Outcome of SEC Championship won’t impact LSU’s BCS opportunities
Welcome to championship week. Raise your hand if you expected Georgia to be in this position back on Sept. 11th. That was the day after the supposedly devastating 45-42 loss to South Carolina. To his credit, Bulldogs’ coach Mark Richt did, as his comments after that game indicate.
Since then the Bulldogs won 10 straight, culminating with Saturday’s 31-17 win over Georgia Tech to conclude the regular season. Now it gets real interesting!
Georgia’s season began with a rather lackluster loss to No. 5 Boise State in the Georgia Dome. Now the Bulldogs head back and will face an even bigger challenge in No. 1-ranked LSU in the SEC Championship Game. No one’s giving them a chance to win. The early lines I’ve seen have the Tigers favored by 11.5 to 13 points. So Las Vegas is expecting a rout.
What I think is most interesting about Saturday’s game is the apparent lack of bearing it will have on LSU’s BCS national championship hopes. Virtually every prediction out there has the Tigers still playing in the title game even if they lost to Georgia and even if that loss was a blowout.
There is even some speculation that LSU could clinch a share of the national title with a win over Georgia on Saturday via The AP vote.
That has brought forth some previously unfathomable reasoning. LSU coach Les Miles was asked this past weekend if he had considered resting some of his players and kind of taking it easy for the SEC championship game. Miles’ response was predictable.
“Just so you know, there is no way this football team goes to Atlanta and doesn’t play its best,” he said.
The truth is, the bigger the stage, the better LSU has played this season. The Tigers’ season began with a game against a top 5 Oregon team in the “Jerry Dome” in Dallas and they’ve had “monumental” contests all year, with trips to West Virginia, Alabama and Arkansas. They seem to do their best where the lights are brightest.
“We’re used to being on the big stage,” Miles said Sunday. “I think our guys translate the glare of the lights to making plays in the game. I think they did that against Oregon in Dalaas and they’ve really done it right on through Alabama at Alabama. So we’re kind of comfortable in domes and we’ll look forward to seeing if we can the exact same thing.”
Expect the Bulldogs to get LSU’s best shot.
So does anybody here have a problem with the SEC championship game being rendered moot with regard to the BCS title? And does anybody believe Georgia has a chance in this game?
Meanwhile, we here at the AJC are treating it as a meaningful game. We have a lot of great coverage plans so be sure to check back regularly for updates as we’ll post everything online as quickly as we have it. And feel free to offer suggestions for stories or particular subjects you’d like to see covered.
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573 comments Add your comment
htownbravesfan
November 28th, 2011
3:16 pm
I hate to break this to UGA fans, but you played two halfway decent opponents all year and lost them both. Let’s face it, with the exception of LSU and maybe Bama, this was a down year for the SEC from top to bottom. UGA doesn’t have one win this season against a team currently ranked in the top 25. Their resume doesn’t constitute a better ranking than where they are now.
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:18 pm
Compete saturday nite, then keep thinking UGA could play with Alabama. Keep thinking McCarron is weak. LOL..Would UGA score?
Go Dawgs!
November 28th, 2011
3:18 pm
Andy
November 28th, 2011
1:09 pm
“I assume that all of you are knowledgeable football fans. I also assume that some of you let your team preferences cloud your own judgement. If you are honest with yourselves, there is no other team in the country that is in the same ball park as LSU and Alabama. They are a double digit favorite over every other team in the country, except each other. They may in fact be two of the best football teams of all time, the amount of atheletes they have on the field at any given time is unprecedented. If you really want to know who the best teams are ask Vegas, they know”
So by your logic what you’re saying is if UGA beats LSU then the Dawgs should play in the National Championship game right? I meant they would have won their 11th in a row against one of the teams that, and I quote ” may in fact be two of the best football teams of all time, ”
That IS what you’re basically saying isn’t it Andy?
I love it, keep thinking UGA has no shot in this game.
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:19 pm
Dear hbraves crapfan, what you said is true. No teams we beat are currently in top 25. That’s cause we knocked them out.
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:21 pm
I know it is a done deal. Many, not all UGA fans have an inferiority complex withh Bama.
flo-ri-duh
November 28th, 2011
3:21 pm
LSU vs Okie State if they both win this weekend. Bama lost to LSU – no need for a replay. If Georgia beats LSU in a close game then LSU still beat Bama and maybe Georgia would beat Bama if they played them. Richt is even up with Saban on the “W”’s and “L”’s. Bama did not win the west and should not jump over LSU to play in the BCS title game.
