ATHENS – With Georgia’s other team and individual entries making quick and relatively disappointing exits from the NCAA tennis tournament, it was left to Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist to give the Bulldogs something to bark about. And they did for a good long time, reaching the finals in women’s doubles.

DESTIN, Fla. – University of Georgia president Michael Adams, a 15-year veteran of the SEC's annual spring meetings here, expects this year’s get-together to stand out. “I’m not sure we’ve had a Destin meeting in a long time with as much of a substantive agenda as I expect [this time],” Adams said last week.

After forcing a Game 3 on the final day of the Knoxville Super Regional, the Georgia softball team lost 2-1 Sunday in the final game to Tennessee. Georgia finished 45-17, marking the 11th time that the Bulldogs have reached 40 or more wins under coach Lu Harris-Champer.

ATHENS – Mallory Burdette is playing for history. She’s also trying to avoid psychology. The Stanford junior, from Jackson in central Georgia, will play Monday for the NCAA women’s tennis singles title against teammate Nicole Gibbs, just the fourth time teammates have faced off in the women’s singles final.

The last contingent from a Georgia school still alive in the NCAA tennis tournament wasted no time Saturday in asserting their intentions to make a run for Monday's women's doubles championship. Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist — both seniors and both playing their last matches on their home turf — jumped to an early first-set lead and survived a slight bump in the second set to take a 6-1, 6-2 victory over California’s Jana Juricova and Zsofi Susanyi, advancing to Sunday’s semifinals.

Chelsey Gullickson’s team lost in the NCAA women’s tennis tournament last week. Her bid for a second NCAA singles title withered in a first-round upset loss Wednesday. On Friday, all that remained of her decorated Georgia career was her alliance with Nadja Gilchrist, her doubles partner for much of their four years together.

Amazing what a little dedication can do. That’s the testimonial of Georgia softball’s Erin Arevalo. The senior pitcher from Lathrop, Calif., is having a phenomenal senior season, which she says is the result, first and foremost, of her merely deciding that’s the kind of final year she wanted to have.

Locally, it’s down to Georgia’s Will Spencer and Georgia State’s Abigail Tere-Apisah in the singles draw of the NCAA tennis championships. Those were the only players representing local schools who managed to escape the second round and advance to the Round of 16.

Ending any speculation about the status of Georgia baseball coach David Perno, UGA athletic director Greg McGarity declared unequivocally Thursday that Perno will remain in the job. “Dave will be back next year,” McGarity said during a break from the UGA Athletic Association board of directors’ meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge on Lake Oconee.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt’s long-in-the-works contract extension — still not finalized — won’t include a raise, but will include considerably larger bonuses for winning championships. That was the word from athletic director Greg McGarity to the UGA Athletic Association board of directors at its spring meeting here Thursday.

Nothing like a little Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry to heat up the NCAA tournament as singles play began Wednesday. As it turned out, both of Tech’s singles entrants drew Georgia opponents in their first-round draws. The Yellow Jackets earned a split as No.

The record book will say Florida won its second consecutive women’s tennis championship on the road Tuesday. But for Joanna Mather, this was a home match. The highly decorated senior was raised in Duluth, just 55 miles east of the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, and honed her tennis skills at Racquet Club of the South in Norcross.

ATHENS – Monday's NCAA tennis semifinals resembled an episode of the reality show "Survival."  Not only did teams have to outwit, outlast and outplay their opponents, but Mother Nature wreaked a little havoc, too. In the end, four teams advanced. Defending national champion Florida moves on to face No.

ATHENS – Nearly five hours later, with a backhand that harmlessly billowed the net, the spell expired. The Georgia men’s tennis team, fortified by Bulldog Nation and aspiring for an addition to the trophy case, met its fate Sunday night. The seventh-seeded Pepperdine Waves toppled the second-seeded Bulldogs 4-3 in an NCAA quarterfinal match at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

ATHENS -- With the Duke women's tennis team making the NCAA semifinals, a Duke women’s team is in a national semifinal in the state of Georgia for the second time in six months. The Blue Devils women’s soccer team reached the finals of the College Cup at Kennesaw State in December, losing to Stanford.

Full of fight and playing into the teeth of a pro-Georgia crowd, the Duke women’s tennis team earned an indelible prize. Playing from behind, the Blue Devils took out the Bulldogs 4-2 in the NCAA quarterfinals Saturday afternoon, ending Georgia’s season three wins shy of its intended destination.

ATHENS – Georgia men’s coach Manny Diaz spent part of his day Saturday trying to rustle up as much intelligence on quarterfinal opponent Pepperdine as he could. The teams have not played since 2008, when the Bulldogs defeated the Waves en route to their most recent national championship.

On an ideal night for tennis, black defeated blue. Wearing black shirts, shoes and socks, the Georgia men’s tennis team bombed North Carolina 4-0 in their NCAA Round of 16 matchup Friday night at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. "That's an impressive start for us," Georgia coach Manny Diaz said.

The remaking of college football’s postseason continued to take shape Friday, with the SEC and the Big 12 announcing a five-year deal that will match teams from the two leagues in a New Year’s Day bowl game. The deal calls for the SEC and Big 12 champions to meet in an undetermined bowl starting with the 2014 season, unless one or both play in the four-team playoff that also is expected to begin that season.

The Big 12 and the Southeastern conferences have announced a deal that will pit their football regular-season champions against each other in a New Year's Day bowl game for five years beginning in 2014, positioning themselves for the expected switch to a four-team playoff.

Georgia has won six national championships in men’s tennis, and five of those came when it hosted the NCAA tennis tournament, as it is doing this week. So there will be high expectations for the Bulldogs (25-2) when they resume play in the Round of 16 on Friday Seeded No.

Other than a long soaking rain shower in the middle of the late-afternoon matches, Thursday was a great first day for the NCAA tennis tournament. Unfortunately for the No. 6-seeded Georgia Bulldogs, they were caught in the middle of storm. When the weather came through, the Bulldog had secured the doubles point against No.

When: Thursday-May 28 Where: Dan Magill Tennis Complex, Athens Tickets: Available at gates for $6-10 Women’s Round of 16 (Thursday) 9 a.m.: UCLA vs. Rice, California vs. Georgia Tech; noon: USC vs. Baylor, Northwestern vs. Stanford; 4 p.m.: Georgia vs. Texas, Duke vs.

It is late on a weekday morning and the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame on Georgia’s campus is closed. That is to say, the door is locked. But those in the know realize this building is rarely unoccupied this time of day and certainly not during this week with the NCAA tennis championships in town.

The backup quarterback for Missouri, which plays its first game in the SEC against Georgia Sept. 8, has been arrested after reportedly leaving the scene of a car accident. Columbia police say Corbin Berkstresser hit a parked car in an off-campus neighborhood early Tuesday but failed to stop.

