Head coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs are coming off a solid 11-2 campaign in 2007, which included a 41-10 blowout victory over Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. The Southeastern Conference powerhouse was also tabbed No. 1 in the USA Today poll.

Even though most pundits feel Georgia is the best team in the best conference, not everybody believes in Richt’s bunch.

The company that that sends out the opening lines to the majority of casinos for all sporting events wagered on in the state of Nevada, Las Vegas Sports Consultants, recently released their Preseason Top 30 College Football Rankings and some Georgia fans might be surprised.

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“I can remember in 2005 that everyone thought Tennessee was going to be one of the best teams in the country (#3 AP), they were coming off a 10-3 season and returned 17 starters. The Vols had a monster schedule, playing four ranked opponents on the road and wound up struggling to a 5-6 record,” stated LVSC Chief Operating Officer Kenny White.

“I think most handicappers rate their teams from the previous season ratings and add or subtract. Well everyone is adding to Georgia's rating and I'm subtracting. They lost starting LT Trinton Sturdivant, 3-yr starting FB Brannan Southerland for at least half of the season and on top of that they have numerous suspensions early. I think Southerland is a big key, he opens the holes. The suspensions will not hurt the team their first two games, but once those players return there will be a time period to get back the cohesion they had last season. It might be too late as they play at South Carolina and Arizona State early in the year.”

The Bulldogs were tabbed No. 7 by White and his team, one of six SEC teams listed in the Top 30 and two notches below another divisional foe Florida (5).

While ranking Georgia might make some locals in Athens unhappy, the biggest eye opener of the LVSC poll to this writer was the ranking of South Carolina at No. 14. Are the Gamecocks finally going to make the noise head coach Steve Spurrier has talked about since his arrival in Columbia?

White explained,” What's not to like about South Carolina? Spurrier has his best team since arriving in Columbia four years ago. Last year he felt Chris Smelley was his best quarterback and he lost some games because of inexperience. With that being said, Spurrier really likes junior Tommy Beecher, creating a great competition between the gunslingers. They'll both probably play and Spurrier will make it work. They return 10 starters on offense not including Smelley which would make 11 for me. The defense returns 11 starters if you count Jordin Lindsey (15 career starts) who redshirted last year.

“I feel Spurrier's offense will finally top the 30 PPG mark and the defense will allow less than 20 with new coordinator Ellis Johnson. The Gamecocks could be 7-0 or 6-1 going into a three-game homestand against LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas. I think there better than all three... They close the season at Florida and at Clemson, with a split they can finish 10-2 or 9-3.”

Along with the SEC, the Pac 10 and Big 12 also boated six schools listed in the LVSC poll.

Southern California took claim to the top spot, with Ohio State right behind. The Trojans and Buckeyes meet on Sept. 13 in arguably the biggest game of the regular season.

The Big East followed the trio of conferences above with four schools listed in the Top 30, while the Big 10 and ACC had three a piece. The Mountain West closed out the field with Brigham Young (11) and Texas Christian (17), who weren’t even listed in the AP Top 25.

Throughout the season, LVSC will update their rankings accordingly and you can bet that they’ll always differ from the AP and Coaches polls.

Below is a breakdown of the preseason poll with notes from White and his team below.

2008 Las Vegas Sports Consultants Preseason Top 30

LVSC Rank Team Rating Final 2007 Rank Notes 1 Southern Cal 112.9 1 Will O-line be ready for Buckeyes. 2 Ohio State 111.2 6 Sept 13th at USC will be their biggest test. 3 Oklahoma 109.7 5 Playing their A-game each week will lead them to Jan 8th. 4 Missouri 109.5 7 Everyone knows the O, however the D could be special. 5 Florida 109.4 8 Can anyone stop the Gators offense??? 6 West Virginia 108.6 3 Offense dominates again. D- Coorindinator Casteel retained. 7 Georgia 108.5 4 Suspensions may hurt cohesion later in season. 8 Texas 107.4 11 A top 10 offense, their weakness is in the secondary. 9 Texas Tech 107.0 15 At long last stability at QB in Lubbock. D also solid. 10 Clemson 106.8 15 Needs to avoid annual hiccup, but are loaded at skill positions. 11 Brigham Young 105.5 13 Cougars capable of big year and BCS appearance. 12 Kansas 105.3 9 Jayhawks will not sneak up on anyone. Great Linebackers! 13 Penn State 104.9 18 Lions quietly have won 9+ L3Y. Lost 2 DT to susp. 14 South Carolina 104.2 NR Spurrier's D is loaded with 3rd yr starters. QB controversy??? 15 LSU 104.1 2 Reloads on a yearly basis. Quarterback a big question mark. 16 Oregon 104.0 NR QB Roper fits O-Coorindinator Kelly's offense. Solid all around. 17 Texas Christian 103.8 NR Attention AP Voters!!! TCU 30-8 last 3 yrs & getting better. 18 Auburn 103.7 25 Brutal SEC schedule plus a trip to West Virginia. 19 South Florida 103.6 27 If QB Grothe stays healthy, Bulls have a chance at the BCS. 20 Wisconsin 103.1 20 Badgers always play to the level opposition. 21 California 102.7 24 Well coached. Reloading on offense. Moving to 3-4 on D! 21 Virginia Tech 102.7 10 Hokies looking for playmakers on both sides of the ball. 21 Tennessee 102.7 17 New up-tempo offense will take time to learn. 24 Arizona 101.6 20 New offense will let Tuitama will go wild. 25 Cincinnati 100.9 19 HC Brian Kelly was a great hire. New QB must fit system. 26 Rutgers 100.5 NR Rice is gone, however Schiano is still a Jersey Boy… 27 Arizona State 100.4 20 O-Line must improve. QB Carpenter back for senior year. 28 Oklahoma State 100.1 NR New season same story. Solid offense - weak defense. 29 Boston College 100.0 14 Too many losses on Offense. D will be even stingier. 30 Oregon State 99.9 20 HC Riley is 7-0 in bowls games. 4-0 as HC and 3-0 as OC. The next ten: Alabama, Utah, Wake Forest, Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State, UCLA, Florida State, Nebraska and Tulsa