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Two hated rivals meet in Jacksonville on Saturday when the Georgia Bulldogs take on the Florida Gators. The two teams are virtually playing for their SEC East life, as a loss for either team will put them two games behind South Carolina in the loss column, all but eliminating the loser from the race.  More important than that, the loser would have to worry about winning two of their final games just to make a bowl game. It would be unfathomable for either school not to make a bowl game since Florida has made 19 straight bowl games and Georgia has made 13 straight, two of the four longest streaks in the country.  

Georgia is looking for their fourth consecutive win after suffering 4 continuous losses. They have turned their season around, but a win on Saturday would solidify their comeback. Meanwhile, Florida looks to end their own losing streak.  They have lost three in row and hope to find a signature win to build off of for the rest of the season. A loss on Saturday would give Florida their first four game losing streak since 1988. You know the Bulldogs would love to hand them that loss.

It is one of greatest rivalries in college football and there is nothing but pure hatred between the two schools.  A win in this game can be the silver lining in an awful season.  Fans would gladly say, “We had a bad year, but at least we beat Florida”. Right now the hatred is probably a little stronger for Georgia fans. Even though our series record is 47-39-2, we have lost 17 of the last 20 meetings. With both schools rebuilding right now, Georgia would love to reverse this trend and take back control of the rivalry.

(Sorry, I just realized I started saying “we” instead of Georgia. I tried to remain impartial, but just couldn’t do it. I love UGA too much.)

Georgia dancing after scoring a touchdown in 2007.

I don’t get why we always seem to choke against Florida, but I feel good about our chances this year.  Mark Right has this team fired up and it reminds me of 2007, when we danced on the field and beat Florida 42-30. Washaun Ealey is coming off of a Kentucky game where he had five touchdowns and Caleb King is coming back from his suspension. Aaron Murray has dramatically matured throughout the year and has turned into a quality quarterback. We have a had a positive turnover margin in the past three games with 9 takeaways and and only 1 turnover. That is a phenomenal turnover margin, especially considering we were -16 in the turnover department last year, which was 118th in the country.

All these facts are the reason why we are entering the game as the favorite, but we better be careful.  The Gators have had two weeks to prepare for this game and you know Urban Meyer will have his players ready.  Chris Rainey is will be back from his suspension, and the week off has helped Demps and Sturgis get healthier.  They will certainly be a different team than they have been the past three games.  Also, if our defense does not figure out its third-down woes, Urban Meyer could make it a bad day for Georgia fans.  

Nonetheless, it should be an exciting, well-fought game that goes down to the wire.  It definitely should be more exciting that the last two Georgia-Florida games. I feel like Jacksonville will be filled with Georgia fans celebrating a Bulldog victory on Saturday, but then again, I almost have to say that. We’ll see what happens on Saturday.

GO DAWGS!!!

Ohio State's misfortune

Ohio State has won at least a share of the Big Ten title and gone to a BCS bowl game every year for the past five years, with this streak including the 2006 and 2007 National Championship games. They have fielded a good team year after year, but have often been over-rewarded at seasons’ end going to bowl games much more prestigious than their talent level merited. They can thank Big Ten format and its lack of a conference championship game for their good fortune. However, this year the very same format may lead to end of these streaks.

There is no doubt that Ohio State University has been the largest beneficiary from the Big Ten’s lack of a conference championship game.  It helped them the most during the two seasons when they went to the national championship game. Had there been a Big Ten championship game those years, in 2006, Ohio State would have had to play a #3 Michigan team whose only loss was a 42-39 battle against the Buckeyes. The rematch would have been a very losable game as some regarded Michigan as the best team in the country.  If Michigan won that game then they would have played for the national championship against Florida and we could have been saved from watching the 41-14 thumping Ohio State received.

In 2007, they would have played #15 Illinois who had beaten Ohio State earlier in the season 28-21. They finished their season ranked third in the BCS standings, but were able to move up to first by sitting idle and watching West Virginia lose to Pitt and Missouri lose in the Big 12 Championship Game. They ended up going to the national championship game and got handled by a much better LSU team.

In the Big Ten’s final year without a conference championship game, the current format may be Ohio State’s worst enemy and Michigan State’s best friend. With last Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin, Ohio State has clearly put themselves behind undefeated Michigan State in the standings. The Buckeyes don’t have the chance to prove they are a better team because they don’t play Michigan State this year. Each team does not play two conference opponents and this year the Spartans are one of the two teams Ohio State does not play. Because of this, they will need some help to retain their title and must hope someone beats Michigan State. Their best chance is coming next week as the Spartans go to Iowa City to play the Hawkeyes, but if the Spartans get past Iowa, none of their remaining opponents pose much of a threat. If Michigan State goes undefeated, they would win the Big Ten title without having to face what is arguably the best team in the conference.

If there was a conference championship game, they could have their chance to play each other and show everyone who is the true Big Ten champion. Right now Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes must be cursing the very same format that has helped them time after time.

Random thoughts from Saturday’s games:

• Boise State must love watching all these #1 teams falling, with Oklahoma losing to Missouri last night.  Chances are they won’t move up in the rankings though with Auburn leapfrogging over them.
• Cam Newton leads Auburn to victory once again, beating LSU 24-17 and running for 217 yards in the process.  In my mind, he has clearly made himself the Heisman favorite.
• Missouri and Nebraska both won yesterday setting up a match-up to decide the Big 12 North when they play each other next week in Lincoln. It’ll be interesting to see how the Tiger perform on the road after their huge win against Oklahoma.
• Biggest upset of the weekend was Iowa State over Texas.  Texas was coming off of their big win against Nebraska and Iowa State had just been annihilated by Oklahoma 52-0.Texas is clearly not the preseason top-10 team that every expected to see with second loss to an unranked opponent.
• Georgia has made themselves relevant again after winning their last three games with ease. They will face their toughest test of this comeback next week in Jacksonville when they play Florida.  
• The ACC Coastal Division looks to be coming down to Virginia Tech and Miami after Georgia Tech lost to Clemson and Miami beat North Carolina.  Both Georgia Tech and UNC would need a lot of help to win the conference now.
• Wisconsin had another big win on Saturday beating Iowa 31-30 and Iowa mismanaged the clock and let it expire before getting a chance to score.  Having already played Michigan State and Ohio State, they must now wait and hope someone, most likely Iowa, can beat them.