What I Want to See in 2009

So game week has officially begun, so I thought it would be a good time for everyone to list out the things they want to see happen during this college football season. The obvious things (Georgia going undefeated and winning national championship, all of our biggest rivals failing in Michigan-like fashion) shall not be mentioned in the list because we all know what they are. Unless you really feel so inclined....

Here's my list of what I want to see happen in the world of college football, 2009 edition:

#1. I want a BCS controversy. They really never get old. Even if we never have a playoff, at least it's fun watching the events unfold when some "undeserving team" slips into the BCS bowls and mops up the big boys, or someone "deserving" gets left out of the national championship game. Last season was pretty good for this. We had Texas being left out and proving their national championship deservedness by barely beating an often overrated Ohio State in a game that was a snooze-fest until the last few minutes. We had a Utah team that no one really cared about dismantling Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and most of college football fans/media pretending like it never happened (see: Alabama, ranked #6 preseason).

The only thing about #1 that needs to be said: Please don't let Georgia get "left out" of the national championship again (2007 controversy), and let's all hope if we make it to a BCS bowl we don't face a "BCS-buster" which sets up another lose-lose situation like Hawaii in the Sugarbowl. (Remember now? Pre-Sugar Bowl: "Hawaii is undefeated and will destroy overrated Georgia!" Post-Sugar Bowl: "Georgia thinks they're so good because they beat a crappy, non-BCS Hawaii team! Haha!")

#2. I want to see Tennessee beat Florida in the Swamp. Why? Because it would be hilarious. NO ONE thinks Tennessee can even put up a fight in this game (except for maybe some Tennessee fans), and most fans/media have laughed all off-season about how badly Lane Kiffin's team will get embarrassed by Heavenly Tebow and Corch Meyers. Just imagine how crazy everyone would go if Tennessee actually came into Gainesville and dethroned the Gators?

The only thing about #2 that needs to be said: I hate Tennessee. I really do. But at the moment, the only program I hate more is the Florida Gators. Tennessee had a ridiculously bad season last year, and Florida has 2 national championships in the past 3 seasons. I think we can rejoice for UT to win one big one this season (and then lose the rest).

That was a lie, there's one other thing to be said about #2: Yes, Tennessee beating Florida would take the Cocktail Party down a notch this year, and if Georgia won, it wouldn't be as big of a win. But I don't care. Florida's had their fun. Nothing would embarrass them more than losing to Kiffin at home.

#3. I want to see lowly teams surprise and do well... and top teams fail horribly as a result. This will inevitably happen every year, but it never gets old. Upsets are what makes college football so fun to watch. Tennessee beating Florida would fit in perfectly with this point, but #3 is a little more general. I want to see more "Appalachian State's vs. Michigan's," more stories like Texas Tech in 2008. Even Bama's story would have been interesting if they hadn't beaten us at home. I want to see the teams that everyone is predicting to win it all, lose it all. I want to see Washington win a game, just because they didn't in 2008. And I want to see them win it against a big team.

#4. I want to see the Heisman race return to what it should be: rewarding the best player this season, and not the players that have won it in the past or that the media loves. No one is that excited to see who will win between Tebow (won it in 07), Bradford (won it in 08), an McCoy (almost won it in 08), other than Florida, Oklahoma, or Texas fans. They were the exact same three guys in New York for the ceremony in 2008. Why would we want to see that again? We want to see less-hyped players step up and surprise this season, and be rewarded in return.

#5. I want to see an important game played.... in the snow. Just because that's fun. Even better, I want to see that snowy game in..... Sanford Stadium.

So tell me, what do you want to see this season?

Which Teams are Over/Under Rated?

I don't know. But I can take a guess.

I made a post back in May about how an "unbiased" preseason poll might look for college football. Basically, I took the final AP and Coaches' Poll rankings from last season, then used the number of starters returning for each team to determine where they should be ranked objectively. Obviously, this formula isn't perfect at all, because there's a lot more to football than experienced players returning. Also, I didn't take into account how important the players departing were to their teams, if that's even possible to calculate.

Admittedly, I knew that the non-BCS teams were ranked much higher than they would actually be in the "real" preseason polls. Still, these polls didn't look too bad.

But just for fun, I want to look at how these "unbiased polls" compare to the "real polls" that have been recently released. You can check out the "real polls" here at ESPN.com. I'll start with the teams at the top of both polls. Teams that are ranked the same (or within 1 or 2 spots) in the "unbiased" and "real" polls will be labeled "same." Teams ranked lower (worse) in the "real polls" will be labeled "underrated" while teams ranked higher (better) will be labeled "overrated." The "unbiased" rank will be listed in parentheses.

