Handling the Hype: Can Georgia Football Run the Table at No. 1?

Georgia went 15-0 in 2022 but they started the year at No. 3. Facing a brutal schedule this fall, can the Bulldogs go unscathed at No. 1?

With Nick Saban now doing television and Jim Harbaugh off to the NFL, it feels hard to argue that Georgia is the preeminent program in college football. The team has won two out of the last three national titles and finished 13-1 in the one season they didn't win it all.

One thing Kirby Smart's program hasn't been able to do is run the table at No. 1, where they'll likely be ranked to start the season this fall. Georgia has been ranked preseason No. 1 twice in the past 20 seasons, 2008 and 2023.

2008's run famously came to an end early in the season when Georgia got smacked at home against an Alabama team on it's way to fifteen years of domination. The team would drop two more games, another blowout loss to Florida in Jacksonville and a home loss to Georgia Tech. They'd finish the season at 10-3 with a Orange Bowl win over Michigan State.

Georgia started No. 1 last season and held on to the ranking all the way through the regular season until they fell to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, dropping the team from No. 1 to No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff Rankings.

Now, in 2024, Georgia will likely be No. 1 to start the year when they face a good Clemson team in Atlanta. They'll have to navigate a tough schedule that features road games at Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Ole Miss, but the common factor that dropped them the last two times they tried to run the table at No. 1 is gone: Nick Saban. Could 2024 be the year Georgia goes wire to wire?

Follow Christian Goeckel on Twitter: @Goeckelsi

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