If you had to guess the home of the SEC’s largest and shiniest HD video board, Mississippi State probably wouldn’t be in your first 10 guesses. With a capacity of 55,082, Davis Wade Stadium is the SEC’s second-smallest football venue behind only Vanderbilt. But by October 2008 the Bulldogs will have a 111 foot by 47 foot HD screen on a new scoreboard in the south (fieldhouse) endzone that will measure 152 feet by 135.5 feet in total.

The LCD technology used on the HD display will allow MSU to split the display as they like during the game for stats, announcements, advertising, etc.

By contrast, Georgia’s main video board installed in 2005 is 46′ by 25′ on a scoreboard of 76′ by 52′. It is not high definition.

MSU’s new board is even bigger than the 107′ by 30′ "Pig Screen TV" that was the centerpiece of Arkansas’ 2000 expansion. Only Texas, with a 134′ by 55′ main display, will be larger.

We’ve seen Central Michigan on our schedule before. They’ve been named Marshall or Central Florida or UAB or Troy. It’s that team that’s not quite a cupcake, made a bowl the year before, but they’re not BCS material. They’ll have a standout QB or receiver that racks up incredible stats in his conference and will likely have some pretty good numbers against the Dawgs too.

This time that guy is Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan’s junior QB. You’re probably sick of the dual-threat QB, but LeFevour definitely qualifies: only he and Vince Young have thrown for 3,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 in a season. He even caught a TD pass. There’s no question that the CMU offense flows through him, and HeismanPundit has named him a darkhorse if not for 2008 then for his senior season in 2009.

HP has an interview with LeFevour, and it’s worth a read. Georgia and Purdue are the big nonconference challenges for the Chippewas this year, and he discusses the team’s readiness for a game in Athens.

You’ve got a big game against Georgia coming up. How will you guys approach playing a game in such a hostile environment?

We’ve had some experience with that. We played at Kentucky last year. We’ve played at Michigan and Clemson and Purdue. We just need to remember that we’ve been in that situation before and carry it over to this game. As long as we are ready mentally, we should be ready to play.

The closest of those games was at Kentucky where CMU closed to within two points in the 4th quarter before falling 45-36. How about those other games? Michigan (41-17), Purdue (45-22), and Clemson (70-14) weren’t quite as close. There was also a 52-7 loss at Kansas to open the 2007 season.

Central Michigan can definitely be a dangerous team. They pushed Kentucky in 2006, and they came back on Purdue in the bowl game rematch last season once the Boilermakers went to sleep on a big halftime lead. Without breaking them down, the formula seems to be what it usually is against these kinds of teams: take the opponent seriously, jump on a weaker defense to put up some points, and don’t sleep on a lead. If nothing else, it will be a treat for Georgia fans to see someone of LeFevour’s talent competing opposite Stafford, Moreno, and Georgia’s own Heisman darkhorses.

A big hint that you’re not that far up on the ol’ recruiting board: all of the coaches – even your position coach – are on vacation during your recruiting visit.

Justin Jones will commit to Kentucky following a disappointing recruiting visit to South Carolina. “Justin went to South Carolina on Wednesday and everybody was gone,” Heritage coach Chad Frazier said. “They had a [graduate assistant] showing him around campus. That’s what sealed it for him.”

Earlier this morning, Steve Detwiler’s thumb was removed by surgeons in Omaha and replaced with a prosthetic. The thumb is currently en route to Lubbock, Texas where it will be featured next to the monument already in place at the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

We’ve seen individuals break Georgia’s heart before. Dan Marino. Mark Prior. Ronnie Daniels is still running. And of course there’s John Wallace.

But few have had such a dominant individual performance against a Georgia team with so much on the line as Fresno State’s right fielder Steve Detwiler. Fresno posted six runs against Georgia, and every single one of them was knocked in by Detwiler. His performance was so incredible and so unlikely that it overshadows a clutch pitching job by Justin Wilson. Under any other circumstances, the ability of Wilson to come off of three days’ rest and contain a Georgia offense that had scored 17 runs in two previous games would have been the story of the night.

Congratulations to Fresno State. A team that beat Long Beach, San Diego, Arizona State, Rice, North Carolina, and Georgia to get to this point is as legitimate as a champion gets.

