We're No. 1

Almost two weeks ago I commented on the fact that Sports Illustrated had named Georgia as its pick to win this year's college football national championship. I brought it up because Georgia's quarterback is local hero Matthew Stafford and I even had the opportunity to see the majority of Stafford's games during his senior year at Highland Park. When I wrote that journal entry I said "I don't know if I agree with the pick."

Since I wrote that, both the USA Today and the AP preseason polls have named Georgia as their picks to win it all. And I'm beginning to see why. Georgia is returning most of its starters from a team that won its last seven games last year, the last six by scoring an average of 37.8 points a game. And, when the season was winding down, I did remember thinking that Georgia, not LSU, was the stronger Southeast Conference team.

So am I convinced now? I would be if it weren't for Georgia's schedule that features road games at South Carolina, at Arizona State, at LSU, and at Auburn. That's not to mention the annual clash with Florida in Jacksonville. That's tough. If they can finish a schedule like that undefeated, win the SEC title game and then BCS Championship Game, they would earn the right to be considered one of the greatest college football teams of all time. However, I just can't see any team surviving a schedule that tough undefeated.

The next team to be considered is Ohio State just because it has played in (and lost) the last two BCS Championship games. Could this finally be OSU's year? The Buckeyes play in the much overrated Big 10 Conference which is even weaker than usual this year and the team's only real test (and it's a doozy) will come Sept. 13 when it journeys to Los Angeles to play Southern Cal. If it wins that one, Ohio State finishes the season undefeated, No. 1 in all the polls and then gets smashed again in the BCS Championship game, possibly by Georgia. If USC wins that game, and the one the following week at Oregon State, I can see the Trojans finishing the season undefeated (they play Arizona State, Oregon and Cal--the other class teams in the Pac 10 this year--at home). And Georgia --if it can survive that brutal schedule -- will find itself in a much tougher battle against USC than it was in its bowl game last year against Hawaii.

And what about a team from the Big 12 making it into the title game? I can't see it -- the Big 12 looks like a demolition derby waiting to happen. Only Oklahoma has a shot to finish the season undefeated because it doesn't have to play Missouri during the regular season and gets Texas Tech at home. Tech has not won in Norman since 1996 (that's pre-Bob Stoops, in case you were wondering). Of course, OU would probably have to face Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game and that could be doomsday for the Sooners.

Then there's Florida. I like Florida's schedule. It's one big test before the Nov. 1 showdown with Georgia will come Sept. 20 when it plays Tennessee in Knoxville. But then the Gators won in Knoxville two years ago, coming back from 10 points behind in the third quarter, on their way to their last national championship.

So, who am I picking to finish No. 1 and win it all? Because that Sept. 13 game is in Los Angeles, I'm going to have to go with Southern Cal, but Florida's spread offense could give the Trojans' strong defense a real fight in the BCS Championship Game.