Georgia football deserves better than No. 3 ranking

Georgia football beat Alabama in the 2021 national title game to end a 41-year drought, but in the newly released ESPN FPI rankings, the Dawgs come in at No.3 behind Ohio State and the Tide.

Rankings truly don’t mean anything, but something about sitting at No.3 after winning the national championship doesn’t feel right. Georgia was at No. 3 last season and ranked No. 7 in the 2021 FPI rankings.

There are formulas that ESPN uses to come up with these rankings, but at the same time, Georgia is stronger than the ranking they got.

Georgia football should at least be No. 2 in the ESPN FPI rankings.

According to ESPN, the Football Power Index, the preseason components are made up entirely of data from previous seasons. They take into consideration returning starters, past performance, recruiting rankings and coaching tenure.

The past year’s performance is allegedly the most important piece of information powering preseason FPI. Still, they add the previous three years to keep it consistent and include the outliers.

However, last season counts almost twice as much. The link above breaks down the whole process of what goes into the FPI, but in our opinion, the No.3 ranking makes even less sense.

Sure, Georgia loses 14 starters, but they return 13. The Dawgs also have 18 players with 70-plus snaps with at least a PFF grade of 70.

If we look at recruiting, Georgia has thrived there, with a No.3 2022 finish, a No. 4 2021 ranking and No. 1 in 2020.

The Dawgs return head coach Kirby Smart for his seventh season, and the Dawgs had one ranked loss last year to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, which they redeemed themselves in the title game.

Smart has 12 wins over top-10 opponents after the national championship, so it’s interesting to see the Dawgs at No.3.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day has a 13-4 record against top 25 opponents, which is solid, but he hasn’t won a national title.

ESPN gave the Dawgs a 73.5% chance of making the playoffs, which is solid considering how hard it is to repeat, but also an expectation at this point.

There is a 42.9% chance Georgia will return to the College Football Playoff Championship, which is a fair assessment.

The Dawgs have the second-best projected win total, and ESPN gave them a 22.7% chance to win all of its games — which ranks No.3.

One thing that isn’t terrible about this FPI rankings is that Georgia has the highest percentage of winning its division in the entire country at 89.9%.

Georgia should be above Ohio State in this FPI ranking system. However, with the Buckeyes being in the Big 10, it’s easier to win the conference. So with Georgia and Alabama in the top three and both predicted to win their division, it must help Ohio State out somehow.

They also have an 82.3% chance of making the Playoffs, but we all know there are reasons for that. Even though many people think that Georgia and Alabama both play “weak” schedules, Georgia played over five ranked games in 2021.

The Dawgs open against No.23 Oregon for the 2022 season will take on three preseason top-25 opponents in No. 25 ranked Florida Gators, No. 20 ranked Kentucky and No. 10 Auburn.

It isn’t surprising to see Ohio State so high, though, they always seem to be right up there, and it’s fine the Dawgs can be No.3. They should at least be No.2. Georgia can and likely will surpass expectations once again in 2022.