New Orleans — Not that 13-year-old Ethan Thompson would ever do anything to warrant a warning but now his father, Henry, has got something better than Santa Claus to keep him in line.

BRANT SANDERLIN / UGA (ENLARGE)

UGA fans Karen Miller (L) of Augusta and Sharon Bell of Covington may have even more to cheer about in 2008.

THE SUGAR BOWL: UGA 41, HAWAII 10 BY THE NUMBERS • How They Scored • UGA Stats • Bowl scoreboard DISCUSS THE DOGS • Schultz: Was BCS watching? • Towers: Not a surprise PHOTOS • Postgame celebration • The fans • The game [an error occurred while processing this directive] MORE PHOTOS • Dogs visit children's hospital • UGA's Sugar Bowls since 1969 • Practice: Friday • Thursday • Dogs hit the Big Easy • 5 Sugary-Sweet Plays QUIZ TIME • Test your UGA bowl trivia

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"I tell him he has to behave on this (Sugar Bowl) trip so he can go next year," Henry joked.

Next year. The chorus for losers. But not anymore.

Not for Georgia. Next year holds intrigue and hope. Next year looks so promising for Georgia, which trounced Hawaii 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday.

Next year, with the overwhelming majority of its starting players returning, could be the year Georgia makes everyone remember what it was like to be a fan in 1980 and take a run to the national championship.

"Next year is it," said Paul Cox, a transplanted Georgian living behind enemy lines (Florida).

So Cox is thinking home game in Miami on Jan. 8, 2009 — the site and date for next year's national title game.

"It's right down the road," he said.

Lately around Georgia the road trips have been fun and the parties have been good, but they haven't happened when it really mattered. That's not to say Georgia hasn't been close. With a win against Hawaii, Georgia is a lock to finish in the top 10 for the fifth time in the last six years.

In Mark Richt's seven years, Georgia has three SEC Championships, three Sugar Bowls, and a 19-13 record against the top 25. It's arguably and statistically the best Georgia run since Vince Dooley's stretch from 1980-86. Over those seven years, Georgia won three SEC championships, went to two Sugar Bowls, won a national title and had an 11-7-1 record against the top 25.

"All we need now is the title," said Dale Mathis, who was indoctrinated into the Bulldogs faithful by a father who used to watch Charlie Trippi and Frank Sinkwich. "Do that and (Richt) surpasses (Vince Dooley)."

"Yeah," Cox said. "It's harder to do now, too. Back then you had Alabama. Look at what you have to do now. Look at the teams we have to play every year."

Just look at the teams Georgia has to play next year.

"Six road games," said Sam Lane, a converted Georgia fan since the early '90s when his son's enrollment allowed him to stop dying with Vanderbilt and start living with Georgia.

"But we are already making our reservations for Arizona State," said his wife Chris, referring to next year's second road game.

And LSU. And South Carolina. And Florida. And Kentucky. And Auburn. That schedule has many fans wary and others hopeful.

"We have to be in the title game if we are a one loss team," Cox said.

Than again, there is this school of thought:

"You have (Matthew) Stafford and (Knowshon) Moreno for two more years and then you look at the recruiting and it is hard to find any holes," Sam Lane said.

Meaning Chris might want to start checking reservations for the national title game in the Rose Bowl two years from now.

"I think 2009 is the year for us," she said.

Either way Georgia is poised to push its way onto the national center stage.

"Somebody asked does Hawaii have more to play for than we do?" Richt said this week.

"They have a lot to play for, no doubt. But we do too. It is important for our young guys to know where we finish this year will probably have some effect on where we start next year."

This season Georgia started behind LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech in the polls. All of those teams finished ahead of Georgia. Three of them — LSU, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech — also had two losses. The other, Ohio State, played a slate of games that left a little to be desired for those who actually enjoy football.

"The way the bowl system is set up right now and the way the national championship is set up, usually the higher you are the better chance you have of being there in the end," Richt said. "If Oklahoma was preseason was No. 1 and let's say LSU was preseason No. 12 my guess is Oklahoma would be playing for the national championship. Because the perception was, well LSU is going to be there, everybody at the end said, 'Well yeah there they are let's vote for them.' "

Georgia wants to be there in the end.

"I think most people's formula for preseason rankings is how did they finish and how many returning starters did they have and we will have a lot of returning problems and hopefully we will finish strong," Richt said.

Do that and young Ethan may just forget about the first Georgia game he attended — this year's humiliating loss at Tennessee — and remember everything about being a Bulldog fan.

"He gets to know what it is like to follow a winner," Henry Thompson said.