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SEC Sports
Analyst: Georgia is college football's most overrated program
Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel has kicked the hornet's nest in Athens this week.
247sports.com
Sunshine State media maven Mike Bianchi has a habit of making bold declarations.
Whether it's penning SE hot takes at The Orlando Sentinel or spiking opposing fanbases on his radio show across Central Florida, Bianchi takes pride in sparking college football in the South and his latest remarks aren't sitting well with those in Athens, Ga.
Bianchi called Georgia "college football's most overrated program" in a column this week and defended those thoughts during Tuesday's appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.
āIāve thought Georgia was overrated for the last 10 years or so because I just think Georgia and its fan base has this opinion of itself like theyāre Alabama ... and theyāre not,ā Bianchi said. āLook at Georgiaās history. It really hit home last week when Gator fans were trolling Georgia on social media with the 14K day ā 14,000 days since Georgia won a national title. That one single national title that Georgia won in 1980 was by, all accounts, a fluke when you think about.
āThey had the one fluky play vs. Florida, a 93-yard touchdown pass with like a minute left. They were lucky enough that Herschel Walker, maybe the greatest player in college football history, grew up right down the road from their campus and they were able to recruit Herschel Walker. Itās not like Georgia was a dominant team when they won their only national title."
Finebaum snapped back on-air, saying Georgia had national championship-caliber team three consecutive years in the early 1980s.
"Five teams in the SEC have won national titles the last time Georgia won a national title," Bianchi said. "Again, I'm not saying Georgia's not a good program, I just don't think Georgia is the elite program that guys like you and the Georgia fans make it out to be.
"Kirby Smart appears like he could be the Steve Spurrier of Georgia. He could be the guy who takes his alma-mater and puts it on the national map. But he's not there yet. This is Year 4 he's going into and he's had a great last two years, but let's see what happens. You can not deny that for a program of Georgia's purported stature, to go since 1980 without winning a national championship ..."
Bianchi later dissed the Bulldogs for firing Mark Richt, insinuating the program's power brass has a higher opinion of themselves than they should.
"Mike, c'mon, you live in Florida ... you know why Mark Richt was fired," Finebaum said. "you got to the Georgia-Florida game. His last game against Florida was an embarrassment. He got rolled and the program was moving in the wrong direction. I think Greg McGarity made a gutsy decision and he didn't wait. He brought in Kirby Smart and it (was right)."
