Could South Carolina and Arkansas be Good?

I've posted my fair share of excuses for Georgia's defense and why we've struggled so much in the past two games to put away our opponent. Well, here's another one.

What if South Carolina is actually good this season? What if the Gamecocks have finally figured out this thing called offense and can compete with everyone, not just their SEC-rival Bulldogs?

And secondly, what if Arkansas is a real threat in the SEC West in 2009? The media have been gushing about Ryan Mallett (understandably, although they give little credit to an even more impressive Joe Cox from Saturday) and their receiving group looked outstanding Saturday as well.

So going on with this "what-if" scenario, what if South Carolina beats #4 Mississippi tonight? I honestly think there is a very good chance of that happening, and if it does, South Carolina will surely jump up into the rankings.

And Arkansas? They certainly could upset #3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, although people are giving them much less of a chance in that game. But could they at least put up a good game against the Tide and see more pass-happy success from Ryan Mallett and company? Sounds very possible.

If either South Carolina or Arkansas win this week, it really shows just how good Georgia's past two wins were. Even if those two teams play a really tough game against Ole Miss and Alabama, it still should legitimize UGA's victories over them as signs of a good team (even though the media will likely forget Georgia's wins and only look at how great Ole Miss/Alabama would be to win against those teams).

My prediction: At least one of those two teams will win their upset game this week, and if I had to pick one, it would obviously be South Carolina over Mississippi in Columbia. But I wouldn't be very surprised if Arkansas pulled out their game as well. Remember that although Alabama has looked great so far, their only real test was against Virginia Tech in Atlanta (more of a home game for Bama than VT), and VT hasn't really stood out to me as being a really great team.

Here's the question though: If somehow South Carolina AND Arkansas win, they will both vault into the rankings. But would Georgia get any recognition for beating them recently? And would South Carolina and Arkansas actually jump UGA in the polls? Now that would be funny.