We choked away both our 2003 and 2007 titles (beat down by Zook at home in 03 for ex) but things fell our way. Richt has been just as successful as LSU under Saban and Les, things just haven't fallen his way yet...he's been to six SECCGs for ex, and even when he won a few, he was left out of the title game every time (although he does have two national titles directing Florida State's offense in the 90's) I don't think it's going to happen for Richt this year with that rebuilding D (but i haven't looked into their D yet), but Richt is right up there with Stoops, Les, etc as all-time great coaches and will be recognized as such by the Hall of Fame (of course Saban is on another level than everybody)
By the way, Freak is right up there with DT Nix, the first two sources i checked have Nix preseason 1st Team All American, Freak 2nd team, and both projected as 1st Rounders with Nix the #1 DT and Freak #2. I'd think at least some have Freak over Nix, but Freak could leave no doubt by having a monster Glenn Dorsey type year for us this season...Year of The Freak hopefully
By that logic, Nick choked away his 2003, 2011, and 2012 titles. Luck has always been part of the game, and Richt is a very good coach, but it still doesn't change the fact that UGA has come up short over the last few years.
First of all, I'd trade schedules with ND and feel much more confident about going undefeated. Just sayin'. Secondly, were we actually better at QB after losing JJ? I don't think so. There were certainly times having a more mobile QB would've helped up last year. Hell, I was re-watching that awful Towson game a couple of weeks ago, and Mett tripped over his own foot and fell during a play.
It's funny how quickly LSU has been discounted this year. The "arrival" of aTm and Manzil and the flash they showed last Nov & Jan. I have listened to several national radio sports shows the past week (not ESPN) and LSU isn't even mentioned or apparently worth comment. The fact we have had top nationally ranked recruiting classes and our D line is anchored by upperclassmen isn't even acknowledged. Neither is the fact that with a revamped O line we put more yards up on the "unbelievable" Gump D than anyone else and finally (hopefully) the top recruit we landed last spring was Cam. That we were within less than 10 points of a perfect regular season and about the same from a perfect season. While it amazes me and pisses me off a little we have been so rudely dismissed, I hope the silver lining is that it REALLY Pisses the team off and we play with the mission we lacked last year. GEAUX TIGERS
Like they say, everybody loves a mega-superstar like Johnny the Greatest Ever Manziel who has been jailed and convicted of multiple criminal charges. While there was a late flash shown by him to the bozo the clown fans, there was no late flash shown by him by honest people that honestly follow college football, he was whooping ass all year. See my Johnny Football is greater than Cam Newton thread i started before they even played us. All the preseason college football magazines I've read have a whole spread devoted to him, including cartoon drawings almost depicting him as God become man. Like an espn writer said the other day (see college football forum here), he's the biggest celebrity in the history of college football. I've never seen anybody get the hype this guy gets currently. I told my bud about it the other day and he wasn surprised. like he said, he's the greatest (that's why they gave him the thing the give to the greatest player, it's called the Heisman). And i was raving about how excited i was about LSU's loaded D this season, and my bud said this is the most unexcited he's been about an LSU season in a while. So the things you mention shouldn't make you upset, they make sense. But i don't think Manziel lives up to his greatest of all time hype this year, and i think Freak shows (or i hope he shows) everybody why he's been so hyped by having a Glenn Dorsey type season. So let's see how it goes.
The thing that drives me crazy about these polls is the politics and angles voters take to make their picks. Example: ranking a team lower because they have a harder schedule, trying to guess where teams will be at the end of the season or giving them "credit" for something they did last season. That is total BS. A poll is is about one thing and that's to rank teams according how good you think they are at that point in time. So if you believe team A beats team B (with current active roster on neutral field today) than team A goes ahead B. As a voter, if you honestly feel that way about the 12 teams ranked above LSU than fair enough. If not it's a bogus poll IMHO.
USC and UCLA are both great teams; a lot of talent. USC IMO still has the best streak in the BCS. National titles in 03 and 04, played for another in 05, and that domination of the Rose Bowl all those years. I've never seen anything like it.
Really, you sure there is not some SEC denial in that observation? USC did not have a BCS championship in 03, much less the idea they had to give back what they did receive. Lost another in 05 and you have never seen anything like it in the BCS era?
USC won the Rose Bowl in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008. Won the Orange in 2002; played in Rose for another in 2005. That's dominance.
