ATHENS, Ga. --- The two national football title rings are kept zipped up in a bank bag stowed away in a closet in Mark Richt's home.

They're kept right along with some 30 other rings: two decades worth of bowl bling accumulated with Florida State and Georgia teams that almost annually were still playing in January.

The Bulldogs' coach brought out his Seminoles national championship rings from 1993 and 1999 to show to his team prior to the 2002 season -- before it won its first Southeastern Conference title in 20 years and finished No. 3 in the nation.

If another national title ring isn't deposited in Richt's bag after this season, there is bound to be disappointment from Albany to Zebulon, from Brasstown Bald to the Golden Isles.

That's what happens when you roll into the season with a No. 1 ranking.

Most of the key ingredients are back from a team that ended last season as hot as any in the land, a team that is still riding a seven-game winning streak and could be as deep in talent as it's ever been.

"It's a question of not if we can do it, but how and when," linebacker Rennie Curran said. "From what we accomplished last year, just knowing what we can do when we all focus and all come together and just have good team chemistry, there's definitely a lot more focus on doing big things."

It doesn't get any bigger than hoisting that Waterford Crystal trophy.

After finishing last year ranked No. 2 and returning 16 starters, not including offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant, who was lost for the year with a knee injury during summer camp, it has become almost a case of national title or bust. Even with a schedule that looks quite fierce on paper.

"If we go 11-1 and don't win the national championship, is there a disappointment in the Georgia fan base? Yes," Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said. "But I don't think they're disappointed in the program itself. If the record was really bad this year because the expectations were so high -- and I'll let you figure out what a really bad record would be for Georgia -- then there would be a 'Was it a bust?' "

Expectations everywhere

When you play or coach at Georgia, the thirst for winning is as much a part of the program as the hedges or Uga.

"Every year there's high expectations because of playing at the University of Georgia, but this year has a little extra spice to it because of the buzz," senior tight end Tripp Chandler said. "We're happy to have it. You definitely want to be in the position we're in."

When the BCS title game ends Jan. 8 in Miami, Georgia wants to be the third SEC team to celebrate in as many years. Especially because it felt like it got the shaft when it was left out of the BCS title game last year.

"I think guys have their swagger," defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. "Guys have a chip on their shoulders. We know what we're here to accomplish and we know our goals."

In the past 12 years, five national champions have come from the SEC, with Louisiana State University and Florida winning the past two. Before that, LSU (2003), Tennessee (1998) and Florida (1996) captured titles.

Is Georgia next?

"For me, there's a window of opportunity here for a couple of years -- this year and next year," said Buck Belue, quarterback of the Bulldogs' 1980 national championship team. "I think they line up and have as good a shot as anybody. I think they're just so strong and deep all across the board that they've got a window of opportunity of a year or two here to make a run at it."

That sense of what Georgia could do this year has brought a level of anticipation not seen since the glory days of the early 1980s.

"The level of excitement going on right now, I've never experienced it since I've been associated with Georgia. Period," said Evans, who played receiver at Georgia from 1988-92.

No stranger to winning

Richt, who is 72-19 in seven seasons at Georgia, knows about winning at a rapid clip. He's done it at a rate that puts him in the best of the best in college football.

He's fourth among winningest active coaches who have coached for at least five years.

Above him: Southern California's Pete Carroll, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Florida's Urban Meyer. Just below him: Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer, Florida State's Bobby Bowden, Penn State's Joe Paterno, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and Ohio State's Jim Tressell.

Richt is the Sergio Garcia of the group. He's the only one without a national title.

"Oh, yeah, everybody wants that," a relaxed Richt said days before Georgia began preseason practices. "Everybody wants that, but it's not going to define my life for sure. I guess it's up to other people to decide how it might define my career. I try to define my career by lives that have been affected in a positive way. I know you have to win to keep doing it."

All pieces in place

Georgia is well-positioned as the top-ranked team in the coaches' poll. Stumble early and you've got a shot to regain your footing and have less of a climb back.

The Bulldogs might have the best quarterback-running back combo in the country in Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno.

Nine starters are back from an underrated defense that shut down Hawaii and Colt Brennan in the Sugar Bowl.

It has a devoted fan base that fills up Sanford Stadium with more than 92,000 people every home game. It has a home state rich in talent to recruit and a growing national profile to lure elite prospects from Texas, New Jersey, Missouri and Massachusetts.

"Everything that we need to win and win big we have at Georgia," Richt told some 600 fans at a Bulldog Club gathering in Atlanta this preseason.

Yet the program hasn't won a national title since 1980. It has won two since 1942.

"After the first year (at Georgia), I was kind of like why not us?" Richt said. "Why can't we win the (SEC) East? Why can't we win the Southeastern Conference? Why can't we have a shot at playing at all in the end? But there's about seven or eight other teams in our league that can lay the same claim legitimately before the season starts.

If not now for Georgia, when?

"So much of it is knocking on the door," Belue said. "Sooner or later when you knock on the door, it opens for you. They've certainly been in the mix. Things just haven't fallen their way. I think this year and next, they've got a chance to see that door open for them."

If Georgia busts through that door, there will surely be some corks popping and cigars lit. If they are the outside looking in, they will return to the grind and go for it again next year.

"We win one, we're going to come back and go to work," offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. "We lose one, we're going to come back and go to work. At the end of the season, we're going to hopefully celebrate a good year."

AUG. 30

Georgia Southern

Bulldogs won by 20 in 2004

SEPT. 6

Central Michigan

Chippewas' first meeting with Georgia

SEPT. 13

at South Carolina

Bulldogs want revenge for last year's loss to Spurrier

SEPT. 20

at Arizona State

Sun Devils tough at home, and this is a trap game

SEPT. 27

Alabama

Mark Richt 3-0 against Tide

OCT. 11

Tennessee

Vols have won past two games in Athens

OCT. 18

Vanderbilt

Breather for Bulldogs on homecoming

OCT. 25

at LSU

Tigers 26-2 on the Bayou past four seasons

NOV. 1

Florida

Gators would love to spoil Georgia's season

NOV. 8

at Kentucky

Wildcats in a rebuilding year

NOV. 15

at Auburn

How will Tigers respond to 2007 Blackout?

NOV. 29

Georgia Tech

Bulldogs seek longest winning streak in series

COLLEGE PREVIEWS

This is the first in a series of previews of area college football teams.

TODAY: Georgia

MONDAY: South Carolina

TUESDAY: Georgia Southern

WEDNESDAY: Georgia Tech

THURSDAY: Clemson