Joel Klatt breaks down why he has Georgia ranked No. 2, behind Ohio State in preseason

Coming into the 2024 college football season, analyst Joel Klatt broke down what he sees as the Top 25 teams for the preseason. That included having Ohio State ranked first and Georgia ranked second.

During an episode of The Joel Klatt Show, Klatt broke down why he had Georgia ranked at No. 2, behind Ohio State.

“So, Ohio State is going to be number one and Georgia is going to be number two,” Joel Klatt said. “Now, I know what Bulldogs fans are gonna say. They’re gonna think of this as a slight. But I can tell you now, these two teams are upper echelon. They are my favorites. I feel like they’re gonna face off in the national championship game and I hope that they do because that’s a game that I would love to see.”

Ultimately, Klatt wasn’t looking to knock Georgia with his ranking. In fact, he made sure to praise the Bulldogs as one of the best teams in the country.

“Georgia is excellent. Carson Beck is such a good player. They’ve won 46 of their last 48 games, which is just insane. Kirby Smart is, right now, the best coach in college football. As Nick Saban rides off into the sunset, Kirby Smart is the best coach in college football,” Klatt said. “They’ll have a Heisman-caliber quarterback to go with a defense that should be really good, as they are always. Their rosters includes 16 former five-star recruits, 15 of which are on the defensive side. Now, they’ve got to replace Brock Bowers and on offense, I think there are some question marks, but this team is gonna be legit.”

One problem that Klatt does foresee for Georgia is their schedule. Even with that, though, it’s a difficult schedule that Smart and the Bulldogs need to navigate.

“Their schedule does them no favors…they’re gonna open against Clemson in Atlanta…at Alabama, at Texas, at Ole Miss, plus a home game against Tennessee. Those games are not going to be easy, and yet, if there’s a team that can roll through there and be fine, it’s Georgia. Now, the question will be, can they maintain a record through that schedule that gets them into the SEC Championship Game? Because I’m sure they’re gonna want the bye to get healthy and win the conference and be one of the four teams that have a bye,” Klatt said.

“But this is absolutely a Playoff team. This team could lose three games and still go to the Playoff. They’re not gonna lose three games, though.”

Ultimately, Klatt shared that Ohio State is his top-ranked team in the preseason. That’s for a mix of factors. Most importantly, this isn’t just an incredibly talented team but a team that is both talented and experienced this season.

“My number one team is Ohio State. Five straight top-five recruiting classes means that there’s no shortage of talent in Columbus. Then, they brought in what I describe as the best transfer class in the country… Caleb Downs at safety, Quinshon Judkins at running back, Will Howard,” Klatt said.

“And, what they brought back. This is the most important part for Ohio State is this feels eerily similar to what Michigan did last offseason, which is all of their important contributors who had a decision to make about the NFL chose to go back to Michigan. Guess what happened in Columbus? Almost every single one of these guys that had a decision to make that wasn’t a bonafide top two or three pick, came back to Ohio State. So, they have not just the talent but the veteran talent. They bring in Chip Kelly to run the offense. That run game is going to be insane with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, and I think that Ohio State is going to have the best defense in college football…not many people are scoring on Ohio State. Not many.”

Still, Ohio State does need to get over the hump that is Michigan. That’s something the Buckeyes haven’t done in three seasons.

“The number one thing that I think worries the Ohio State faithful. Michigan,” Klatt said. “Gotta get over that one. Gotta get over that one. Can you imagine the anxiety in Columbus if Michigan actually beats Texas in September? That would be crazy.”