Sports

Thanks to the fine researchers from AP Poll Archive (http://www.appollarchive.com/), the following is the list of all of the AP Preseason Poll #1’s and what their final ranking ended up being. Obviously, the AP’s vote does not factor into the BCS anymore, but it is still interesting to see how teams have fared after being given the top spot in the Preseason poll. Without further ado:

Final Rankings of Preseason #1 Teams

Season		Team		Final
2008		Georgia		???
2007		USC		3
2006		Ohio State		2
2005		USC		2
2004		USC		1
2003		Oklahoma		3
2002		Miami (FL)		2
2001		Florida		3
2000		Nebraska		8
1999		Florida State		1
1998		Ohio State		2
1997		Penn State		16
1996		Nebraska		6
1995		Florida State		4
1994		Florida		7
1993		Florida State		1
1992		Miami (FL)		3
1991		Florida State		4
1990		Miami (FL)		3
1989		Michigan		7
1988		Florida State		3
1987		Oklahoma		3
1986		Oklahoma		3
1985		Oklahoma		1
1984		Auburn		14
1983		Nebraska		2
1982		Pittsburgh		10
1981		Michigan		12
1980		Ohio State		15
1979		USC		2
1978		Alabama		1
1977		Oklahoma		7
1976		Nebraska		9
1975		Oklahoma		1
1974		Oklahoma		1
1973		USC		8
1972		Nebraska		4
1971		Notre Dame		13
1970		Ohio State		5
1969		Ohio State		4
1968		Purdue		10
1967		Notre Dame		5
1966		Alabama		3
1965		Nebraska		5
1964		Mississippi		NR
1963		USC		NR
1962		Ohio State		NR
1961		Iowa		NR
1960		Syracuse		19
1959		LSU		3
1958		Ohio State		8
1957		Oklahoma		4
1956		Oklahoma		1
1955		UCLA		4
1954		Notre Dame		4
1953		Notre Dame		2
1952		Michigan State		1
1951		Tennessee		1
1950		Notre Dame		NR

NOTE: The preseason poll started in 1950

As you can see, in the 58 years that the AP has provided a Preseason poll, the preseason #1 has gone on to finish #1 ten times (including five times since 1978). After glancing over the chart, the one thing that shocked me was the following statistic: from 1957-1973 no preseason #1 finished the year #1 (a stretch of almost two decades).

Much of that was probably due to the fact that back in those days luxuries such as ESPN GamePlan did not exist, so most of the writers got their information about teams through word-of-mouth as opposed to actually seeing the players/teams with their own eyes.

Due to all of the media coverage and the ability for millions to be able to see a plethora of games each week followed up with tons of highlights, I do not think it is a coincidence that since the beginning of the BCS era (1998) the lowest the Preseason AP #1 has finished was 8th in 2000 (a 10-2 Nebraska team). Actually that team is a bit of an outlier in the past decade, as the rest of the other nine teams finished ranked #3 or higher. Two teams (FSU in 1999 and USC in 2004) won the National Championship and four teams (Miami in 2002, Oklahoma in 2003, USC in 2005 and OSU in 2006) lost in the Title Game. So, in the past nine years, the preseason #1 has gone to the Title Game six times (going 2-4 over that stretch).

So, what does all of this mean? Well, you can look at it a variety of ways. On one hand, you could suggest that with the recent success of the preseason #1’s, Georgia is destined for the BCS Championship Game. On the other, you can point out the fact that last year’s preseason #1 did not and given the fact that the Dawgs are going to have to play the toughest schedule in the country with only two returning starters on the OL the Dawgs have just as good of a chance to not go. I tend to be more of an optimist, so hopefully the former (and not the latter) occurs.

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough! Go Dawgs.

I know we are on the verge of football season, but today I would like to pass along some news about our basketball team. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs released their 2008-2009 schedule. At least 13 of Georgia’s 31 regular-season games will come against teams that competed in the 2008 postseason, with the potential for more such games if the team does well in the preseason NIT. This will mark UGA’s 3rd appearance in the tournament, the first since 1998.

“Last year we were proud to have the challenge of playing one of the toughest schedules in the country,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “I also think it’s a schedule that our fans can get excited about and start making plans for a great season. All of us are looking forward to building upon the SEC Championship last March.”