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:22 pm
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:19 pm
Dear hbraves crapfan, what you said is true. No teams we beat are currently in top 25. That’s cause we knocked them out.
Who did you knock out of the top 25″?
I-DOG
November 28th, 2011
3:23 pm
Nobody will be resting their players.
It isn’t like the national championship game or even UGA’s bowl game are being played the following week.
Both teams will have four or five weeks to “rest their players” before their bowl games and while I understand that LSU will likely be playing for the national title even if they lose… I’m sure the players, coaches, and fans would like to win an SEC title. It isn’t like they have won it 5 out of the last 6 years or anything like that.
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:23 pm
@bank, my inferiority complex will expose itself when Balaama gets a kicker!
John Ard
November 28th, 2011
3:24 pm
One of the great sports stories of the year is: Mark Richt not allowing his Christian faith to be trumped by the football culture. John Ard
DawginLex
November 28th, 2011
3:24 pm
bank on it
so my opinion is different than yours so that makes me wrong?
Yes, I think Bama is not as good as us on offense.
Opinions
The foundation for the BCS system
Mine have validity backed up by stats and on field performance yet they are a joke according to you?
Murray is better than AJ.
That’s my opinion
He has 32 TD’s to back it up
McCarron choked in the big game at home.
Don’t let facts change your opinion
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:25 pm
Bank,
Auburn & Tech (technically Aub urn had to be kept in the top 25 for the Balaama win to have meaning – but you get my drift)
Evansdawg
November 28th, 2011
3:25 pm
Thats right htownbrave….we are ranked right where we should be. Historically the Dawgs love to be the assumed underdog. Yes, we also didn’t stand a chance in 2005 when LSU was ranked #3 and the Dawgs were #13….but we won. We also didn’t have a chance the following year after LSU won the national title, but I remember a total beatdown in Athens of LSU at the hands of the Dawgs. We didn’t stand a chance against Bama in ‘05 in Tuscaloosa, with even Pat Dye saying “The Dawgs aren’t man enough to beat Alabama” but we did. PLEASE, keep posting that we don’t have a chance. Do it often!!!!! Let the players see that they don’t have a chance! The madder they get, the better they will be. So all you Tech fans that are pathetic and posing as LSU fans KEEP IT UP!!! You just might be helping us out! Go Dawgs.
DawginLex
November 28th, 2011
3:26 pm
Tech and auburn
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:26 pm
We have a kicker coming just west of Atlanta next year?
Blair Walsh? really..
Victor Matlin
November 28th, 2011
3:26 pm
They said UGA did not have a chance in 05 either, #3 LSU against #13 UGA;
Final UGA 34 LSU 14
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:26 pm
Auburn & Ga tech (although Awlbarn had to be kept in the top 25 for Balaama’s win to have meaning – but you get my drift)
DawginLex
November 28th, 2011
3:27 pm
Walsh has made his last 5 in a row
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:27 pm
Auburn was no. 24 before Bama spanked them in JH?”
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:28 pm
BW shanked that first one that dummy CPJ called the timeout on. How many did he miss at JVILLE?
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:29 pm
You knocked out Tech? Wow…there is a statement!
Get Real
November 28th, 2011
3:30 pm
What really bothers Georgia fans is the knowledge that the SEC West has gotten so much better than the East that the SECCG has now become irrelevant. Perhaps the Eastern Division will step it up a notch next year with the addition of Missouri?
USMC
November 28th, 2011
3:30 pm
After UGA beats LSU in the SEC CG, UGA should play Okie State or Stanford for the BCS National Championship Game.
htownbravesfan
November 28th, 2011
3:31 pm
IDIOT DAWG, are you seriously bragging about wins over Auburn and Georgia Tech? LSU has beaten three teams that are CURRENTLY in the top ten. I try not to insult anybody, but you are currently living up to your handle.
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
3:31 pm
UGA is 0-1 against TOP 10 and 0-2 vs TOP 30
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt11.htm
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:32 pm
Bank you were the one that mentioned complexes. I’m not jealous. Besides, next year we are going the use the Balaama / Flarduh plan. Unless Mizzou changes something we will have three cupcakes instead of two. B ut that’s next year. This year (even though I don’t particularly care for crawdads) LSU will win again.