ATHENS -- There are some nervous coaches around Georgia's athletic department these days. That will happen when the coach of perennial top 10 program abruptly resigns the week after finishing 11th. Georgia gymnastics coach Jay Clark offered his resignation shortly after meeting with UGA athletic director Greg McGarity on May 4 and it served as an overture to his staff.

In the year he will turn 80, former UGA football coach Vince Dooley recently tromped through the swampland of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta in south Alabama to find his ancestral home. Ben Raines, a reporter for the Mobile Press-Register, accompanied Dooley on the pilgrimage, where the legendary coach discovered the ruins of the home -- which burned down years ago -- he visited as a child.

Four days after graduation, Georgia Tech’s senior class received a priceless parting gift — a third consecutive season-series victory over Georgia. The Yellow Jackets subdued the Bulldogs with 12 hits, clean defense and a strong start by pitcher Josh Heddinger in an 8-6 win Wednesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The best memory that Georgia Tech first baseman Jake Davies holds of playing Georgia was his first. As a freshman relief pitcher in 2009, Davies entered the game as the Bulldogs, then ranked first in the country, were rallying. In the bottom of the seventh with the score 9-5 in Tech’s favor at Georgia’s Foley Field, Davies was called on with the bases loaded and one out.

ATHENS – Hudson Swafford made a back nine charge worthy of that April invitational about 100 miles southeast from here, punctuating a record round of 62 by slam-dunking a sand shot from a greenside bunker on No. 18 for a birdie to win the Stadion Classic at UGA.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity has often said that he judges the Bulldogs’ coaches on SEC championships and NCAA postseason performances. Georgia gymnastics coach Jay Clark on Friday felt the wrath of that philosophy as he resigned just three years after succeeding legendary coach Suzanne Yoculan.

More than 100 former NFL players have filed a federal lawsuit in Atlanta claiming that pro football didn't properly protect its players from concussions. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include former Atlanta Falcon Jamal Anderson, ex-Georgia star Lindsay Scott and veteran quarterback Don Majkowski.

Russell Henley’s life has changed dramatically since winning the Stadion Classic at UGA golf tournament as a Georgia senior a year ago. He’s a professional now, which doesn’t mean he’s flying around on private jets and staying in exclusive hotels.

ATHENS -- There are those who might complain about the way University of Georgia President Michael Adams went about his business as chairman of the Georgia Athletic Association’s board of directors. But most will agree that he was, first and foremost, a sports fan who wanted the Bulldogs to win in the worst way.

ATHENS -- Walk across the University of Georgia campus and you see the legacy of Michael Adams' presidency. The bustling students represent some of the most talented in the country, a testament to UGA routinely ranked as one of the nation's top 20 public research colleges.

ATHENS -- Nothing burns up Hines Ward more than seeing the best football players in Georgia sign anywhere other than Georgia. “It drives me crazy," Ward said Monday. “There’s just no need in it. I remember when I was in school and Jacquez Green and some other guys went to Florida and won a bunch of games down there.

Andrew Hayek, a 22-year-old man who was allegedly beaten by Minnesota Vikings running back Caleb King, is "up and moving and doing better" after being treated for a fractured skull and facial injuries that included 50 stitches and having his nose "completely reconstructed," his sister told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Minnesota Vikings running back Caleb King was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault in the beating of another man outside a birthday party, the Anoka County sheriff's office said Saturday. King, who signed with the Vikings as a rookie free agent last year but didn't play in a game, was jailed but hasn't been charged.

Saturday represented “redemption day” in the NFL draft for a few Georgia Bulldogs. Brandon Boykin and Orson Charles each went in the fourth round, and each was projected as a higher pick than that. Charles, a tight end who had a season of eligibility remaining, had to wait until the Cincinnati Bengals took him with the 116th pick overall early Saturday afternoon.

Georgia baseball coach David Perno couldn’t suppress a laugh when asked Thursday if he thought it was about time for his team to get a break. The Bulldogs (24-18, 8-10 SEC), who opened the season with a consensus top-10 ranking, have had to overcome injury issues and more than their share of bad luck to this point.

Georgia wrapped up its spring practice with a surprisingly exciting G-Day game April 14. But what does anybody really learn from a 48-minute glorified scrimmage? Coach Mark Richt probably best put it in perspective when he talked this week about the Bulldogs’ spring accomplishments.

It’s Frank Wren’s ballpark. Tuesday was Kyle Wren’s night. The Georgia Tech center fielder, son of the Braves’ general manager, delivered the game-winning hit against Georgia in the Yellow Jackets’ 4-3 win at Turner Field. From his box seat, the elder Wren watched with approval as Wren yanked a two-out double in the top of the ninth against Bryan Benzor that scored Mott Hyde for the winning run.

With a 24-17 record, the Georgia baseball team is “just kind of digging in,” coach David Perno said. Georgia Tech, which holds an identical record, has no room for mistakes, coach Danny Hall said. They meet Tuesday night at Turner Field for the 355th time, but under different circumstances than usual.

Kat Ding finally gave the Georgia gymnastics fans something to cheer about on Sunday afternoon. Two days after the Bulldogs failed to qualify for the team finals, the 5-foot-2 senior from Sparks, Nev., won the uneven parallel bars and the floor exercise, and finished third in the vault at the NCAA Gymnastics individual event finals at the Gwinnett Arena.

Utah coach Megan Marsden can remember standing in the corridor before the NCAA championships in 2009. There were five teams from the SEC among the Super Six and those girls began to chant “SEC! SEC!” before walking into the arena. “Our girls didn’t know what to do.

Suzanne Yoculan reflects on her early years as Georgia’s gymnastics coach and laughs. She is best-known today for her 10 national championships at UGA, but she was known for a lot of other things when she started out in the mid-1980s. “I used to throw shoes across the room,” Yoculan said incredulously.

Even for a kicker, Kevin Butler had major swagger back in the 1980s when he became a Georgia legend and went on to ply his wares in the NFL for 13 seasons. Butler was known for his long-range field goals, his antics and for making clutch kicks. He was widely accepted by his teammates, who nicknamed him “Butthead.

Which way to the Southeastern Conference? A Texas-based apparel company, Aggieland Outfitters, recalled a handful of T-shirts on Tuesday after they were ridiculed online for having some geographic mistakes. The maroon shirt has an "SEC" logo emblazoned on a mapped section of U.

ATHENS – It's catching on. Former members of Georgia's golf team are finding it's a good time to be a Bulldog. Three of them were back on campus on Monday as part of media day for the Stadion Classic at UGA, the annual Nationwide Tour event which will be played on the UGA Golf Course on May 3-6.

