Georgia held firm at No. 2 in this week’s AP Poll, but not every voter is seeing the Bulldogs the same way.
The broader picture still favors Georgia, which sits just behind Texas and picked up a little ground on the Longhorns this week. Georgia also collected six first-place votes.
But a few ballots stood out for all the wrong reasons from a Georgia perspective: two voters slotted the Bulldogs at No. 6, and another dropped them all the way to No. 8.
The pushback seems to center on one thing - Georgia’s résumé hasn’t exactly been loaded yet. The Bulldogs opened with Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, then went on the road to Arkansas, a team that might be the SEC’s worst this season. Their most recent test was supposed to come against Oklahoma, but the Sooners haven’t looked like the contender plenty expected.
Still, Georgia has done exactly what a top team is supposed to do: win big and win clean. Every game so far has been decided by at least 28 points.
Tennessee State and Western Kentucky were blown out by 60 and 50, respectively. The competition hasn’t been elite, but Georgia has taken care of business without leaving much room for debate.
That hasn’t been enough to satisfy every AP voter, though. For a couple of them, Georgia isn’t even top-five material yet.
The good news for the Bulldogs is that the schedule is about to start sorting things out. Vanderbilt comes first, and that matchup shouldn’t provide much resistance.
After that, Georgia heads to Alabama for its second road game of the year, and that one could wind up being the toughest game on the slate. If Georgia wins there, it gets much harder to argue against them as a top-five team.
From there, the road only gets bumpier. Georgia returns home for Auburn before the bye week, then steps right back into a brutal stretch with Florida in Atlanta and Ole Miss the following week. That gives the Bulldogs three top-10 matchups in four games, all away from Athens.
Even one win in that run would strengthen Georgia’s case. Going 2-1 would be a major result.
And if the Bulldogs keep rolling through all of it without a loss, the conversation could shift all the way to No. 1.
For now, the rankings may annoy Georgia fans, but the bigger truth is simple: the Bulldogs have plenty of chances to answer on the field. If they keep winning, September ballots won’t matter much when January arrives.
In Other News...
Dwight Phillips Jr. Is Making Georgia Reconsider His Role
Dwight Phillips Jr. has given Georgia another reason to keep looking for touches in the backfield. The junior running back flashed that burst against Oklahoma with a 54-yard touchdown run, and he added to his night by making a key special teams tackle, the kind of all-around showing that tends to catch Kirby Smarts attention.
Phillips has also changed physically since arriving in Athens, adding strength and weight that have helped turn his speed into more consistent production. Smart has already pointed to his explosiveness and patience, and with the way Phillips is trending, Georgia appears to be rethinking how much more it can build around him on offense. [Read more 🡒]
Georgias Top 2027 Pledge Suddenly Brings Real Recruiting Doubt
Kemon Spells pledge has been one of the headline pieces of Georgias 2027 class since he committed in February, but the recruiting picture around the No. 1 running back in the cycle has gotten a little more complicated. According to 247Sports, another major college football program is now pushing for the Georgia commit, adding an unexpected wrinkle to what had looked like a clean early hold for the Bulldogs.
It is the first reported sign that Spell may be open to looking beyond Athens, though the specifics remain under wraps. The other school has not been disclosed publicly, and the exact nature of Spells interest is still unknown, leaving Georgia with at least one fresh recruiting question to monitor as the 2027 cycle develops. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Has Two Reasons To Take Vanderbilt More Seriously
Georgia heads into Saturdays matchup with Vanderbilt carrying plenty of the usual SEC expectations, sitting 4-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally. The Bulldogs are heavy favorites, but this is not just a routine tune-up on paper, with Vanderbilt bringing a 3-1 record and a little more intrigue than the average league opponent. Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. EST on the SEC Network, with streaming available on the ESPN app and Fubo TV.
The extra attention comes from a couple of familiar names, starting with the health of Georgia back Nate Frazier as the Bulldogs get ready to sort out their rotation. Then there is Vanderbilt quarterback Jared Curtis, who is expected to start against Georgia after flipping his commitment from the Bulldogs to the Commodores, adding a personal subplot to a game that already has more edge than the point spread suggests. [Read more 🡒]