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| Fred Gibson caught 41 passes for 746 yards four TDs this season. AP |
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Georgia
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Alabama
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Florida
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Arkansas
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Auburn
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Tennessee
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LSU
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Kentucky
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Mississippi
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South Carolina
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Mississippi State
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Vanderbilt
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Games Georgia won this season by fewer than seven points, although the Bulldogs won their last two games by a combined margin of 71 points.
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"It's been a long time, a real long time. We're bringing back the Herschel Walker days, baby."
--
Georgia WR Fred Gibson
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By Chris Low, Special to CNNSI.com
In the afterglow of Georgia's first SEC championship in 20 years, there was considerable talk about the past. That's what happens when some of the players responsible for this title weren't even born the last time a championship trophy was making the rounds in Athens.
"We did it, man. It's so sweet," Georgia senior offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb exclaimed minutes after the Bulldogs' 30-3 shellacking of Arkansas in the SEC championship game. "This is what it finally feels like, I guess. All the blood, sweat and tears paid off."
To a man, the Georgia players who will be around next year (and there are several) were promising that this was only a start. The Bulldogs, who face Florida State on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl, likely will be the preseason favorite next year to repeat as SEC champions and also will be mentioned in the national championship banter.
"It's been a long time, a real long time," said sophomore Fred Gibson, one of four talented receivers who will be back next season. "We're bringing the Herschel Walker days back, baby. We started something and, hopefully, it's something that's going to keep going for years."
Simply getting to the SEC championship game provided the Bulldogs an air of credibility that had been missing. After all, until this season, only Florida and Tennessee in the Eastern Division had played in the game since its inception in 1992. That kind of stigma is difficult to overcome on the recruiting trail.
"It means a lot to Georgia, means a lot to the Georgia people and means a lot to our program," said Mark Richt, in his second season as the Bulldogs' head coach. "When it comes to recruiting, we don't have to feel left out all the time when somebody asks us if we've ever played in that game. It just adds credibility to our program, and we've got a great program."
To some degree, Richt thinks Georgia might have been losing touch with the top prospects simply because it's been out of the championship equation for so long. But nights like last Saturday in the Georgia Dome have a way of altering the landscape.
"We've got tremendous tradition and a lot of things going for us," Richt said. "But a lot of the prospects, they don't know what happened 20 years ago and they don't care what happened 20 years ago. They want to know what's happened lately."
The Bulldogs (12-1) were only a play or two away from playing for the national championship next month in the Fiesta Bowl. But there was no escaping the 20-13 loss to Florida on Nov. 2, and Miami held serve in its regular-season finale against Virginia Tech. Nonetheless, Georgia stated its case quite convincingly the last two weeks of the season.
The Bulldogs' detractors will argue that the SEC teetered more to the side of mediocre this season than it has during the past decade. None of that, though, diminishes the Bulldogs' ability to get it done this season when it counted -- and it was typically a different player each week.
"If there's ever a time to peak, it's right now," said Georgia quarterback David Greene, who was named the SEC championship game's Most Valuable Player. "It feels great, and I hope it only gets better. All phases of the game, we're playing perfect. I think we're one of the best teams in the nation. I can't say we're the best, but we're definitely up there. As long as we're clicking, I don't think anybody can beat us."
Georgia loses all five of its offensive line starters next season, but most of the Bulldogs' playmakers are back -- including tailback Musa Smith, tight end Ben Watson, Greene and the quartet of receivers. Defensively, Georgia will be dominant up front unless tackle Johnathan Sullivan decides to turn pro. And then there's defensive end David Pollack, who came out of nowhere to win SEC Player of the Year honors this season.
"It's just a start, a good start," Gibson said. "Next year, hopefully, it will be the same way."
Who knows? It might be even better.
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Back in August, Georgia's David Greene was being mentioned as one of the SEC's better quarterbacks. But most people didn't have him in that exclusive group. You know, the one that included Florida's Rex Grossman, Mississippi's Eli Manning, Tennessee's Casey Clausen and even Kentucky's Jared Lorenzen.
As it turns out, Greene was in a group by himself this season. He was the league's most productive quarterback, the most consistent quarterback and -- most important -- the most successful quarterback.
"You can't take anything away from him," Georgia senior receiver Terrence Edwards said. "If I had a vote, he would be my conference player of the year. I know you have Rex out there and Eli out there, but we have the conference championship and he's the conference championship quarterback."
