Isn’t UGA better than the Capital One Bowl? Why, sure it is
For the Bulldogs, getting over the Alabama game won't be easy. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Athens – Depending on the index, Georgia is ranked No. 5 (USA Today coaches’ poll), No. 6 (Associated Press) or No. 7 (BCS) in the land. Counting the national championship game, the BCS fits 10 teams into five postseason games. Georgia, alas, is not among them.
The Bulldogs are bound for the Capital One Bowl, which is essentially the consolation game for losers of conference championships. (Georgia’s opponent is Nebraska, which lost to Wisconsin 70-31 in the Big Ten title tilt.) With three losses, the Cornhuskers probably belong in the Capital One. Georgia does not.
At worst, Georgia is the nation’s third-best team. It went 11-1 in the regular season and won the SEC Eastern Division, which this time around was no junior circuit. (Florida is ranked No. 3 in the BCS standings, South Carolina No. 10). But the Bulldogs were penalized for falling five yards short in one of the greatest games ever played, dropping from No. 3 to No. 7 and sliding below Florida.
Lest we forget, Georgia beat Florida 17-9 on Oct. 27. But the Gators finished with one loss to the Bulldogs’ two, and by virtue of being ranked in the top four Florida was guaranteed a BCS spot. For the second year running, we see the advantage of NOT playing for the SEC championship: In 2011 Alabama played for the BCS title without risking a loss in the Georgia Dome on the first Saturday in December, and now Florida gets to play in a BCS game ahead of the SEC loser.
This isn’t to say Florida is undeserving: At worst, the Gators are the nation’s fourth-best team. This is to say that the system – stop if you’ve heard this one – stinks. Northern Illinois (No. 16 in the BCS standings) and Louisville (No. 21) will grace BCS games, but Georgia will not. The Bulldogs are the highest-ranked team to be excluded from the Big Five postseason games.
And this sits with the Bulldogs … well, about the way you’d think. “Maybe a little bit robbed,” was quarterback Aaron Murray’s assessment. “We definitely feel like we’re a BCS-caliber team. I think we proved that all season long. I think we proved that in the SEC Championship Game — that we belong with the best.”
Tight end Arthur Lynch, speaking of the epic loss to Alabama: “We’ve proved ourselves worthy to be in that situation. Some people have said it was a de facto national championship game. In my opinion, those were the two best teams in the country.”
Then this: “I’m not unhappy with the Capital One, but the national championship was the only game I wanted to go to. If we were in New Orleans (for the BCS-level Sugar Bowl), that wouldn’t be where I wanted to be.”
Wide receiver Tavarres King, measuring his words: “I don’t really think anything. The system is OK. I really can’t say much more.”
But he did. He said this: “I’d love to see an eight-game playoff. If you go head-to-head with teams in this conference, you might slip up. We certainly deserve a BCS bid.”
The argument can be made that, if you’re not playing for the BCS title, it doesn’t matter where you land. Monetarily that’s not true, and psychically it isn’t, either. The BCS system – which will yield to a four-team playoff come to 2014 – has created a three-tier system: Tier 1 is the championship game; Tier 2 consists of the other four BCS bowls; Tier 3 is everything else.
The BCS allows a conference only two spots in its Big Five. (Unless two teams from the same league are matched in the BCS title game and neither is the conference champion, which could never happen.) But when the bigger leagues grow by the minute and the Big East descends to Sun Belt level, is such a provision fair? Would the New Year be lessened if the Sugar Bowl, say, featured a rematch of Georgia-Florida?
Said Mark Richt, Georgia’s coach: “Is Florida deserving of the (BCS) opportunity? I think they are. I think we are, too.”
For the record, Richt and many Bulldogs lauded the Capital One. “Everyone is exited to go to Disney World,” Murray said. “Everyone wants to use their (bowl-provided) Best Buy gift cards.”
But danger awaits in Orlando. Georgia is clearly the superior team – Nebraska is ranked No. 23 by AP – but Georgia mightn’t have the greater motivation. Asked if he feared his team might believe it’s too good for the Capital One, Richt said: “I don’t think anybody is thinking that. The Capital One is a great bowl. Nebraska is a great program.”
