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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > September > 24
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Georgia the best of SEC title contenders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Richt said last week there “are probably at least six legitimate contenders for [the SEC title], and any one of those six could be considered the best team in the country at the end.” We can eliminate Tennessee from that mix now, and even though Vanderbilt is undefeated and stands 21st in the Associated Press poll, it’s hard to imagine the Commodores climbing much higher.
So that leaves five teams, four of which are ranked among the nation’s top eight, two of which will collide Saturday night in Athens. And here, in ascending order, is a rating of those five:
5. Auburn: The temptation is to dismiss the Tigers after losing at home to LSU. Look closer and you’ll note that Auburn probably shouldn’t lose another SEC game until November, if then. The muddled offense that mustered three points against Mississippi State managed two touchdown drives and 320 yards against LSU, and the unit can only improve with time. (Brad Lester, the tailback from Parkview who was injured in Starkville, has been cleared to play against Tennessee on Saturday.) It’s an uphill slog, but this team might still win the West.
4. Alabama: The Tide can run the ball and play defense and has a senior quarterback in John Parker Wilson and a breakout freshman in receiver Julio Jones. Can those conspicuous assets deliver a conference title? Not just yet. It’s one thing to beat Clemson in the Georgia Dome, quite another to win at Sanford Stadium and in Baton Rouge. The suspicion is that Bama, which starts only six seniors, is still a year away from full-blown arrival. It probably will have to satisfy itself with beating Auburn for the first time since 2001 and making Tommy Tuberville stick his hands in his pockets.
3. Florida: Assuming they beat LSU in the Swamp, the Gators figure to be undefeated when they arrive in Jacksonville for The World’s Largest Outdoor Celebration Penalty Grudge Match. The young Florida defense has made clear upgrades over last season. But this is still Tim Tebow’s team, and Tebow, for whatever reason, hasn’t been as effective. (He ranks sixth in the conference in total offense, behind legends like Casey Dick and Chris Smelley.) And it isn’t as if Urban Meyer is resting his quarterback: Tebow was still playing inside the final three minutes with a 24-point lead in Knoxville.
2. LSU: The winner of the LSU-Auburn game usually wins the West, but the Bayou Tigers aren’t safe just yet. They still have to go to Gainesville and must play Georgia and Alabama. This remains a tremendous defensive team, and quarterback Jarrett Lee seemed to find himself in the second half at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the feeling persists that LSU simply lost too many players from its BCS title-winning team to rule the nation’s toughest conference again. It could and probably should win the West, but not the league.
1. Georgia: The Bulldogs are the best fusion of running and passing, of offense and defense, in the SEC and maybe the land. They have more ways to win than any other conference team, and they’re finding new ones as they go. (Say hello to A.J. Green.) They still have a wicked schedule, but they can lose once — so long as it’s not in Jacksonville — and reach the Dome on Dec. 6. At issue for Georgia: Opponents have managed 69 first downs, and 13 of those have come via penalty. That aside, the season’s first four weeks have done nothing to lessen the notion that took root months ago: That 2008 will be a Dog year.
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