The Georgia Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 college football poll after winning back-to-back national championships. Here’s what you need to know:
- Georgia received 60 of 63 first-place votes in the poll, which was released Monday, as it tries to become the first team to win three consecutive AP poll national championships. It’s the second time Georgia has been the preseason No. 1 team, joining the 2008 squad.
- No. 2 Michigan (2) and No. 3 Ohio State (1) received the other first-place votes. No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 LSU round out the top five.
- Michigan, which is seeking its first national title since 1997, has its highest preseason ranking since 1991. This is only the second time in 11 seasons that Ohio State is not the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the preseason.
- This is the first time Alabama is ranked outside the preseason top three since 2009 when it started fifth and won the national title.
- TCU, which finished No. 2 last season after losing the national championship to Georgia, is ranked No. 17 in the preseason.
Full preseason AP Top 25 poll
- Georgia (60)
- Michigan (2)
- Ohio State (1)
- Alabama
- LSU
- USC
- Penn State
- Florida State
- Clemson
- Washington
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Utah
- Oregon
- Kansas State
- TCU
- Oregon State
- Wisconsin
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Tulane
- Iowa
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
GO DEEPER
Predicting what the AP Top 25 says about how 2023 will play out: Can Michigan top Georgia?
Georgia chasing history
No team has won three consensus national championships in a row since the first year of the AP poll’s existence in 1936, when Minnesota was voted No. 1 after winning non-poll national championship honors in 1934 and 1935. Some teams have come close — Vince Young and Texas denied USC a three-peat in 2005, for example, and Alabama and Nebraska have had runs of three titles in four seasons in the past 30 years — but it’s a massive hurdle to get over, even for a program that has amassed talent like the Bulldogs.
And though the team ranked No. 1 in the preseason is almost always a contender, rarely does it actually win the title. Georgia’s back-to-back championships have come after being ranked third and fifth in the preseason. The only preseason No. 1 teams to win national titles in the past 50 years have been 2017 Alabama, 2004 USC, 1999 Florida State, 1993 Florida State, 1985 Oklahoma, 1978 Alabama and 1974 and ’75 Oklahoma. Each of the past 10 preseason No. 1 teams have finished in the top seven, however. — Matt Brown, deputy managing editor and AP poll voter
What does Georgia need to do to three-peat?
The most immediate thing it needs is to avoid complacency: Last year, coming off the first championship, Kirby Smart borrowed a page from Michael Jordan and essentially made up slights, telling his players they weren’t being picked to go back to the CFP (even though they were) and then-senior Nolan Smith told his teammates they were being picked to go 7-5 (which Smith knew was ridiculous.) This year there are no such sources of motivation, as this and other No. 1 rankings show.
The schedule doesn’t help, as Georgia has no Clemson or Oregon to open the season. Instead, it’s UT Martin and then a succession of games that shouldn’t scare a team with Georgia’s talent. There are no obvious weaknesses, other than worries about starting a new quarterback. Of course, some concerns may emerge as the season goes on. For now, Smart’s message to his team is about itself, as he said after Saturday’s first preseason scrimmage.
“Today was about playing Georgia. You’re not going to play too many teams better than Georgia,” Smart said. “So, let’s go play Georgia and worry about that and not who our opponent is. Does that concern me? No, because I’m not worried about who we’re playing until about nine days out.” — Seth Emerson, Georgia beat writer
Required reading
(Photo of Brock Bowers: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)