Thanks to back-to-back National Championship wins, Georgia opened the 2023-24 season as the number-one ranked team in the nation and has spent much of the season in that spot. However, some sluggish performances allowed the Ohio State Buckeyes to move up in the rankings of late. Will this have an impact on the Bulldogs going forward? Let’s take a look.
How We Got Here
Aside from Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State, no team has had more success than the Georgia Bulldogs since Kirby Smart came to town in 2016. After an 8-5 opening season, Smart led the Bulldogs to the National Championship game in his second season, falling in overtime to the Tua Tagovailoa-led Crimson Tide.
Smart had the Bulldogs up towards the top of the rankings for the next three seasons but could not take that next step until 2021. Led by Stetson Bennett, the Bulldogs dominated Alabama in the National Championship Game, their first national title since 1980 and their second overall. Georgia repeated in more dominant fashion, beating TCU 65-7 in one of the Bulldogs’ best games to repeat as champions.
The game capped off a monumental career from Bennett but also marked a change in the guard as the senior left for the National Football League. Smart replaced Bennett with redshirt junior Carson Beck, who entered the season with just 58 college pass attempts to his name. Beck has been up to snuff, logging a 167 passer rating in 10 starts, with 18 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions. However, the team has struggled against some lesser competition.
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Undefeated but Beatable
The Bulldogs found themselves ranked second in the College Football Playoff Rankings while staying atop the Associated Press Coaches Poll. They didn’t fall to number two because of a loss, as they carry a 27-game winning streak into the season’s final weeks. Instead, the Bulldogs dropped in the rankings thanks to a few close calls against lower-level competition.
The first challenge came against Spencer Rattler’s South Carolina Gamecocks. The former Oklahoma quarterback carried a 14-3 lead into the half before Georgia fought back and won by 10 points. They found themselves in a similar hole against Auburn a few weeks later, trailing 10-0 after the first quarter. Beck again led a comeback, winning by seven points. They beat the 14th-ranked Missouri Tigers by nine points in a tightly contested game before hammering the 10th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels 52-17 in their most commanding win of the season against a ranked team. Running back Kendall Minton was phenomenal in that contest, rushing for 127 yards on just nine carries, scoring twice.
Why Was Ohio State Ranked Higher?
While the Bulldogs had some hiccups against lesser teams early in the year, their demotion to number two in the College Football Playoff Rankings was a surprise, as they didn’t lose their top spot in the AP poll. Georgia has been the top-ranked team for the past 22 weeks, the second-longest streak for any team in the 87-year history of the poll. So why was Ohio State given the nod?
Put simply, the college football playoff rankings differ from the AP Coaches Poll. A committee voted to determine the ranking that favored the Buckeye’s early season wins against Notre Dame and Penn State. The Bulldogs had played a weaker schedule until the first playoff ranking vote, so those wins mattered in the eyes of the committee.
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How Does The Ranking Impact Georgia Going Forward?
Well, it won’t really impact them at all. The early season rankings aren’t all that consequential, especially in situations like this. Playing in the Southeastern Conference means that Georgia’s schedule is backloaded with difficult games, as the SEC is the best conference in the nation. Since that ranking, the Bulldogs have won two games against ranked opponents and will have a chance to win a third against Tennessee and, ultimately, a fourth if they play in the SEC Championship. With those wins, Georgia will almost certainly be the #1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.
What Georgia Has To Do To Threepeat
The Bulldogs were the preseason favorites and have been ranked first all season. They have won 27 straight games, a streak that only three teams since 2000 have bested. They will likely have the easiest path to the National Championship Game if they secure the number one seed, which projects them to face Washington or Florida State in the playoffs. However, to do that, they need to take care of business against a ranked Tennessee team and finish up another SEC Championship. If they can do those things, fans won’t remember this number two ranking for very long.
Looking Forward to The Playoff
We are just a few weeks away from college football postseason play, meaning it is crunch time for all the teams. It means a bit more for Georgia, as they are chasing the first three-peat in modern college football history. The only other team in history to win three straight championships is Minnesota from 1934-36. The path is clear for them to do so, and they control their destiny.
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