"Real" AP Poll:

1. Florida: Same (1)

2. Texas: Same (2)

3. Oklahoma: Same (4)

4. USC: Same (5)

5. Alabama: Same (6)

6. Ohio State: Same (7)

7. Virginia Tech: Overrated (12)

8. Mississippi: Same (9)

9. Oklahoma State: Overrated (15)

10. Penn State: Same (10)

11. LSU: Overrated (NR)

12. California: Overrated (24)

13. Georgia: Same (11)

14. Boise State: Same (14)

15. Georgia Tech: Overrated (19)

16. Oregon: Underrated (13)

17. TCU: Underrated (8)

18. Florida State: Same (20)

19. Utah: Underrated (3)

20. Brigham Young: Overrated (NR)

21. North Carolina: Overrated (NR)

22. Iowa: Underrated (18)

23. Notre Dame: Overrated (NR)

24. Nebraska: Overrated (NR)

25. Kansas: Overrated (NR)

"Real" USA Today Coaches' Poll

1. Florida: Same (1)

2. Texas: Same (2)

3. Oklahoma: Same (4)

4. USC: Same (3)

5. Alabama: Same (6)

6. Ohio State: Overrated (10)

7. Virginia Tech: Overrated (11)

8. Penn State: Same (9)

9. LSU: Overrated (NR)

10. Mississippi: Same (12)

11. Oklahoma State: Overrated (16)

12. California: Overrated (25)

13. Georgia: Underrated (8)

14. Oregon: Same (13)

15. Georgia Tech: Overrated (19)

16. Boise State: Same (15)

17. TCU: Underrated (7)

18. Utah: Underrated (5)

19. Florida State: Overrated (23)

20. North Carolina: Overrated (NR)

21. Iowa: Underrated (18)

22. Nebraska: Overrated (NR)

23. Notre Dame: Overrated (NR)

24. Brigham Young: Same (22)

25. Oregon State: Underrated (21)

So to sum it up, looking at this theoretical "unbiased poll" compared to the actual preseason polls, this is what we get:

Slightly overrated: Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, California, Georgia Tech, Florida State.

Very overrated (teams ranked in "real" and not ranked in "unbiased"): LSU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Kansas (although Kansas is a close one)

Slightly underrated: Oregon, TCU, Utah, Georgia, Iowa

Very underrated (teams that were ranked in "unbiased" but not in "real"): Texas Tech, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Missouri, Pittsburgh.

What surprises me is the amount of teams that were ranked exactly the same between the "real" polls and the "unbiased" polls. But still, there are teams that aren't ranked at all that very easily could be, and others that are ranked high that many could argue shouldn't be ranked at all. So are the voters right, or are they letting their bias get in the way?

Georgia Football 2009: Who Will Finish The Drill?

Made in the past couple of days. Hope you enjoy. Go Dawgs!

ESPN: Florida has already won the SEC East

I really don't know what to say about this.

Yes, Mark Schlabach graduated from Georgia, and I've always believed that he downplays UGA and praises UGA's rivals on purpose, whether it is in an effort to show his journalistic objectivity by overcompensating, or maybe he simply would like Georgia to be a surprise and have rivals be sorely disappointed.

At first, I thought maybe this article was supposed to be a joke, as it opens with:

"Should the SEC East even bother playing games this season?"

It continues with what also appear to be an attempt at humor, perhaps pointing out how ridiculous the media is in anointing Florida the preseason national champions. But then he writes this:

"The Gators are going to win the SEC East in 2009. And it's not even going to be close."

"It's up to the Gators to determine how difficult it's going to be."

So I start to think, "Wait... this is serious?"

"The SEC East is nothing more than a formality for Florida. The Gators are going to end up where they start the season -- on top of the division."

"Shouldn't the SEC just say Georgia is probably going to be pretty good in 2009, maybe good enough to win nine or 10 games and lose to the Gators by, oh, 40 points?"

I'm still hoping that this article is a very pessimistic joke written by an unnecessarily depressed Georgia alum, but it's hard to tell. But if you watch the video at the top of the page, those guys don't seem to be joking at all.

ESPN's Erik Kuselias says with a straight face:

"I think the general consensus is... Florida, and nobody else in the East. Three teams out west, Alabama, Ole Miss, and LSU."

Alright. Well, I guess this means Georgia and the other 4 SEC East teams might as well cancel the season.

Knowshon Moreno Reebok Commercials

That's right. Good ol' Knowshon is already raking in the cash with commercials for Reebok. Thought you might enjoy these.

