Now It's UGA's Bowl Turn

The Georgia Bulldogs' appearance vs. Michigan State in the Outback Bowl on Monday has a different tone than the last time they faced the Spartans.

After the 2008 season, the Bulldogs also faced Michigan State (in the Capital One bowl), but it was something of an anticlimax. UGA had been picked No. 1 in the preseason, but lost to Alabama, Florida and Georgia Tech en route to a disappointing finish.

This year, the Bulldogs' fortunes are on the rise. UGA won the SEC East for the first time since 2005 despite an 0-2 start that included a loss to South Carolina.

And the game has a homecoming flavor: UGA quarterback Aaron Murray played high school ball in the Tampa area.

• In final press conferences Sunday, MSU coach Mark Dantonio talked of an emotional group of seniors, and Georgia coach Mark Richt said his team isn't fixated on last year's painful bowl defeat.
• "It's difficult to say which bowl loss from last season was more humiliating: Georgia's 10-6 loss to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl or Michigan State's 49-7 beatdown delivered by Alabama," writes David Ching for ESPN.com's DawgNation. "Regardless, these are two programs that fell face first before entering the offseason a year ago and they don't want to taste a defeat so bitter again."
• T. Kyle King notes for SB Nation"Georgia is better at bowling than Michigan State."
• Meanwhile, MaconDawg's SB Nation blog warns: "I'm worried about this Outback Bowl. And not in my usual mildly pessimistic manner. No sir. I'm worried about the players who have been asked over and over about their NFL prospects, about the heaping helpings of loaded cheese fries and chocolate thunders from down under, and the curfew which seems to be a little bit of a running joke."
• Between the cheese fries and the curfew, some Bulldogs and Spartans took time last week to visit St. Joseph's Children's Hospital of Tampa. So really, there are some winners already.

The game begins at 1 p.m. (TV: ABC). Woof!