In the dog days of summer, the college football landscape is barren except for the voices of those forced to conjure up storylines from the same information that has been available for most of the year.
With so little actual news to talk about, the conversation inevitably turns to predictions about the upcoming season and why teams are actually better or worse than they really are. Itās during this discussion that the media begin to jump aboard a teamās bandwagon like fleas latching onto the nearest animal they can find.
We are all guilty of doing this to some extent. Every person has a unique reason they believe a team is overrated or not getting the credit they deserve. One fan may value experience over anything else, while another thinks a strong defense is the only way to succeed.
Most media darlings donāt come out of left field. They often have several qualities that should make a good team. Tennessee possessed more experience than nearly anyone in college football last season, and Auburn was believed to be just a quarterback away in 2015.
Whatās interesting about media darlings is that most of them contain at least one potentially fatal flaw. Those flaws get minimized, however, as people tout the reasons why a team could be a contender. Itās not often that such a team actually meets expectations.
The Bulldogs arenāt without question marks, but they do have plenty of reasons for optimism.
All signs point to Georgia becoming this yearās preseason pick of choice. Here are the five biggest reasons.
The youth movement should be further along: In 2016, the Bulldogs had a ceiling. With a true freshman quarterback, an All-SEC running back coming off a devastating knee injury and a first-time head coach, it would have taken everything going right for Georgia to reach double-digit victories.
Whatās crazy about that, however, is that the Bulldogs werenāt far from accomplishing that. They played in six games that were decided by three points or less and went 3-3 in such contests. If things go right, Georgia could have conceivably finished with 11 wins. Nobody really believes that last yearās team was an 11-win squad, but the Bulldogsā ceiling is much higher this year.
Jacob Eason is no longer experiencing everything for the first time, and he should be more capable in his sophomore season. Georgiaās inexperienced defense last season has become a true strength under Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs have some interesting young pieces in the passing game, and a budding star in tight end Isaac Nauta.
With last yearās experience to fall back on, Georgia should be better equipped to come out on top of those close games.
Brand-name talent: Itās difficult to be an expert on every single team in the SEC or to know each program as intimately as a fan does. For this reason, national media pundits are more likely to favor known commodities. One of the most-improved groups from this point last year is South Carolina. The Gamecocks have true upset abilities, but they have few established stars and likely wonāt get the same level of attention this preseason.
Georgia, on the other hand, has several players who are known across the nation. Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Jacob Eason, Lorenzo Carter and Trent Thompson are all players media figures can point to as reasons the Bulldogs are a major threat. They arenāt wrong, Georgia does return a strong amount of veteran talent, but that doesnāt guarantee future success.
Perception of the SEC East: Predictions for the SEC East in 2017 arenāt likely to be much different from 2016. Most will probably say they expect the division to be a three-team race between Georgia, Florida and Tennessee with the potential for either Kentucky or South Carolina to play spoiler. The trio at the top remains the same, but the perception for each is radically different.
The vast amount of experience that made the Vols favorites entering last season is now gone, and the Gators still donāt have a proven quarterback and continue to lose talented defensive players. Both teams can be viewed as regressing or remaining stagnant, while Georgia is very much considered a team on the rise.
Kirby Smart is no longer a rookie: Believing that experience and success have a direct, positive correlation is a trap we all fall into. Just because someone isnāt seeing things for the first time doesnāt mean he or she will make the right decisions the second time around. Nevertheless, Smart should be improved as a head coach in his second season, even if only slightly.
The narrative that Smart will grow alongside his team is perfectly packaged, and itās easy to use as an explanation for how the Bulldogs will jump from eight wins to 10 or 11.
Georgia is a premier program: Georgia has the luxury of belonging to a select group of programs with historical panache. College football blue-bloods will always be given attention, even if it hasnāt achieved national success in a while.
In 2017, the Bulldogs should be as talented any squad to play between the hedges over the past few seasons. When Georgia is good, itās good for college football. The Bulldogs are a team that people have an opinion about one way or another.