I wouldn't be surprised if he has his own TV show within a year. Just think.... Next summer, FOX presents "Knowshon Hurdles Things" at 9 PM E.T. I'd watch it.

Georgia's 2009 Offense: #6 in the country?

Well, it is according to Scout.com .

Scout.com (College Football News) released their 2009 unit rankings yesterday, and they're showing a lot of respect for Georgia. In their ranking of the best offenses this season, Georgia appears at #6, despite losing two stars who were taken in the first round of the NFL draft. They rank Oklahoma State as their #1 offense, followed by Oklahoma, USC, Florida, and Texas.

In their list of top defensive units, Georgia is #10. Not a bad ranking either, but Pitt and Iowa find themselves above Georgia on Scout's defensive list.

Other rankings of note:

Quarterbacks: UGA is #48

Running Backs: UGA is #7 (Georgia Tech is #1)

Receivers: UGA is #31

Offensive Line: UGA is #2

Defensive Line: UGA is #26

Linebackers: UGA is #6

Secondaries: UGA is #29

Special Teams: UGA is #25

Go check out CFN's 2009 College Football Preview to see explanations on all of their rankings and other interesting features.

Where will ESPN Gameday be in 2009?

Most Georgia fans have bad memories of ESPN's College Gameday show being in Athens. Very recent, bad memories. But will Gameday be returning to UGA in 2009? I don't know. But I looked at all of the college football games on Saturdays this fall and what networks/time slots the games are scheduled to be on (so far) to make some educated guesses for where Gameday will be.

Before I begin, let's note that Gameday really likes to cover games that will appear on ESPN or ABC (for obvious reasons). Also, the primetime ESPN/ABC games tend to also be the big, Gameday games. So let's begin.

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Week 1 will be Virginia Tech-Alabama in Atlanta. We know this one.

Week 2 will almost certainly be USC at Ohio State which is already set for 8 PM on ESPN.

Week 3 is very busy. Some good games on ESPN/ABC networks, such as Nebraska at Virginia Tech, Georgia at Arkansas, West Virginia at Auburn, and Texas Tech at Texas is the ABC primetime game. However, with all of the Florida love and Kiffin controversy, ESPN may just take the Tennessee at Florida game even though it's on CBS in the afternoon.

Week 4 is up in the air, but a primetime ABC game is likely Iowa at Penn State. Revenge storyline and everything could make that a target. Cal at Oregon is there too. But there are open slots for ABC/ESPN in the afternoon, including possibly Arizona State at Georgia. If both of our teams are undefeated at that point, it's a very possible candidate for Gameday (whether you like it or not).

Week 5 has LSU at Georgia (but it's on CBS) and USC at California is already in the primetime ABC slot. But there are slots available and Oklahoma at Miami looks like a big, non-conference game that will likely get picked.

Week 6 has UF at LSU in the primetime CBS slot, so it's unlikely to be Gameday. Other big games that day, including Georgia at Tennessee, but I'm betting it could be Georgia Tech at Florida State.

Week 7 is almost surely going to be Oklahoma-Texas. Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech is a possibility.

Week 8 doesn't have many good looking games.... Tennessee at Alabama is ok, but it's on CBS. It'll likely be between a revenge special of Oregon State at USC or Auburn at LSU (if both of those teams are doing well).

Week 9 has the Cocktail Party, but CBS means, once again, probably no Gameday in Jacksonville. USC at Oregon is already slotted for primetime ESPN/ABC. Texas at Oklahoma State could maybe get it, though.

Week 10 has USC at Arizona State already as a primetime ESPN/ABC, but unless ASU is surprisingly great next year, I doubt it will be Gameday. LSU at Alabama is scheduled for CBS. Ohio State at Penn State looks like a good choice, but Oklahoma at Nebraska could be big too.

Week 11 has a couple of good SEC games, but both are on CBS (Auburn at Georgia and Florida at South Carolina). There aren't many other games that stick out that day, but there is Tennessee at Ole Miss or Texas Tech at Oklahoma State.

Week 12 has Ohio State at Michigan, which will probably get it. Kansas at Texas and Oklahoma at Texas Tech are there too. Penn State at Michigan State is also a possibility.

Week 13 is rivalry week, so there's plenty to choose from. FSU at Florida is CBS. Alabama at Auburn is CBS. Georgia at Georgia Tech could be it, but I would think Oklahoma State at Oklahoma would be a tempting pick for them. It all depends on how the season has gone.