Those are nice words from a famously nice man, but the reality is rather different. Thirty days after losing a national semifinal by four points and five yards, Georgia will face a much lesser opponent in a more austere setting. Spend those Best Buy gift bucks wisely, guys.
By Mark Bradley
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614 comments Add your comment
2013dogs!!!
December 13th, 2012
6:56 am
With murray coming back and the best running game in the SEC, the dogs will be loaded in 2013! Mark this down, the dogs win the SEC east easy again and this time will upset alabama for the SEC title!!! Dogs win SEC!!!
Redfern on Capella V
December 13th, 2012
6:57 am
Nebraska 45, Georgia 13
RedandBlackDAWG
December 13th, 2012
7:26 am
Redfern on Capella V
December 13th, 2012
6:57 am
I sure hope you don’t bet money for a living.
gdawginkalamazoo
December 13th, 2012
7:27 am
We are only better than the Capitol One Bowl if we destroy Nebraska in the game. Prove it on the field.
Ga. is always number #1 in the AJC
December 13th, 2012
7:34 am
Is it too early for your first Ga. will be the best team in the world “next year” column? They should have won at least a dozen national titles according to this rag.
RedandBlackDAWG
December 13th, 2012
7:37 am
Ga. is always number #1 in the AJC
December 13th, 2012
7:34 am
And yet you read this “RAG”, as you call it and feel the need to comment, trying to put down the UGA team. What does that say about you, sad little boy.
Donald
December 13th, 2012
7:48 am
But is Georgia good enough to put Oregon back on its schedule after UGA cancelled the upcoming series with the Ducks>
I’m sure Oregon would give UGA back the $250K the Dawgs paid to cancel the game.
Come on Bulldog Nation — demand better out of conference games. If Oregon is willing to play at Athens, why is UGA afraid to play in Eugene? Or don’t you want to play any games where you might lose?
Big Al
December 13th, 2012
7:56 am
LMAO!!!! That is all Mark!!!
UGA is paying for ...
December 13th, 2012
8:07 am
UGA is paying the price for completely arriving in Columba as a flat ball club. They got caught up in the electrified air of the SC stadium and were blown away. We were never in that game. That is the MARK of a coach Richt ball team. We were very immature in that game and it has COST US with the Cap One bowl, instead of another bowl game.
UGA man class of 71&73
Hail Varsity Magazine: Hot Reads: Maryland’s Money
December 13th, 2012
8:13 am
[...] circles, they’re still angry about UGA getting the BCS shaft. That’s the gist of this column from the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Mark Bradley. But danger awaits in Orlando. Georgia [...]
TiftonSeminole
December 13th, 2012
8:16 am
Tired of UGA fans, saying they have been robbed. Just WIN,fact, UGA has won the East the last two years and played for the SEC crown…..and lost, whether playing 1 half, or a tipped pass, 5 yards short, it’s two LOSSES. UGA had the perfect opportunity to win it themselves, and DID NOT. Really #3, #4, at the end of the day WE all remember the #1, the CHAMPIONS. Just worrying about WINNING, and take the speculation out. And don’t let an obviously overmatched Nebraska team beat you like Michigan State did last year. Shut up and JUST WIN……
Gator Mike
December 13th, 2012
8:19 am
Dawgs definately deserve to be in a BCS Bowl. Yes the Dawgs beat UF, but UF did turn the ball over 6 times which helped UGA. Also, UF struggled with some mediocre teams because they seemed to play to the level of the competition they faced. I will not belittle UGA’s schedule because UGA did not author it. They navigated through the schedule they were given to get to the SEC Championship game. I would have liked to see them beat Bama, but they did not.
LAKE DAWG, I seriously doubt that UGA would beat UF 10 times in a row (delusional). The last 20years prove it. Have a great day!
Resident Georgia Fan
December 13th, 2012
8:24 am
Steve … your are a dumb ass.
