Yes, the physical league office is still in the old Magic City, although the real energy of the conference, its Championship Game, Kickoff Classic, Media Days, even the College Football Hall of Fame, the nexus of the plethoras of fans of all Southern schools, clearly resides in the undeniable epicenter of the South, Atlanta. But that is another topic for further future discussion.
I noted that no SEC East team is ranked right now besides the defending SEC champions out of Athens. A win by the Tigers in Co-Mo would bring some badly need parity to the plainly weaker division, where traditional power Tennessee and modern power Florida have fallen all the way off a cliff.
How they aren’t already ranked and as high as the top 20 baffles me, Missouri being 9-1 over ten games while mighty Georgia is actually 8-2, in such. Nobody noticed? Mizzou having, some could argue, the best quarterback in SEC history, coached by the son of Georgia legend Vince Dooley. Lil Dooley is calling the plays in Columbia, after years with the Dallas Cowboys. 2017’s 44 touchdown passes last year for Drew Lock is the league record. By comparison, All-Freshmen Fromm had just 24, and that was over fifteen games (14 starts). The NFL has clearly noticed Lock, who I have seen projected to be the first overall player drafted, by some experts.
It goes to show how utterly disrespected and generally, tepid the SEC East has become that one team is ranked so early in the season when the league regularly feasts on cupcakes. Having half of your football conference a punchline for the national media surely shouldn’t sit well with the suits.
If it were my brand to manage, I would have shipped Auburn East, where they actually are, years ago, while shipping Missouri West, where they actually are. I would have done it, and it is not too late yet, because an understanding of basic geography and business marketing shows it to be best for all parties. All the classic rivalries could stay intact except the no longer competitive Bama-Tenn beatdown. And Auburn is a real football school, which is what the SEC East badly needs more of; Vandy/Florida/Kentucky/Mizzou are basketball schools. Sorry about your luck, Gators, but the facts are the facts, and you are pretty bad at football.
Miss State is a legit dark horse to win the whole SEC. Alabama is the king of college football (because we gave it to them, again). LSU was never that down. I was right on that one and the rest of the media were dead wrong about them. They are alive and kicking on the bayou, where we visit 10/13.
Now name all of the East powers: GEORGIA (after only one good year).
I love the Dawgs, obviously, but UGA last won the national championship in 1980 – the only unanimous football title in school history, as ’42 was a spilt, three ways. The fact that coming off a nine-win season South Carolina was projected to literally contend for the SEC East title, by the media, shows you how incomplete our dominance has been as a football program. This is the time to do something about it, and a repeat of at least the divisional title would be a nice start to something lasting and glorious.
Both schools need the win Saturday, just as the league desperately needs another football power or two in the SEC East. Could there even be some home cooking atop the Ozarks, some calls going the way of the Tigers?
Shouldn’t matter. I’m taking Georgia.