There’s no use breaking down the game. The season is over, and the second-best season in Georgia baseball history deserves the focus now. This team rebounded from a rough early stretch to win the SEC, end Georgia Tech’s season, take the season series over Tech yet again, and roll to the program’s best postseason finish since 1990. There was individual excellence and key role players. There were dominant performances and clutch comebacks.

If history is any indication, the good news was that this title run probably won’t be a one-shot deal. Georgia baseball is competitive nationally and has been that way for most of this decade. The personnel losses will be significant just as they have been after each of Georgia’s three previous trips to Omaha since 2001. Recruiting is strong, and coaching is solid, so the safe bet is for Georgia to be back in this position sooner than later.

The immediate challenge for Coach Perno is to smooth out the valleys. A return trip to the NCAA Tournament, even as a lower at-large seed, is what we’re talking about here. With guys like Poythress, Cerione, Allen, McRee, and Weaver due to come back, a strong an experienced core is there. Georgia must replace not only gloves and bats but leaders also, and finding the guys who will challenge their teammates to demand better of themselves as Ryan Peisel did earlier this season will be as important as finding a new leadoff man or closer.

If there’s any kind of silver lining in the constant attention to the "Cinderella" storyline this week, it’s this realization: Georgia teams are expected to play for titles. Georgia being in Omaha is dog-bites-man. Situations where we are the great underdog story are rare (see: men’s basketball), but that’s what happens when you have one of the nation’s strongest athletic programs. After Hawaii and Fresno you might be getting a bit tired of being the foil to the media darling, but remember that the story of the underdog is great because it is the exception. This loss stings, but Georgia teams will be back competing for titles in just a few months.

You’ll notice that the live blog stops abuptly during the 4th inning. I was reminded that the championship is no time to start screwing around with the routine that had taken us this far.

So, anyway, what a game. What a comeback. It’s what we’re used to from this team – Georgia had to come from behind against Miami and Stanford – but it’s still amazing every time they get back off the mat. In Monday’s game, they broke through against the best pitcher they had seen all evening after struggling to scratch out runs against guys with ERAs north of 6.75.

Two plays before the pivotal bottom of the 8th stand out as game-changers:

• Lyle Allen’s catch. Otis Nixon was reached for comment and said, "daaaaaaamn." Between that catch and the one at Turner Field, Allen has stepped nicely into the "did you SEE that catch?!" void left by Joey Side. Allen’s leaping catch in the 4th saved a run, and we know how important a single run proved to be.
• Steve Susdorf getting doubled off of second. Susdorf doubled in Fresno’s first run of the 8th, but he was caught leaning towards third on a line drive hit to Gordon Beckham. Beckham won the race to the bag. It looked as if Susdorf was bailed out after Fresno tacked on two more runs, but that out had two big implications. First, the subsequent home run plated only one run instead of two. Second, the out and the batter order meant that Susdorf – with a double and triple to his credit already – was left in the on-deck circle in the 9th.

The little things got Georgia in trouble. Leadoff walks. Big hits by the bottom of Fresno’s order. Even Georgia’s offense was so close. The Dawgs hit the ball hard, but great Fresno defense kept them in the game. Those hits fell in the 8th. Olson’s bloop started it, Cerione found the right side of the foul line, and Lewis played pinball with second base to drive in the winning run.

Fresno lost a heartbreaker, but you can’t expect them to fold. They lost a game this way to UNC on Saturday and bounced back nicely. Still, the stress of another elimination game coupled with their depleted pitching staff has to weigh on them. For Georgia the win couldn’t have been better. It gave them a huge shot in the arm, but the game served notice that they can’t relax and take anything as a given against a quality opponent. Postgame comments seemed to show that Georgia was well aware that nothing was settled yet.

The first few innings could be huge tonight. If Georgia can keep the fire going and score some runs against some tired pitching, they’ll be set up very nicely with Montgomery on the mound. On the other hand, a close game will only serve to restore Fresno’s confidence.

Let’s get this going. First pitch is in a few minutes, and we’ll try to be here for the duration.

6:59: First, a note from Anthony Dasher over on the DawgVent… it’s good to know that Mark Richt will be there to support the team. We’ve seen Roy Williams and Fresno’s Pat Hill.

