Entering conference play, a basketball team hopes to be hitting its stride. You’ve had two months in which to test tactics and rotations against competition of varying quality. You want to start well because a few early setbacks in conference play can make the rest of the season an uphill climb.

But the Lady Dogs aren’t hitting their stride yet as they enter SEC play tonight against Florida. For reasons explained nicely by Marc Weiszer in the ABH, Coach Landers cautions that it might be at least mid-January before the team really gets into their groove. Off-season surgeries disrupted preseason conditioning and development. Tasha Humphrey’s suspension required a Plan B approach to the first month of the season (which worked way beyond my expectations). When Humphrey returned in early December, you had a team that was marginally conditioned and playing with all pieces for the first time in nearly 14 months.

The SEC isn’t very forgiving, and Georgia will have to find its form quickly. There are some obvious areas where improvement will have to come.

1. Start stronger. Georgia raced out ahead of Rutgers and Stanford in key early games, but they’ve struggled for the first ten minutes of several games in December. That’s fine against Richmond, but it will kill you at Baton Rouge.
2. Production from the point. We’re not only talking about points, though Ashley Houts hasn’t played to her November form in several weeks, but the tandem of Houts and Hardrick must also do better jobs as creators for the other players. The assists-to-turnovers number has to go way up.
3. Where is Darrah? Megan Darrah is in a big slump, and the Lady Dogs can’t afford an outage from the wing. Christy Marshall is looking good but is still a freshman. Darrah can be a real difference-maker when she’s on.
4. Turn up the defense. Georgia is scoring fewer points in large part because they are creating fewer transition chances. We got spoiled with Sherill Baker’s steals. If they aren’t going to be as prolific in creating steals (and who can be?), they’ll have to compensate with better halfcourt defense.

On paper, the Lady Dogs have some great pieces. Angel Robinson is coming along nicely inside. Chambers is a sharpshooter from outside. Humphrey should be free to cause trouble from the inside on out. Role players like Darrah and Marshall bring a tremendous amount of skill, but they must be more consistent. And point guard play must improve a good deal – we’ve seen what Hardrick and Houts are capable of.

Last year’s Lady Dogs emerged from December with an identity forged from off-season attrition, and they were able to roll through the SEC losing only to Tennessee and LSU. Though they were few in number, they had reliable parts – you could count on Humphrey to be strong inside, Chambers to shoot it up from outside, and Baker and Kendrick to control the backcourt. This year’s squad has yet to solidify around such consistent roles, and it could be a dicey few weeks as they try to find that identity.

It already includes two powerhouse recruiters. FSU linebackers coach Kevin Steele will be the defensive coordinator. BamaOnline is also reporting that UCF’s Lance Thompson will join the staff.

Junior defensive back Paul Oliver announced on Wednesday that he will return for his senior season. This news might be the biggest shot in the arm for the Georgia program this offseason. Oliver finished his junior season in impressive fashion. He performed a shutdown job on Calvin Johnson to end the regular season and then led Georgia in tackles during the Chick-fil-A Bowl while also causing an interception that led to Georgia’s final score. His return instantly gives Georgia a legitimate all-American candidate at one cornerback spot next year.

It gets really good when you consider what Georgia will have to complement Oliver. Oliver, Bryan Evans, and Ramarcus Brown all have starting experience. Asher Allen played a ton this year, mostly in nickle situations. Prince Miller also saw a good bit of playing time as a true freshman. Don’t forget that Thomas Flowers returns next year from an injury. If that unit can remain healthy, it will be the deepest and most talented cornerback unit I’ve seen at Georgia.

I want to say a word about Bryan Evans. He was a redshirt freshman in 2006 and struggled at first as most freshmen cornerbacks do. Tennessee picked on him. He was making big mistakes as late as the Mississippi State game. But the progress he has made over the past two months has been second to no one on the team. Evans played the Chick-fil-A Bowl with confidence and purpose, delivering sure tackles and some big hits. It’s hard to say who will start opposite Oliver next year. Brown started much of 2006 before getting banged up. You can’t discount the supremely talented Allen. But right now my money is on Evans. You really can’t go wrong with any of those guys, and it’s a great situation for Georgia.

