BREAKING: UGA Football Picked to Win 2023 SEC Title
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NASHVILLE - UGA football was picked to win the 2023 SEC championship at Media Days.
It is the first time since 2015 that someone other than Alabama has been picked to win the league. UGA football coach Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back national titles. The Dawgs are trying to be the first team in modern college football to win three national titles in a row.
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide have been the choice of the media to win the SEC each year since 2010 with the exception of 2012 and 2015. In both seasons Alabama won the SEC and national title.
According to FanDuel, the Bulldogs have outstanding -210 odds to make the College Football Playoff in 2023.
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Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have only been picked to win the league once in the history on media voting. Georgia has won the SEC four times since voting began in 1992. The lone time the Dawgs were picked to win the league came in 2004 when the Dawgs finished second in the SEC East - going 10-2 in David Greene and David Pollack’s final seasons at UGA.
Georgia will likely enter the season as the No. 1 team in the country. Betting houses slate the Dawgs with the best odds to win it all in 2023. Georgia is listed at +220 with Alabama (+600), Ohio State (+700) and Michigan (+800) making up those with the best four betting odds right now.
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Favored or not, the Bulldogs will have to overcome some significant changes to the roster and coaching staff in 2023. Former UGA offensive coordinator and quarterback Mike Bobo replaces Todd Monken. Bobo and Kirby will have to decide who replaces Stetson Bennett under center.
Kirby told ESPN while he was in Nashville that junior Carson Beck has the upper hand heading into the season, but that he had not yet done enough to win the position. Dawg Post has reported for some time that Beck is considered the front runner. But he will have to hold off Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton.
Georgia will also have to replenish the roster after ten players from the 2022 championship team were drafted in the NFL Draft this spring.
UGA football will likely rely on an offensive line that is returning four of five starters from last season’s CFP run, two outstanding middle linebackers and a receiving corps that insiders are optimistic about. The Bulldogs also have arguably the best player in college football in tight end Brock Bowers.
Georgia opens the season in Sanford Stadium at night against Tennessee-Martin. The first SEC game of the year is two weeks later when Shane Beamer and his Chickens come to Athens in a game that will be broadcast on CBS.
2023 SEC Media Pre-Season Poll:
SEC East
1. Georgia (265) - 2011
2. Tennessee (14) - 1682
3. South Carolina (3) - 1254
4. Kentucky (1) - 1204
5. Florida - 911
6. Missouri - 658
7. Vanderbilt (8) - 428
SEC West
1. Alabama (165) - 1899
2. LSU (117) - 1838
3. Texas A&M (1) - 1144
4. Ole Miss - 1128
5. Arkansas (3) - 958
6. Auburn (4) - 685
7. Mississippi State (1) - 496
SEC Champion:
Georgia - 181
Alabama - 62
LSU - 31
Tennessee - 5
Vanderbilt - 5
Arkansas - 2
Auburn - 2
Texas A&M - 1
Mississippi State - 1
South Carolina - 1
16 Dawgs Named to All-SEC Lists
Meanwhile, sixteen Bulldogs, including a league high 11 on the First Team, were included on the 2023 Preseason Media Days All-Southeastern Conference Team, according to a league announcement Friday.
In addition, Georgia is picked to win the SEC Eastern Division as well as the overall conference championship. The Bulldogs have won the Eastern Division five out of the last six years and are the defending SEC champions.
Junior tight end Brock Bowers, junior receiver Ladd McConkey, junior tackle Amarius Mims, redshirt sophomore guard Tate Ratledge and junior Sedrick Van Pran were named to the First Team offense while sophomore lineman Mykel Williams, senior lineman Nazir Stackhouse, junior linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson, sophomore safety Malaki Starks, junior defensive back Kamari Lassiter and junior defensive back Javon Bullard were voted to the defense’s First Team.
Second Team Bulldog selections included senior running back Kendall Milton, senior guard Xavier Truss, junior linebacker Smael Mondon. Linebacker Jalon Walker and senior snapper William Mote concluded Georgia’s selections after being voted to the Third Team.