NCDAWG
December 13th, 2012
8:34 am
All the we played a soft schedule crap aside… all the who beat who aside… the fact is that UGA was deserving of a BCS bowl and didn’t get one because the system is ridiculously flawed. That is why a 4 team playoff is going to start soon. Then we will see how long it takes for it to grow into an 8 team event. Once those playoffs begins and the big dough starts flowing it is only a matter of time before it grows to 8 teams. So just suck it up and endure the BCS while it exists. I for one will enjoy the bowl because it’s Nebraska… it should be a good game.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
December 13th, 2012
8:34 am
“Isn’t UGA better than the Capital One Bowl?
Only in Mark Bradleys mind.
To Tell the Truth
December 13th, 2012
8:34 am
Funny how some GA fans want to discount FL, but yet had a chance to move to the NC and lost. Now you want to put down FL when they had nothing to do with your loss to Bama. The bottom line is you LOST the game. Your defense gave up over 300 yards to Bama this is why you lost. The better team won. The bottom line is GA CHOKED to get to the NC!!! 32 + years since a NC so I would hold off on putting down a program that has dominated yours with 3 NC’s within the last 20 years!!!!
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
December 13th, 2012
8:35 am
“Tired of UGA fans, saying they have been robbed. ”
That’s all they know how to do. It’s not like they can win big games or anything.
BradleyisaUGAHomer
December 13th, 2012
8:35 am
Bleeding heart liberal socialists like Barks Madly and the Bulldog Nation need to understand that when you LOSE a game you drop in the polls. UGA benefited when its only loss (to the only tough team they played druing the regular season) was early in the season. Now Barks Madyl wants to complain because the second loss (to the other hard team GA played) was at the end ofd the season. Typical socialist drivel – give it to me because we can’t earn it on the field!
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
December 13th, 2012
8:36 am
“But is Georgia good enough to put Oregon back on its schedule after UGA cancelled the upcoming series with the Ducks”
No, because the last time UGA went up against a good non-conference team they were embarrassed on national tv. It also didn’t help that they tried to play in Power Ranger costumes.
Disappointed Dogs insist there will be no letdown against Nebraska | UGA sports blog
December 13th, 2012
8:36 am
[...] Bradley: Georgia deserved better than Capital One Bowl [...]
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
December 13th, 2012
8:37 am
“Bleeding heart liberal socialists like Barks Madly and the Bulldog Nation need to understand that when you LOSE a game you drop in the polls. ”
Nah, he wants other teams to pay their “fair share” and give the DWAGS a trophy. It just isn’t fair that other schools can win and UGA can not.
DawgsDrool
December 13th, 2012
8:44 am
The Capital One Bowl is exactly what they deserve for that weak schedule
Gator Mike
December 13th, 2012
8:46 am
I am not convinced that Bama is definately going to beat ND. Most folks are convinced it will happen except for the ND Players. This reminds me of the 2006 Championship Game when all of the “so called” experts said that Ohio State could not be beaten and they would throttle the Gators.
I was there, and the arrogant suckeye fans kept flaunting their arrogant yankee attitudes towards us Gators before the game. Half way throught the 4th quater they were all on their way to the airport to get back home. I sure hope the Tide does not fold because their fans seem as arrogant as were the OSU fans that year. Go SEC!
W Reid Whitaker, Jr.
December 13th, 2012
8:49 am
As long as we have the present system or the 4 team playoff system, we are always going to have “left out” problems. That is why we never should have left the original bowl system, and let the polls determine the National Champion.
Living in poor ol everybody hates jawjaville
December 13th, 2012
8:50 am
UGA fans have a memory as short as their Johnson. Where were all you homers in 2007 when UGA got pounded by Tennessee in Knoxville, lost at home against Spurrier and then went to the Sugar Bowl instead of UT after they lost to LSU by a touchdown in the SECCG. See why no one outside of the state of Georgia has any respect for the Leghumpers?
PMC
December 13th, 2012
8:51 am
UGA has benefitted from this situation before and gone to the Sugar Bowl (2007 wasn’t it?)
