I normally don't just copy and paste an entire column for another website. But this article from Gator Sports (check the link on the side) was too good to just paraphrase. You all can thank Pat Dooley for this masterpiece:It could have been bigger.
It could have been, like, Super Bowl big. OK, maybe that's taking it a bit far, but it could have been a lot bigger.
It's still big.
Florida vs. Georgia has been circled on mental calendars in the nations Gator and Bulldog since, well, since the end of last year's game. The plan was for the two teams to come to Jacksonville undefeated. Didn't happen. Alabama and Ole Miss got in the way.
The truth is that it's not even the biggest game in college football on Saturday. If you go simply by rankings and BCS implications, the biggest game of the week will be played in Lubbock, Texas, which is in itself big.
Florida and Georgia each stumbled once down the path to this game but it's still huge. In fact, it's the biggest World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party ever.
There have been bigger games for one side. In 1976, Florida would have won its first ever SEC title by beating Georgia. In 1980, Georgia came in ranked second in the country and ended up winning the national title.
But both teams have so much on the line on Saturday, this is the biggest. Here are five reasons why:
The rankings
In terms of pure Associated Press rankings, this one ties the 1983 game. That year, Florida was ranked ninth and Georgia fourth. This year, Florida is ranked fifth and Georgia eighth. Add the rankings for both years and you get 13, which will be unlucky for one side.
In '83, Florida's scout team members all wore No. 44 during practices because Georgia had beaten Florida 44-0 the previous year. The Gators led late but a Georgia drive (aided by a bogus personal foul penalty against Wilber Marshall) gave the Bulldogs a 10-9 win.
This is only the second time the two teams have met with single-digit rankings. It was close in '76 with Florida 10th and Georgia seventh, in '99 with Florida fifth and Georgia 10th and in '98 with UF fifth and UGA 11th.
The BCS
Both teams need some help to reach the national title game but need to help themselves with a victory. Georgia is sixth in the latest BCS standings while Florida is eighth. The standings won't matter to Florida or Georgia if two of the three unbeatens at the top of the list go undefeated, but if one of them is Alabama, the winner of this game likely will have a shot at knocking off the Tide in the SEC Championship Game.
If Texas beats Texas Tech this week, that eliminates one team ahead of Florida. If Tech wins, the BCS standings will be a crazy ride through November. We could end up with this scenario — unbeaten Penn State and a bunch of one-loss teams (assuming Texas Tech loses somewhere along the line). Gentlemen, start your computers.
What adds to the importance of this game is that the loser is finished. There won't be a two-loss team playing in the title game.
The East
This could be for the right to play in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. I say could because you never know what can happen. Let's say it should be for Atlanta.
When Florida and Tennessee used to play those gigantic September games back when the Vols were relevant, the loser was essentially 1 1/2 games behind. But there was a lot of football to be played. The loser of this game is in the same boat with only two games to play in the SEC.
If the Bulldogs win, they would only need to win one of two games at Kentucky or at Auburn to clinch the East because they would hold the tiebreaker of head-to-head competition over Florida. Should Florida win and lose to South Carolina, the Gators would still go. But if they lose to Vandy and Vandy wins the rest of its SEC games (Kentucky and Tennessee) we'd have a three-way tie if Georgia won out. Then, it goes to the higher-ranked BCS team which would be Florida or Georgia.
The celebration
There is no question that the end zone celebration by Georgia jump-started the rivalry. Florida fans are thirsty for revenge, Georgia fans think Florida fans are whiners. It has intensified the feelings for this game like never before. Florida-Georgia was always been intense but never like this.
Last year's celebration will be hyped up all week and right up until game time. Hopefully, some of the talking heads will spend a little bit of time analyzing the matchups.
The streak
This has been a streaky series. Whether it's mental or momentum is anyone's guess, but history tells you that when one team gets it going, it gets it going for awhile.
Georgia's problem is that it has been a long time since it had a winning streak in the series. The Bulldogs won three in a row from 1987-89, the last time they have won more than one in a row. Since then, Florida has run off winning streaks of seven, six and two.
It's important for Florida to cut off the momentum and not allow Georgia to have anything more than an occasional win. It's important for Georgia to be able to feel good about itself for more than one year.
In other words, it's important.
It's big.
It's the biggest Florida-Georgia game ever.
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