We haven’t even mentioned the safety position where Georgia has produced an all-American each of the past four seasons. Who’s next?

It looks as if pass defense will be solid next year, but even the best secondary can struggle if the quarterback has all day. With wholesale changes along the defensive line, finding guys who can pressure the passer will be Georgia’s biggest question and priority on defense heading into 2007.

You know, the one thing really missing from the Alabama coaching search story was unnecessary drama.

Thank goodness ESPN.com’s Pat Forde came through to fill this void. In a world of baseball steroid scandals and NBA brawls, Forde steps up as whistleblower on the lies, misinformation, and secrecy that surround football coaching moves, and Saban is the tipping point. That’s not all, though. It’s such an egregious fault that Saban, by association, taints the entire coaching profession.

So it’s time to rename the American Football Coaches Association the Liar’s Club. I understand that I’m tarring a lot of good men — and even a few honest ones — with a broad brush, but that’s Saban’s gift to his profession.

I’m not particularly impressed by Saban’s choices, but I’m also not going to take them as a personal affront. I’m also certainly no fawning admirer of Saban. If Forde is set off by a bit of hypocrisy and misinformation when it comes to a coaching search, then perhaps covering sports isn’t for him. Politics might be a more sanitary subject.

It’s amusing how quickly the big story became how Saban didn’t do things the "right way" throughout this process. He dared to contradict his earlier claim that he wouldn’t coach at Alabama. He didn’t appear in person to break the news to his staff or players. Forget about Saban the coach or the challenges facing him at Alabama – the narcissistic media had to make the story about themselves and how Saban wasn’t honest with them. You can just see the indignation dripping from Forde’s column. "He lied to us. US!!!" Even the Banner-Herald’s Andy Johnston gets into the act. As if every coaching search until now were conducted with forthrightness and transparency. These guys have been covering sports for years and still manage to write about this with the disillusionment of kids who just found out about Santa Claus.

Am I just numb to it? You’d think from this venom and hysteria that Saban had shot both Mike and Don Shula while looting the Dolphins’ locker room on his way out of town.

And as for those young innocents these coaches will be shaping? If Forde has lost faith in the once-hallowed profession of mercenary football coach, it’s a good thing he hasn’t turned his attention to the world of college recruiting and how 18-year-olds have come up with a unique interpretation of the word "commitment". He might never watch a game again.

It’s bad enough that the system is engineered more and more in their favor, but they could at least bother to field a competitive team when they do back into a BCS slot.

Notre Dame has now played in three BCS bowls. They are 0-3. In the 2001 Fiesta Bowl they lost 41-9 to Oregon State. In the 2006 Fiesta Bowl they lost 34-20 to Ohio State. In the 2007 Sugar Bowl they lost 41-14 to LSU. In three BCS bowls, Notre Dame has given up over 38 points per game and lost by an average margin of 24 points, never coming closer than 14. I doubt many nine-win teams from any BCS conference could do worse. That’s Pitt 2004 bad.

Of course it’s true that Notre Dame has always been matched against a higher-ranked opponent in their BCS games. Tough. If anything, these mismatches show just how undeserving they are of the automatic bids brought on by inflated rankings. Wisconsin in particular has to be pissed.

It’s official now. You can see the timeline of events here.

I find it hilarious that of all things he’s catching a lot of heat for “lying” and bailing on his Miami commitment for a higher-paying job. Isn’t this the world of sports we’re talking about?

What does it mean for Georgia? There are a few angles.