7:01: Our cat is curled up next to me on the couch. Before you write this off as meaningless, she’s been in this position for most of the postseason games, and she first started watching games with us during the SEC basketball tournament. Yep. Things are looking good for the Dawgs.

7:06: No question how ESPN is setting the narrative for this series. Fresno’s story is a good one, but, again…they were ranked coming into the season.

7:09: Dave Perno: “We’re in great shape with our pitching and just need to execute.” Fresno coach: “We had a handful of (pitchers) who just can’t go today.”

7:12: And we’re off. Bulova first pitch time, 7:12. GO DAWGS!!!!

7:20: A leadoff walk doesn’t cost the Dawgs; Holder strikes out two to strand a Fresno runner at third. Close call at first on the second out. Was Poythress off the bag?

7:30: Dawgs draw first blood! A hustle play on a leadoff hit by Peisel pays off as he scores from second on a Poythress single. Georgia was a strike away from wasting the leadoff double, but Poythress continues his clutch hitting from Saturday. Georgia 1 – Fresno 0 after 1.

7:37: Another leadoff runner stranded in scoring position by Fresno. Holder gets through the second with far fewer pitches.

7:42: Fresno’s defense showed up tonight. Heck of a play by the 3B. Cerione hit one to the fence…missed by a few feet. Georgia 1 – Fresno 0 after 2.

7:45: Fresno #9 batter hitting under .200 launches one to tie the game. Holder’s weakness against NC State and Miami was homers off of pitches left up, and hopefully that’s the last one of those tonight. Holder bounces back with a tough play to throw out the next batter. The ball hit off Holder’s right foot, and he’s trying to work it out. Dodson is stretching in the pen.

7:54: Holder stays in the game and retires the rest of the side including his second K of Fresno’s #2 hitter.

7:57: Fresno is a bunch of “gamers”. They’re talking about Fresno as if they were a white running back. Really heady, gritty guys. I haven’t heard them called “throwbacks” yet, but it’s coming.

7:59: Three solid defensive plays retire Georgia in order. The Dawgs are hitting the ball hard, but Fresno is bringing the defense. Holder will remain out there for Georgia. Georgia 1 – Fresno 1 after 3.

8:02: Lyle Allen might have stolen a HR. What a catch up high against the fence.

8:05: Holder retires the side in order after the leadoff scare. Georgia needs to start making the Fresno pitcher work and make them burn a few pitchers. Beckham’s leading off, and this is a great chance to make his impact on the CWS.

The college road trip is a right of passage, and some writers for the Red and Black have taken to the highways to watch the Diamond Dawgs in Omaha.

Highlights:

11:23- Tyler: Is it blog worthy if I run down this Tennessee fan in front of us ?Me: sure it is, I was thinking the same thing. Although, weren’t you a Tennessee fan growing up? Tyler (regretfully): Yes

Side note- Tyler LOVES pretzel sticks, they are apparently really good with beer. Since I’m not 21 and have never drank underage, I wouldn’t know.

12:21: Tyler once again points out the mind-blowing realization that we are driving to Nebraska. Damn, 1,043 miles is a long way. My over/under for someone saying that we are driving to Nebraska is five, and we already at two.

4:39: Mile 434.2. Insanity may finally be broached, as we all join in a terrifically harmonized and falsettoed rendition of “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” (you know, that commercial from the 70s). And then we, of course, each enjoy a Coke. And keep it company. In perfect harmony.

6:41: Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping” raises morale.

Highly recommended. I hope they keep it up and make it to Omaha.

I’m going to try liveblogging tonight’s game. Someone has to keep track of the number of times they show Lauren Massinari or tell us that Fresno State was a #4 seed in their regional. I doubt they mention that Fresno was a preseason top 20 team.

Title IX is 36 years old today. For some football fans, it’s the law that is the root of all that’s wrong with the world. But without it, the Georgia campus probably never would have been graced with Teresa Edwards, the Gym Dogs, Kristy Kowal, or any of the other outstanding female student-athletes we’ve known.

