Not since Forrest Gump was recruited out of Greenbow, has there been so much excitement about Alabama football.

The Crimson Tide arrive in Athens this weekend with a legendary head coach (just ask him) a vaunted running game and all the history of quite possibly the all time best program ever in college football. That's right, I'll repeat. Quite possibly the all time best program ever in college football. I know that comes as a shock to you Gator fans that I would make a statement like that, but there was football before Steve Spurrier in the swamp. Check the record books. Ya'll sucked.

Anyway...

Here come Alabama! And as much as we give Bama fans and their passion for the game a hard time, it's difficult not to respect how they have turned things around. Since Gene Stallings left the program the revolving door of head coaches would have made George Steinbrenner scratch his head. There's been Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchoine, Mike Price, Mike Shula, Joe Kines and now St. Nick. Why? Because they have all lived in the shadow of the Bear who led the Tide to six national titles in the 60's and 70's and in the shadow of Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas before Bryant. All in all, Alabama has won 12 national championships.

To best understand how things work in Tuscaloosa, consider this: Here in the great state of Georgia (and we are the best in the nation by far, in by biased view), we have the Georgia Bulldogs, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and another team that I heard plays football off of North Avenue in Atlanta, but the name escapes me right now.

In Alabama they have the Crimson Tide and Auburn. That's it.

With all due respect to Auburn, Alabama is the premier program. The Crimson Tide are the New York Yankees of the state. So if the t-shirts that says "Got Nick?" make you snicker, then keep in mind this is the biggest thing going in the state. And there is nothing wrong with that.

So combine, the legend of Alabama, the passion of their fans, the fact that College Gameday will be in Athens, the Dawgs wearing black, two top 10 teams, and a night game at Sanford Stadium...and you have all the makings of what should be a memorable night between the hedges. Let's just hope its good memories for the Dawgs. And if that is the case, celebrate long and hard and intervene with any Alabama fan who contemplates committing suicide.

TEMPE, AZ---Our AirTran Airways flight touched down at 8:15 p.m. local time here in Phoenix Friday night.

"Welcome to Phoenix," the captain said. "It's 95 degrees."

A moan rushed through the plane full of mostly drunk Georgia Football Fans.

So here we are. The South has arrived out West. We bring with us a passion for college football that is second to none as well as the ability to swill beer with the best of 'em. Oh, we also, as always, bring a group of beautiful women. Girls who attend Georgia games are...well, let's just say next to watching the game, watching them is my favorite Autumn Saturday afternoon pastime.

It's hard to say how the Dawgs will fare here in the desert. But one thing we know for sure, Pac Ten football, as we say in the Deep South: "Just ain't it."

I will go to my grave believing that football in the western part of the US--except for Southern Cal--is far inferior to the football we play in the SEC. Despite the orange-clad hillbillies from Knoxville to UCLA on Labor Day, our type of football is superior. The Dawgs games against Boise State and Hawaii over the past few years have supported that idea. I know the WAC teams are not like Pac Ten teams, but the margin of difference is not that much.

Let's face it: if you're an Arizona State fan, you look forward to the USC game, the Arizona game and, on occasion, the game against Oregon. That's it. There is no regular battle with the likes of UGA, Florida (gag), Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Tennessee.

Last weekend, after the Dawgs pounded and bled their way to a win over South Carolina, a friend of mine was told by another fan that, "the SEC is down this year."

Hmm...last time I checked...the SEC had five of the top ten teams in the nation.

Mind you, I am not the type to want to: "Win one for the SEC." I want to win one for Georgia. I could care less about how many games the other teams in the SEC win. As a matter of fact, I want every other team in the conference to LOSE every weekend. But the fact is SEC football is superior.

Don't need a "moron" at ESPN to tell me otherwise. Don't have to have a Dawgs win to prove it.

If we lose, then our National Championship hopes will take a hit. That's the bad news. The good news, win or lose, we get to return to the South where the women are beautiful, the beer is cold and the football is still in the best in the nation.

Central Michigan defensive back Vince Agnew has become the modern day Bill Bates.

It started out innocently enough. The sophomore seemed to have a good position to take down UGA's Knowshon Moreno during his third quarter run on Saturday at Sanford Stadium. But Moreno gave him the hip, Agnew bit and WOOSH!

Oh...my...God!

It happened so quickly even ESPN missed it.

From that moment on, the final score of the bludgeoning of Central Michigan was irrelevant. The leap or The Hurdle was the story of the day.

Moreno, who understates and shrugs off everything, said The Hurdle was nothing special. Yeah. Right. Keep in mind, Moreno is the most modest running back you will ever talk to.

Most interviews with Moreno on media day go something like this:

"So, Knowshon, talk about that 52 yard run and the touchdown."

"Great downfield blocking and the offensive line really did their job."

"Okay, how about the 75 screen pass where you spun six times and ran past six players for your third touchdown of the game?"

"The offensive line did its job. Had it not been for them, the play would have gone nowhere."

Alrighty...one final thing. You were seen in Kroger on Sunday buying Yogurt. Is that a major staple of your diet?"

"I could have never made it to the dairy case if it wasn't for the blocking and my teammates..."

I think you get the picture about the talented lad from New Jersey.

If this would have happened in the 60's or before, The Hurdle by Moreno at the end of his 29 yard run in the third quarter would have taken a life of its own. Dawgs fans that day in attendance would have become novice Larry Munsons. "Bob, I swear, he jumped 200 feet in the air, did a pirouette and landed like a ballerina on the head of the defender. The fans were so stoked the stadium started to crumble!"

But since we are in the too-much information age, we can view The Hurdle again and again and again.

Now on Saturdays at Sanford Stadium, during the Battle Hymn of the Georgia Bulldog Nation, there will be two landmark plays to watch on the video board. Herschel Walker running over Bill Bates invokes the cry of "BOOM" from the Sanford Stadium crowd. Knowshon Moreno leaping Vince Agnew will invoke much the same response. Count on it.

My oldest son called me from his home in New York City after the Georgia Southern game on Saturday. He, like everyone else in my home, is passionate about UGA Football. He's a graduate of the Grady School of Journalism and goes to a bar for UGA fans in New York to watch the games on weekends.

I missed his call. However, his younger brother told me my oldest was upset about the way the Dawgs played on Saturday.

He wasn't the only one.

So it got me wondering what as fans we are looking for in this team

What score would have been big enough? How many yards did we need? Should we have shut out the Eagles? Left them for dead?

This number one ranking, for as long as it will last, is getting to be just a big pain in the butt. By the time we get to Columbia in two weeks, we will not have thought much about the Georgia Southern game. By the time Tennessee arrives, we will not even remember that much about the game. And that because in the "grand scheme" of things, it doesn't mean a thing. Sure, we beat the Eagles, but did anyone think otherwise? No it wasn't a blowout, but keep in mind, Mark Richt is not like Steve Spurrier. He won't back the truck up over you after he has run you over.

So I would say to the Bulldog Nation: Settle Down. But I know better. We worry and stress and second guess and hide our eyes at the bad parts. Before you know it well will be having to go to Baton Rouge and then the real worrying can begin. See, as far as being number one is concerned, that is out of our control. The only thing in our control is winning the SEC Title. A title that might not be too far way.