Bierria joins Grant and McMichael in the NFL draft. Bierria said he’s still a year and a half from graduating and since he wouldn’t have been able to earn a degree even if he returned for his senior year he saw no sense in returning. I guess one can see his point, but if a degree were his goal, finishing it in two years rather than one isn’t a showstopper – that his athletic scholarship would run out is the real issue. Just because Bierria’s announcement was a little bit of a shock, don’t take that to mean he isn’t well-thought of by pro scouts. He’ll likely get drafted and has the good size and speed they look for. You can never fault a kid who came from very little jumping at the chance to live his dream of playing in the NFL. Hopefully Terreal will have made the right decision for himself, and the large improvement he would have made in his draft status by returning for his senior season won’t turn out to matter much.

The Cycles of Change in the SEC…. a great historical perspective by Dawg151 of the Vent on the resignation of Steve Spurrier and what it might mean to the conference. Now of course a new coach does not by any means imply that Florida is going to be mistaken for Vandy, but can anyone sustain the success of that program especially 1) under the shadow of the Spurrier legacy and 2) with the immediate expectations that will come with a $2.5 – $3 million salary?

Why links to the AJC will be few and far between here…

If you look down to Thursday’s entry about Fred Gibson, you’ll see a link to an AJC article. Of course, the link is no longer valid. The AJC cannot get a system in place to provide permenant links to its content. Yet I can go to an article in the Athens paper from 1997, and the link is as valid as ever. That kind of archive and durability is very important to the online researcher and to aggregators like this site, and it’s why other sources whenever possible will be linked here instead of the AJC.

DawgChat has popped up on the Anti-Orange page as a useful alternative for those seeking as real-time discussion.

The #7 Lady Dawgs put their undefeated record on the line tonight against #23 LSU in Athens. Because of the inclement weather, UGA has offered free admission to the game.

Fred Gibson will be joining the basketball team, and Coach Harrick is ready to get “the real deal” onto the court. Of course Gibson will have to be eased into the lineup, and that’s made easier with Georgia’s stockpile of talent at the wing position. If there’s one area of the team where the Dawgs can rotate a player in gradually, it’s at small forward.

So it seems that Grant and McMichael will turn pro. For McMichael, it’s pretty understandable. His production has dropped off somewhat this season in the Richt offense, and he has to ask himself if an additional year with likely lower numbers again would enhance his status. Probably not. Also, with a redshirt year and medical redshirt year, Randy has been in the program for five years now. He now has to turn to the issue of where he will fit in on an NFL roster as a ‘tweener – will he play tight end with a slighter-than-desired frame for an NFL tight end or will he be a possession receiver as he was in college, and if so, can he improve the consistency of his catches?

Grant is more puzzling. True enough, he has shown plenty of times what he can do and he has also been out of high school for four years. He’s not getting younger. But he has been far from consistent, and there is question if he has really shown enough over three years to convince a team that the dominating Charles Grant is more likely to show up than the non-factor Grant. In the back of his mind, Grant may be thinking of the knee injury from his freshman year and that a repeat of that injury would be devastating for his pro prospects.

The Sporting News has a GREAT interview with Randy McMichael. Randy is always good for an entertaining quote – he has won the hearts of many Bulldog fans with this gem from a few years ago about Georgia Tech:

”I think they’re lower than dirt,” McMichael said. ”I grew up never liking Tech. I wasn’t that much of a Bulldog fans, but I always hated Tech.”

This TSN interview is just as likely to bring a smile. What a fun read!

Georgia won its opening game last night out at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. Way too late to stay up for, but Jarvis Hayes and Rashad Wright look to have led the team to the win.

The Dawgs are an amazing 10-1 to start the season, pretty good considering they won 10 games TOTAL only two seasons ago. With Miami of Ohio beating Boston College last night (and by doing so becoming Georgia’s next opponent), the Dawgs look now to be the favorite to win this tournament.

Tons of content today on UGASports.com, everything from basketball to football. Coach Richt spoke to the media yesterday so of course there is audio of that. There is too much to write about individually, so browse through the Story Index for all of today’s content.

Great recruiting news – RB Reshard Dudley has committed to the Bulldogs (UGASports.com Premium).

The Hoop Dawgs scored a big 91-74 win at Pepperdine last night. Jarvis Hayes led with 25, but Tony Cole had a big night with a season-high 21 points in a reserve role. Chris Daniels kept up his great play lately with 14 points and 12 boards. Pepperdine was a potential ambush awaiting the Dawgs in the middle of a loooong road trip, and Georgia handled it well. Check out NashvilleDawg’s HoopNotes for more insight into the win.

Fans are encouraged to buy Music City Bowl tickets through UGA so that the University gets credit for selling out its allotment. The deadline for ordering UGA is Dec. 13th. Call UGA at 706-542-1231 or fax the form downloadable from this link.

The results of the fans’ 2001 predictions are in, and it looks like about a sixth of the fans whon participated pegged the 8-3 record. You can see the distribution of predictions here. A lot of people preseason thought that the fans hovering anywhere from 8-3 to 10-1 was typical pie-in-the-sky dreaming, but the close losses to SC and Auburn were all that separated these dreamers from reality this season.

Almost lost in the bowl hubbub on Sunday was a great 95-82 win for the basketball team over Tech. It was a battle of guards as most expected, but the difference was the outstanding post play of Steve Thomas. He, Daniels, and Wright have made great strides from their part-time roles as freshmen last season. Their progress as dependable role players has made it possible for players like Williams and Hayes to relax a little and not have to carry the team.

This win makes three in a row over Tech and six of the past ten. Georgia will only be getting better. The fortunes of the series with Tech in most every sport now favor UGA, and it’s a great spot to be in for Bulldog fans.

UGASports.com (premium) | NashvilleDawg’s HoopNotes | ABH