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It looks like our biggest chance for Gameday in Athens this year would be Arizona State. ASU will almost surely have no losses, because they play Iowa State and Louisiana-Monroe before us. If we have beaten Oklahoma State, South Carolina, and Arkansas, we'll surely be in the top 10. But ASU, with their two wins, would probably not be ranked at all, so that mostly shatters our chance at Gameday anyway. California at Oregon or Iowa at Penn State will probably take Gameday that week.

I found all of the games and their time slots/networks from this site, which is a MUST HAVE resource for any college football fan. Keep in mind, though, that every game listed on there is 1 hour behind eastern time.

I couldn't resist another Tech post....

But I hope you enjoy anyway.

I'm not really sure what they're going for here. I get the Transformers cars, as ridiculous as they are, but the music sounds like something from Harry Potter. Even more to please the Tech fans, I guess.

Go figure: Tech loves Transformers

I'll just leave this here.

Tech Players Pose Shirtless with Transformers. Very intimidating.

ESPN asks which 40 teams should be the new Div. 1A

I don't really know the point of this ESPN poll, but it's interesting nonetheless.

So far 11,411 people have voted on the 40 teams that they think should be a new, hypothetical Division 1A for football.

After you choose 40 teams and vote you can see the results.

Florida is the most voted team with 80.4% votes, but UGA comes in 2nd with 80.3%. That's some respect right there.

Alabama is third, then Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, LSU, Penn State, USC, Florida State, Michigan, Miami, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, and Notre Dame.

More things to note:

Georgia Tech is the 22nd most voted team with 60.8%.

The last team to make the "Top 40" is Oregon State with 37.3%

Vanderbilt is the lowest-voted SEC team with 6.4%

EDIT (4:04 PM): Looks like the Tech fans found the poll and started their computer poll rigging. Georgia's dropped to #12. Still, it's an interesting experiment from ESPN. Apparently tomorrow some of ESPN's College Football guys will be "drafting" their top 40 teams for the simulation. So keep an eye on that.

Rating this Season's Opponents

Here's my very subjective list of this year's most difficult games, based on not just each team's talent, but also where the game is played and when it appears on our schedule.

1. Florida: Even if UF isn't the best team we'll play this year, Jacksonville hasn't been kind to us much for a couple of decades.

2. @Oklahoma State: OSU may be overhyped and the Dawgs could have a great game here, but their offense is clearly talented, the game is in their new stadium in another part of the country, and it's the season opener, leaving a lot of questions to be answered come September 5.

3. @Tennessee: No one will probably agree with me here, but I think this game looks really difficult from a distance. Bad memories come to mind when I think of the last time we played in Neyland Stadium. Even if UT is having another bad season by game 6, this game looms large like a "trap." Also, it comes right after LSU at home.

4. LSU: Most will have LSU much higher on their lists (probably #2 even), but I'm not seeing it. LSU will almost surely be undefeated coming into Athens (playing Washington, Vandy, UL-Lafayette and Miss. State to start the season) and riding high in the rankings. UGA might even be lower ranked and have a chance to play an upset between the hedges. There will be plenty of motivation for us to win this big game at home, but LSU will obviously be a very talented team as they always are.

5. @Georgia Tech: I struggle even putting Tech this high on here, but I will. It all depends on what happens in the ACC and with the triple option "run, run, or run?" offense in year 2. At this point, I'm confident that by the end of the regular season our UGA team will have things figured out enough to be able to win this one. Even if Tech is doing well I'd still feel pretty confident about this game. But if UGA somehow is undefeated or with 1-loss going to Atlanta with a lot on the line, this game will worry me, as it should everyone.

6. South Carolina: Once again, they aren't looking like too big of a threat in the SEC, but they love to be an upset. If UGA comes out of Stillwater with a big win, this game looks like a big trap.

7. @Arkansas: They're a favorite pick to be a "surprise" team in the SEC this year, so they aren't to be taken lightly. But like some have said, it may be good that we catch them early in the season.

8. Auburn: They're going to have to win again sometime, and I'm sure they'd love it to be this year. If Auburn is much improved, they could be coming to Athens with only 2 or 3 losses and motivation toward the end of the season.

9. Arizona State: Don't know too much of what to expect from this ASU team that was embarrassed last year. But an out of conference game will likely be hyped up and could be an early test for the Dawgs, not to mention it comes a week before LSU.

10. @Vanderbilt: This game gets the nod over Kentucky simply based on where the game is played. Last time UGA played at Vandy, things were very stressful, but of course a close win helped to spark a great 2nd half of the season in 07.

11. Kentucky: At home and against a UK team with low expectations. Also the second-to-last game of the season, so we should have things pretty figured out by then.

12. Tennessee Tech: We better not lose this game.

I know, some of them appear strange. Have your own opinion on the matter? Post it in the comments.