Get Real
November 28th, 2011
3:32 pm
@Evansdawg
Georgia didn’t play Alabama in 2005.
pdawg
November 28th, 2011
3:32 pm
Ga. will win this game and they will be ranked no. 7 in the BCS meaning we will win this game but will not play for the championship!! It makes me mad but I will take the win anyday. You can take this to the bank
Hairy stinking Dawgs
November 28th, 2011
3:33 pm
Case study in inconsistency: In 2007 Georgia was ranked No. 4 in the next-to-last BCS standings. The teams ranked first and second — Missouri and West Virginia — lost on the regular season’s final weekend. Georgia didn’t play. It finished atop the SEC East but was shaded by Tennessee on a tiebreaker. LSU, which had lost its final regular-season game to Arkansas, beat the Vols for the SEC title, and the Tigers got to play for the BCS title.
LSU moved from No. 7 to No. 2. Georgia didn’t play a game and slid to No. 5. Why? Because LSU coach Les Miles kept making the point that his team had “won its conference” and because the many talking heads on ESPN took up the cry. (As we know, what’s said on ESPN has an outsize effect on college football, the only sport in which opinions matter.)
BSC is crap and so ESPN! we will never get that nut riding chance……..
Go Dawgs!
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:33 pm
@braves, no brag, just response.
Idiot Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:35 pm
@ hairy stink…, well said!
DawginLex
November 28th, 2011
3:35 pm
a bama fan criticizing another team’s kicker
PRICELESS
htownbravesfan
November 28th, 2011
3:36 pm
Noted.
munsondawg
November 28th, 2011
3:37 pm
Ahhhh!!!! all those vacated wins for Bama in 2005. Too funny…..
Evansdawg
November 28th, 2011
3:39 pm
No Get Real…that is not what bothers UGA fans. We could care less about the strength of the conference divisions. We are only concerned with UGA football. To us, it doesn’t matter who has the meat, as long as UGA is in the dance and winning games, the programs of Florida, Tennessee, SC, Vandy and Kentucky have no bearing on us. Nor does whats going on between the schools in the West. AND, yes we CAN brag about wins over AUB and GT! Their fans hate it….so BRAGGING we will do.
Bama in Atlanta
November 28th, 2011
3:41 pm
@DawginLex
I think UGA has progressed very well during the season and will be rooting for them in the SECCG (my wife is a UGA grad) but I respectfully disagree that UGA’s offense is better than Bama’s. I think our OL play better as a team and we better depth at RB.
Also, I think Murray and AJ are very similar. Murray does have 32 TDs to AJ’s 16 but Murray also has 10 INTs to AJ’s 5 and AJ’s completion % is 67% compared to Murray’s 61%. If you go by a TD/INT ratio then they are equal. Both have shown flashes of billiance as well as room for growth so, bottom line, I think each is about even at this point.
I think Bama vs UGA would be a good game and hope that they are able to keep to the schedule next year. Good luck this weekend and wherever you go bowling!
Norm Chow
November 28th, 2011
3:41 pm
To all the whining UGA fans regarding the “snub” in 2007: Get over it! You had no business losing to SC that year and then getting drilled by a sorry TN team. Win the games you’re supposed to and quit trying to blame someone else.
highcountry dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:41 pm
The Dawgs are not trying to get into the Nat’l Championship game, we ARE in it! The SEC Championship is THE Nat’l Championship – as the years and testimonials have evidenced! Everything else is pagentry. We are playing this Saturday in the Title Game of the “best conference in college football. The SEC Champion is the Champion. Get pumped and Go Dawgs!!!
Ray
November 28th, 2011
3:42 pm
Okay as it stands if LSU and Okie st. both lose this actually may be the best set up for a playoff in years.
Cause under these circumstances who actually gets to play?
1. LSU loses to Georgia
2. Bama lost to LSU and also didn’t win the conference
3.Stanford can’t get in lost to Oregon who in turn lost to LSU and USC which Stanford struggled with
4.Virgina Tech is also SOL lost to Clemson who has been exposed so why do they get in.
5.Arkansas definitely won’t get in cause of loses to both #1 and #2
6.Houston Undefeated but will get the same treatment as Georgia weak schedule and what not
7.Boise St. lost to TCU nuff said.
8. Oregon read number 3
9. Oklahoma that lost at Texas Tech will sting them and also to Baylor
10. Kansas St. Lost to both Oklahoma Teams
Basically what I am saying is everyone’s body of work isn’t so great and everyone will have something to gripe about if Georgia beats LSU and Okie St. loses plus if VT loses.