It is what it is. Beat Nebraska and make the best of it.
PMC
December 13th, 2012
8:53 am
The problem of course is the limitiation of teams in big games based on conferences.
If you want matchups, you have to become a pro football fan.
College does not, and will almost never provide the matchups people really want to see at the end, because the system more resembles hungry hungry hippos, than a sporting contest.
Call It Like It Is
December 13th, 2012
8:55 am
I’m sure Fla would have traded with you in a heartbeat to play for the SEC championship. You have had your shot for the past two years to show you belong with the big “dawgs” and you have failed. Not a slam just the facts.
mike punk slive
December 13th, 2012
8:57 am
GET REAL…..THE DOGS HAD THE EASIEST SCHEDULED IN THE SEC EAST….DID NOT PLAY LSU…DID NOT PLAY A&M…..DID NOT PLAY BAMA (REGULAR SEASON)…..AND TO TOP THAT OFF GOT SPANKED BY USC….NO WAY THEY BEAT LSU, A&M…..ADD 2-3 MORE LOSSES ON THAT SCHEDULE….AND BE THANKFUL THEY ARE GOING TO A BOWL GAME…..BAMA RAN ALL OVER THEM….LIKE RUSH HOUR ON 400….AND THS SAME WOULD HAVE HAPPENED WITH LSU AND A&M…..I GUESS YOU FORGOT ABOUT LAST YEARS SEC BEAT DOWN BY LSU…..HOMER
gdawginkalamazoo
December 13th, 2012
8:58 am
Not getting off the porch in Columbia is why we are playing in the Cap One bowl. Why would anybody complain about the bowl selection? If you lose you can’t complain about where you end up. Bunch of whiners otherwise. Now go and whip the Cornhuskers to prove something.
ga gator
December 13th, 2012
9:07 am
mike punk slive, Bama might have RUN all over UGA but the game came with in 5 yards of flipping and who knows what might have happened if the Georgia receiver had not caught the ball with 5 seconds left. Assuming you are a Bama Redneck, Bama had an easy schedule also, they did not play S. Carolina or Florida and the East was just as tough this year as the West so go back to your trailer and dream of NASCAR.
jaxdawg
December 13th, 2012
9:16 am
Actually, the WERE penalized for falling five yards short. This has happened to really good SEC teams several times over the years, including Florida, Alabama and Arkansas. In fact, you could argue it happens EVERY year to whoever loses the championship game. Depending on circumstances, you are almost better off not going to the championship game, especially if other teams in your division only have one loss. The BCS is as perverse as the scoring in figure skating.
B. Thenet
December 13th, 2012
9:26 am
If UGA wants nice things they should learn how to tackle.
They are where they deserve to be.
TeeBall
December 13th, 2012
9:35 am
What a joke Georgia was. They got stomped by South Carolina and only beat Florida because of 6 turnovers. For the second year in a row Georgia avoids playing the top 3 teams in the SEC West and that’s the ONLY REASON Georgia was in the SEC Championship game to begin with. Obviously, Georgia can’t beat Alabama or LSU as evidenced by their showing the last 2 years in SEC Championship game. Bradley should stop whining and be thankful Georgia is playing in the Capital One Bowl because they deserve the Cowardly Lion Bowl based on their regular season schedules over the past 40 years. Geesh !!!
flagboy?
December 13th, 2012
9:43 am
Donald
December 13th, 2012
7:48 am
But is Georgia good enough to put Oregon back on its schedule after UGA cancelled the upcoming series with the Ducks>
I’m sure Oregon would give UGA back the $250K the Dawgs paid to cancel the game.
____________________________________
Since both schools wanted out of the series, no buyout was involved, McGarity said.
“It had to be a win-win,” McGarity said. “I don’t feel comfortable at all about buying out contracts. . . . If [Mullens] had said, ‘We really need to play these games,’ then they would still be on the schedule. We would not [buy out contracts]; I don’t think that’s the right thing to do as an institution.”
From the AJC, Sept 27, 2010.
