Who's No. 1? Alabama Loss Scrambles SEC, BCS

Georgia wins SEC East title. Texas A&M's upset will have a wide ripple effect.

Just when the post-season college football picture was looking so simple ... Texas A&M's 29-24 victory over No. 1 Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa will have a pronounced effect on both the SEC and national college football scenes. However, one part of the SEC title game picture was cleared up Saturday. Georgia clinched the SEC East title with a 38-0 rout of Auburn. The Bulldogs will be in the SEC title game on Dec. 1 in Atlanta. -- How do you think the SEC and BCS situations will shake out? Tell us in the comments below. The Bulldogs' opponent remains to be seen. Alabama's loss Saturday means the Tide still must beat Auburn on Nov. 24 to punch their ticket to Atlanta. Also, the Bowl Championship Series rankings will be in for a shakeup. …

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SEC on TV: Mississippi State Challenges Alabama

Here's a look at the weekend's SEC action.

Don't look now, but Mississippi State is in the thick of the SEC title race. The Bulldogs from Starkville, Miss., are unbeaten in the SEC at 3-0 as they prepare to travel to Tuscaloosa and Saturday's game with No. 1 Alabama (4-0 in SEC). Game time is 8:30 p.m., ESPN. Mississippi State has enjoyed steady success under head coach Dan Mullen, a former University of Florida coach who took over in 2009. The team went to bowls in 2010 and 2011, and with seven wins overall in 2012, it is bowl-eligible again. Now, Mississippi State can achieve more by beating No. 1 Alabama. Do you think Mississippi State will upset Alabama? Who do you think will win the SEC title game in Atlanta? Tell us in the comments below. "It should be a great challenge for …

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Georgia Football: Now What?

Is the season over for the Georgia Bulldogs? Or will a little adversity push them to great heights?

The Georgia Bulldogs have two weeks to lick their wounds after last week's loss to South Carolina, a game that was billed as a barn burner and turned out to be a tar-and-feathering. The Dawgs have a bye week this Saturday (Oct. 13) to reflect on what could have been, and look ahead to visiting a hapless Kentucky on Oct. 20. The now-No. 14 Bulldogs seem to be taking their humiliation in stride. "We've still got life. It's a long season. We've got more games to play," Malcolm Mitchell, a sophomore receiver, is quoted saying by the Macon Telegraph's Seth Emerson. "If we dwell on this game, we'll lose the next one, then lose the next one. We've gotta stay focused and keep pushing." Emerson reports that head coach Mark Richt is holding steady …

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SEC on TV: South Carolina, LSU Look Ahead

Previewing the weekend football action around the conference.

Football in the SEC offers a challenge every week, and the latest example of this comes Saturday (Oct. 13), when No. 3 South Carolina travels to the bedlam that is Baton Rouge, La., and LSU (Game time: 8 p.m., ESPN). Both teams will be dealing with strong emotions. The Gamecocks, of course, are coming off that 35-7 pasting of Georgia. So Coach Steve Spurrier's team will have to be on guard against a letdown. -- Do you think South Carolina will defeat LSU on Saturday? Tell us your SEC choices in the comments below. And LSU, once ranked No. 2, is coming off a 14-6 loss at Florida that dropped the Tigers to No. 9 (AP). So they will have revenge on their minds. They will not be able to afford another SEC loss if they hope to repeat as SEC West…

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Georgia Bulldogs Football vs. South Carolina: It's on, Baby!

Is the contest between the undefeated Bulldogs and the undefeated Gamecocks the biggest SEC game ever, or just this season, or just this week, or just in South Carolina?

Attention, people outside of Georgia and South Carolina: Do not call, email, text, Facebook or knock on the doors of people inside Georgia and South Carolina between the hours of 7 and 11 p.m. on Saturday. They will be busy. The states' two undefeated SEC teams will face off in an increasingly intense rivalry that will determine bragging rights around these parts for another year, and maybe a lot more than that. Want to talk a little smack with South Carolina fans? Join our Patch cross-state conversation. “It’s a big, big game right now,” the Macon Telegraph quotes Georgia head coach Mark Richt saying. “When you start playing this deep into the conference season and you’ve got two undefeated, it’s huge.” Who's got the edge this year? Hard …

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Suwanee Speaks

Alabama-LSU: Who Will Win?

The day has arrived for the BCS title game -- and the controversial rematch. Also, discussions about the future of the BCS are expected.

The day many SEC football fans have been waiting for has arrived. Alabama and LSU will tangle -- again -- Monday night in the Superdome in New Orleans to determine the Bowl Championship Series champion. It's controversial for several reasons. One, LSU already has beaten Alabama once this season, during the regular season in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Thus, the Crimson Tide could win the national title game despite not winning their own conference. And Oklahoma State got nosed out of the title game despite winning the Big 12. Also, the BCS itself is the subject of much criticism. Its matchups are determined by both computer rankings and human voters. Thus, the inference of political influence is constant. It has the word "championship" in its title, …

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Steve Burns

9:56 am on Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Nancy, you were one of the ones I thought of during that beatdown. Congrats, Alabama.   more ›

Now It's UGA's Bowl Turn

Bulldogs take on Michigan State in the Outback Bowl in Tampa on Monday.

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

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Tim Tebow vs. Tom Brady: Who Will Win on Sunday?

The upstart and the old master meet in an NFL showdown.

Updated 9:40 a.m., Dec. 17, 2011 Now, a matchup made for sports bars, home theaters -- and SEC football fans. On Sunday, the Denver Broncos host the New England Patriots (4:15 p.m. EST). That means that Tim Tebow, the former Florida Gators QB now with the Broncos, will face Tom Brady, who has three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots. Doesn't get any better. Tebow, with his scrambling style of play and outspoken religious views, has a 7-1 record as a starter this season. Brady? Well, everyone knows about him. Since he took over from Drew Bledsoe in the 2001 season, he has been one of the NFL's top quarterbacks. Here's a "tale of the tape" for Tebow and Brady this season. So now, THE question: Who will win Sunday, Denver or New England. And …

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Steve Burns

8:56 am on Saturday, December 17, 2011

Have fun, Kathy, and we'll look forward to a trip update on Suwanee Patch.   more ›

Suwanee Speaks

Endzone Twitter Hashtag: What Do You Think?

Mississippi State incorporates Twitter keyword in on-field decoration.

  Most everyone knows about Twitter, the online social-media site that allows users to post 140-character messages. Usage has become so common that one SEC school has decided to bring it into real-world preparations for a football game this weekend. Mississippi State has painted "#hailstate" in an end zone for Saturday's game vs. Ole Miss in an obvious attempt to let fans know the prevailing keyword for tweets. We hear that Alabama fans attach "#rtr" -- for "Roll, Tide, Roll" -- to their tweets, but that hasn't made it into an end zone yet. And is there a prevailing keyword for Georgia and Georgia Tech tweets? To be clear, attaching a hashtag to a word or term in Twitter turns it into a keyword and makes all tweets with that keyword easily…

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