Georgia ranked No. 1 in penultimate College Football Playoff rankings
The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings are out in 2023 and Georgia is in the same spot that it was last week. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 after beating Georgia Tech 31-23 to finish the regular season 12-0 for the third straight season. Michigan, after a big win over No. 6 Ohio State, is in the No. 2 spot.
Washington is No. 3 and it will take on No. 5 Oregon, the nation’s top one-loss team, in the Pac12 Championship game this Friday. Florida State is ranked No. 4 and will play Louisville for the ACC Championship on Saturday. Ohio State is ranked No. 6.
Georgia debuted at No. 3 last season but that didn’t last long. The first matchup after the rankings came out was against No. 1-ranked Tennessee. The Bulldogs hosted the Volunteers and dominated the game, jumping out to a 27-6 lead and then surrendering an inconsequential score in the fourth quarter. That win allowed the Kirby Smart and company to jump into the No. 1 spot and they never gave it up.
The win over Tennessee pushed Georgia’s record to 9-0 and the Bulldogs went on to win six straight to earn its second straight National Championship. UGA notched a 50-30 win over LSU in the SEC Championship game. It then faced off with Ohio State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl where it took some Stetson Bennett heroics and a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Buckeyes 42-41.
The National Championship game was a completely different story as Georgia took on TCU in Los Angeles and destroyed the Big12 team. The Bulldogs dominated from start to finish and beat the Horned Frogs by a score of 65-7.
The Bulldogs have been more up and down this season. They started the season with a lot of injuries and inexperience and struggled to beat South Carolina at home and Auburn on the road. But starting with a 51-13 drubbing of Kentucky to start the month of October, Georgia played much better and more consistent.
It beat Vanderbilt on the road ahead of the bye week and then dominated Florida coming out of it. It grabbed a two-score win over No. 9 Missouri before stomping No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 21 Tennessee to wrap up SEC play.
Next up for the Bulldogs is what could amount to a College Football Playoff play-in game with No. 8 Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on CBS. The game will be played inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