Georgia played a spring football game Saturday, an off-season, off-the-books exercise with the staying power of talcum. Come the fall, who will remember spring’s big producer? But, while the Bulldogs coaches were preparing to scrimmage, their wives worked another kind of project on a nearby campus field.

The Georgia Bulldogs played their annual G-Day spring football game Saturday at Sanford Stadium. In a high-scoring affair the Red team defeated the Black team 32-31, scoring the winning points with less than two minutes to play. Here are the highlights of the day.

Making one of his few public appearances since a DUI arrest cost him his job as Georgia’s athletic director in 2010, Damon Evans on Friday described his post-UGA life as a mixture of sadness about what he lost and gratitude about what he found. What he lost, Evans said after appearing on a panel discussion at Morehouse College about sports careers, was the job of his dreams.

There are many good reasons to attend Georgia’s G-Day game Saturday, but two of the better ones no longer apply. The Bulldogs hoped to debut freshman tailback Keith Marshall and newly minted cornerback Malcolm Mitchell during their annual spring football scrimmage at Sanford Stadium.

Mike Gottfried says Georgia fans should be careful what they wish for with regard to offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. The longtime college football analyst predicts Bobo likely will leave the Bulldogs sooner than they might think — and it won’t be under the circumstances they might expect.

There is a reason why drug-testing in college athletics remains such a mystery. It’s because nobody wants to talk about it. By all accounts, at least two Georgia football stars will miss games next season because they failed random drug tests conducted by the school.

Healthy living isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you think about college life. Yes there’s the studying, but there’s also the access to fast food and a lot of partying. So it may come as a surprise that the University of Georgia in Athens ranks in the top five among the nation’s universities when it comes to the healthiest campuses, according to Greatist.

A former Georgia football player landed a key position with the NCAA on Tuesday. Mark Lewis, a long snapper for the Bulldogs in the late 1980s and a veteran sports-business executive, was named the NCAA’s executive vice president for championships and alliances.

Charges have been dropped against the woman who was with former University of Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans when he was arrested for driving under the influence in northeast Atlanta nearly two years ago. The Atlanta city solicitor’s office dismissed the disorderly conduct charge against Courtney Fuhrmann on Monday.

ATHENS -- First there was left-fielder Hunter Cole's throwing error that led to a run the first inning. Then there was third baseman Curt Powell air-mailing a throw to first in the fourth inning. Shortly thereafter Cole let a ground ball get under his glove and roll all the way to the wall.

Hines Ward was a visitor at Georgia’s spring football practice Tuesday, but you had to look hard to find him. Dressed head-to-toe in Bulldogs’ coaching garb, it was difficult to distinguish him from any number of assistant coaches, grad assistants, managers or trainers.

Georgia entered Saturday’s SEC gymnastics championships with momentum, but struggled to keep it. After concluding the regular season with their second-highest score in a victory over No. 21 North Carolina State — one with nine scores of 9.9 or better – the No.

Jarvis Jones accomplished a lot last season. He was named to nearly every All-American team. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award. And he led the SEC in sacks (13.5) and tackles for loss (19.5) for a Georgia team that won the Eastern Division.

Looking only at the Georgia gymnastics team’s 8-3 record, it is easy to think this might be a down year for what is arguably the most powerful and success gymnastics program in the nation. But a closer look reveals that the 2012 edition is not far from performing like some of its more decorated predecessors.

The SEC Gymnastics Championships don’t get underway until Saturday, but you won’t be able to tell that from all the activity inside Gwinnett Arena on Friday. In addition to the practice sessions — which are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. and are open to the public — the all-important competition draw takes place at 2:50 p.

Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox offered his picks to win the Sweet 16 games Thursday and Friday in the NCAA tournament: Kentucky will beat Indiana. The ’Cats are a whole lot better now than they were in December (When the Hoosiers defeated Kentucky).

Isaiah Crowell’s Georgia teammates bragged on his effort and attitude during the offseason. Apparently his coaches like what they’ve seen and heard as well. The Bulldogs opened spring practice Tuesday, and Crowell, an enigmatic tailback from Columbus, was the first to line up with the No.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – There will be no return trip to the Sweet 16 for the Georgia women’s basketball team. The Bulldogs erased an 11-point deficit in the second half but Georgia couldn’t overcome the loss of senior Meredith Mitchell, who fouled out with 7:01 left in the game.

Anne Marie Armstrong had made up her mind. Not long after Georgia’s basketball season ended last year, she summoned all the courage she could muster and walked into coach Andy Landers’ office to deliver the news. “I was meeting with Coach to quit, actually,” said Armstrong, recalling that day early last summer.

The Georgia Bulldogs are set to begin spring practice Tuesday. The Bulldogs will get 15 practice opportunities — including the G-Day game on April 14 at Sanford Stadium — in which to shore up areas that might help them improve on this past season’s 10-4 record.

One of Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward’s worst fears was realized last summer when he was arrested in DeKalb County on a DUI charge: The word got out. Dash cam video from the police car used to transport the former UGA receiver to jail July 9 shows him repeatedly asking the officer whether newspapers and especially ESPN would find out about the charge of driving under the influence.

ATHENS – Georgia's Anne Marie Armstrong doesn't profess to know much about "bracketology" and NCAA tournament history and the like. But she's informed enough to realize that seedings and rankings all go out the window when the ball goes up in the opening round.

ATHENS – At this rate Georgia may be out of defensive backs before the season opener next fall. Branden Smith, who is slated to start at cornerback for the Bulldogs next season, became the latest member of UGA's secondary to jeopardize playing time because of off-field trouble.

Two freshmen and two sophomores started for Georgia in the SEC tournament quarterfinals Friday night in New Orleans. In this coach Mark Fox takes much solace. The Bulldogs endured a long, tough season, with only five conference wins and a 15-17 record overall.

NEW ORLEANS – Mark Fox insisted he was not concerned about the turnaround his team faced in playing on back-to-back nights in the SEC tournament. But the Bulldogs looked a step slow Friday night as they fell to Vanderbilt for the third time this season, 63-41 this time.

There were a number of reasons Georgia dispatched Mississippi State in such a dominating fashion Thursday night at the SEC tournament. Nemanja Djurisic was a big one. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound freshman from Montenegro became the Bulldogs’ first post player to record a double-double this season when he scored 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the 71-61 opening-round victory.

Former University of Georgia tight end and NFL draft hopeful Orson Charles was arrested in Athens early Friday and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Clarke County Jail records show that Charles, 21, was booked in about 4:30 a.m. and released on $1,750 bond an hour later.