With games against Virginia Tech, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi St. among the notable home games and Illinois, Georgia Tech and whoever they play in the NIT tournament on the road, it should be a very exciting, but challenging schedule for the Dawgs. Only three months until basketball season…

University of Georgia
2008-09 Basketball Schedule

Date (Day) Opponent (TV) Site Tipoff
Nov. 7 (Fri.) ALBANY STATE (Exhib.) ATHENS 7:30
Nov. 14 (Fri.) USC – UPSTATE ATHENS 7:30
Nov. 17-19 (Mon-Wed) Pre-Season NIT W. Lafayette, Ind. TBA
Nov. 21 (Fri.) PRESBYTERIAN ATHENS 7:30
Nov. 24-25 (Mon-Tues) Pre-Season NIT Consolation TBA TBA
Nov. 26-28 (Wed-Fri) Pre-Season NIT Semis & Finals New York, N.Y. TBA
Dec. 2 (Tues.) at Western Kentucky Bowling Green, Ky. TBA
Dec. 6 (Sat.) Illinois Chicago, Ill. TBA
Dec. 9 (Tues.) VIRGINIA TECH ATHENS 7:30
Dec. 20 (Sat.) WOFFORD ATHENS 4:00
Dec. 22 (Mon.) TEXAS A&M – CORPUS CHRISTI ATHENS 7:30
Dec. 28 (Sun.) NORTH CAROLINA A&T ATHENS 2:30
Dec. 31 (Wed.) KENNESAW STATE ATHENS TBA
Jan. 3 (Sat.) MISSOURI ATHENS 4:00
Jan. 6 (Tues.) at Georgia Tech Atlanta, Ga. TBA
Jan. 10 (Sat.) TENNESSEE (Raycom) ATHENS 12 Noon
Jan. 14 (Wed.) at Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 8:00
Jan. 18 (Sun.) KENTUCKY (Raycom) ATHENS 12 Noon
Jan. 24 (Sat.) MISSISSIPPI STATE (ESPN2) ATHENS 6:00
Jan. 28 (Wed.) at Florida (Raycom) Gainesville, Fla. 8:00
Jan. 31 (Sat.) at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. TBA
Feb. 4 (Wed.) LSU ATHENS 7:30
Feb. 7 (Sat.) at South Carolina Columbia, S.C. TBA
Feb. 11 (Wed.) at Tennessee (Raycom) Knoxville, Tenn. 8:00
Feb. 14 (Sat.) FLORIDA (ABC) ATHENS 3:30
Feb. 18 (Wed.) AUBURN ATHENS 7:30
Feb. 21 (Sat.) at Ole Miss Oxford, Miss. TBA
Feb. 25 (Wed.) VANDERBILT ATHENS 7:30
Mar. 1 (Sat.) at Arkansas (Raycom) Fayetteville, Ark. 4:00
Mar. 4 (Wed.) at Kentucky (Raycom) Lexington, Ky. 8:00
Mar. 7 (Sat.) SOUTH CAROLINA ATHENS 4:00
Mar. 12-15 (Thu-Sun.) SEC Tournament Tampa, Fla. TBA
All Times Eastern
Other TV Dates to be added

For many of you who thought that Georgia got hosed last season from the National Title (myself included), it appears it was a learning experience for all of us. The one thing that we should have taken from last year was that in order to have a shot at the national championship, you need two components:

1) Talent
2) Media Support

Clearly, there was no question that UGA had the talent to go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country last year, but clearly we did not have the support of the media. Case in point: LSU last season. The Tigers, who were preseason ranked #2 behind USC by many at the beginning of last season went 4-2 (including a game in which they gave up 50 points AT HOME to an unranked opponent) to finish out the regular season (including a less than impressive SEC Championship Game victory against Tennessee in which the only reason they won came on a pick-six interception touchdown in the 4th quarter after trailing for the majority of the game).

Yet, despite being ranked #7 in both the Coaches Poll and BCS, jumped FIVE spots (including over one team that won their conference championship game in much more dominating fashion) to the #2 spot. So, with that in mind, do you think it was a coincidence that the media pundits decided to put LSU into the title game despite everything mentioned above? I think not.

In 2006, you had a scenario in which UF (who did, for what it’s worth, win in style in the SEC Title Game against Arkansas) jumped Michigan in the standings while Michigan had a bye. The media, who for the most part did not want to see another Michigan-OSU match-up in the championship, all of a sudden began to really talk up Florida and sure enough UF went from #4 in the Coaches Poll and BCS to #2 (#2 USC got upset by UCLA that same week to allow UF to jump the two spots). Now, was UF a worthy National Championship contender? Yes. They played a ridiculously hard schedule (very similar to the one our Dawgs will play this year) and still came away with only one loss. But, did they deserve to jump an idle Michigan team that gave all OSU could handle? That is debatable.

Now, obviously UF went on to crush OSU in the title game and Michigan got their butt kicked against USC in the Rose Bowl, so most in hindsight would say that everything worked out for the best. But before those events occurred it was certainly a toss-up for many fans, depending on who you asked.

Auburn in 2004 (who was preseason ranked #17 in the AP/#18 in the Coaches Poll) did not receive enough media love, despite playing a tougher schedule than both USC and Oklahoma (who also went wire-to wire #1 and #2 throughout the regular season) and as a result they suffered from the lack of a playoff system in Division 1 football (do not get me started).

So, in short after looking back over the past few years case-by-case, you can certainly make the argument that sometimes it is not just the reality of how good you look on the field, but also how much of the national media acknowledges the fact that you look good on the field.