Welcome to Tuesday, Bulldog fans! And not just any Tuesday, but the one before the one before the next Georgia Bulldog football game. There’s this little thing called Christmas in between, but you’re probably aware of that. In this festive season of holly, sugarplums, mulled wines, and goodwill toward men, what else would go better and match the vibe but some drug-fueled country-blues number written from a villa in France in the early 1970’s? Ladies & Gentlemen… The Rolling Stones!
Things are fairly quiet in Athens during the winter break, but here are some news and notes:
With the season over for most teams, college football writers switch to the rearview mirror. One such article listed Army transfer Elo Modozie as one of the biggest busts of the transfer portal. That may be true, but one could counter that the Georgia coaching staff is pretty good with this portal thing: Josh McCray had big contributions as did Noah Thomas, and that whole Zachariah Branch thing turned out pretty well.
Yet the best stat I’ve seen shows that you don’t necessarily have to buy your team in the portal each winter. A novel idea employed by Coach Smart et al is that you can identify players in high school, teach them the game of football, and actually develop them. Exhibit 1:
Maybe that’s a reason Coach Kirby Smart was named as a finalist for the 2025 Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year. His competition is AP COTY Curt Cignetti, Ryan Day, Joey McGuire, and Clark Lea. CKS has twice before been a finalist, but this hardware named after a Volunteer-turned-Yellow Jacket has eluded him.
It could be because of the “announce that you’re getting better” statement Coach Smart delivered at the Sugar Bowl press conference Monday, a line that will resonate throughout college football. Aside from this profundity, he also gave some fairly vague injury updates: “hoping to have” Gabe Harris available, Drew Bobo, and Colbie Young; probable for Noah Thomas and Chauncey Bowens, but no word on Joel Aguero and Zion Branch. Bo Walker and Dontrell Glover are “finishing up their consequences” but per usual, getting wind of internal discipline specifics is about as likely as a white Christmas in Folkston.
Speaking of coaching, by now you’ve heard that Will Muschamp is relocating to Austin in order to pursue his espionage career. Godspeed, Secret Agent.
I guess we can take Bobby Petrino’s name off the Michigan coaching search list. The Cycling Cervical Collar is finalizing a move to Chapel Bill, hoping to invigorate a UNC-CH offense that ranked 135th in explosive plays last season (Arkansas was 6th). He is likely excited by the fact North Carolina does have helmet laws.
Is talk of money and it’s influence taking a Miley Cyrus sized wrecking ball to the traditions of college football getting you down? Then keep scrolling. I wouldn’t want to be accused of taking part in a rumble. But if you ingest the green side of college sports, CNBC has provided an absolutely-based-on-accurate-data-and-totally-not-made-up-formula to value the biggest college athletic departments. Spoiler: somebody(ies) in Athens is rich.
The Georgia basketball teams are pretty good. The women’s team is still undefeated, and starting to recieve AP votes. As the calendar turns to 2026 and conference play begins, the slate becomes much tougher. 3 of the AP top 10 are SEC teams, and 7 in the top 25.
The men’s team has but a single loss, is the #1 scoring team in the country, and have officially cracked the top 25. And after 3 losses in the last 5 games, the Auburn Tigers are not ranked. And Bruce Pearl is still sweating, though not as much as his son.
That should get your Tuesday started. And contemplating them are a perfectly reasonable excuse to not go shopping, or spending time with your in-laws, or getting around to fixing that GFI outlet that cuts out your holiday lights every time it rains. An early Merry Christmas everyone, and a belated Happy Hanukkah. As always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!