Gerald Robinson scored 23 points, Dustin Ware added 13 and Georgia beat Mississippi State 71-61 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday night. Georgia stretched its lead to 54-41 on Robinson's layup with 8:12 remaining, but Mississippi State had one last rally.

The last time Mark Fox came to New Orleans was in 2007 when he was head coach at Nevada. The Wolf Pack was 28-4 and came for the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the South Regional. That was two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, and Fox took his Nevada team to survey the residual damage in the Ninth Ward.

With any luck, Dustin Ware will become the 42nd Georgia player to score 1,000 points in his career when the Bulldogs face Mississippi State in the SEC tournament Thursday. Then again, luck is something of which Ware hasn’t had much this season.

ATHENS – Former Georgia tight end Orson Charles, who caught nearly 100 passes in three seasons for the Bulldogs, had a rough performance at UGA’s Pro Day on Monday. Charles had hoped to solidify a spot in the first round of the NFL draft and show the crowd of 46 NFL representatives that he’s the best tight end prospect in the nation.

ATHENS -- The good news is Georgia drew a team it beat during the regular season for the first round of the SEC Tournament. That's the bad news, too. As the 11th seed, the Bulldogs (14-15, 5-11 SEC) will face sixth-seeded Mississippi State (21-10, 8-8) in the first round Thursday night in New Orleans.

Players react differently to the emotional tax that comes with being a senior playing on Senior Day. Some play great while others find it hard to focus or simply press too much. Georgia’s Gerald Robinson did a little of all it. But the senior guard from Nashville was mostly magnificent, pouring in a game-high 23 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 67-55 victory over South Carolina at Stegeman Coliseum.

At a tender age, before he earned the footnote as the first player recruited by Mark Fox at Georgia, Gerald Robinson already had proven himself willing to meet any challenge, on any court. Following a sophomore basketball season at Tennessee State so robust it convinced him he needed to transfer to a bigger stage, Robinson was ambushed by an odd proposition.

They won’t go down as one of Georgia’s more accomplished groups and many who should be among them won’t be when the Bulldogs’ seniors are honored before Saturday’s regular-season finale. But all-in-all they were darn good Dogs, according to coaches and teammates.

Timing is everything, and for coach Andy Landers and Georgia’s Lady Bulldogs, there couldn’t be a better time than now to finally have a full complement of players. Georgia opens play Friday in the SEC women’s basketball tournament in Nashville against either Alabama or South Carolina.

Georgia is playing a lot better now than it was when Kentucky visited Athens and left with a 57-44 victory more than a month ago. The problem is that Kentucky is playing better, too. The Wildcats (27-1, 14-0 SEC) had just been bestowed the nation’s No.

A University of Georgia soccer player is charged with trying to steal an order of hashbrown potatoes in her pants. According to UGA police records, Carli Shultis, 19, was arrested around 8:30 a.m. Feb. 21 at the Bulldog Cafe in the Tate Center on campus.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill improved his draft status by running a fast 40-yard dash time at the NFL scouting combine on Sunday. Considered a fourth-round prospect before the combine, Hill ran the 40-yard dash unofficially in a dazzling 4.

Spotted two points before the opening tip, Georgia never relinquished that lead on the way to knocking off No. 12 Florida 76-62 on Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum. The Gators (22-7, 10-4 SEC) were assessed a technical foul because sophomore Casey Prather dunked the ball during pregame warmups.

The alley-oop dunk is one of the more dynamic and exciting plays in basketball, and Georgia has one of the better players when it comes to executing it. The Bulldogs don’t keep an official statistic for how many times Donte’ Williams has executed the play, but he’s looking to do it every game, if not every possession.

DeKalb County DUI charges were dropped Wednesday against Pittsburgh Steeler and former UGA receiver Hines Ward, who pleaded guilty instead to reckless driving in connection with a July arrest. The Super Bowl MVP also pleaded "no contest" to a charge of failing to maintain his lane as part of a plea agreement that the DeKalb solicitor's office drop the DUI charge.

Former Georgia basketball coach Hugh Durham used to say, “I’ve got plenty of shooters; what I need is some makers.” Current Bulldogs coach Mark Fox could say the same thing right about now. Entering Wednesday night’s against LSU (16-6, 6-6 SEC), Georgia no longer has a mere shooting problem.

ATHENS – Vanderbilt had John Jenkins; Georgia did not. Jenkins was the difference as the Commodores rode his white-hot 3-point shooting to a 61-52 victory over the Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum. Jenkins poured in 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting – including 6-of-8 shooting from behind the arc – and did not miss a shot of any kind in the second half.

Briefly, everything seemed possible for Georgia. With back-to-back victories over a pair of NCAA Tournament contenders and a favorable schedule down the stretch, talk of making a late run toward postseason play did not seem ludicrous. Then South Carolina happened.

2011 record: 33-32 (lost in regional finals) Coach (seasons, career record): David Perno (10, 338-277-1) Gone: The Bulldogs’ only loss from last season was a significant one. Star outfielder Zach Cone was a first-round draft choice of the Texas Rangers.

Two life-changing moments have prepared Georgia’s baseball team for what they hope will be a return to the College World Series. Each of the past two years, a member of the team has experienced a tragedy: Chance Veazey was paralyzed from the waist down in the fall of 2009 when his motor scooter collided with a car.

Considering the frustrating history that sometimes is Georgia basketball, Wednesday’s outcome here at Colonial Life Arena wasn’t much of a surprise. The Bulldogs had just knocked off a Top 25 team on the road in Mississippi State and an NCAA Tournament contender at home in Arkansas the previous two games.

It was barely three minutes into Saturday’s game against No. 18 Mississippi State, and things weren’t going well for Georgia. First Kentavious Caldwell-Pope rushed an ill-advised 3-point shot. Seconds later, his unwillingness to follow a teammate’s defensive instructions resulted in a dunk by the Bulldogs’ opponent.

If Georgia football player Sanders Commings faces any disciplinary action over the incident that resulted in his arrest last month, it likely will come from the school before he goes before a Clarke County judge. Commings, a rising senior and starting cornerback, was arrested Jan.

Two teams on divergent paths met at Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night. But it was the one supposedly heading downward that came out on top. Georgia, which won one of its eight games during the first half of the SEC schedule, started the second by doubling its conference total with a 81-59 victory over Arkansas.

University of Georgia president Michael Adams expects a college football playoff to be a reality within two years. “My best guess is we’re going to end up with either a four- or eight-team playoff by the time we get to ’14,” he told the executive committee of the UGA Athletic Association’s board of directors Wednesday.

How bad has Georgia been on offense this season? Historically bad. The Bulldogs (10-12, 1-7 SEC) enter Wednesday night’s game against Arkansas (16-7, 4-4) with an SEC-worst scoring average of 60.6 points per game. Only one Georgia team has been worse at scoring since UGA began to keep up with such things in 1960.

