AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 14
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
It’s about championships, stupid
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just one man’s opinion:
1. It’s about championships, stupid: One of the conversation lines on talk radio and blogs is that Georgia would actually be BETTER OFF if Tennessee won its last two games and went to the SEC championship instead of Georgia. Then, goes the logic, Georgia would be a lock for a BCS at-large bid if the Bulldogs could finish 10-2. That is dumb thinking on so many levels. College football is not about just getting to a good bowl. It’s about CHAMPIONSHIPS. Playing Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl would certainly be fun for Georgia and its fans. But getting to the SEC championship game for the fourth time in the Mark Richt era would be a much greater accomplishment.
2. Sylvester Croom should be the SEC Coach of the Year: Great coaching, in my opinion, is getting the talent you have on hand to play at its highest possible level. With wins over Auburn, Kentucky, and Alabama this season Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom has done exactly that. Not many teams bounce back from a 45-0 loss (to LSU) in their opener. Kentucky’s Rich Brooks, who seemed all but done after the 2005 season, also deserves some strong consideration.
3. The Phillip Fulmer talk is over: Like a lot of people, I was certainly wrong about last week’s Arkansas-Tennessee game. I thought the Hogs and Darren McFadden would run right over a weak Volunteer defense. But what I didn’t take into account is that Fulmer coaches better with his back to the wall than just about anybody. If the Volunteers beat Vandy and Kentucky and go to the SEC championship game, you could make a very strong case for Fulmer as the coach of the year.
4. Watching Miami is very, very sad: A little over a year ago I predicted that Miami’s days as a power in college football were over. After the fight with FIU and the way it was handled, I really wondered if the program could recover. But I was encouraged by the hire of Randy Shannon and thought I might be wrong. But for Miami to lose 48-0 to Virginia in its last game in the Orange Bowl is just sad to watch. The program is now officially at rock bottom. Can Shannon start rebuilding from here?
5. Nick Saban has had a successful first season at Alabama: Yes, I know. The record says 6-4 and the Crimson Tide has yet to play Auburn. But understand this. Nick Saban was hired to make Alabama football relevant again on the national stage. Yes, with a break here or there the Crimson Tide could be sitting here with 8 or 9 wins. But the journey to being a championship program inevitably begins with a season like this as the new head coach establishes his principles of success. Alabama’s players have to learn how to win on a consistent basis.
