This is the month it all begins.
At the end of August, college football season kicks off in what’s sure to be a fireworks show. Georgia’s opener is against Clemson in Athens. Obviously, that one is going to be a grudge match after last year’s three-point loss to the Tigers. That botched snap from the Bulldogs will always make me wonder, what if we made that field goal?
But you know what they say about ifs and buts.
Little did I know last season would be the nail-biting, hair-pulling rollercoaster ride for the Dawgs that it was. We had some serious highs—beating South Carolina and LSU at home come to mind. But there were also some horrible lows. We don’t need to talk about those here.
It wasn’t just Georgia’s season, though. The entire country saw some incredible upsets and comeback wins. We saw the emergence of “Famous” Jameis Winston as an all-star player. We watched he USC Trojans adjusting to a non-Kiffen culture and turning around to beat No. 5 Stafford 20-17 under Coach Orgeron. And how could I not mention the single most incredible football play I have ever seen? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, well… where have you been? We’ll be hearing about that game for the next 100 years.
All in all, the season was an excellent sendoff to the BCS era of college football. Now it’s time to look ahead at the College Playoff era.
The top four teams will have a chance to duke it out for the national championship spot, with No. 1 playing No.4 and No. 2 playing No. 3. Each game is to be played at neutral locations. My hope is that the system works wonderfully and they expand the playoff games to the top eight teams. I would like to see a bigger pool of schools climbing to the national championship game. More scenarios have a better shot at creating more interesting outcomes, I believe.
Do I believe the Bulldogs have a shot at the top four this season? I’m not going to rag on my team, but I’m also trying to be realistic. We have a semi-experienced quarterback and a plethora of offensive weapons (minus Malcolm Mitchell—the wide receiver hurt his knee again the first day of fall practice). The defense is young, but under the guidance of new coach Jeremy Pruitt, there may be some surprises in store.
I think we may be strong enough to win the SEC East, but making it the top four will require a whole world of outside factors falling into place just right.