2008 Sugar Bowl Champions: My Georgia Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs are the 2008 Sugar Bowl Champions after beating the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 41-10 on Tuesday night. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding not only their win, but also their rightful place in the BCS.

The truth is this win should have been taking place in the National Championship, but at least we can say we’re champions! Georgia, who was projected by all of the so called ‘experts’ to either be upset by Hawaii or to only win by 3-5 points solidly hammered the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors by 31 points.

A little over a month ago Georgia was leaped by three teams in the final polls. It was not the computers that pushed them out of contention for the BCS National Championship, it was the other coaches, all for a rule that does not exist. Many say the Bulldogs had to win their division to be in the National Championship, however there is no rule that a team has to win their division to go to the National Championship. Georgia was ranked #4 behind the #3 Ohio State team when #1 Missouri lost to Oklahoma and #2 West Virginia lost to Pitt in their final week. In all previous cases in the BCS no top 5 team has been leaped by another team, much less by three teams.

A lot of thanks goes to arrogant coaches like Bob Stoops of Oklahoma who voted the #4 Bulldogs at #10 in the final polls before the bowl selections trying to give his team a shot at the National Championship, other coaches voted Georgia in places like #9 and #12 and some even worst. Bob Stoops, who helped vote his team into the previous spot that Georgia held at #4 got a taste of the game he voted himself into when he was hammered by West Virginia last night, losing by 20 points (48-28). The Sooners had no answer for Pat White and the West Virginia offense and really their defense. So, I believe it is rightfully so that Georgia fans are calling for a split National Championship. The AP could very well set the record straight by voting Georgia as #1 at the end of the season. If you watch college football, you are very aware of what happened to the Bulldogs and it wasn’t right.

However, Georgia’s Sugar Bowl win over Hawaii was a lose/lose/lose for them. I called it about a month ago on the ESPN forums and the Foxsports Forums. People are already saying the things that I thought they would hours after Georgia was victorious. The first loss for Georgia would be if they smoked Hawaii, as they did, then it would be said that it was no challenge for the Bulldogs and that Hawaii did not deserve to be in the Sugar Bowl. (Listen you may be able to hear Mark May saying it now.) The second loss for the Bulldogs would be if they barely won, in this case it would have been said that Georgia was not as good as they or their fans said they were and did not deserve a shot at the National Championship afterall. The final loss for the Bulldogs would have been if they lost to Hawaii. The experts would have hailed and praised the Rainbow Warriors and would have said once again that Georgia did not deserve a shot at the National Title and that their coaches and players were confused about how good they really are. Georgia has barely received the credit they deserve, as is, for shutting down the #1 scoring offense and the only undefeated regular season team in the Sugar Bowl.

The experts who are now saying that Hawaii did not deserve to be in the Sugar Bowl are the same ones that said they would upset Georgia, or that if Georgia pulled out a win it would only be by 3-5 points. Funny how the success of one team will change a story. Thank you West Virginia! You solidified that a smaller team can beat a larger team. You proved that a smaller team can be just as fast and carry just as much talent as the bigger schools. With your solid win over Oklahoma, it proves one point for UGA. They are as good as they say they are and their play over their past 7 games is for real. Hawaii could have won if they were better than the Bulldogs, if they came out with passion as did the Mountaineers, but they didn’t and they could not overcome Georgia’s defense, so does Georgia deserve to be in the National Championship? Yes! As does USC. No one in the country wants to play these two teams, and without a playoff they don’t have to, but Georgia should have never been leaped over by 3 teams. #4 Oklahoma (a division champion) already lost, #3 Virginia Tech (a Division Champion very well could lose tonight) and #2 LSU (a Division Champion) may lose as well. If all 3 division champs lose, what will everyone say then about Georgia having to win their division? The point is invalid, and the BCS is a joke!

All that to say, Georgia is the 2008 Nokia Sugar Bowl Champions and National Champs in my mind!