For three days the Birmingham suburb will host SEC Media Days -- and with it the prestige of seven straight BCS championships, four of the last six Heisman Trophies and the clout of being THE conference in college football.
And even after an incredible 2012 season in which they came so painfully close to topping it all with an SEC crown (and what surely would have been a BCS title), Georgia football will ghost into Hoover as relative underdogs.
In any other conference, the Bulldogs would have earned red carpet status for this year's pre-show party by sheer weight of accomplishment alone. But in the glitz and glam of the SEC and the white-hot spotlight cast on characters like Nick Saban and Alabama and now on Johnny Manziel (which is a spotlight that is revealing a few ugly things on Manziel's part), Georgia is not the star attraction.
And that's probably just how Mark Richt likes it.
In fact, the coach, the team and the program in general seem to thrive when lightly regarded.
It's all relative, of course. Georgia will likely be a preseason top 10 in both polls and is amongst everyone's favorite to play for the SEC championship (which would be an unprecedented third straight for the Dogs), but until Georgia knocks Alabama from its perch (or whoever else is standing in the way that night in Atlanta), the Bulldogs will be cast in the supporting role.
There are plenty of supporting actors that may steal the show, however, and Georgia could be ready to do just that this season -- if it can stand up to September's early tests.
Opening at a talented and fired up Clemson, followed immediately by the SEC East acid test of South Carolina forms a one-two punch that few programs could withstand. There's also a visit from LSU on Sept. 28. In fact three of the Bulldogs' first four contests will likely come against top 10 programs. Should Georgia, and a young and untested (though talented) defense find a way through that gauntlet, the Bulldogs will very likely storm through the back half of the schedule -- which, while typically tough, shouldn't be anything unlike what Georgia has not seen to that point. (And, no, Gator fans I'm not discounting Florida. But the Bulldogs shouldn't be scared by anything in Jacksonville after what they will have already encountered by that point -- certainly not a Gators offense that has, so far, lacked any real dynamism under Will Muschamp's reign.)
The scary part for Georgia is that defense and special teams could well carry the key to 2013.
We already know that the Bulldogs possess an offense -- and, most importantly, a quarterback -- capable of exploiting even the best defenses (see last year's SEC title game). Unfortunately even the best offenses struggle to find rhythm in early season contests, which is why a young and speedy defense will have to come of age quickly. That also extends to Georgia's kicking game, which could be hobbled by the suspension of starting placekicker Marshall Morgan due to his arrest on Boating Under the Influence charges earlier this summer.
These are two big "ifs," and questions that Richt and his staff will be working feverishly to answer as fall practice begins in just a few weeks. For now, however, the Dogs will take the road to Hoover content in knowing that the spotlight, while bright, won't be burning. Leave that to Johnny "Football," Saban and a handful of others.
Should Georgia find a way to answer their early season tests, however, Richt and company better get used to the heat. They will have earned it.
-- Morgan Lee is sports editor for Access North Georgia.com
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray celebrates a touchdown pass during the 2012 season.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/7/263557