The Associated Press

ATLANTA - The Georgia Bulldogs know they can win one championship today. If things go well, they could wind up playing for the biggest title of all.

The scenario presents an interesting dilemma for coach Mark Richt.

Bulldogs coach Mark Richt knows the players, assistants and even he will spend at least part of the afternoon glued to the television, watching the Miami-Virginia Tech game.

If No. 1 Miami loses to Virginia Tech today, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs (11-1) will go into the Southeastern Conference championship game knowing a victory over No. 22 Arkansas might give them a spot in the national title game.

"It would be foolish of me to think the players won't be paying attention to the Miami game," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said Friday.

The Miami-Virginia Tech game kicks off five hours before the SEC championship. Georgia, third in the Bowl Championship Series standings, is hoping to claim a spot opposite Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. To do that, the Hurricanes must lose.

"We realize that if Virginia Tech wins, we're going to be a little more excited for our game," Richt said. "If Miami wins, we'll probably be a little down. Hopefully, it won't be anything that keeps us from playing a good game."

Richt spent the week stressing to his players the importance of winning the SEC title, which hasn't happened at Georgia since 1982 - the longest championship drought in school history.

"This opportunity hasn't come around as much as we'd like," Georgia offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "We hope it's not a rare occurrence from now on. We hope this is the beginning of something special for this program."

Arkansas (9-3) didn't look special when it started 1-3 in the SEC, but its six-game winning streak earned it a spot in the SEC title game.

The Razorbacks finished with an improbable 21-20 victory over LSU that clinched the Western Division. They scored in the final minute, hitting a couple of long passes to stun the Tigers.

Star safety Ken Hamlin hopes Arkansas can pull off another surprise.

"We're just hoping the angels are watching over us one more time and make something happen," he said.

If the Razorbacks are going to make something happen offensively, they'll need a big game from Jones. At 6-foot-5, 225-pounds, the sophomore quarterback is deceptively fast and does more damage with his legs than his arm.

"Guys will have a clean shot at him and they just slide off," Richt said. "Even if you have a clean shot at him, there's no guarantee you're going to make the play. You've just got to hold your breath and hope you tackle him."

Jones has gained 588 yards, ranking second on the team behind 1,00-yard runner Fred Talley. The Razorbacks led the SEC with an average of 243 yards per game on the ground; on the other hand, they have the league's most puny passing attack.

Georgia is more balanced with quarterback David Greene (the league's top-ranked passer) and their own 1,000-yard rusher in Musa Smith. In addition, the Bulldogs have an experienced line and are especially deep at receiver, where Terrence Gibson, Fred Gibson and Michael Johnson form a formidable trio. That group will be bolstered by the return of Damien Gary, who missed the last four games recovering from a torn leg muscle.

Defensively, the Bulldogs sent out one of the league's best front sevens. End David Pollack is a finalist for the Bronco Nagurski Trophy. Linebacker Boss Bailey was a semifinalist for both the Butkus and Lombardi awards. Johnathan Sullivan, a 299-pound tackle, is so effective in the middle that most teams are forced to double-team him.

"Their defensive line is one the best in the league," Talley said. "I really can't find any faults with them."

While Georgia was a solid eight-point favorite, Richt reminded his team what happened in last year's SEC championship game. Tennessee squandered a chance to play for the national title by falling to an LSU team with three losses.

Sound familiar?

"The psychology is not very good any time you're the favorite," Richt said. "We're battling a team that has a lot to prove. At the same time, we have a lot to prove ourselves. It's been such a long time since Georgia won a championship."

Maybe they'll win two.

PAC-10: The Bruins can play the spoiler's role against the Cougars today at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, and they've never had so many fans.

There's Southern California, which will play in the Rose Bowl if the Bruins win.

There's Notre Dame, which probably will be invited to a Bowl Championship Series game if UCLA wins.

And there's the Rose Bowl, which probably will lose Iowa to the Orange Bowl if No. 7 Washington State wins.

"I don't worry about us in this game to help or not help anyone in the BCS," said UCLA coach Bob Toledo, whose team is looking for its eighth victory of the season. "We've got a lot of motivation, too. There are a lot of good things that can happen. Our seniors have never won eight games."

The Cougars also are motivated. They can clinch a Rose Bowl berth.

"It's kind of an unusual situation. We've got to win in the Rose Bowl to come back to the Rose Bowl," WSU coach Mike Price said.

BIG 12: The conference title game between Colorado and Oklahoma could feature a battle of running backs. But Chris Brown won't be a part of it.

Brown, Colorado's All-Big 12 running back, will miss today's game because of a bruised sternum. Still, the No. 12 Buffaloes have standouts Marcus Houston and Brian Calhoun to balance Oklahoma's Quentin Griffin, also an All-Big 12 selection. Calhoun had a surprising 137 yards in Colorado's victory over Nebraska.

"I knew I had it in me, but I didn't know when I was going to do it," Calhoun said. "I'm just happy that I came out playing like that and had a total team win."

Griffin ran for at least 100 yards in every conference game this season for No. 8 Oklahoma. Billy Sims and Steve Owens are the only other Sooners to do that.

MID-AMERICAN: Toledo wants to pressure Marshall's Byron Leftwich in today's Mid-American Conference championship. And the Thundering Herd say that's fine with them.

Leftwich's quick release has burned opponents for 3,615 yards and 22 touchdowns in just 10 games, and that earned him player-of-the-year honors Friday for the second consecutive season. Though he hasn't fully recovered after injuring his lower leg Nov. 2, his arm is just fine.

"He's so adept at the line of scrimmage that if you blitz him, somebody's band's going to play. It's usually ours," Marshall coach Bob Pruett said. "Byron might get a headache from it, but he's going to get the ball off."

Still, the Rockets are stressing they must get to the quarterback.

"It's a huge deal," Toledo linebacker Tom Ward said. "You can't let a quarterback like Byron Leftwich sit back in the pocket and pick you apart. He'll do that all day."

ARMY-NAVY: Both the Cadets and Midshipmen are 1-10, but that hasn't decreased the excitement for today's game.

"This is the game you keep in the back of your mind all year," Navy quarterback Craig Candeto said. "This is simply the big game of the season."

Army has won 11 of its last 16 meetings with Navy and holds a 49-46-7 series lead.

This will be the fourth Army-Navy game at East Rutherford, N.J. Navy has won two of the three.