Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have been one of college football’s most dominant programs since the head coach took over in Athens in 2016. Smart has won two national championships and four SEC championships in his ten years at UGA.
But the last three years have not gone the way Georgia fans would have liked. After winning back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022, UGA has failed to advance past the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff.
In 2023, UGA missed the four-team CFP altogether after losing to Alabama in the SEC title. In 2024, it was an early exit with a loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. In 2025, the Sugar Bowl was Georgia’s final game once more, as the Dawgs lost to Ole Miss on Jan. 1.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Yet Georgia remains one of the most intimidating programs in the sport. And as long as Smart is on the sidelines, it’ll continue to be ranked highly to open the season.
In On3’s way-too-early college football rankings for the 2026 season, Georgia checked in at No. 2, behind Ohio State. Rounding out the top five are Texas (No. 3), Notre Dame (No. 4) and Indiana (No. 5).
Georgia, which won the SEC after an 11-1 season in 2025, returns a ton of talent in 2026. Led by quarterback Gunner Stockton, the 2025 team was one of Smart’s youngest in his 10 years. Georgia also has a stable of running backs returning as well. Nate Frazier, who ran for 947 yards and six touchdowns in 2025, Chauncey Bowens and Kentucky transfer Dante Dowdell will form an elite backfield.
Yet, some college football fans are suffering from UGA fatigue, it appears. Jon “JR” Rhoades, the co-host of the Big Ten Huddle on the Bleav network, raised an issue with Georgia’s way-too-early ranking.
“Only Georgia could fail to win a single playoff game over the past three seasons, do next to nothing in the transfer portal, and still somehow get ranked in the top three in a preseason poll," Rhoades wrote on X. "Make it make sense.”
The post drew plenty of comments from college football fans.
One UGA fan used stats to defend the Dawgs. He pointed to the fact that Georgia’s roster was made up of 46.9% freshmen. That’s the second-most in the SEC behind Tennessee.
“Idk man,” he wrote. “Might be because the were one of the youngest teams in the country an returning a ton of talent."
Maybe it’s common sense as Kirby has won 2 Natties and proven he will get his team there even when they aren’t performing their best.”
Dawgs247’s Benjamin Wolk jumped in:
“I hate to do this because people will diminish it to homerism, but I’ll bite: Georgia final CFP ranking the last three is 3, 2 and 5," he commented. "Nobody averages higher final ranking over those same three years. Georgia was bounced from the postseason the last three by two SEC teams + ND.”
“Youngest team in the SEC this year, won the SEC (again), & is returning the most players in the SEC. It’s actually VERY easy to make sense of if you’re not completely incompetent,” added another.