5 reasons Georgia will be this offseasonās media darling
With so little actual news to talk about, the conversation inevitably turns to predictions about the upcoming season and why teams are actually better or worse than they really are. Itās during this discussion that the media begin to jump aboard a teamās bandwagon like fleas latching onto the nearest animal they can find.
We are all guilty of doing this to some extent. Every person has a unique reason they believe a team is overrated or not getting the credit they deserve. One fan may value experience over anything else, while another thinks a strong defense is the only way to succeed.
Most media darlings donāt come out of left field. They often have several qualities that should make a good team. Tennessee possessed more experience than nearly anyone in college football last season, and Auburn was believed to be just a quarterback away in 2015.
Whatās interesting about media darlings is that most of them contain at least one potentially fatal flaw. Those flaws get minimized, however, as people tout the reasons why a team could be a contender. Itās not often that such a team actually meets expectations.
The Bulldogs arenāt without question marks, but they do have plenty of reasons for optimism.
All signs point to Georgia becoming this yearās preseason pick of choice. Here are the five biggest reasons.
The youth movement should be further along: In 2016, the Bulldogs had a ceiling. With a true freshman quarterback, an All-SEC running back coming off a devastating knee injury and a first-time head coach, it would have taken everything going right for Georgia to reach double-digit victories.
Whatās crazy about that, however, is that the Bulldogs werenāt far from accomplishing that. They played in six games that were decided by three points or less and went 3-3 in such contests. If things go right, Georgia could have conceivably finished with 11 wins. Nobody really believes that last yearās team was an 11-win squad, but the Bulldogsā ceiling is much higher this year.
Jacob Eason is no longer experiencing everything for the first time, and he should be more capable in his sophomore season. Georgiaās inexperienced defense last season has become a true strength under Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs have some interesting young pieces in the passing game, and a budding star in tight end Isaac Nauta.
With last yearās experience to fall back on, Georgia should be better equipped to come out on top of those close games.
Brand-name talent: Itās difficult to be an expert on every single team in the SEC or to know each program as intimately as a fan does. For this reason, national media pundits are more likely to favor known commodities. One of the most-improved groups from this point last year is South Carolina. The Gamecocks have true upset abilities, but they have few established stars and likely wonāt get the same level of attention this preseason.
Georgia, on the other hand, has several players who are known across the nation. Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Jacob Eason, Lorenzo Carter and Trent Thompson are all players media figures can point to as reasons the Bulldogs are a major threat. They arenāt wrong, Georgia does return a strong amount of veteran talent, but that doesnāt guarantee future success.
Perception of the SEC East: Predictions for the SEC East in 2017 arenāt likely to be much different from 2016. Most will probably say they expect the division to be a three-team race between Georgia, Florida and Tennessee with the potential for either Kentucky or South Carolina to play spoiler. The trio at the top remains the same, but the perception for each is radically different.
The vast amount of experience that made the Vols favorites entering last season is now gone, and the Gators still donāt have a proven quarterback and continue to lose talented defensive players. Both teams can be viewed as regressing or remaining stagnant, while Georgia is very much considered a team on the rise.
Kirby Smart is no longer a rookie: Believing that experience and success have a direct, positive correlation is a trap we all fall into. Just because someone isnāt seeing things for the first time doesnāt mean he or she will make the right decisions the second time around. Nevertheless, Smart should be improved as a head coach in his second season, even if only slightly.
The narrative that Smart will grow alongside his team is perfectly packaged, and itās easy to use as an explanation for how the Bulldogs will jump from eight wins to 10 or 11.
Georgia is a premier program: Georgia has the luxury of belonging to a select group of programs with historical panache. College football blue-bloods will always be given attention, even if it hasnāt achieved national success in a while.
In 2017, the Bulldogs should be as talented any squad to play between the hedges over the past few seasons. When Georgia is good, itās good for college football. The Bulldogs are a team that people have an opinion about one way or another.
5 reasons Georgia will be this offseasonās media darling
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