Former University of Georgia star running back Knowshon Moreno was arrested by Denver police Wednesday  on a drunken driving charge, KDVR-TV reported. The 24-year-old, who now plays for the Denver Broncos, was pulled over in a Bentley convertible for allegedly going as fast as 70 mph in a construction zone with a posted speed limit of 45, the report said.

ATHENS -- Lost in all the craziness of last week’s national signing day drama and shocking player dismissals was the introduction of Georgia’s three early enrollees -- quarterback Faton Bauta, offensive lineman Mark Beard and tailback Keith Marshall The trio had been shielded from interviews by UGA since arriving in early January to get acclimated to their new class schedules and join in the Bulldogs' off-season conditioning program.

Trae Golden came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 16 points to lead Tennessee in a 73-62 win against Georgia on Saturday night. After a back-and-forth first half, the Bulldogs held a 41-34 lead with 14:25 to play when Jordan McRae hit a 3-pointer for Tennessee.

It probably will come as no surprise to find out that Gerald Robinson was good at sports other than basketball. Football, especially. A senior guard for the Georgia Bulldogs, Robinson starred as a running back in the youth programs in and around Nashville when he was a kid.

Just as it appeared Georgia was building championship-level depth on its football team, the Bulldogs were hit with a disciplinary situation that resulted in the loss of three players. Defensive backs Nick Marshall and Chris Sanders and wide receiver Sanford Seay were dismissed from the team Friday by coach Mark Richt for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

The recruiting saga of Josh Harvey-Clemons had a happy conclusion for the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday. Harvey-Clemons, an outside linebacker from Valdosta considered by many to be the top prospect in the state, told a national TV audience Wednesday that he would sign with Georgia over Florida, Florida State and Miami.

Coachspeak with Georgia coach Mark Richt “I think recruiting rankings are way overrated. ... I don’t get too caught up in that. The reason I’m telling you is we’ve got some really quality football players that are going to help us win. We’ve got some guys I think that are going to be able to make an impact right away.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Varez Ward scored 17 points and led a productive night at the free-throw line for Auburn in a 59-51 win over Georgia on Wednesday night. Ward hit all 12 of his free throw attempts as Auburn (13-9, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) shot 80.

Josh Harvey-Clemons provided the state of Georgia with one of its more memorable recruiting dramas ever Wednesday. And it may not be over. Harvey-Clemons, whom ESPN ranks as the state’s No. 1 overall prospect, committed to Georgia on national TV on Wednesday morning.

The bottom line Locally, Georgia’s 2012 recruiting will be perceived as a disappointment. That’s especially true considering the drama surrounding Josh Harvey-Clemons, who told a national TV audience he was headed to UGA, but at the end of the business day had not sent in his letter-of-intent.

Thirty-two years ago, Georgia's landmark signing of Herschel Walker came well before the Internet, well before cellphones and well before college football recruiting evolved into a spectator sport of its own. Imagine if today's technology and fanfare had accompanied the 1980 recruitment of the running back from Wrightsville.

Hubert Adams, the father of UGA President Dr. Michael F. Adams, has died. He was 87. Mr. Adams, who lived in Stone Mountain, died Sunday at his home, according to the family. Visitation is  scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Wednesday at Tom M. Wages Funeral Service, Snellville.

NEW ORLEANS  — Lawyers for an Alabama man accused of committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship football game say it's mind-boggling that police and prosecutors would give substantial energy and attention to the matter.

Lawyers for former University of Georgia star Kendrell Bell said former UGA football coach Jim Donnan duped him into investing $2 million in a Ponzi scheme. Bell played for Donnan at UGA, then later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs before injuries ended his career in 2007.

We’re inside a week until national signing day, and some fans of Georgia Bulldogs recruiting are about ready to panic. At this point, the Bulldogs have only 16 commitments, and are allowed to sign up to 12 more. And while Georgia traditionally ranks in the national top 10 in recruiting, the Bulldogs currently hold a relatively pedestrian average of 14.

Former Georgia punter Drew Butler has heard some war stories this week about his father, Kevin Butler, who played 13 seasons in the NFL. The younger Butler is set to punt and hold on field goals and extra points for the South squad in the 63rd annual Senior Bowl at 4 p.

Former Georgia standout offensive linemen Cordy Glenn and Ben Jones are Senior Bowl roommates and they chat, compare notes and tell a joke or two before going to sleep at night. They review their respective interviews with NFL teams and go over a page or two in the South’s playbook for the 63rd Senior Bowl, which is set for 4 p.

A relatively new Georgia Board of Regents policy regulating the admission of undocumented students and illegal immigrants has prevented a football recruit from gaining admission to the University of Georgia. Chester Brown, a 6-foot-5, 340-pound offensive lineman from Hinesville, committed to the Bulldogs in July, but he confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and several other media outlets late Monday night that he was withdrawing his UGA commitment “for personal reasons,” declining to elaborate.

ATHENS – Georgia has never beaten the nation's No. 1-ranked team in basketball, and it didn't come close to doing it this time either. Kentucky, which was just bestowed the country's top ranking on Monday afternoon, looked every bit the part on Tuesday night.

“A person who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for admission to any University System institution which, for the two most recent academic years, did not admit all academically qualified applicants [except for cases in which applicants were rejected for non-academic reasons].

FAIRHOPE, Ala. – Former Falcons defensive backs coach Alvin Reynolds, an original member of head coach Mike Smith’s staff, was fired, the team announced on Monday. The Falcons have been undergoing an intensive review of their football operations since they were blown out 24-2 by the New York Giants in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs on Jan.

ATHENS -- Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox remembers exactly where he was when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope committed to the Bulldogs in July of 2010. Fox was seated on a commercial jet that was taxiing down the runway when the 5-star prospect from Greenville, Ga.

Don’t let the 66-63 final score fool you. Georgia did not play a competitive game in losing to Ole Miss at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday. Yes, the Bulldogs had two 3-point shots at the end that could have tied the score. But anyone who watched more than the last five minutes of the game knows Georgia was thoroughly outplayed for the other 35.

You often hear athletes who are recovering from injuries describe their progress in percentages. “I’m about 75 or 80 percent,” they might say heading into a big game in which their presence is needed. Georgia’s Marcus Thornton has a different way of gauging those situations.

Georgia would have had its hands full with No. 6 Kentucky had it been at full strength. But playing without junior point guard Jasmine James and three other players made it an extraordinary challenge. The Wildcats (17-2, 6-0 SEC) have knocked off mighty Tennessee this season and entered the game forcing opponents into an astounding 30.

