I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN

sadlerdawg wrote:

That is such bull. They just love using UGA to set new precedents. The standard for decades was if you don't play one week, and the team(s) above you loses, you move up. Well, that changed last year to keep us out of the NC game. Another standard was that if you won your game handily, you didn't lose any spots. Apparently, that standard is now also changed, I guess you have to win by more than the team behind you does. I guess they just like to make up the rules as they go along to allow their \"Golden Boys\" to be where they want.

I know, sadlerdawg, that what you're saying is good bulletin board material. It will get our Dawgs riled up, whereas my thinking will not. So let's send your message to them and not mine. But here's my two cents:

I don't think this shift is about our team at all. I think it's about the pollsters being so horrendously wrong SO MANY TIMES last year, starting off with Michigan losing to App State and dropping completely out of the top 25 from #5. After that game, I have never seen so much overreacting as I did last year in the polls; after losing to SCarolina we fell from #11 in the country to #24. Then, when we beat Florida we jumped from #20 to #10. Take a look at this year: Clemson loses to a RANKED team from the SEC, yet they drop from #9 out of the top 25 completely. It's overreaction on a massive scale, and I'd say that ESPN has a lot to do with that. Does anyone really think that South Carolina will beat Clemson this year, outside of Columbia (apologies, GamecockInGA)? Honestly, not really. But SCarolina is ranked (tied with Illinois at #24), whereas Clemson is not. Big overreaction with Tennessee dropping out of the rankings from #18, too. They lost by three in overtime. Last year, that rationale was good enough to put LSU in the National Championship game, because according to Les Miles the Tigers had \"eleven wins and two ties.\"

I think that the pollsters took a look at our schedule and the injuries we've sustained and figure we can't win. But, according to this week's polls, we're still in the national championship game; we'd just lose to USC. Also, in the HYPEspn poll, we're only one first-place vote behind USC (they got 21, we got 20). I'm frankly surprised we're not fourth, behind USC, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

All of this will sort itself out around week eight, by which time we will have played Tennessee, SCarolina and ASU, Oklahoma will have played Texas, and USC and Ohio State will have played each other. Then you'll start to see a stable picture unfold. Until then, the pollsters are just proving my theory that NO rankings should come out until a month into the season. Preseason polls are horrendous horsecrap, even if that horsecrap thinks we're the best team in the country.

It's a long season. For GA to get the respect of #1 was great. This was not unexpected, but can be a good thing if our players get mad.

Once again, class is not rewarded. What do you expect from media that loves the Big Ten and PAC 10? One decent team in each conference.

I've know that sportswriters were idiots for years, really, but I guess I've been in denial. Somewhere in the recesses of my addled mind, I thought they would recognize a program that uses respect as much as talent, but alas, it's not so. We're setting precedents here. Last year, we were denied our place in the NC game because of hokey math. This year, we are leapfrogged despite winning. Has that ever happened before? The fact that I even read Stewart Mandel is testament to the dearth of anything resembling insightful analysis on the web. Somewhere, a village is missing its idiot, Stewart. You can go home again.

Now that's out of the way, I'm actually glad, in a way. The media will continue to diss the Dawgs, and we'll continue to kick ass. At the end of the year, all these idiots will proclaim their devotion to the juggernaut that is the Dawgs, while we laugh to ourselves and wipe the slobber from the corner of their mouths. Freakin' idiots!

AMEN dapolla!

Here's my fearless prediction:
USC jumped UGA this week and next week it will be Ohio State's turn. Think about it folks. USC does NOT play next week so this was the week they HAD to jump UGA. Next week, OSU plays Univ. of Ohio and a big W is inevitable for the Buckeyes. OF COURSE, since Cent. Michigan is no scrub team, they will likely score some points on the Dawgs D and we will NOT win this game by the tune of 70-0 or whatever it would take to impress the voters. Anyways, fact of the matter is, on Sept. 13, 2008, the media will tout USC vs. Ohio State as the GAME OF THE CENTURY and rightfully so, after all, USC will be #1, and OSU will be #2 in both polls. Meanwhile, sorry ol' #3 UGA will be playing the other USC in a game that will hardly even matter in the media's eyes.

GET PO'D DAWG FANS--I KNOW I AM!!!

I agree with what you're saying dapolla. Just some consistency would be nice. It just aggravates me that it's the usual media darlings. If it were anybody other than USC or OSU that jumped us, it probably wouldn't bother me as much. Since they wanted USC to be #1, they should have just started them out that way, because they knew they were going to jump us and use the \"UGA only played a 1-AA team\" argument (or FCS, or whatever they call that division now)....just like last year, they knew they weren't going to let us play for the NC, so they shouldn't have ranked us 4th when 2 teams ahead of us still had to play.
I agree no polls should even come out until Oct.

There are many good posts here. Think about this . . . some of us are upset about the rankings and of course the folks that control those votes. Maybe stop and think for a minute what the UGA football players think when they see themselves drop in the polls. These young guys know what they could have done this past Saturday, if CMR had turned them loose. In my humble opinion, this is good for the football team. These guys now know that every game means much when it comes to the final tally. Upcoming game against Central Michigan is not a time to be laying low, this is a good football team, these young men like to play hard nosed football and they will on Saturday. I like the fact that this happened early in the season, gives the Dawgs a true perspective on what the outside world (ESPN) thinks about SOUTHERN FOOTBALL. They hate the fact that there are usually 4, 5, or 6 SEC teams not ranked in the top 25, but in the top 15 year after year. I could get emotional here, however, now we will see CMR let the DAWGS OUT. One game at at time fellow posters, that will GETTER DONE . . .