Georgia stays atop AP Poll as regular season comes to close
There’s some shake up in the top-5 with a new team at Nos. 2-5, but the top-ranked squad stays the same. Georgia, receiving 52 of the possible 62 first-place votes, is once again ranked No. 1, finishing out the regular season by running the gauntlet atop the AP Poll all year long.
Ohio State fell from No. 2 after its loss to Michigan with the Wolverines moving up one spot into second. Washington, Florida State and Oregon all also move up a spot as the Buckeyes drop to No. 6.
Georgia will have a ranked matchup on its hands for conference championship Saturday as the Bulldogs take on the 8th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Nick Saban’s group is one of three ranked teams Georgia has on its resume with Tennessee falling out. Missouri, up one spot to No. 9, and Ole Miss, who also rose a single spot to No. 11, are the others.
- Georgia (52)
- Michigan (10)
- Washington
- Florida State
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Alabama
- Missouri
- Penn State
- Ole Miss
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Arizona
- Louisville
- Notre Dame
- Tulane
- Iowa
- Oklahoma State
- Liberty
- NC State
- Oregon State
- Toledo
- James Madison
- SMU
Georgia took down in-state rival Georgia Tech on Saturday, beating the Yellow Jackets 31-23 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. It’s the 19th win in 22 tries for Georgia including six straight. Georgia’s last loss to Tech in Atlanta came in November of 1999.
“Yeah, great atmosphere for college football. I tell you what, it was a lot of fun having that kind of atmosphere. I think our kids really enjoyed it. I thought our fans showed up and did a great job, made it feel like it was like 50/50 with our fans out there,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the game.
“A lot of credit to Georgia Tech. They did a really good job, played hard, played physical. I thought Buster and his staff did a great job with the run plan. We expected to get a lot of quarterback run. They did a good job of that. But once again our kids show up very resilient, tough. I mean, this game is not measured by stats and rushing yards and first downs — it’s measured by heart, and you’ve got to have a whole lot of heart to go out there and fight and play like our guys have done week after week after week,” he continued. “I mean, you see across the country in these rivalry games what happens. I know better than anybody that it can go either way in these tight games. Very emotional, very different week in terms of Thanksgiving and everything going on, but I thought our offense played with a lot of consistency. We were able to run the ball really well and really physical up front. The line of scrimmage won the game for us.”
Kickoff time for the SEC Championship Game on Saturday between No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on CBS. According to early-released lines, the Bulldogs are considered to be about 4.5-point favorites as they look for their second straight SEC title and 30th win in a row.
