Day 2 of me handling the DawgNation newsletter and I wanted to thank you for the warm welcome. I appreciate everyone who sent messages of encouragement.
Being back on the Georgia beat has been awesome.
I’ve got baseball on the brain, with super regionals coming up this weekend, so let’s NCAA Tournament again real quick: It has been a tournament of upsets and surprises so far, with Saint Marys eliminating No. 1 national seed UCLA before regional finals and Oklahoma shocking No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech in the final Monday.
With the Bruins and Yellow Jackets gone, there’s a new highest seed remaining: the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, who will host Mississippi State in Athens this weekend in super regionals.
Mississippi State cruised through its regional and I’m sure is hoping to avoid losing to Georgia for the fifth and sixth time this season, but this Georgia team plays well when someone is gunning for them.
Will anyone be at Foley Field watching the Bulldog Bowl?
No. 3 national seed Georgia’s best-of-three series against No. 14 national seed Mississippi State will run Saturday through Monday, with Monday’s game only necessary if the teams split the first two games.
The winner of the series advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Saturday’s game starts at 11 a.m. and Sunday’s begins at noon, with both scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN. The time and broadcast information for Monday’s game, if necessary, is to be determined.
Third baseman Tre Phelps and shortstop Kolby Branch did not show up simply to be haters, but rather supporters of Branch’s brother, Kyle. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the 8-7 win for Oklahoma.
Remember, unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Phelps must sit the first game of super regionals after being ejected for taunting in the Athens Regional final against Liberty.
Baseball may be in the spotlight right now, but fall will be here before we know it. Let’s switch gears to football.
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks wants to see immediate results from the SEC adding a ninth conference game in the College Football Playoff committee rankings this season.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey stated clearly that the league adding a ninth conference game this season should carry more weight, saying, “We are by far the most competitive, the strongest in football,” in his Wednesday presentation during the SEC spring meetings.
But is the SEC strong enough to make the playoff field — be it the current 12 or potential expansion to 16 or 24 — with one more loss than teams from other conferences?
“It’s all going to come down to 9-3 (record) versus 10-2 (for final playoff spots),” Brooks said, “so when the SEC is 9-3, versus a 10-2 team from another conference, that’s the great debate.”
Georgia wasn’t going to enjoy the benefit of cupcake week this coming season.
Instead of playing a group of six teams like the Bulldogs had the last two seasons against UMass and Charlotte, Georgia’s penultimate game of the regular season comes against SEC foe South Carolina.
That will continue in the future, as the SEC announced last week that schools will no longer be able to schedule nonconference foes in that mid-November window. We’ll see more conference games later in the season, which should lead to a more entertaining product for fans.
Georgia hasn’t exclusively played cupcakes late in the season, as the Bulldogs had road trips to Kentucky and Tennessee in that same slot in 2022 and 2023. Georgia won each those games on its way to playing in the SEC championship game in both seasons.
Most celebrated the schedule change, especially those outside the SEC. Some saw it as an unfair advantage to give SEC teams a break late in the season.
There is one drawback for the Bulldogs with this decision, and it will largely impact the younger players on their roster. The biggest positive for Georgia is that those late-season blowouts would give the Bulldogs a chance to show what some of the younger players on the roster can do.
The SEC has a bruised ego after getting shut out of the last three College Football Playoff championship games and seeing other league’s schools outbidding them for marquee players.
The frustrations showed at the SEC spring meetings, where keyed-up coaches and administrators allowed their emotions to come out.
Georgia president Jere Morehead led the parade, pronouncing the SEC’s ability to “break away” with its own rules, should Congress not get involved.
Florida athletic directorScott Stricklin described the UGA sentiment as “draconian,” pointing out the league could put itself at a disadvantage by creating and enforcing rules other leagues might not.
Kirby Smart supported his president, but the UGA coach also made the bold statement that Georgia could have more than two national titles had the playoff selection processes gone differently.
“I got left out of the (four-team CFP field) several times and thought I had the best team in the country and didn’t need to go cry about it, scream about it, never get upset about it,” Smart said. “It was what it was.”
Three-star edge Olayiwola Oreofeoluwa Taiwo has committed to Georgia football. (Courtesy)
3-star Olayiwola Oreofeoluwa Taiwo commits to UGA
Olayiwola Oreofeoluwa Taiwo had one of those strong official visit weekends at the University of Georgia. He told “DawgNation” that he was really feeling like he was going to shut it all down and be a Bulldog.
He just wanted a little while to think it over. To let the highs from his first official visit dissipate. Taiwo also wanted to discuss it with his family and friends.
They did not. Taiwo decided there was nothing he had to wait for. He’s now the 11th commitment in the 2027 class for Athens. He’s the third defensive commitment and the third official visitor from this past weekend to commit to UGA.
Taiwo chose the Dawgs over strong interest in Kansas, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
“One thing I love is how serious Georgia is about life after football,” he said. “So if you go to Georgia, you get a real shot at the NFL. But if not, they will get you right when it comes to job, grad school and things like that.”
“That’s one thing I can say that I really love about the chance to go there.”
Four-star linebacker Joakim Gouda is the top LB on Georgia's board for the class of 2027. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
Joakim Gouda just released his college commitment to Georgia football on his social media. He definitely knows where he wants to play college football.
Things weren’t that easy back in January. “DawgNation” was in the room when the subject of how hard his decision could ultimately be came up. His junior film was out. Teams were hitting him up. Legions of them. Especially after he got his Georgia football offer on Jan. 4.
Gouda was asked to try a process that has helped legions of recruits. He was asked to close his eyes. The next thing was to visualize himself making the big play to win the national championship game. To picture himself punishing running backs on big third and fourth downs.
To tick off every dream come true in his mind. All-American. First-round pick. Butkus winner. Once he had that locked in, he was asked a simple question: What helmet and what color jersey was he wearing?
He was then asked to keep the school he had in mind to himself until his commitment day.
“I remember that vividly,” Gouda said last weekend.
That mental exercise helps to narrow it all down. To reduce the anxiety and clutter of having so many options on the table.
Georgia-Oklahoma could look different from 2018 Rose Bowl
Then-quarterback Jake Fromm celebrates Georgia's 54-48 victory over Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl. (DawgNation)
(But here’s a quick photo to remember that magical game).
Georgia’s biggest home game next season, in terms of opponent prestige, will double as the team’s first SEC home game.
The Bulldogs welcome Oklahoma on Sept. 26 into Sanford Stadium. It will be the first SEC game of the season for the Sooners and the second for Georgia.
It will be the first time Oklahoma ever plays in Athens. The only previous time the two schools met came during the 2018 Rose Bowl. Just about everyone remembers how that game went.
Much has changed for both programs since that overtime epic. Smart and Georgia have won two national championships. Oklahoma had to replace Lincoln Riley and then left to join the SEC. The Sooners are now led by Brent Venables who, like Smart, emerged as a championship-winning defensive coordinator.
And whereas that game was a 54-48 overtime shootout, this year’s game has all the makings of a rock fight — where both teams will be bruised and bloodied.