The law itself is pretty simple:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

The current landscape of intercollegiate athletics is, for better or worse, built on the sturdy shoulders of that law. Various judicial and executive interpretations have combined to give us the current guidelines, and it’s still very much a politically active topic. Teams and scholarships have had to be added, removed, and balanced in this modern nod to the Missouri Compromise. Though the opportunites opened for women have been tremendous, Title IX hasn’t come without its costs or friction.

It’s interesting to read that "NCAA President Myles Brand (suggested) that unisex teams could be the wave of the future for intercollegiate athletics." You’re starting to see more and more of this measuring against the men, and we’re not just talking about Michelle Wie. The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream is running an ad in which a young girl in a playground game shows she belongs by throwing an elbow at a male opponent. But when it’s still big news that a 6’4" woman can dunk a basketball, the idea of unisex teams still seems a little ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Yes, it is Dawg vs. Dog. The College World Series has gone to the dogs.

With that out of the way, we now know that it’s Georgia vs. Fresno State for all the marbles at the College World Series. Fresno State has definitely had a tremendous run, and the fact that they were a #4 seed in the regional makes the “underdog” label applicable.

You’ll hear no end to the George Mason comparisons, but that’s hardly fair to a Fresno State squad very familiar with postseason play. The Bulldogs have won three straight WAC titles and are in their third straight NCAA Tournament (a claim even Georgia cannot make).

Let’s get it out of the way: Georgia looks to have everything on their side. They’ve had the better season against stronger competition. They are hitting well against good pitching. Their rotation is set up perfectly for the best-of-three series after copious amounts of rest over the past week. Our own Bulldogs are a great story in their own right. They have come off a losing season to play for the national title. For some, it’s a chance at redemption for a missed opportunity in 2006.

But Fresno has beaten some pretty big odds just to get to this point, and they probably won’t blink twice at Georgia’s advantages. Fresno State has solid, fundamental defense, timely hitting, and they have had some great pitching in Omaha, though it’s yet to be seen how much is left as they play their third game in as many days on Monday.

So, yes, the Bulldogs will win the national title. Will it be Fresno’s first or Georgia’s second national title? Monday’s first game will be critical, and Georgia has to feel pretty good handing the ball to Trevor Holder.

Here is the finals schedule:
Monday, June 23
Game 1 — Fresno State (45-30) vs. No. 8 Georgia (44-23-1), 7 p.m., (ESPN2/ESPN360)

Tuesday, June 24
Game 2 — No. 8 Georgia (44-23-1) vs. Fresno State (45-30), 7 p.m., (ESPN/ESPN360)

Wednesday, June 25
Game 3 — No. 8 Georgia (44-23-1) vs. Fresno State (45-30) (if nec.), 7 p.m., (ESPN/ESPN360)

Rain hit the Omaha area Thursday night, forcing the postponement of the loser’s bracket game between LSU and North Carolina. The UNC-LSU game will resume at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday.

The shuffled schedule means that Stanford and Georgia will not play until Saturday at 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2) If Stanford beats Georgia on Saturday, the two teams would play again on Sunday.

Basically, everything is pushed back a day.

Why is this less-than-good news? Two reasons. First, it gives Stanford another day to rest. The historical disadvantage of the loser’s bracket was quick turnaround. Now any pitcher Stanford used on Monday against Georgia should be just fine for Saturday’s game, and it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Stanford could call on a pitcher used Wednesday.

Second is looking ahead a bit to the potential championship round. If Georgia must play on Sunday, they are looking at no fewer than four straight days of action should they prevail over Stanford. Saturday’s game now becomes extremely significant. Win on Saturday and Georgia can rest on Sunday while their championship opponent might have to play on Sunday. Lose on Saturday and brace yourselves for some pretty interesting personnel decisions. Getting through Stanford is of course the priority, but you also don’t want to arrive at Monday’s championship game with nothing in the tank.

It’s looking a bit like 1990 – Georgia and Stanford will meet with a trip to the College World Series championship round at stake. The Cardinal looked really, really tough dispatching #1 and top-seeded Miami 8-3 last night. Dominant Stanford pitching got out of early trouble and kept the potent Miami offense at bay until the Stanford offense with eight runs from the third through sixth innings.

