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The Georgia Bulldogs ranked No. 1 in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches' Poll while being offered at 8/1 (+800) odds at SBG Global.
USA Today asks if the Bulldogs can ultimately get the job done and win the 2009 BCS Championship.
"Absolutely they can," says former coach Vince Dooley, whose 1980 team won Georgia's last national title.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden also agrees: "Because he is very nice, I wondered if he'd be tough enough to be the head coach when everyone's jumping down your throat. We have found out he has an inner toughness that makes him able to handle it."
The great news for the Georgia Bulldogs is that they return 16 starters from a team that went an impressive 11-2 last year
"I think it's more than I have ever seen," says Dooley, who was head coach for a quarter century, from 1963 to 1988, and athletics director from 1974 to 2004. "I've seen as much expectations with a player like Herschel Walker during his freshman year, but not with a team."
"Being number one in the coaches' preseason poll does have significance since it's one-third of the formula to decide who plays in the national championship game," Georgia coach Mark Richt said Friday in press release from the university. "But the postseason poll is the one that is the most important. However, I know the ranking is exciting for Georgia football and hopefully we can do our part to stay in the race."Georgia has never been ranked No. 1 by a major poll in the preseason, according to the UGA sports communications office. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 2 by The Associated Press in 1942, No. 3 by AP in 2004 and No. 6 by AP in 1967. The highest preseason ranking they received from the coaches poll was No. 4 in 2004. Georgia finished No. 1 in 1942 in six different polls but not AP.
Last fall, Georgia turned around its season after a 35-14 loss to Tennessee on Oct. 6. "Tennessee kicked our butts," Richt told USA Today. "When I looked for what was the problem, I looked in the mirror. (The players) were pretty much doing what I was doing - sitting, waiting for something to happen. So I thought maybe I needed to change."
The odds makers have Georgia Southern California with 3/1 odds of winning the 2009 BCS Championship while Ohio State and Florida were both listed ahead of the Bulldogs with +650 or 6.5/1 odds of winning.
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