Try again
Buckeye
December 13th, 2012
9:55 am
dogs,
Give it up and quit whining. It’s reality unbecoming.
P.S. Nice basketball program, dogs!
lj
December 13th, 2012
10:03 am
No Georgia should not be in the Capital One Bowl. They should be in the Outback or Chickla bowl. South Carolina should be in the Capital One bowl because they blowed Georgial all the way back to Athens 35-7.
EB
December 13th, 2012
10:13 am
They are not better than the Capital One Bowl. The bulldogs are going where they need to be.
5 yards short
December 13th, 2012
10:13 am
Easy Easy Schedule and the third staight loss to South Carolina, which was an embarrassing blowout, should have put the dawgs in the chikin bowl against Climpson instead of LSU.
MC
December 13th, 2012
10:13 am
Sorry John. YOU”RE AN IDIOT!
kingdaddy
December 13th, 2012
10:14 am
The only whining on this blog is by all the Doggie hateing trolls. One thing I agree with is the Dawgs just need to beat Neb. and slam the door on a HUGE RECRUITING YEAR! 12-2 with a TOP 5 finnish in the final rankings will be just fine. The losers from Tech couldn’t even beat Middle Tn. St., but they want to savor our two losses to top tier teams, what a joke. Nerds are so jealous it’s really funny.
Dawg fans…enjoy your success and look forward to next year. You will only make the trolls happy if you givein to them and their ridiculous taunts. Even if we won the NC, they would diminish it somehow. Who cares what they think???
5 yards short
December 13th, 2012
10:16 am
Mark Richt choked as usual…get over it………
00mpa L00mpa Dawg
December 13th, 2012
10:21 am
Having a dwarf QB that gets passes deflected is why the dawgs are in the CRAPITAL one Bowl.
kingdaddy
December 13th, 2012
10:23 am
What a bunch of jealous trolls. UGA will finish in the top 5 in the nation with a large top ranked recruiting class and you butthurt tools will still be losers. Sending teams like UL & UNI to BCS bowls just diminishes their importance. I’m glad UF gets to go to Sugar. Just beat Neb. and closeout recruitin strong, and don’t worry what the haters think of you. They never mattered…
kingdaddy
December 13th, 2012
10:27 am
Nerds, lol…pathetic crybabies whining about the team that owns them…
robodawg
December 13th, 2012
10:28 am
I’m with Artie Lynch. Playing Louisville in the Sugar (and on a work night for most people) wouldn’t really be any better consolation. If we’re not playing for the BCS championship, Nebraska on New Year’s Day ain’t a bad matchup. Most college football fans across the nation will be tuned in to watch. We just need to come out motivated and show the country what we’re made of.
gahillbilly
December 13th, 2012
10:31 am
Mark, do you have a trademark on use of the word “alas”?
older1
December 13th, 2012
10:33 am
Remember when Jake Scott and company wanted to go to the Orange Bowl, THEY BROUGHT ORANGES into Vince D. office. he said were are going to the Sugar Bowl instead. UGA got beat big time. Now we know why. Players not happy = no win.
God Outdid Himself When He Creaetd the Mighty SEC
December 13th, 2012
10:33 am
So any team not in the SEC is “clearly a lesser team”, whether they beat you or not, right?
You can’t argue with an SEC Kool-aid drinker. They win, they thump their chest. They lose, it’s because they had no motivation.
It’s as if the other team is merely a bunch of tackling dummies, and the outcome depends 100% on how the SEC team performs.
kingdaddy
December 13th, 2012
10:38 am
The only ones crying on this blog seem to be the trolls and haters, lol. We should have been in a BCS bowl but we weren’t, that’s just how it worked out, but we are in the TOP NON-BCS BOWL in the COUNTRY!!! Bwaaaaaaaaaahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaa…Not what we wanted, but we will make the most of it. All you losers in lower tier bowls need to accept the facts that you are probably where you deserve to be, (except for Tech, they didn’t deserve a bowl!)
Y’all quit your crying you bunch of sissies…