Georgia football: Top 10 turnarounds in school history

After finishing the 2016 season 8-5, Georgia football is 12-1 so far in 2017. The worst Georgia can finish this season is 12-2 and the Bulldogs have a chance to win the National Championship.

Georgia football has competed for 125 years. In the span of one and quarter centuries, the Bulldogs have called three conferences home, won dozens of championships, hired numerous coaches and fielded thousands of players.

However, it hasn’t been all roses for Georgia over the years. Many seasons are just decent, others are terrible. But like the saying goes, “every dog has its day.” and despite disappointing seasons, better seasons always follow soon after.

Sometimes though, a better season immediately follows a not-so-good season. And here is a ranking of such seasons. This is a countdown of the 10 best turnarounds from one or multiple seasons to the next.

But first, here are two turnarounds that didn’t make the top-10. These are seasons where a turnaround was drastic, but didn’t have as big of an impact or weren’t as drastic as the ones on the top-10.

Honorable Mentions

1932-to-1933

In 1921, Georgia left the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association to help form the Southern Conference. They had some success in the SoCon, but by the early 1930’s the program wasn’t anywhere near the heights they were at in the late 1920’s. In 1932, Georgia finished with a measly 2-5-2 record.

By 1932, the SoCon had grown to include 23 teams. They weren’t even able to name a Champion with many teams having a legitimate claim at the end of the season. This prompted schools east of the Mississippi River and south of the Appalachian Mountains (plus Kentucky and Tennessee) to form the Southeastern Conference.

This was a new era for college football in the south and for Georgia football. The Bulldog began this new era with an 8-2 season. A loss to Auburn though kept Georgia from winning a share of the inaugural SEC Championship.

1919-to-1920

In 1919, Georgia football along with head coach William Cunningham, returned from World War I. For a month, it was business as usual for the team. They were great in the 1910’s and after October 1919, they were 4-0. But in their last five games, they lost twice and tied three times to end the year 4-2-3. Close to greatness, but close to mediocrity at the same time.

Cunningham left UGA to return to the military after the 1919 season. Herman Stegman took his place as head coach (he also coached Georgia basketball). His first year was a major success.

Georgia went undefeated and a scoreless tie with Virginia was the only blemish on a great season. They finished the year 8-0-1 and 7-0 in the SIAA and claimed the SIAA Championship after the season.