ESPN Analyst Ranks Two Georgia Football Teams as the Best Without a National Title

According to this ESPN analyst, the Georgia Bulldogs have a pair of teams among the best to never win a national championship.

The Auburn Tigers made headlines earlier this week, as the program claimed a handful of national titles from numerous decades. Notably, the 2004 season, where the Tigers finished the year undefeated, but were omitted from the BCS National Championship.

Auburn's decision to claim a handful of titles as their own sparked a thought from ESPN analyst Matt Stinchcomb: "What other SEC teams could claim a national title?" To answer this question, the analyst revelead a list of the top five best SEC teams to never win a national title.

The Georgia Bulldogs had a pair of teams make the list, as the Dawgs' 2002 squad was ranked fifth-best, and the team's 2017 roster ranked fourth. A notable omission from the list was Georgia's 2023 roster, which finished the regular season undefeated and missed the College Football Playoff after just a three-point loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship.

During the 2002 season, Georgia boasted a record of 13-1, which included dominant wins over Arkansas and Florida State in the SEC Championship and Sugar Bowl, respectively. Unfortunately, the Dawgs regular season loss to Florida was enough to hold them out of the BCS National Championship.

Georgia's 2017 team was also a team that came extremely close to a national title victory. The Dawgs made it all the way to a national championship appearance against Alabama, but ultimately suffered an overtime loss.

One of the more controversial moments of the game came in the third quarter, when Georgia's Tyler Simmons blocked a punt, which would have placed the Dawgs in excellent field position with a chance to extend their two-score lead. Unfortunately, Simmons was called offside, despite the replay showing he never crossed the line of scrimmage.

While Georgia is unlikely to follow in Auburn's footsteps and claim national titles it never actually won, Stinchcombs list is an unfortunate reminder as to how close Bulldogs teams of the past have come to winning the national championship.