ATHENS — Donte’ Williams made a layup with 1:03 left in overtime, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope rebounded Williams’ missed free throw to help Georgia secure a 57-53 win against Tennessee in a hard-fought defensive battle at Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night.

Three words tend to come up repeatedly when coaches and players are asked to describe the style of Tennessee basketball under new coach Cuonzo Martin — hard, physical and defensive. As in, “they play extremely hard,” “they’re very physical” and “they’re very defensive-minded.

Georgia lost its last two games of the 2011 season, the final one an excruciating affair that actually came down  in triple overtime to Michigan State. But the Bulldogs also won 10 games in a row, captured the SEC Eastern Division championship and reached the SEC title game for the first time since 2005.

Georgia didn’t get a win here at Memorial Gym on Saturday — it rarely does — but it played a game it can build on. The Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with Vanderbilt in its quirky house of horrors, leading by seven in the first half and harassing the Commodores like a pesky gnat throughout the second half.

At one point, Georgia football coach Mark Richt conceded Friday, he feared losing as many as a half-dozen underclassmen to this year’s NFL draft. “It’s kind of scary to think you might lose two, three, four, five, six great players,” Richt said.

Nemanja Djurisic is homesick. And who could blame him? A freshman forward for the Georgia Bulldogs, Djurisic figures he has spent about three months of his past three years on his home turf, which happens to be on another continent. Djurisic (pronounced JUR-riss-sich) hails from Podgorica, Montenegro.

Georgia coach Mark Richt was so desperate for running backs that he made the unusual maneuver of going public to reporters about the need a couple of months ago. The recruiting tactic appears to have worked to perfection. The top two running backs on Georgia’s board are headed to Athens after Todd Gurley of Tarboro, N.

Orson Charles, Georgia’s All-SEC tight end, will skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Charles revealed the unsurprising decision Wednesday, saying “it’s time to open a new chapter in my life.” A few hours later, another UGA underclassman who had been seriously considering the draft — safety Bacarri Rambo — made the opposite decision, announcing through the school that he will return for his senior season.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope looked like a prizefighter after Tuesday night’s game. He walked out of Florida’s O’Connell Center with cotton shoved up one nostril, a slight limp in one leg and clutching a sore elbow. Georgia’s star freshman served as a human metaphor for the Bulldogs.

UGA graduate student Jonathan Pahlas was on college football's biggest stage Monday night, but he wasn't playing for the University of Alabama or LSU. Pahlas, wearing a blue No. 12 jersey, was at the Superdome because he was randomly selected by Allstate to attempt a 40-yard field goal at halftime with some prizes on the line -- an RV, a boat, a motorcycle and a home makeover worth $30,000.

Georgia coach Mark Fox put together a rigid nonconference schedule to prepare the Bulldogs for SEC road play, but he also expected his roster to look different. On the heels of a home loss to Alabama in their league opener, the Bulldogs (9-6, 0-1 SEC) face two of the league’s better teams on the road.

ATHENS -- Georiga senior cornerback Brandon Boykin on Monday beat out Arkansas’ Joe Adams, Oregon’s LaMichael James and Toledo’s Eric Page for the Paul Hornung Award, designed to go to the nation’s most versatile college football player, and it was hard to argue against Boykin’s selection.

Georgia’s primary concern entering Saturday night’s game was Alabama’s big frontcourt, led by senior forward JaMychal Green. Turns out the Crimson Tide have some pretty good guards, too. One, in particular gave the Bulldogs a hard time. Freshman Trevor Lacey scored 19 points — including 17 in the first half — to lead Alabama to a 74-59 victory over Georgia on Saturday night in Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia wasn’t exactly sure what it was in for when Marcus Thornton went down with a knee injury a couple of days before Christmas. Now that the Bulldogs are preparing to open SEC play, they know. Thornton won’t be available for a while. The Bulldogs’ starting power forward from Westlake High is out for Saturday night’s conference opener against Alabama and good bit longer after that.

TAMPA -- Tavarres King established records for receiving yards in a Georgia game and Bulldogs' bowl game with 205 against Michigan State. But he wasn’t feeling jovial about it in the wake of the Bulldogs’ 33-30 triple-overtime defeat Monday in the Outback Bowl.

Brandon Boykin was still feeling forlorn in defeat when a UGA official approached him in the locker room and said he’d been summoned back to the field by the Outback Bowl organizers. Despite the Bulldogs’ 33-30 triple-overtime loss Monday, Georgia’s multi-talented senior had been named the bowl’s most valuable player.

TAMPA ­— It was an unfitting end to a fitful season for Georgia kicker Blair Walsh. The Bulldogs’ record-setting senior, who became the SEC’s all-time scoring leader during Monday’s Outback Bowl, missed two field goals -- including the potential game-winner -- as No.

TAMPA -- Aaron Murray tried to put on a happy face, but it was a struggle. Georgia's quarterback returned home for the Outback Bowl and will leave not as a conquering hero but as one of the causes of his team's demise. "I think the whole Dog Nation is very excited about this team," Murray said afterward.

Outback Bowl: Michigan State (10-3) vs. Georgia (10-3) Three storylines Tailback shuffle. Redshirt freshman Ken "Boo" Malcome will get the start at tailback for Georgia. The Bulldogs have started five different players at that position this season. Malcome will share time with junior Richard Samuel and freshman Isaiah Crowell, each of whom is returning from ankle injuries, and junior Carlton Thomas, who is coming back from a knee injury in the SEC Championship game.

TAMPA -- Two of Georgia's biggest players represented two of the Bulldogs' biggest "ifs" at the outset of the season. UGA opened its latest campaign with 6-foot-5, 342-pound Justin Anderson moving over to right tackle from nose guard and 6-5, 348-pound Cordy Glenn sliding outside from guard to left tackle.

The choice facing Georgia junior tight end Orson Charles is not a simple accounting exercise. Were it only so, he’d already have one foot in the NFL draft. He’d declare Monday’s Outback Bowl in his hometown of Tampa a fitting farewell to his football internship, take his bow, then start the clock on his earning potential before one wrong hit made it go pffft.

By Saturday Aaron Murray sounded like Marlon Brando his voice had gotten so hoarse. Considering the number of times he has been interviewed, that should come as no surprise. But the Georgia quarterback doesn’t believe his gravelly voice is from all the talking.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Dustin Ware came off the bench again and scored 15 points Friday to lead slow-staring Georgia past Delaware State 58-51 for its fifth straight victory. "This was a win, but I was not pleased with the way we played," Georgia coach Mark Fox said.

Upon further review, Georgia’s John Jenkins said Friday he’s definitely returning for his senior season. The 6-foot-3, 351-pound nose guard has waffled about whether to turn pro after his first season with the Bulldogs. He requested an NFL draft evaluation earlier this month and said earlier this week he was going to give the pros serious consideration.

