Friday's Quick Thoughts

Here's a few things on my mind this week:

The loss to Michigan State signifies to me that we have become the benchmark for programs on the rise. If you want to become a national player, you must first lose a game to Georgia. You program will have reached elite level once you can come back and beat the Dawgs a few years later. If you don't believe me, think about this.

• In 2005, Georgia crushed an up and coming Boise State program. Over the next few years, Boise State played in two BCS games and had a Heisman trophy finalist. When they faced the Dawgs again in 2011, they defeated them and went onto another 12-1 season that ended with a bowl victory.
• In 2007, Georgia defeated an up and coming Oklahoma State team. The Cowboys would continue to get better under Coach Mike Gundy and defeated the Bulldogs at home to open the 2009 season. In 2011, OSU won the Big XII, just missed playing for the MNC, won a BCS bowl, and will finish either 2nd or 3rd in the nation.
• In 2009, Georgia defeated Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl following the 2008 season. With quarterback Kirk Cousins, Michigan State would win a share of the Big Ten title in 2010 and play in the first Big Ten championship game in 2011. They came back to beat the Dawgs in the Outback Bowl on Monday.

Bowl season has been pretty good this year (with the exception of the Georgia loss). And for once, my bowl picks are doing really well.

Monday night it will be LSU's insane depth and big plays against Alabama's excellence in all phases of the game. I'm still leaning LSU in this one, despite most people appearing to pick Bama.

Recruiting will work itself out over the next few weeks. Georgia will sign between 20 and 25 kids, but most of them will not make much of an impact in 2012...unless we have a bunch of players leave early.

Crowell was hurt, what a surprise. The opportunity is there for Keith Marshall to play right away. If he is impressive at G-Day and the Dawgs pick up some other commits, the running back competition will be the thing to watch this summer.

I will miss Brandon Boykin. God, he was fun to watch. Few players do the fantastic things he can do on the field without being cocky and stuck up. Boykin was a pure class act that I think most people unappreciated. Good luck in the NFL!

Look at what AJ Green did in the NFL this year. Can you imagine if he had stayed?!?

Tennessee football is a mess. I can't see them winning more than 2 games in the SEC next fall.

ACC football is horrible. That is all.