Greene was named the SEC championship game's MVP following the Bulldogs' 30-3 victory over Arkansas. It was a microcosm of his season. He was 17-of-29 passing for 237 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
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HOT: Georgia RB Musa Smith
Smith capped a stellar junior season with 106 yards rushing and two TDs in the Bulldogs' SEC championship game victory.
NOT: Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione
The former Alabama head coach should be ashamed about the manner in which he handled his move to Texas A&M.
HOT:Georgia's defense
The Bulldogs allowed a total of 10 points in their last two games and held Arkansas to just 139 yards of total offense.
NOT: Arkansas QB Matt Jones
Jones was rendered ineffective by the Georgia defense and finished with just 60 yards passing and 12 yards rushing.
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Say or think what you will about Dennis Franchione's decision to leave Alabama for Texas A&M. He made a move that he obviously felt was best for him and his family. That's completely understandable.
But to bail out on his players -- the same ones he urged to stay at Alabama and weather the NCAA sanctions -- without having the decency to tell them face-to-face that he was leaving was as gutless as it gets. Franchione had his defensive coordinator, Carl Torbush, relay the news to the players after repeatedly suggesting that he wasn't going anywhere. Pretty classy there, Coach Fran.
"A lot of guys paid the price and stayed here, but Coach Fran had a decision to make," Alabama running back Ahmaad Galloway said. "It's a decision I can never understand or anybody else can."
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 Georgia DE David Pollack
The SEC's Player of the Year led the conference in sacks (13), tackles for loss (22) and quarterback pressures (34).
Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis
Despite an alarming number of injuries, the Vols led the conference with the fewest number of defensive TDs allowed (19).
Arkansas OT Shawn Andrews
Only a sophomore, Andrews was dominant this season and picked up the Jacobs Trophy as the conference's top blocker.
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Florida State's Bobby Bowden admits it's a bit uneasy going against his former assistants. Chuck Amato's North Carolina State club has beaten Florida State each of the past two years. Bowden also goes against his son, Tommy Bowden, each year when the Seminoles face Clemson.
In the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl, Bowden will see yet another of his former assistants. Mark Richt was Bowden's offensive coordinator before getting the job at Georgia and was on the FSU staff for more than a decade.
"I always knew that if we played them in a bowl game, it would be a [BCS] game," Richt said. "That's where Florida State always plays."
While Georgia is coming off its first SEC championship in 20 years, this hasn't been a season to remember for the Seminoles. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship despite going 9-4, the worst record among the eight BCS teams.
"I don't like the fact that we're coming in with four losses," Bowden said. "It's probably not fair to Georgia after the great year they've had, but that's the way the system is now. I just hope we play our best."
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| Mike Riley and South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt. Riley, a former player at Alabama, is also a candidate for the UCLA job. … Former Kentucky head coach Guy Morriss met with the Wildcats' players on Tuesday to inform them that he was taking the Baylor head job. Morriss was offered a five-year deal at Baylor that will pay him $1 million or more annually. Morriss was paid $400,000 last season at Kentucky and was in line for a nice raise, but nothing that would have taken him near the $1 million mark. … Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barhhart wants to have a replacement for Morriss named before Christmas. Some of the names being mentioned are Southern Cal offensive coordinator Norm Chow, former Georgia head coach Jim Donnan, Pittsburgh head coach Walt Harris and Marshall head coach Bob Pruett. … Arkansas might have won the Western Division championship, but the Razorbacks took a serious tumble in the bowl selections. Arkansas fell all the way down to the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville and will face Minnesota. Five teams were selected ahead of the Hogs, and four of those teams are playing on New Year's Day. … The Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., and Peach Bowl in Atlanta didn't wait until the SEC championship game to finalize their matchups. The Outback selected Florida to face Michigan early last week, and the Peach scooped up Tennessee to play Maryland a few days later. … Kentucky defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson announced on Tuesday that he would give up his final year of eligibility and make himself available for the NFL draft. Robertson led the Wildcats with five sacks this season. … Florida quarterback Rex Grossman, after initially saying that he knew what he was going to do after the season, now says that he's still trying to decide whether he will enter the NFL draft. … Mississippi State head coach Jackie Sherrill is expected to name Wisconsin secondary coach Ron Cooper as his defensive coordinator today. Former Oklahoma head coach John Blake is in line to be the Bulldogs' new defensive line coach.
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