Monday night showed us how hard the Dawgs will have to work to advance, but they do have the advantage of needing just one win while the Cardinal would have to beat the Bulldogs twice. It took that extra rubber match for the Dawgs to advance in 1990, but hopefully they can take care of things on Friday and rest up for Monday’s championship opener. The challenge will be on Georgia’s bats to create some runs against Stanford’s formidable pitching and defense.

Trevor Holder, who started Saturday’s first game against Miami, will get the nod again on Friday.

Georgia vs. Stanford: Friday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN2

An updated summer depth chart is out, and there are definitely some things worth noting.

Just be careful of reading too much into those “official” heights and weights…

“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” (Beasley) said of being measured at 6 feet 7 inches, three inches shorter than his listed height at Kansas State. “Other than it’s a little disappointing to me that I found out I’m actually a midget.”

That’s the case so far in Omaha. #1 seed Miami and #2 seed North Carolina will have to work back through the loser’s brackets while the Georgia Bulldogs and Fresno State Bulldogs enjoy a 2-0 advantage in their respective groups.

Tuesday’s action in the College World Series had no impact on Georgia’s half of the bracket, but LSU continued this year’s theme of ninth-inning drama with a comeback win over Rice. Fresno then continued their improbable postseason run by handing UNC their first loss of the entire NCAA Tournament.

Things get going in Georgia’s bracket this evening as Miami and Stanford meet with elimination on the line. The winner gets another shot at Georgia on Friday afternoon. We know from experience that both Miami and Stanford are quality opponents, but I think most Georgia fans would rather face Stanford again rather than the #1 team and their offense. Whatever happens tonight, I hope it lasts about 23 innings with each team running out of pitchers.

While you’re waiting for Friday, head over to the Georgia Sports Blog for an interview with 1990 hero Mike Rebhan (part one | part two). I mentioned Rebhan the other day while looking back at Stanford’s role in Georgia’s 1990 national title, and pwd got some great insight out of the Cardinal conqueror.

The Senator asks an interesting question this afternoon.

I keep wondering the degree to which Stafford’s completion percentage/efficiency rating is important, not so much in regard to his personal legacy, but rather in the context of Georgia’s offensive scheme.

Good question. Just what’s so important about completing 60% versus 55%? I’ll put in my two cents here.

Let’s get the drops out of the way. Every team has them, so Stafford isn’t going to get some Drop Correction Factor (even in the South Carolina game). I’m not going to analyze every pass from 2007, but it was my belief that drops were more or less down in 2007 and on par with most teams.

If you grant that Georgia has a run-oriented scheme, you’d expect that the quarterback’s most important role would be to sustain drives when the running game can’t. Even allowing for the occasional first and second down throws to keep the defense honest, third down is what most of us would consider the passing down. So the third down conversion rate seems like a pretty important performance indicator for the quarterback in an offense like Georgia’s.

As you might expect and hope, the Bulldogs were better on third down last season than they were during Stafford’s freshman campaign. Georgia was 8th in the SEC in 2006 with a 39% conversion rate on third down. In 2007, the Bulldogs had improved to 4th in the conference with a 44.8% conversion rate. In absolute terms, the difference is also impressive: Georgia converted 20 more third downs in 2007 than in 2006. It’s kind of a self-perpetuating system. Because Georgia was able to convert third downs at a higher clip, they kept drives going and had 15% more third down opportunities in 2007.

OK, you say, we did better on third downs, but how much of that was because of some good tailbacks, and how much can we credit to an improved Stafford? It’s hard to tell, but we do know that the run-oriented Bulldogs got more first downs through the air than on the ground last year. But here’s the important takeaway:

63% of Georgia’s completions came on third down.

That stands out, but it’s not a huge shock because, again, third down is generally a passing down even for run-based teams. The point is that incremental increases in pass efficiency will pay the biggest dividends on those all-important third downs. Here’s how.

Using Stafford’s attempts from 2007, an improvement to a 60% completion rate represents just 15 more completions over the season. That’s little more than one more catch per game. It doesn’t seem like a lot – one pass not dropped here, one better throw there. But using last season’s results as a rough guide, that’s potentially ten more third down conversions through the air. Ten more third down conversions in 2007 would have put Georgia over 50% on third downs – second-best in the SEC behind only you-know-who.

