Auburn vs. Georgia: Could Mark Richt Go from Coaching Hot Seat to Coach of Year?

After already starting the 2011 college football season with a pretty warm seat, Mark Richt's chair was white-hot after the Georgia Bulldogs started 0-2 this year. However, since then it has slowly cooled down as Richt's Bulldogs have won seven straight, ascending to No. 15 in the current BCS standings. This amazing turnaround has many asking if Richt could potentially win SEC Coach of the Year.

As a longtime defender of Richt, I have been glad to see him lead this resurgence. Thanks in large part to an SEC schedule that omitted both the LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia has a good chance to finish the season with 10 straight wins heading into a potential SEC Championship Game.

Just Win, Baby

First things first, the Georgia Bulldogs have still got to finish this season off. Whether you want to admit it or not, the Bulldogs' winning streak has been aided by an easy schedule. Seven straight games against unranked opponents is something you rarely see from an SEC team, but that's what happens when the three teams from the opposing division that you don't play happen to all be ranked in the top 10.

However, the closing of the season presents two major challenges for the Bulldogs. Georgia of course faces the No. 20 Auburn Tigers today in Athens, and then closes the regular season as always against the rival Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who sit at No. 21 but just lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies on Thursday.

If they can beat Auburn and Georgia Tech (in Atlanta) and the easier game against the 4-5 Kentucky Wildcats sandwiched in between, the Bulldogs would likely face the No. 1 LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship Game.

The Prospects

If Georgia loses badly to LSU in the SEC Championship Game, it'll be hard for Richt to beat out Les Miles for Coach of the Year. Miles will have led his team to a 13-0 finish, with wins over eight ranked teams, including three in the top 10 (Alabama, Oregon, Arkansas).

If Georgia upsets LSU, the honor will almost certainly be Richt's. He'll have led one of the biggest turnarounds in recent college football history (reminiscent of Frank Beamer's work at Virginia Tech last year).

But if Georgia keeps it close with LSU, who knows what could happen. There could be a situation where the coaches and media pick different winners, as happened last year with Gene Chizik and Steve Spurrier.

Either way, it's pretty amazing we're discussing Mark Richt as a potential SEC Coach of the Year candidate with three games left in the season, considering his head was pretty firmly on the chopping block just two months ago.