He’s a three-time Michigan State team captain, the second Spartans player to claim such a distinction (and first since 1948). On Thursday, he was named the Lowe’s CLASS Player of the Year, which goes annually to the best senior in the country on an FBS (formerly Division I-A) team, judged by on-field and off-field categories.

Teams walk a fine line when it comes to bowl games. Their mere presence is supposed to be a reward for a season of hard work and at least moderate success. But they’re also expected to win the game. Georgia and Michigan State are walking that line here at the Outback Bowl this week.

Georgia looked like the most dominant defense in America for 30 minutes Dec. 3. Facing the No. 1 team in the nation in the SEC Championship game, the Bulldogs held LSU to 12 yards of offense and zero first downs. Then the second half happened.

If Georgia does not repeat as SEC East champion in 2012, it will not have the schedule to blame. The SEC’s adjusted football schedules for next season, highly anticipated because of the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri, were released Wednesday, and it appears the Bulldogs made out well.

Add two more names to the list of Georgia underclassmen contemplating an early jump to the NFL. Junior nose guard John Jenkins and junior cornerback Branden Smith confirmed Wednesday they had applied for an NFL draft evaluation and are giving serious consideration to turning pro.

Georgia had a pretty good subplot working Tuesday night, with the starting debut of freshman Nemanja Djurisic for the injured Marcus Thornton, but the Bulldogs had to settle for a good game instead. They took all they could handle from Winthrop, a barrage of 3-pointers and 33 points from Andre Jones.

Cornerbacks Brandon Boykin and Branden Smith made names for themselves this season playing offense and defense. Malcolm Mitchell thinks he might be able to make a similar impact next season. Georgia’s dynamic freshman wide receiver said there have been some casual, preliminary conversations about him playing cornerback some next season.

At this point, Georgia coach Mark Richt has really modest expectations for the Bulldogs’ tailbacks. Asked Tuesday what he hoped to see out of his running backs in the Outback Bowl on Monday against Michigan State, he said, “Ball security, number one.

Aaron Murray can cut loose with the best of them. He proved that the weekend of Georgia’s bye in October when he was photographed holding what appeared to be a beer while posing with a shirtless, celebratory Florida State fan in Tallahassee. But coach Mark Richt expressed confidence that Murray, Orson Charles and the other Tampans on the team — and there are a few — can focus on the task at hand and behave as the Bulldogs arrive on the players' home turf for eight days.

While Christmas is a time for giving and receiving gifts, Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones has been doling out presents all year. The sophomore from Columbus by way of Southern Cal has been a dominating force for one of the Dogs' most dominant defenses.

ATHENS – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knew Georgia needed a spark, so he took control. Caldwell-Pope made a steal and consecutive baskets to stop Furman’s second-half run and the Bulldogs went on to defeat the Paladins 64-50 at Stegeman Coliseum on Friday night.

ATHENS – For decades, Georgia has been known as a special teams wonder. The Bulldogs have almost always had exceptional kickers and returners. Traditionally they have been among the SEC leaders in most special teams categories. All of which makes the Bulldogs' across-the-board struggles this season that much more surprising.

Georgia coach Mark Fox worried about Mercer Tuesday night. In addition to the memory of the Bears almost beating his team last year, Fox said his players didn't seem sharp in the shootaround earlier in the day. He said they looked like they weren't handling the success of last week's win at USC, the team's first true road win this season.

ATHENS -- Orson Charles denied reports circulating this week that he has already decided to skip his senior season at Georgia in favor of the pros, but the All-SEC tight end is among several Bulldog who have asked the NFL for draft evaluations. Charles, a 6-foot-3, 241-pound junior from Tampa, leads the Bulldogs in receiving with  572 yards and 5 touchdowns on 44 catches.

ATHENS -- Married to a doctor, his football career over and flush with nine years of NFL paychecks in his bank account, Demetric Evans could have relaxed at one of his homes in Dallas, Texas, or Walnut Creek, Calif., and contemplated his next entrepreneurial move.

JONESBORO, Ark.  — Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will be the new football coach at Arkansas State. Sports information director Jerry Scott said that Malzahn will be introduced as the new coach during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. "It's pretty incredible, it should be a great ride," Scott said.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt expressed Saturday his gratification over UGA's desire to extend his contract and intimated that, contrary to reports in Texas, he did not speak with Texas A&M about its coaching job. "I've said many times Georgia is the place I want to be as long as Georgia will have me.

ATHENS -- Larry Munson died wearing a Georgia T-shirt that read "Go Dawgs" -- proof that even though the famous announcer didn't enter life as a Bulldog fan, he left that way. On Saturday, 3,500 mourners attended a memorial on the 50-yard line of Sanford Stadium for the beloved broadcaster, who was 89 when he died Nov.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity met with football coach Mark Richt on Friday to formally open discussions about a contract extension. McGarity said further talks will be held, perhaps next week, but that UGA and Richt are in agreement on the central point: “He wants to be our coach.

For the first time in 35 years, the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team left Stegeman Coliseum a winner Wednesday night. Tech dominated the second half and defeated Georgia 68-56, giving the Yellow Jackets their first victory in Stegeman since Nov.

Four Georgia football players were named first-team All-SEC by the league's coaches Tuesday:  linebacker Jarvis Jones, tight end Orson Charles, offensive tackle Cordy Glenn and safety Bacarri Rambo. The same foursome was named to the Associated Press' All-SEC first team the day before.

Georgia and Georgia Tech are almost a month into their basketball seasons, but, for some football-focused fans, attention might shift to hoops for the first time Wednesday night. That's because, after weeks of games against farflung opponents, the teams arrive at the game that resonates across the state: Georgia vs.

Georgia's Mark Richt and Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, Outback Bowl opposing coaches, are on the same side of the debate regarding the LSU-Alabama rematch in the BCS title game. Both are fine with it. Richt and Dantonio voted Alabama No. 2 behind LSU on their USA Today coaches' poll ballots, and said Monday they did so because they felt the Tigers and the Crimson Tide were the nation's top two teams.

Despite an uneven season that included two suspensions and multiple injuries, Georgia tailback Isaiah Crowell was named the SEC's freshman of the year in an Associated Press vote announced Monday. Crowell has 847 yards rushing, fifth most in the SEC and most among the league's freshmen.

Georgia and Michigan State, both with 10-3 records and losses in their conference championship games, will meet Jan. 2 in the Outback Bowl in Tampa. The matchup was set Sunday, one day after Georgia lost 42-10 to No. 1 LSU in the SEC Championship game and Michigan State fell 42-39 to Wisconsin in the inaugural Big Ten title game.

