ESPN Preseason Ranking: Georgia Football In Familiar Spot

Georgia football fans should be used to this by now.

College Football: The Power Rankings aired on ESPN Tuesday night. The preseason special focused on the release of the network’s initial Top 25, as well as top-5 lists that covered everything from the best college town in America to best live mascot.

Georgia football found its name near the top of the rankings reveals, debuting at No. 4 on the list.

According to ESPN, the methodology for the initial rankings consisted of “33 ESPN college football experts submitting their own Top 25s” to cull and create the preseason list.

Slotted ahead of the Bulldogs were Southeastern Conference nemesis and reigning national champion Alabama at No. 1, posh preseason pick Oklahoma at No. 2, and Georgia football’s Duke’s Mayo Classic opponent Clemson at No. 3.

Georgia football with high expectations in Week 1

Georgia and Clemson square off in the season opener in a highly anticipated matchup pitting the historic rivals against each other on a neutral field at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. College Gameday will kick off the Week 1 college football party from Charlotte’s Bearden Park, and expect Dawgnation to travel well.

The ESPN panel consisting of Joe Tessitore, Georgia great David Pollack, and former Ohio State speedster Joey Galloway all seemed bullish on the Dawgs.

Pollack and Galloway both picked Georgia to prevail over Clemson in the opener, and Tessitore revealed that he chose Georgia football as his preseason No. 1.

Georgia’s success in the opener and throughout the 2021 season will depend in large part on the performance of quarterback JT Daniels, the early-season Heisman favorite according to some.

Ultimately, these preseason polls are just fun talkin’ season fodder, but it will be interesting to see if the August aura around Boomer Sooner will continue to shine. If they can get through a four-game stretch from mid-September to early October that pits them against Nebraska, West Virginia, Kansas State, and long-loathed rival Texas unscathed, it could set up for a mammoth matchup with early-season darling Iowa State on November 20th.

Following its opener against Clemson, Georgia’s schedule seems to set up fairly nicely, avoiding regular-season matchups with Western Division stalwarts Alabama and LSU. As it normally does, the Halloween weekend Cocktail Party matchup looms large for the Bulldogs as they seek their fourth trip in five years to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.