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.