[JRL]

By Chip Towers | Friday, December 14, 2007, 01:02 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The general consensus on Georgia’s Sugar Bowl matchup with Hawaii is that it is a no-win situation for the Bulldogs. Win and they were supposed to win. Lose and — ohmigod — they’ve lost to a lowly WAC team.
I’ve just left Georgia’s bowl media day luncheon and press conference and, as you might expect, coach Mark Richt and his charges aren’t buying that notion.
“I don’t believe that,” Richt told reporters in the Stegeman Coliseum auditorium. “We have a lot to gain from this game. Our seniors could win their 40th game as a group in a four-year span. That’s pretty special and I know our seniors are excited about that possibility.
“And I think our underclassmen realize a victory here will set the stage for the future. The BCS, the way it is set up, it’s always important where you’re ranked at the in the preseason. You hate to say much about it but that’s the way it is. You might climb from not being ranked preseason to getting in the [BCS championship] game. But if you lose one along the way you’re probably not unless you were in the top 10 or something. I think the preseason rankings have an effect on where you might finish. So I think there’s a lot of incentive for our players from that standpoint.
“And everybody wants to be considered a champion. We weren’t able to be Southeastern Conference champions but we could be Sugar Bowl champions. Eleven wins in a season is a tremendous accomplishment. And the way we finishsed the second half of the year, we had so much fun and really enjoyed it, I hope the guys don’t want to let go of that at the end of the year.”
Richt also didn’t buy the notion that Hawaii will come in loose and without anything to lose.
“I think they have a lot to lose,” Richt said. “First of all an undefeated season. They’ve got to win this game to stay undefeated. That’s pretty special to go through a whole year without anybody beating you.”
Georgia’s players are taking that philosophy even a step further.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we go in as underdogs,” sophomore cornerback Asher Allen said. “They’re undefeated, not us.”
The Bulldogs will practice for the third time since the end of the season on Friday and again on Saturday. However, they will be without their graduating seniors.
There are 14 of them — 15 if you count former Bulldog Mitch Davis, who completed his degree 14 years after completing his eligibility. Here’s the list of Saturday’s graduates: Sean Bailey, Andy Bailey, Thomas Brown, A.J. Bryant, Brandon Coutu, Mitch Davis, Thomas Flowers, T.J. Gartrell, Chris Gaunder, Mikey Henderson, Marcus Howard, Jason Johnson, Justin Lyles, Drew Williams and Ben Wilson.
Brown, who completed his degree in 3.5 years after taking 21 hours this semester, said walking in graduation tomorrow is “more exciting than anything I’ve done through my entire life, including sports. I’m so excited I can’t hardly stand it and it’s not even here yet.”
Richt said Georgia won’t have two-a-day practices like it did in previous years before bowls but will hold long single practices instead. He said coaches have been on the road recruiting a lot but he has directed them to be breaking down Hawaii tape and data throughout and to be ready to start implementing the game plan today.
Richt also called this his most enjoyable season at Georgia. “It’s the most fun I’ve had coaching.”
That’s it in a nutshell. Other than that, Richt was heaping mountains of praise on Hawaii and its personnel and coaching. Carter Strickland will have more details on the press conference and today’s practice when he files a football report later today.

[azrael492]

Originally Posted by JRL

By Chip Towers | Friday, December 14, 2007, 01:02 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The general consensus on Georgia’s Sugar Bowl matchup with Hawaii is that it is a no-win situation for the Bulldogs. Win and they were supposed to win. Lose and — ohmigod — they’ve lost to a lowly WAC team.
I’ve just left Georgia’s bowl media day luncheon and press conference and, as you might expect, coach Mark Richt and his charges aren’t buying that notion.
“I don’t believe that,” Richt told reporters in the Stegeman Coliseum auditorium. “We have a lot to gain from this game. Our seniors could win their 40th game as a group in a four-year span. That’s pretty special and I know our seniors are excited about that possibility.
“And I think our underclassmen realize a victory here will set the stage for the future. The BCS, the way it is set up, it’s always important where you’re ranked at the in the preseason. You hate to say much about it but that’s the way it is. You might climb from not being ranked preseason to getting in the [BCS championship] game. But if you lose one along the way you’re probably not unless you were in the top 10 or something. I think the preseason rankings have an effect on where you might finish. So I think there’s a lot of incentive for our players from that standpoint.
“And everybody wants to be considered a champion. We weren’t able to be Southeastern Conference champions but we could be Sugar Bowl champions. Eleven wins in a season is a tremendous accomplishment. And the way we finishsed the second half of the year, we had so much fun and really enjoyed it, I hope the guys don’t want to let go of that at the end of the year.”
Richt also didn’t buy the notion that Hawaii will come in loose and without anything to lose.
“I think they have a lot to lose,” Richt said. “First of all an undefeated season. They’ve got to win this game to stay undefeated. That’s pretty special to go through a whole year without anybody beating you.”
Georgia’s players are taking that philosophy even a step further.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we go in as underdogs,” sophomore cornerback Asher Allen said. “They’re undefeated, not us.”
The Bulldogs will practice for the third time since the end of the season on Friday and again on Saturday. However, they will be without their graduating seniors.
There are 14 of them — 15 if you count former Bulldog Mitch Davis, who completed his degree 14 years after completing his eligibility. Here’s the list of Saturday’s graduates: Sean Bailey, Andy Bailey, Thomas Brown, A.J. Bryant, Brandon Coutu, Mitch Davis, Thomas Flowers, T.J. Gartrell, Chris Gaunder, Mikey Henderson, Marcus Howard, Jason Johnson, Justin Lyles, Drew Williams and Ben Wilson.
Brown, who completed his degree in 3.5 years after taking 21 hours this semester, said walking in graduation tomorrow is “more exciting than anything I’ve done through my entire life, including sports. I’m so excited I can’t hardly stand it and it’s not even here yet.”
Richt said Georgia won’t have two-a-day practices like it did in previous years before bowls but will hold long single practices instead. He said coaches have been on the road recruiting a lot but he has directed them to be breaking down Hawaii tape and data throughout and to be ready to start implementing the game plan today.
Richt also called this his most enjoyable season at Georgia. “It’s the most fun I’ve had coaching.”
That’s it in a nutshell. Other than that, Richt was heaping mountains of praise on Hawaii and its personnel and coaching. Carter Strickland will have more details on the press conference and today’s practice when he files a football report later today.

He is right. I never thought about this. If you are not ranked at preseason, you have no expectations. If you go undefeated until late in the season, you will get no credit because you were not expected to be good to begin with. Yet another flaw in the BCS system.