Predicting the win total ceiling, floor for Georgia Bulldogs in 2024
The standards in Athens have been sky-high since Georgia head coach Kirby Smart led the Bulldogs to a national championship appearance in his second season with the team. Delivering two national titles since then as Georgia will pursue a third this year.
This upcoming season is loaded with changes surrounding the Bulldogs, to the SEC getting rid of divisions and adding Oklahoma and Texas to the fold and the College Football Playoff field expanding to 12 teams. A change that surely would have benefited Georgia last season following their controversial omission from the CFP.
Despite those changes, per usual, it’s going to be hard to bet against the Bulldogs. And while looking ahead at their 2024, On3’s Andy Staples and Cody Bellaire forecasted the potential floor and this season for Georgia.
CEILING: National championship
Georgia has firmly supplanted themselves in the national championship conversation annually following their recent success. Boasting a 42-2 record in the past three seasons with two national championships to their name, and nobody would be surprised if they were able to take home another in the 2024-2024 season.
“Obviously the ceiling is a national championship, is three national championships in four years,” Staples said.
Per usual Georgia faces the problem of losing their top players to the NFL, with eight former players selected in the most recent NFL Draft. But after a strong offseason in the transfer portal and a proven pipeline of development, there’s no question that the Bulldogs have the roster return to their national championship glory.
“You look at what they’ve brought in the transfer portal at receiver, I think they got better. Benjamin Yurosek at tight end at tight end from Stanford, if you were to look for someone in the country who most physically and skillset wise resembles Brock Bowers, that’s him,” Staples explained. “And so you’re going to try to do a lot of things with him plus Oscar Delp, maybe comes up and ascends. Lawson Luckie, one of the great SEC tight end names.”
Bowers is obviously a huge loss for the Bulldogs after he took home the Mackey Award in back-to-back seasons and contributed significantly to the team’s national title wins. But returning starting quarterback Carson Beck paired with strength at the tight end position could help Georgia breed success similar to their 2021 season.
“Give me 13 personnel Andy, just give it to me, just line them all up out there. That’s what I want,” Bellaire said.
FLOOR: 8-4
Before Georgia fans start a riot, both Staples and Bellaire believe that the Bulldogs losing four games during the regular season is very unlikely. But given their tough schedule, there’s no question that UGA will be tested in their first season in the new look SEC.
“I had 8-4, because I thought losing to Clemson might be a possibility. But the more I think about it, I don’t think they’re going to,” Staples admitted.
Georgia opens up the season against the Tigers and also has to hit the road to face Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas this upcoming season. With many tabbing the Bulldogs as the SEC team with the toughest road schedule of the year.
“I can’t wait to see them in these games, I can’t wait to see them get challenged pretty frequently,” Staples said. “So I had their floor at 8-4, I think its a very minimal chance that would happen. I think going toward of national title is far more likely.”
“I think the most likely scenario, in my opinion, is a team that loses one game maybe in the regular season and they’re still in the playoff,” Bellaire added. “There’s no world in which Georgia’s not in the playoff this year.”