Willingham Out As Huskies Head Coach

Two days after falling to 0-7, Tyrone Willingham was fired as Washington's head football coach effective at the end of the season. The Huskies were coming off a 33-7 home dismantling at the hands of Notre Dame, the team Willingham previously coached for three seasons before coming to Seattle with hopes of restoring the program to national prominence. But Willingham could not break through and resurrect the program. Since the Huskies defeated Boise State to move to 2-0 in 2007, Washington is just 2-16 in its last 18 games. He never surpassed five wins in a season, and the Huskies have also lost 13 of their past 15 home games as attendance has dwindled at Huskie Stadium while the boo-birds have increased.

Georgia and Florida meet this Saturday afternoon in (oops, I'm gonna say it) The World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville with both teams peaking at just the right time. Georgia absolutely dominated LSU this past weekend, scoring 54 points at Tiger Stadium and thoroughly outplaying the defending national champions. Florida has really hit its stride, though, as Jeffery Demps and Chris Rainey are finally providing Tim Tebow with backfield options he can count on. The Gators are also seeking revenge for the end zone celebration after the Dawgs' first touchdown last season, so there's no question that both teams will be fired up for this one. I think the Gators have too much firepower for a defense that misses too many tackles, and the young Georgia offensive line still scares me. The winner most certainly will be playing Alabama for the SEC championship in December.

And wasn't there supposed to be a baseball game last night?

Is Georgia Overrated?

As if it means much this early in the season, Georgia fell from #1 in the AP poll after voters dubbed USC's road victory over Virginia more impressive than the Bulldogs' win over Georgia Southern. Unlike many college football pundits, however, I have no problem with early season polls. Sure, Clemson was clearly overrated while Alabama was clearly underrated. But as the season progresses, teams sort themselves out and voters see enough ballgames (and apparently computers have eyes, as well) to rank teams accordingly. Those who cite Auburn's low preseason ranking as the reason the Tigers were left out of the national championship game a few years back do have a point. However, USC and Oklahoma would have had the same complaint if they started the season ranked lower. The bottom line is that in a non-playoff system, a third unbeaten team will feel screwed. My point is, Georgia fans are feeling slighted today because they can't claim their team as number one. But I think Bulldogs supporters should start realizing that they are just another injury or two away from not even finishing the season in the Top 10.

For all of the talk that a Georgia-USC matchup should have taken place last season for the "true" national championship, if you take a closer look, the 7-game winning streak to close the season really wasn't that impressive. The Bulldogs struggled to beat Vandy, beat a one-man team in Florida, and took care of overmatched Hawaii. Auburn and Kentucky, while solid SEC competition, tapered off as the year progressed. I certainly don't want to take anything away from a really good team that returned 17 starters this year, but as long as Georgia remains in the Top 5 and they take care of business in the brutal SEC, dropping in the polls early on is not such a big deal.

The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants and division foe Washington Redskins open up the NFL regular season tonight at the Meadowlands. The G-Men will be playing without retired All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, who is out for the season. It'll be interesting to see if Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress can pick up where they left off last season: in the endzone.

The Tatum Bell "thief story" is tremendous. Let's acknowledge, though, that it was a misunderstanding. I mean, it had to be. Right? Had to be.