Paul Finebaum says Georgia has best chance to sneak into top four

The preseason AP Top 25 Poll was recently released with Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Ohio State making up the top four. Georgia, Texas A&M, and Iowa State are right behind Ohio State, ranked fifth through seventh. According to ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, Georgia has a very good chance to sneak into the top four.  

Georgia’s first game against Clemson will have major impacts on the top four

In the first game of the season, Clemson and Georgia will face off in a matchup between two top five teams. The winner of the game will undoubtedly be ranked in the top four after week one, and they could easily be ranked in the top two.

Paul Finebaum believes that Georgia will win the pivotal early season matchup against Clemson. He is high on Georgia and believes that they have a good shot at finishing the season in the top four.

“Georgia, now they are ranked outside of the top four, they are number five,” Finebaum said when asked which team has the best chance at sneaking into the top four. “But here is the interesting part of Georgia: They play Clemson in the first game. Clemson right now is two or three depending on your favorite poll.

“Should Georgia win, and I think they will, they have a great opportunity to move up probably to number two. I think there’s an outside shot of number one if Alabama looks poor in its opener. To me, Georgia after that only has one really big game during the season and that’s Florida. They’ll probably have to deal with Alabama at the end of the year. That won’t be easy. But I like their chances.”

Unfortunately for Georgia, they will be without two contributors in Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith to begin the season. Washington, a sophomore tight end, and Smith, a junior defensive back, will each be sidelined for three to four weeks. Despite this, Finebaum thinks that Georgia has a good chance at starting the year with a win.

JT Daniels enters his first full season as Georgia’s starting quarterback

Daniels suffered a major knee injury early in 2019 while at USC, and he transferred to Georgia after the season. He missed the majority of last year for Georgia, but returned to start the final four games of the season. In four games, Daniels completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,231 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. Georgia defeated Cincinnati 24-21 in the Peach Bowl to end the season.

With Daniels now fully healthy and set as Georgia’s unquestioned starting quarterback, he has been able to grow tremendously this offseason.

“It is different when you come into the season as the starter,” Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “I think he is more comfortable with our players. As we keep evolving offensively, he really appears to be in control of what we want done.”