Joey Johnston

Even when very little is at stake (which, frankly, isn’t very often), the Florida-Georgia game is one of the best spectacles in college football. Half of the stadium at Jacksonville, Fla., is decked out in orange and blue — with the other half dressed in red and black.

You could describe the atmosphere as festive — but that wouldn’t do justice to the word “festive.’’ The game is called, after all, the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,’’ a time-honored nickname that organizers want to banish because, apparently, they just discovered some alcohol had been consumed on the premises.

Florida and Georgia generally can’t agree on anything — not even the all-time record in the series — but on one point, there’s little debate.

For only the fifth time in series history, both teams enter the game ranked in the Top 10. When the No. 5-ranked Gators (6-1, 4-1 SEC) meet the No. 8 Bulldogs (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday afternoon, it could be for the SEC East title. Down the line, that might mean a showdown with potentially-unbeaten Alabama for the conference title. And as every SEC-superiority theorist knows, a victory there (along with a few other chips falling) could ultimately put Florida or Georgia in Miami for the BCS championship game.

The stakes alone might make it the most significant Florida-Georgia game ever.

And that’s saying something.

This series has given us:

• “Fourth-and-Dumb’’ (Doug Dickey inexplicably going for a fourth-down play with a 27-14 lead in 1976, deep in Florida territory with the SEC title at hand, failing, then handing momentum to Georgia).
• Lindsay Scott (his miraculous 93-yard touchdown reception — on a hook pattern when a Gator defender fell down — preserved Georgia’s national-championship season when Herschel Walker was a freshman in 1980).
• Bulldogs getting in the head of Gators (Vince Dooley annually made his team out to be inferior, but generally had Florida’s number at game time).
• Gators getting in the head of Bulldogs (Steve Spurrier’s unmerciful giggling of Ray Goff triggered the transformation, when Florida won 11 times in his 12 seasons).

Oh, and of course, last season’s memory.

Georgia’s bench-clearing, on-field celebration after its first touchdown, seemingly triggering a wild and emotional 42-30 stomping of the Gators.

Georgia coach Mark Richt had ordered his starters to celebrate on the field when the Bulldogs scored a touchdown, even if it meant an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. But there was a slight misunderstanding. Georgia players thought Richt wanted everyone to celebrate. So when Knowshon Moreno poured into the end zone, the sea of Bulldog humanity followed and it looked like the beginning of a brawl.

The Gators — and Coach Urban Meyer — were befuddled. Georgia drew some yellow flags, all right, but Richt was fine with that. Georgia gained the emotional edge and Florida never seemed to recover.

Of course, Georgia’s 2007 celebration is a sub-plot this week. Predictably, Richt is downplaying the incident.

Meyer took it a step further.

Special feature Tebow time Take a look at the 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow on and off the field. NBCSports.com

He slapped a gag order on his players and coaches, prohibiting them from speaking about it.

One small problem with that.

Meyer himself made an issue long ago.

In “Urban’s Way,’’ an authorized biography written by Buddy Martin and released in the summer, Meyer’s emotions were evident.

“That wasn’t right. It was a bad deal. And it will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team."

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Not that Florida-Georgia ever needs a spark to ignite some passion from the fans, but Saturday’s game already has plenty of juice. There’s Florida’s Tim Tebow and Georgia’s Matthew Stafford, two of the nation’s top quarterbacks. There’s Moreno and Florida’s Percy Harvin, two of the nation’s most electrifying playmakers.

There’s 2008 national-title implications. There’s a revenge factor. There’s history galore.
If this game just approaches its expectations, it will only add to the considerable Florida-Georgia lore.

Q: What’s the most underrated rivalry in each of the BCS conferences?
— Bill from Los Angeles
A: Here’s my two cents, Bill (and I’ll even give you my take on each conference’s best rivalry).

• ACC’s underrated rivalry: Virginia Tech vs. Virginia. This Commonwealth battle has generally flown under the radar, but it’s as intense as they come. The stakes are higher, now that it has become a conference game. The Cavaliers must reverse the recent trend (they haven’t beaten the Hokies since 2003) if they hope to get more of a foothold in the state.
  ACC’s best rivalry: Florida State-Miami. No single game has had more national implications in the past 25 years. Shockingly, it has slowed down since it became a conference game, but the intensity will pick back up, trust me.
• Big East’s underrated rivalry: Tough one because many of the league affiliations are so new. I’ll go with West Virginia vs. South Florida. The Bulls have twice beaten the Mountaineers and this season’s meeting (Dec. 6 in Morgantown) will have plenty to say about the Big East’s BCS bowl berth.
  Big East’s best rivalry: Pittsburgh-West Virginia. The Backyard Brawl is a time-honored tradition and there’s genuine dislike between the programs.
• Big Ten’s underrated rivalry: Michigan vs. Michigan State. Seemingly, this should be one of the nation’s premier games, but it has lagged because of Wolverine dominance. Now it has restored juice after Michigan State won in Ann Arbor for the first time since 1990. 
  Big Ten’s best rivalry: Michigan-Ohio State. Need we say more?
• Big 12’s underrated rivalry: Kansas vs. Missouri. For years, this game was irrelevant because neither program was powerful. But for the players and fans, it has been a heated grudge match. Last season’s mega-game put the rivalry on a rare national stage. That won’t be duplicated this season, but you can bet Kansas is seeking to make its season with a victory against Missouri.
  Big 12’s best rivalry: Oklahoma-Texas. If you need more evidence, watch the tape of this season’s meeting from Oct. 11. Great stuff. And any rivalry game that has a state fair in the backdrop, well, that gets a thumbs-up in our book.
• Pac-10’s underrated rivalry: Oregon vs. Oregon State. Again, another game that has largely been irrelevant nationally. But the Civil War has great feeling and the conference race doesn’t seem to matter when the Ducks and Beavers get together.
  Pac-10’s best rivalry: UCLA-USC. Two major programs in the same city? That’s tough to duplicate anywhere. This is a glamorous matchup when both programs are rolling. Even when they are not, it features players who know each other well and want to make a reputation by defeating the cross-town rival.
• SEC’s underrated rivalry: Mississippi State-Ole Miss. It’s called the Egg Bowl and it certainly takes a back seat to the league’s more nationally prominent rivalries (Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Georgia, Auburn-Georgia, LSU-Alabama, etc.) But when a bowl bid is on the line — and even when it isn’t — this game can have the feeling of a national championship.
  SEC’s best rivalry: Alabama-Auburn. You’ve heard the story before — about the 365-day-a-year obsession in the state — and it’s true. I was fortunate enough to attend one Alabama-Auburn game and it remains one of the most spectacular sporting experiences in my life.

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