Also forget to add Stanford isn’t even playing for their Conference Championship if I’m not mistaken.
Yeah this is the best time to cheer on Georgia right now I believe they’ll lose, but if they win to get us a playoff that would be great even if for just one year only.
DawginLex
November 28th, 2011
3:42 pm
petrino to UCLA?
Kiffen versus Petrino every year?
The Jacka$$ bowl
Get Real
November 28th, 2011
3:43 pm
“LSU moved from No. 7 to No. 2. Georgia didn’t play a game and slid to No. 5. Why?”
Because they beat down the team that had previously beat down Georgia and “shaded” them out of the SECCG.
“Shaded”? WTH? Tennessee won the tie-breaker by defeating Georgia straight-up – how is there anything “shady” about that?
Hairy
November 28th, 2011
3:45 pm
Dawgs,
Go
Dawgs!
Third (rate) degree
November 28th, 2011
3:46 pm
It’s really sad that UGA alumni and fans have only their football team to take pride in. It’s even sadder that this pride depends on the performance of illiterate dummies who don’t even come close to meeting minimum academic requirements. 75% of UGA football players are what UGA calls “special admits,” which is just a euphemism for admitting bozos who can barely read.
This sorry practice not only cheapens all UGA degrees, but embarrasses the State of Georgia and its citizens.
So enjoy your victories, and be kind to your former players when you see them mopping floors or emptying trashcans. Or pushing a shopping cart around, looking for a warm place to sleep at night. That’s your UGA reality.
Hairy
November 28th, 2011
3:47 pm
Get real,
they didn’t beat down Tennessee, they threw an int and that sealed the game. still don’t know how we got jumped and went backwards, and lsu went from 7 to second!
Vegasjs
November 28th, 2011
3:47 pm
Very Simply – if Georgia wins then there can’t be an Alabama/LSU game because Georgia gets the automatic bid and only 2 teams per conference can go to the BCS.
Get Real
November 28th, 2011
3:48 pm
Why do any of you think that a playoff system will stop the elite teams from playing for the Championship just as often as they do under the current BCS system? The best teams will win most of the time, no matter what system you use to determine the Champs.
ole yeller
November 28th, 2011
3:48 pm
I am a UGA Dawg Fan, and have been since 1956. I don’t think we have enough on “O” to take care of LSU. The “D” will keep it close but at the end LSU will win and then thay beat whoever meet them in the “NC” game. That will be six in a row for the SEC.The facts are in, sorry but that , that…
Hairy
November 28th, 2011
3:49 pm
Third (rate) degree….. you must be a butt hurt tech fan. it is okay, we know you are hurt. i remember when you guys beat us, it was a pain i never wanted to feel again. Since 2008 the pain has been gone, but for you it get worse ever year…….Ahhhhhhhh, you suck!
This isn't 2005!!!!!
November 28th, 2011
3:50 pm
yawn… 12/3 will be here soon. Like Bart Scott said “Can’t WAIT!!!”
I have said it before and will say it again. 2005 has no impact on this game. LSU is deeper, and more importantly mentally tougher than the days of Off-DaMarkus Russell (never did like him). Dawg fans I encourage you to do some research on your opponent. Go to the websites for the Baton Rouge Advocate and The Times Picayune. Nobody associated with the LSU football program from the head coach down to the ball boy is focused on anything other than playing the best they can each week and winning the SEC title. There will be no let down. LSU wins 38-13
TampaDawg
November 28th, 2011
3:51 pm
htownbravesfan
November 28th, 2011
3:16 pm
I hate to break this to UGA fans, but you played two halfway decent opponents all year and lost them both. Let’s face it, with the exception of LSU and maybe Bama, this was a down year for the SEC from top to bottom. UGA doesn’t have one win this season against a team currently ranked in the top 25. Their resume doesn’t constitute a better ranking than where they are now.
————————-
The whole “currently” in the top 25 is as misleading as the “well, they were in the top 25 when we played them”. Could it possibly be that the loss to UGA by Auburn and GT is among the reasons they are not in the top 25? Yeeeessss. On the flipside, take a team like Florida State who was fairly high ranked to start the year. They lost to Oklahoma granted but they also couldn’t figure out how to beat freaking Wake Forest and Virginia? They were never in the class of the top 10 ranking they started with. UGA beat Auburn who many said were average at best. But they are the same Auburn team that still beat USCe, #10 at the time. So has UGA beat ranked teams? Yes, Auburn and GT were both BCS ranked when they beat them.