What’s the biggest indication that Georgia has re-emerged as a national power on the college football scene?

When a trip to the Sugar Bowl is considered a downer.

Speaking for me, this isn’t a bad gig. It certainly beats spending a week in Jacksonville for the TaxSlayer Bowl (no offense to those fine folks). Although the older one gets, soaking in all the ambiance of Bourbon Street as this sports writer did as a younger man doesn't hold the appeal it once did.

Nevertheless, the Sugar Bowl doesn’t hold the same pizazz for some, since the College Football Playoffs have come on the scene. Among those are fans of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Once your team earns the coveted berth as one of the nation’s four best programs—and in Georgia’s case advances to the Championship—missing out the following year can be a bitter pill, especially given that the Bulldogs obviously remain one of the finest teams in the land.

Losing to Alabama in the manner UGA did only added to the frustration.

Many have asked how the players feel. What’s their take? Are the Bulldogs excited to be playing in the Sugar Bowl? Are the Bulldogs motivated?

Kirby Smart was asked that very question last week.

“You know, it's just very different. It's a very delicate situation, because you have to make football meaningful and fun,” Smart said. “To us, there's a ton meaningful about an opportunity to play another football game, to increase your legacy as a senior class, to be one of those three most winning senior classes ever to come through here. There's value in that. But sometimes, with the senior class, you have to be careful they don't see it as punishment.”

Honestly, it doesn’t appear that they do.

In conversations with Jake Fromm and Andrew Thomas – two of Georgia’s best leaders – each player seemed genuinely excited to play in the game.

They haven’t been the only ones.

Players from Eric Stokes and Solomon Kindley to Charlie Woerner all echoed words similar to Thomas and Fromm. For them, the Sugar Bowl against Texas is an opportunity not only to end the season on a positive note, but perhaps even more importantly, a chance to make a statement heading into 2019.

So yes, this game matters. Damn straight it does. Suggesting otherwise means you don’t really know Smart, or the players who bust their tail under him very well.

The Sugar Bowl has the potential to be a building block for what could be an even more memorable season in 2019.

So while it’s understandable to be disappointed in playing in the Sugar Bowl because it’s not part of the college football playoff rotation—don’t take Georgia’s opportunity against Texas for granted. The Bulldogs certainly aren’t.

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By now, everyone’s tired of the situation involving Justin Fields and the speculation about his likely transfer to another school.

After giving it a lot of thought, here’s my personal take. I mentioned this Sunday, but it bears repeating.

Wherever Fields goes, he’s going to have competition. That’s why I’m not sure he’s going to get on the field any sooner somewhere else. Fields wants to play, and I’ll never blame any kid for wanting that opportunity. But if he leaves and his waiver falls through, he’s going to basically be on the sideline the same amount of time had he stayed at UGA.

As far as staying and redshirting, I personally think that would be a good idea, especially if he can’t guarantee himself a starting job next year (and again assuming he would get a waiver). I just don’t see him wanting to do that. Justin would do well, in my opinion, to talk to D.J. Shockley before making any decision. Given Shockley went through an almost identical situation playing behind David Greene, there’s absolutely nobody better for Fields to consult.

Unfortunately, it’s probably too late.

Truthfully, Fields is probably gone. It’s likely Georgia wouldn't have scrambled the way it did in the days leading up to Wednesday’s start of the early signing period to bring in Dwan Mathis and Stetson Bennett, if the Bulldogs didn’t already have a pretty good idea.

As long as Smart keeps recruiting at the level he is, you’re going to see a lot more of these scenarios play out.

That’s the price a program pays when its recruiting the best of the best, especially at quarterback, which is the most volatile position of all when it comes to players transferring in effort to find greener pastures.

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Georgia’s class of players that were added Wednesday qualify as some of nation’s best.

My personal favorite, however, is linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Dean’s signing certainly re-energized the way many were feeling about the Bulldogs’ Class of 2019, but even bigger than that is the impact this young man is going to make on the field.

While it would probably be unfair to lump Dean into the category of a young Roquan Smith when he first signed with the Bulldogs, this Mississippi five-star has a chance to be special—very special.

On Wednesday, Smart gushed about Dean in a way rarely seen from Georgia’s head coach.

Intangibles? Dean has plenty to spare.

“He has a great family. The first thing his family said was, 'Safety. Academics. Football.’ They wanted him to go to a safe, good campus, a wholesome campus. They know Georgia is that,” Smart said. “They believe in Georgia. They know the program we have. They really bought into Athens. And then the academics—he wants to be an engineering student. Where better to be an engineering student than the University of Georgia, and our engineering department has done a tremendous job at carving out how he can do it.”

Smart recalled a recent phone conversation he had with Dean, or at least attempted to have.

“We just had a young man graduate, Jackson Harris, with an engineering degree. Nakobe is a kid whom we'd call on the phone, and he'd say, 'Coach, I’m sorry I can’t talk tonight. I have to go work on my schoolwork. I have to maintain my 4.0,’” Smart said. “I mean, how many kids are going to say that? He does that a lot. He buys into the intangibles, and we're excited for what he brings to the table, like a lot of these guys.”

Keep an eye on Dean. This kid’s going to be good.