Paul Finebaum: Georgia is not going anywhere, Bulldogs are 'Alabama 2.0'

Georgia’s 2022 National Championship was no fluke, and the Bulldogs are here to stay, according to Paul Finebaum.

“Oh no, this team has definite staying power,” Finebaum said. “Georgia right now is on the same level, nationally, as Alabama and probably Clemson if you look at the last four or five years. “

Georgia ended their 40-plus year championship drought, and if you ask Finebaum, it certainly won’t take that long for them to host that trophy again.

When the Bulldogs beat the Crimson Tide 33-18 last Monday, the cameras panned from teary-eyed fan to teary-eyed fan. Soon, those fans will become as stone-faced as Nick Saban winning a semi-final game. But that’s a good thing — they’ll get used to it.

Georgia ended a seven-game, 13-year losing streak to the Crimson Tide, a streak that included one national championship game, three SEC title games and three games in which Georgia led by 10 points. That includes the SEC Championship Game last month when the Dawgs raced out to a 10-0 lead only to lose 41-24.

“We forget, this is Kirby Smart’s second national championship game. And that’s significant,” Finebaum said. “One-and-done teams are not unusual, but Georgia is anything but a one-and-done team. This is Alabama 2.0. Kirby Smart is Nick Saban’s child, in many respects. He was always his favorite son as an assistant. This program is built, it is built correctly. It is not built on one player.”

Finebaum is referring to the 2018 College Football Playoffs that saw then-No. 4 Alabama take on No. 3 Georgia. The Crimson Tide pulled out the win in overtime 26-23 and Georgia started being seen in the same light as the Notre Dames and Oklahomas of the world — they would make it to the dance, but couldn’t finish the routine.

Those days are over. Georgia is now the reigning champion and has all the momentum in the world heading into the offseason. Their recruiting classes are on par with Alabama, so why couldn’t they keep the ball rolling and repeat next season?

The Bulldogs are currently No. 3 in NCAA.com‘s Way Too Early Top 25 for next season. By those projections, they’ll not only be in the playoffs, but they’d be slated to battle No. 2 Ohio State if the projections were to play out perfectly.

With the news of Stetson Bennet IV returning for a sixth year of college and JT Daniels heading into the transfer portal, there won’t be any quarterback drama and the Dawgs can focus on what really matters — winning.