This year's bowls help shape next season's polls

NEW ORLEANS -- The bowl season is a lot like the Iowa caucuses.

Both take place in midwinter. And both help shape the voters' choices in the fall.

That's why Georgia coach Mark Richt began stumping for his Bulldogs a few minutes after their resounding 41-10 victory over Hawaii in the Bourbon Street primary, otherwise known as the Sugar Bowl.

Normally, a tradition-laden Southeastern Conference squad wouldn't squawk much about pounding a Western Athletic Conference opponent. But Richt used the occasion as a platform to pander for votes.

"We hope we're ranked high preseason," Richt said. "I think we're going to return a very good football team."

Richt went on to say that projecting success in the SEC is "pretty brash. And I'm not going to do that. But I do think that we're going to have a more veteran team than we've had in awhile, and I think we'll have some good depth, and I think we'll have a chance to make a run at it."

The message Richt was trying to get across to the voters: don't forget the Dawgs when you fill out your ballots next summer.

This is one of the chronic problems in college football. You thought NASCAR was the only sport where poll position matters?

LSU finished second in the BCS standings, right where it began in the coaches and media polls last August. The Tigers' high preseason position came in handy when they lost -- twice.

Certainly, Richt knows this; Georgia was 13th in both preseason polls and couldn't overcome its 2 losses.

The voters can always surprise us, as this week's results from Iowa underscored. Just don't be stunned if UGA and Friends are No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today coaches poll next August.

Georgia's breathtaking mix of strength and speed in the Sugar will be among the passel of impressions left on the pollsters during this bowl season.

Pressed to make intelligent football decisions in the middle of baseball season, the voters pore over media guides and surf the Web until their eyes glaze. They read preseason magazines that go to press around Easter.

Many will make judgments based on what they saw this week.

It's only human. That's the last time any of these teams took a snap, not counting the spring game.

Coaches demand their players think about one game at time. Forget about next week, let alone next year.

Still, players understand their bowl performances will resonate for months.