BREAKING: Georgia Bulldogs' First Ranking of the Season is out
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ATHENS - Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs learned where they will start the season ranked Monday.
The Bulldogs, who defeated Nick Saban and No. 1 Alabama for the national title a season ago, will begin the season ranked No. 3. The ranking places the Dawgs behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Ohio State.
Georgia was ranked No. 5 entering the 2021 season. The Dawgs (6), Tide (54) and Buckeyes (5) were the only schools that received first-place votes.
The No. 3 Dawgs will play No. 12 Oregon in the season opener on Sept. 3 in Atlanta. That meeting is one of the most-anticipated matchups of the early part of the college football season. No. 5 Notre Dame travels to No. 2 Ohio State on the same day. Alabama opens its season against Utah State at home. The Tide travels to No. 18 Texas in week two.
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It is the eighth time the Bulldogs have started a season ranked in the top five - including all of the previous four seasons. Georgia has finished in the top five 13 times - with four of those years ending in the Bulldogs being crowned national champions by at least one service.
Monday’s rankings are only the third time in the last 11 years that the defending national champion has not been ranked No. 1 at the start of the following season. The other two times that was the case - Clemson in 2017 (No. 5) and LSU in 2020 (No. 5) - those teams lost playmaking quarterbacks that were viewed as the main reason the program won the title.
Georgia is only scheduled to play two ranked teams the entire season. The No. 12 Ducks and No. 3 Dawgs open the season in Atlanta. But Georgia’s clash with No. 21 Kentucky in Lexington could determine the SEC East.
Traditional rivals Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida were unranked. SEC East foes Tennessee and South Carolina were also not included in the first rankings of the year by coaches.
Georgia Bulldogs teams with top five starts.
1942 - No. 2 in AP Poll
2004 - No. 3 in AP Poll; No. 4 in Coaches' Poll
2008 - No. 1 in AP Poll; No. 1 in Coaches' Poll
2013 - No. 5 in AP Poll; No. 5 in Coaches' Poll
2018 - No. 3 in AP Poll; No. 4 in Coaches' Poll
2019 - No. 3 in AP Poll; No. 3 in Coaches' Poll
2020 - No. 4 in AP Poll; No. 4 in Coaches' Poll
2021 - No. 5 in AP Poll; No. 5 in Coaches' Poll
Georgia Bulldogs teams with top five finishes.
1942 - No. 2 in AP Poll - Named national champions
1946 - No. 3 in AP Poll - Named national champions
1959 - No. 5 in AP Poll
1966 - No. 4 in AP Poll
1980 - No. 1 in AP Poll - Named national champions
1982 - No. 4 in AP Poll
1983 - No. 4 in AP Poll
2002 - No. 3 in AP Poll; No. 3 in Coaches' Poll
2007 - No. 2 in AP Poll; No. 3 in Coaches' Poll
2012 - No. 5 in AP Poll; No. 4 in Coaches' Poll
2017 - No. 2 in AP Poll; No. 2 in Coaches' Poll
2019 - No. 3 in AP Poll; No. 3 in Coaches' Poll
2021 - No. 1 in AP Poll; No. 1 in Coaches' Poll - Named national champions
2021 USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Clemson
5. Notre Dame
6. Michigan
7. Texas A&M
8. Utah
9. Oklahoma
10. Baylor
11. Oklahoma State
12. Oregon
13. NC State
14. Michigan State
15. Southern California
16. Pittsburgh
17. Miami
18. Texas
19. Wake Forest
20. Wisconsin
21. Kentucky
22. Cincinnati
23. Arkansas
24. Ole Miss
25. Houston