Recruiting
Saban will increase Alabama’s recruiting presence to some degree. They might or might not get the same caliber of classes they had at LSU, but that’s irrelevant right now. What I think it will mean is a bit more pressure on prospects from the state of Georgia either directly from Alabama or indirectly as Auburn and some others feel the trickle-down from recruiting success in Tuscaloosa.

UGA vs. Alabama
Bama makes a coaching change just in time for Georgia to visit Tuscaloosa. While it’s a bit much to expect Saban to turn things around in the first month of his first season, consecutive home games against Arkansas and Georgia will be his first tests, and of course he will be at his best for those games. 2008 could be even more interesting. If Saban has Bama rebuilt well enough to have the kind of second season that guys like Richt and Meyer had, the 2008 game in Athens with a junior Stafford leading Georgia could be a classic. There is some precedent in Saban’s past. His first year at LSU was decent enough with a trip to the Peach Bowl, but he won the SEC in his second season.

SEC Balance of Power
To be honest, I don’t think this hiring will cause tremendous shockwaves in the SEC. Bama has a ways to go to catch up with Auburn and LSU. Tuberville’s not exactly shaking; he’s 3-2 vs. Saban. Even if they do make up some ground, things won’t be much different than they were in the early 2000s – just swap Franchione for Les Miles. A lot of pressure will be on Arkansas to keep up – that Sept. 15, 2007 Alabama-Arkansas game will be a fight for territory in the SEC West.

There were a lot of big plays by both teams in Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. Georgia had them on offense, defense, and special teams in the second half. But the biggest play might have been a simple pass on a short drive that resulted in no points.

Entering the third quarter, Georgia hadn’t managed a first down and only two yards of offense since its first drive. They had no running game to speak of, and passes were either intercepted, dropped, or off the mark. Through turnovers and special teams Virginia Tech had scored three times with a short field. The second half didn’t start much better. A short kickoff return gave the ball to the Dawgs on their own 16 yard line. Two plays only moved the ball three yards. Georgia faced third-and-seven from their own 19, and they hadn’t converted a third down all evening.

Then Matthew Stafford hit Mario Raley for a 24-yard pass down the seam. The pass itself was impressive enough. Any flatter and it would have been tipped by a linebacker. Any more time in the air and a defensive back would have made a play on the ball. It was Stafford’s best-thrown ball to that point, and it would be the first in a series of beautiful second half passes. Then there was the catch. Raley was hit and dropped as soon as he caught the ball. This was the same Mario Raley who less than two months ago was knocked motionless and carted off the field at Kentucky after catching another pass across the middle of the field. To most watching it was just a nice completion, but those familiar with the shot Raley took in Lexington know how truly impressive it was that he made this play and hung on to the ball.

Raley’s reception didn’t result in a score; Georgia advanced the ball as far as midfield before they had to punt. But the effect of the play was to flip the field and force a Virginia Tech offense that had operated from midfield or better for much of the first half to start their first third quarter drive from their own 10. It started a series of events that changed the game. Georgia’s defense held. Virginia Tech had to punt from their own 18. Mikey Henderson returned the punt 20 yards. On the next play, Stafford hit Brannan Southerland down the middle for 26 yards, and Georgia soon started an incredible string of 28 consecutive points to beat their third consecutive ranked opponent.

We’ll all remember the onside kick or the many stellar defensive plays or the long pass to Milner, but it all started with a pass to a nearly-forgotten senior receiver who shook off one of the most devastating and scary moments a football player can experience to go back across the middle and come up big in his last game.

If you’ve got another underrated play that featured into the win, be sure to leave a comment.

As Alabama fans continue the Saban vigil, I have to wonder when he became the end-all of coaching candidates. Two SEC titles and share of a national title are impressive. On the other side of the ledger is a record of losing at least three games per season at LSU except in 2003. Fine coach, certainly, but I’m not sure if he’d even be the best coach in the state of Alabama. Maybe I’m just bracing for it, but you and I know that if Saban returns to the SEC he will immediately be fawned over on a scale that will make the Urban Meyer worship seem muted.