Watching Georgia romp to a surprisingly easy 45-7 victory over defending national champion Auburn, I was stoked. After seemingly sealing his doomed fate with two consecutive losses to begin the season, head coach Mark Richt finally managed to turn his Bulldogs into a contender worthy to challenge juggernaut LSU for the SEC Title.
Yet, my jubilation has ultimately been tempered by realizing that the Dawgs will unfortunately not play for the BCS National Championship this season.
No, I don't harbor delusional, grandiose ambitions for my alma mater, and I am still quite happy that our football team has improved immensely from the sad bunch that won only six games last season.
Nevertheless, I've come to the sad realization that as a Georgia fan, next year is unfortunately always the same. In other words, Georgia's sustained success never results in a BCS National Championship title.
In 2007, the Dawgs wowed fans with a series of scintillating performances throughout the second half of the season. Despite emerging as one of the finest teams in the nation, their progress was ultimately halted by a silly early season to South Carolina.
Had Richt taken care of business against old foe Steve Spurrier, his Dawgs probably would have knocked off a very tired LSU team in the SEC Championship and would have certainly routed characteristically lumbering Ohio State in the title game.
Capturing the national spotlight with a 42-10 Sugar Bowl victory over Hawaii, Georgia entered the 2008 season ranked No. 1 in most national polls. After beginning the season positively, the Dawgs ultimately fell victim to Nick Saban and his Alabama masterclass. Entering halftime of the dreaded game down 31-0, UGA was doomed to once again miss out on the title game.
Having finally recovered from forgettable 2009 and 2010 seasons, I have no doubt that the Dawgs will extend their unbeaten streak with wins over Kentucky and Georgia Tech.
While the team seems destined to actually qualify for the SEC Championship game this year, they will be playing for a berth in the Sugar Bowl, not the BCS National Championship game.
With an inexplicable loss to South Carolina once again proving to be the chief obstacle, Georgia will have to wait another year for the chance to become the next SEC team to hoist the crystal ball.
In an unusual manner, I actually envy the Auburn fans who traveled several hours to watch their team be completely eviscerated. Defeat is always painful, but at least they had the opportunity to witness their team win the National Championship.
Even if Auburn never wins more than eight games in a season, fans can always look back on the 2011 as one of the happiest years of their lives.
I only hope that I'll soon be able to do the same.
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