Once the Georgia football Bulldogs put the finishing touches on Hawaii in January’s Sugar Bowl, fans were already turning their attention to a possible championship season in 2008 — the SEC and national kind.

Who would’ve thought the school would have four countrywide crowns before football practice even started?

The Gym Dogs, as usual, claimed their fourth consecutive national title, which came as a surprise to absolutely no one. Then there was tennis and equestrian. But now those Diamond Dogs are starting to take on the look of a team determined to finish the season No. 1 in the land.

Certainly Georgia has a ways to go in Omaha, especially with the Stanford Cardinal providing the opposition today. But after rallying to defeat No. 1 Miami 7-4 Saturday at Rosenblatt Stadium, David Perno’s bunch could be the team to beat.

Trailing 4-3 in the top of the ninth, the No. 6 Bulldogs (42-23-1) tallied four runs to do what few teams ever do against the Hurricanes — win.

“Miami’s the best team we’ve played all year,” Perno said. “Up and down the lineup, they have tremendous hitters, a tremendous starter and they have a great bullpen. We had to coach every pitch. We played close to our identity and just kept battling, hanging in there and hoping the big inning would get there when we needed it to.”

In 2006 UGA went two-and-out in Omaha, and last year the club struggled to a losing season. When practice began for 2008 the team decided it was time to show the country they play a pretty good brand of baseball in Athens, and they are doing just that at just the right time.

In both Regional and Super Regional action the Dawgs found their hairy backs against the wall, but won when they had to. Against Miami they could’ve been forgiven for dropping into the losers bracket on opening night, but they weren’t interested in the Hurricanes’ gaudy stats or the fact that a lot of people had already penciled Miami in as champs.

All season long this club has shared the wealth in terms of stars, and on Saturday it was senior Ryan Peisel who won the day, going 3-for-5 with 4 RBI.

“That’s one of the best wins that I’ve ever been a part of and to do it on this stage like we did, competing for all nine innings, was a lot of fun,” he said. “We just battled all night. It was sweet redemption for a lot of us guys who went two and out in 2006.”

As I said this is far from a done deal. There are a lot of good teams in Omaha, none who are interested in going quietly.

But you have to like the Bulldogs’ chances.

With a men’s basketball team that earned the SEC Tournament title in incredible fashion, the best gymnastics team in the nation and a football team that’ll be the preseason No. 1 in many polls, it’s a great time to be a Georgia fan.

And right now, it’s the best time to be a Georgia baseball fan.