically #5 or #6 in the league.
__________________________________________________________________
I think I addressed that earlier. The only sub par years during the Richt era was 2009 and 2010. Georgia had no establish running game both those years. In 2009 UGA was starting a career backup at Qb and in 2010 was starting a redshirt Freshman. Also in 2009 we got rid of a DC that was not doing the job and in 2010 was learning a new scheme on defense. That is not the problem this year. We have a stable of running backs and receivers and an experienced QB on offense. They are returning 9 starters on defense with at least 5 players who could be All-Americans. They also have NFL talent at about every position on defense. I guarantee you this will not be a sub par year this year.
Pat
May 31st, 2012
11:04 pm
MB looking out for MB. Shocker. MB, you’re a flippin’ loser. Always have been.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
11:07 pm
Kerry B all the SEC BCS MNC’s and UGa hasn’t sniffed one. That is Sub-Par anyway you slice it. BOBO isn’t going to get the Dawgs to the Promised Land.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
11:09 pm
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
10:55 pm
Kerry B where have you been it was posted in an article in the AJC.
___________________________________________________________
Oh, you are talking about that Jim Harrick mess on the basketball team. I believed that UGA fired Jim Harrick for that.
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
11:11 pm
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
11:07 pm
Kerry B all the SEC BCS MNC’s and UGa hasn’t sniffed one. That is Sub-Par anyway you slice it. BOBO isn’t going to get the Dawgs to the Promised Land.
______________________________________________
So you really think I care what a Tech fan thinks or has to say about UGA?
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
11:12 pm
If you think what Jim Harrick was doing at UGA doesn’t happen at Tech or any other schools to help keep players eligible then you are kidding yourself.
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
11:18 pm
Not kidding myself. tech doesn’t have crap classes for athletes. UGa has a History of joke classes for players.
Do they teach logic at UGA?
May 31st, 2012
11:21 pm
kerryb
May 31st, 2012
11:12 pm
If you think what Jim Harrick was doing at UGA doesn’t happen at Tech or any other schools to help keep players eligible then you are kidding yourself.
—–
Ah – yes. Every school in the country has tests like this.
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/quiz/_/id/600
I am wondering which UGA coach is running the course in 2012 since, according to kerryb, every school in the country is doing this.
cdpridg still doesn't understand time
May 31st, 2012
11:27 pm
cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
5:53 pm
8 wins is nice in any other conf but not in the ACC….that is a conference that if somebody stepped up would dominate it for yrs. Coaching is subpar within the conference. The conference will likely cease to exist in the near future…
—-
cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
7:13 pm
Crackboy….i dont have paste anything on a wall….i will stick to the most common approach which is for you to read..if able. If you need to be reminded….then scroll and reread. You are elementary…bet I will play along…how much…..what time period and even if a decade from now what street corner do u want me to meet ya at so I can collect?
Cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
10:33 pm
Difference…i accepted the challenge…..name it and I will meet u and your crack friend at the corner of north ave and collect my MONEY……no time tables on your 12yr old bet moron
Cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
10:53 pm
How about this for a bet…after conference realignment I highly doubt that any major conference worth its salt will want tech
—-
So we have gone from the ACC will disappear “soon” to “in a decade” to “no timetables” to “after conference realignment”
This guy is a betting genious – “I bet you that the ACC will disappear and the bet doesn’t count unless the ACC disappears”
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 31st, 2012
11:29 pm
Do they teach logic at UGA?
I failed the test. I needed more time to study! I should have read the text that the test covered I guess.
cdpridg
May 31st, 2012
11:32 pm
I am a betting genious….I have another….I know you would love to hear it. YOU have to ask to hear it…and when YOU do ask me. Ask nicely….
audiosricksund
June 1st, 2012
12:18 am
You’re a mo-ron. When was the last time UGA won a big game? They can’t do it. Murray is great until the competition gets stiff. They will fold up like a cheap tent by the end of the year. Richt must have some evidence of Mike Slive doing something bad. How else can you avoid Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas two straight years? UGA doesn’t have the mental edge to run the table (evidence- an arrest every weekend this spring). Will they have enough players to field a team for the Missouri game? Here’s a bold prediction. Alabama beats LSU in Baton Rouge. They finish the year 1-2 again and meet in Miami for the title. Nick then wins the rematch as well. What isn’t to like about the tide this year? Great QB, horses at RB, whole OL back…Deion belue at corner will be a star. The DL is loaded (8 guys that all can play). The linebackers will be great as always. UGA will lose at Missouri and at South Carolina. Then the heat will be back on Mark.
Columbus
June 1st, 2012
12:36 am
Speaking of significant openers…..UGA-Missouri.
The ONE thing that helps UGA getting over the hump and winning the SEC this year is going to and getting the experience of the SEC championship game last year.
UGA is the team to beat in the SEC. By the way Bradley, There is NO way SOuth Carolina LUCKS out again and beats UGA this year. NO WAY.
supersize that dawgmeat
June 1st, 2012
1:36 am
Great article, Mark! Agree 100% Dream Team #1 in its fruition with a couple #2’s to boot!
great Debaterdawg
June 1st, 2012
1:37 am
Ditto Mark!
weEmaildogNews
June 1st, 2012
1:39 am
Metzenberger ready to beat BAMA, MARKIE MARK?
Look In The Mirror
June 1st, 2012
2:02 am
We who really follow college football all know that Mark Bradley is a good guy who is trying to please the fans of the state Universities. However, if one really looked at the games in the upcoming 2012 season would note that The OL of the UGA Bulldogs is probably in the bottom 4 of the league, while the qb who is really good will have a very hard time staying healthy getting hit 20 to 25 times a game. The Defense is good up front but we all saw that TG can game plan very well, but he does not do a very good job of adjusting during the late stages of the game. UGA will have better depth and better running backs, but the OL issues will be force the running backs to go back to 2011 form and only hope to have a gap here or there to make a run.
Final note, Tennessee is going to be a great deal better this year, Vandy will be a great deal better, Florida is going to be pretty good and their athletes are better than UGA across the board. WM will do what ever he can to force a big running game inside the tackles this year, use his tight ends and allow his second year qbs to make plays. USC is going to be pretty good and playing in Columbia SC is going to be a tough game to win. Add it to the trip to Columbia Mo, we can see UGA losing 3 games without much fanfare and stretching.
GT still has no defense and without a defense we will see teams score on Tech with rather ease.
OconeeMetz
June 1st, 2012
2:43 am
No SEC game w/o me being QB!
gtfanfrom1951
June 1st, 2012
4:42 am
UGA will start 1-1 because two many players out and Mizzu will be sky high!