WEEK 1 PICKS

*Home team in CAPS

Ole Miss (-2.5) vs. MEMPHIS
NOTRE DAME (-2.5) vs. Georgia Tech
BOSTON COLLEGE (-6.5) vs. Wake Forest
AUBURN (-13.5) vs. Kansas State
CALIFORNIA (-6) vs. Tennessee
Florida State (-3) vs. CLEMSON [Monday]

South Effingham @ Groves
Harrison @ Lowndes

2007 COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Only in America has taken care of predictions. Pure Football Baby will take a snapshot look at Georgia game by game and some random aspects of the coming season. Comments are encouraged.

I feel as if Georgia is highly overrated. A lot of people will say I'm pessimistic but there seems to be some glaring weaknesses that will make it hard in the SEC. The offensive line could very well start 2 true Freshmen and a RS Frosh in the first game. Both of the returning lineman are playing new positions. The TE situation is still up in the air and we are 4 days away from kickoff, not to mention the leading candidate is a true Frosh. Our Defensive Ends are noticeably small and inexperienced. Our three starting linebackers have tremendous upside but Brandon Miller is the only one with a college start. Depth at LB was suppose to be a strength but now is a concern with Freshman Rennie Curran looking like the #1 reserve. However, the Dawgs have an unbelievable amount of talent at the positions that need it. Matt Stafford has a chance to be a Georgia great but will have to deal with defensive pressure a majority of the time. WR might be deeper than ever and there is no way they can have a year like last. RB might be the one unit for Georgia that is tremendously underrated. I would take our top 3 backs and put them against anyone in the country and really like our chances. On defense I am very confident in our secondary. There is no doubt that losing Paul Oliver will hurt, but I like our top 4 corners and think each one has a change to do a fine job. But the best thing the 2007 Georgia football team has going for it is the best kicker in the country. Every game, excluding Western Carolina, could go either way. Brandon Coutu will have to be as good as he's been his whole career. If he is, Mark Richt can keep games close and give #96 the opportunity to win some games. I think Georgia is talented enough to compete with anyone, but inexperienced enough to lose to everybody. It seems that Georgia will be better at the end than it is in the beginning. If Georgia gets through September undefeated (highly doubtful), the Dawgs might be in for a remarkable run. I just think the youth on the O-Line will hold Georgia back from being a SEC Championship contender.


VS. OKLAHOMA STATE - OSU has a better collection of offensive skill players than anyone else Georgia will play. Georgia's OL will face an inexperienced Cowboy front 4 and the offense will be able to run successfully. A lot of scoring on both sides in a thriller. GEORGIA 34-31(OT)

VS. SOUTH CAROLINA- Spurrier came close 2 years ago in Athens and has a defense that will run right by the OL all night. CAROLINA 13-10

VS. Western CAROLINA- GEORGIA 37-3

@ ALABAMA- Alabama hosts Arkansas the week prior and plays FSU the following week which can only help Georgia. Searls worked for Saban and Bobo is best friends with Smart. I don't know if that will mean anything but a young team on their first road trip does. BAMA 16-10

VS. OLE MISS- With two losses, Dawg fans are down but Ole Miss is bad. Dixie plays a lot before the game and might be the highlight of my year. Doesn't play much during it as Georgia plays its best game to date. GEORGIA 20-6

@TENNESSEE- Mark Richt has been great on the road but the combination of an off week for TENN the week prior and the VOLS being the best team in the East doesn't give Georgia much of a chance. TENNESSEE 28-10

@ VANDERBILT- Vandy will be a solid team but I just don't think Vandy can ever beat 1 of the big 6 2 straight years. GEORGIA 18-13

VS. FLORIDA- Florida will have 2-3 losses at the time and will be a lot lower than a 3 loss Georgia team. A big boost for the Georgia faithful will come when the OL looks better than ever after a bye week and Georgia dominates on the ground and in the air for the biggest win of the year. GEORGIA 27-13

VS. TROY- A real, real, real, scary game. Troy will have already played Florida, Arkansas, and Oklahoma State so there will be no awe factor. They threw one away at FSU last year and come really close again against a Georgia team which struggles to get up after Jacksonville. GEORGIA 16-14

VS. AUBURN- At this point, barring injuries, the OL should be alright and the offense should be clicking. I just like Georgia this year. GEORGIA 23-14

VS. Kentucky-The hardest thing to do in college football is get up two straight weeks and Georgia falls into the trap after a great win. Kentucky still feels like Kentucky and will sneak up on people again this year. This one really hurts. KENTUCKY 31-24

@GEORGIA TECH- I really like Tech in this one but I keep remembering that they are Tech and we are GEORGIA. GEORGIA 51-7

I really hope I'm wrong on a lot of these games but the memories of 2003 and the OL problems we had then were far less worse than this years look to be. The defense will be good but not good enough to offset the lack of consistent production from the offense.

8-4 and PEACH BOWL vs. Boston College
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Most Overrated Team: FLORIDA

Most Underrated Team: GEORGIA TECH

UPSET ALERTS:
Navy over Notre Dame
Kentucky over Florida
Oklahoma State over Texas
Maryland over West Virginia
Wofford over NC State

BEST WEEKEND SLATE: September 15
Maryland vs. West Virginia (Thurs.)
Michigan vs. Notre Dame
Tennessee vs. Florida
Louisville vs. Kentucky
Arkansas vs. Alabama
Georgia Tech vs. Boston College
USC vs. Nebraska

BIGGEST GAMES OF THE YEAR IN EACH CONFERENCE:
SEC: LSU/Arkansas
ACC: Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech
Big 10: Iowa/Wisconsin
Big East: West Virginia/Louisville
Big XII: Texas/Oklahoma
PAC 10: USC/UCLA

5 iffy Guarantees:
- GSU will finish at or below .500
- Georgia will beat Florida
- No state of Florida University will play in a BCS bowl
- Duke will be the lone winless team in Division 1A
- At some point during a Georgia game, Ric will think we are losing when we are winning.


This year will most likely be the final year for the greatest voice in college football history. Larry Munson is who I will always think of first when I hear the word Georgia. For me Larry sits above Herschel, Dooley, Uga, and any other person that has ever been associated with Georgia football. To commemorate him here is my list of the top 5 Larry Munson calls:

1. 1980: Georgia vs. Florida- Run Lindsay Run!
2. 1975: Georgia vs. Florida- Appleby to Washington.
3. 1978: Georgia vs. Kentucky- Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
4. 2001: Georgia vs. Tennessee- Hobnailed Boot.
5. 1982: Georgia vs. Auburn- Oh Look at the Sugar Fall from the Sky!

Here are my favorite current play-by-play guys in sports:
NFL: Dick Enberg
MLB: Sean McDonough
NBA: Marv Alberts
NHL: Gary Thorne
NCAAFB: Ron Franklin
NCAABB: Dick Enberg
SPAL: Mark Beasley



2007 National Champion: USC

2007 Picks

Picks for the 2007 College and High School football seasons will resume next week. For all of those who choose to participate this year, please make sure your account is active and notify me if it is not. The format will be the same as it was last year. If there are any changes that you feel need to be made to the system of picking, make your suggestions on the comment link. Thank You and Good Luck as Patrick H. defends his crown.