So, for what it’s worth, that’s my guess as to why efficiency is such a priority (other than "more completions = good"). Even with a star tailback and quality quarterback, the Georgia offense is still middle-of-the-pack in the SEC. Stafford’s additional completions are likely to be ones that keep drives alive, and an offense that is converting third downs close to 50% is likely to be very productive.

(By the way, how important was third down to LSU last year? The Tigers converted 104 of 223 third downs – numbers which, even considering their 14-game schedule, dwarf the rest of the SEC. Their conversion rate of 46.6% was good enough for top 3 in the league. That’s an awful lot of chances though, and it’s to their credit that they were able to keep grinding out drives and converting. Les Miles probably still went for it half the times he didn’t convert on third down.)

I don’t know that I’ve ever been this drained just from watching a game.

If Georgia’s grueling 4-3 win over Stanford Monday night at the College World Series was this intense for fans, I can’t imagine how the players held it together.

Georgia football fans – remember how you felt leaving Vanderbilt’s stadium last year or leaving South Carolina in 2002? The thrill of victory alternated with bouts of nausea, and the net effect was relief and exhaustion – and we didn’t even play the games.

After tonight’s game, it’s easy to understand how unseeded Stanford upset Cal-Fullerton and FSU to get to this point. They are tireless fighters, make few mistakes, and force you to work for every scrap you can get against them. Nothing came easy for Georgia tonight, not even the final outs, but somehow here they are 2-0 and in the driver’s seat of their half of the CWS field.

Stanford jumped out 3-0 on three extra-base hits in the third inning including a two-run homer by standout catcher Jason Castro. Though starter Nick Montgomery pitched well otherwise, he yielded to Stephen Dodson in the 4th inning.

If there’s a story developing thus far for Georgia, it’s been the bullpen as a whole. They’ve allowed only one run in two games, and Alex McRee atoned for Saturday’s homerun pitch with a perfect performance against the Cardinal. In fact, the Georgia bullpen allowed only one hit after Montgomery left. Dodson, McRee, and Fields held Stanford in check and gave the offense room to mount the gradual comeback.

Getting back in the game was like pulling teeth. The Dawgs missed a chance to get on the scoreboard in the 3rd when Lyle Allen doubled but was inexplicably held at third base on a David Thoms single to right. Neither Peisel nor Olson could bring in Allen, and the Dawgs missed a golden scoring opportunity.

The first run came in the 4th – Matt Cerione doubled in Gordon Beckham, but Cerione was stranded. Georgia again inched closer in the 6th when Robbie O’Bryan drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Rich Poythress. Still, Georgia could do no further damage with the bases loaded and just one out.

The Dawgs finally got on top in the 7th when Gordon Beckham started a two-out rally with a single. Poythress walked, and Massanari was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Matt Cerione laced a single to center field plating Beckham and Poythress for Cerione’s second and third RBI of the day. O’Bryan popped out to end the rally, but Georgia now held the lead.

McRee pitched an incredibly efficient 8th against the heart of the Cardinal lineup, and you had to like Georgia’s chances with Fields pitching to the bottom half of the Stanford order in the 9th. Nothing was easy in this game, though, and Fields certainly made things interesting by walking and then hitting a batter to put the go-ahead run on base with one out. He worked deep into the count against pinch-hitter Colin Walsh before enticing Walsh to hit a ground ball that was fielded by Beckham and turned into a textbook 6-4-3 double play to end the excruciating game.

Georgia has earned the mixed blessing of three days’ rest before playing again on Friday. Everyone should be fresh and rested, but that’s a long time to stew during a championship run. The good news is that Georgia needs just one more win to advance to next week’s championship round. Stanford must play Miami in an elimination game, and the Bulldogs will have two cracks at the winner of that game.

Georgia will play the winner of Wednesday’s Stanford/Miami game at 2:00 p.m. on Friday (ESPN2). If Georgia wins, they advance straight to the championship round which begins Monday. If Georgia falls, they’ll face a rematch with Friday’s opponent on Saturday to determine who advances.

For a complete schedule and stats and recaps from the CWS, visit this page over at ESPN.com.

And with that…I’m going to go collapse into bed.