ATHENS --  Jasmine Hassell survived what she described as a cat fight. The gauze stuck in her right nostril and smudge of blood on her white jersey were visible mementos of her battle with Georgia Tech’s large and physical post players. Hassell looked like she had took the worst of it, but her career-high 24 points propelled Georgia to a 75-68 victory over the Yellow Jackets on Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum.

Beneath the big top of the Georgia Dome on Saturday, half the building and then some was populated by fans seeking a supersized Southern tent revival. Glory be, Georgia was back in the SEC Championship game. Just as it was when the Bulldogs were semi-regulars and wholly relevant, making three trips to the big game between 2002-05.

Beneath the big top of the Georgia Dome on Saturday, half the building and then some was populated by fans seeking a supersized Southern tent revival. Glory be, Georgia was back in the SEC Championship game. Just as it was when the Bulldogs were semi-regulars and wholly relevant, making three trips to the big game between 2002-05.

Maybe “Honey Badger” will win the Heisman after all. Tyrann Mathieu, owner of a most unique nickname, kept up his season-long heroics against Georgia in Saturday’s SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome. He returned a punt for a touchdown, had a dizzying return that set up another score and recovered a fumble for the Tigers that led to a touchdown in their 42-10 victory.

LSU’s dynamic playmaker with the catchy nickname broke the Georgia Bulldogs’ hearts in the SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night. Otherwise known as the “Honey Badger,” Tyrann Mathieu made three plays in the span of 10 minutes over the second and third quarters to overcome a 10-0 deficit and flip the game in LSU’s favor.

Even when things were going well for Georgia's football team Saturday, they weren't going nearly well enough. The Bulldogs led No. 1 LSU 10-0 at the end of the first quarter of the SEC Championship Game, but the lead would have been 21-0 if not for two dropped passes.

Sam Montgomery’s sack in the second quarter might have been the play on Saturday that finally pointed LSU in the direction of the BCS championship game. As the Tigers’ defense struggled in the first quarter, a confident Georgia team raced out to a 10-0 lead.

The Georgia tailback mystery finally got solved Saturday. Isaiah Crowell did not start in the SEC Championship game — that honor went to junior Carlton Thomas — but he played off and on despite a left-ankle injury that had him limping noticeably when he wasn’t running in the game.

Five predictions for the SEC Championship game between Georgia and LSU today at the Georgia Dome:

Tony Barnhart Who: CBS Sports personality and co-host of “Barnhart and Durham” on 790 the Zone Comment: Georgia absolutely can compete with LSU because it has the best quarterback in the SEC and one of the best defenses in the country.

Gary Danielson, college football analyst for CBS Sports, has long been a critic of the BCS. He doesn’t understand the computer formulas. He doesn’t like the subjective voting. He doesn’t like that the title-making process is limited to two teams. However, he’s not just a critic.

Cincinnati’s slow start to the season included a pair of ugly home losses, yet the computer rankings still favored the Bearcats over Georgia. That’s in large part because of Cincinnati’s typically rugged defense under coach Mick Cronin. The Bearcats flexed their physical style on the Bulldogs for a 57-51 victory on Friday at Stegeman Coliseum.

Five key stats for Georgia 271.08 Yards allowed per game, which ranks fifth in the country. Seven teams failed to reach 300 yards against them this season. 44.69 Third-down conversion percentage on offense, 34th in the country. They are third in the same category on defense, allowing 29.

Five key moments for Georgia 1. Season-saving tackle. With Georgia leading Vanderbilt 33-28 and 15 seconds remaining on Oct. 15, the Commodores block Drew Butler’s punt and have a clear path to the end zone. Instead, Butler recovers and chases down a stumbling Kenny Ladler.

LSU safety Brandon Taylor answers a few questions from reporters about the SEC Championship game matchup against Georgia: Q: Does it seem weird to hear people project that LSU likely would play for the national championship even if you lose this game? A: It is kind of weird.

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray answers a few questions from reporters about the SEC Championship game matchup against LSU: Q: Although Georgia beat Georgia Tech last week with little input from the running game, how important is tailback play this week? A: I think it’s huge for us.

Some noteworthy numbers heading into the SEC Championship game:

• LSU’s all-time football record in the Georgia Dome is an impressive 8-1. That includes 3-1 in SEC Championship games, 4-0 in Chick-fil-A Bowl games and 1-0 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.

On a team brimming with talented playmakers, LSU cornerback/punt returner Tyrann Mathieu stands out. Consider his contributions in the Tigers’ 41-17 victory over Arkansas last week: eight tackles, two fumbles forced, one fumble recovered and a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown.

The Georgia defense’s success at stopping the run had a lot to do with the Bulldogs reaching the SEC title game, where they’ll face an LSU offense that can call upon four running backs good enough to start for most teams. “That’s maybe one of the more compelling matchups of the game, I would say, our run defense vs.

1. Dueling defenses. Both teams rank in the nation’s top five in total defense. LSU is No. 2, allowing 248 yards per game, and Georgia is No. 5, allowing 271. The units’ relative strength stirred a bit of a debate this week, with Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones saying the Bulldogs’ defense “is just as good as theirs, if not better” and LSU wide receiver Russell Shepard responding on Twitter: “Is this guy serious?” LSU clearly has played the tougher schedule, but defense got both teams to the Georgia Dome — and likely will drive what happens there.

Georgia coach Mark Richt continued to play coy with the Bulldogs’ tailback situation on the eve of the SEC Championship game. Richt made all tailbacks off limits to reporters seeking interviews this week. After being asked about the position Wednesday, Richt said he was “tired of talking about the tailbacks” and declared that he would not answer any more questions about the position until after Saturday’s game.

Rarely has an SEC Championship game meant more, yet less at the same time. No. 14 Georgia will square off against No. 1 LSU at the Georgia Dome on Saturday. And what is known for certain is that one team or the other will leave with the league championship trophy held aloft.

People tempted to drive into central Atlanta on Saturday might want to rethink their plans: Between a 10K race, a Christmas parade and the SEC Championship, Downtown and Midtown will be no place for faint-of-heart motorists. But people outside to enjoy the events will have sunny skies overhead, forecasters say.

Georgia president Michael Adams offered an unexpected answer when asked at his monthly cabinet meeting Thursday about the contract status of coach Mark Richt. “If we win Saturday, he’ll be back,” Adams told media assembled there, “and if we lose we’re going to fire him.

When the Georgia football team left the Georgia Dome late on the night of Sept. 3, linebacker Alec Ogletree was on crutches, headed to surgery with a broken foot suffered in the first quarter of the season opener. “I was just kind of devastated,” Ogletree recalled this week.