The coaches and the Associated Press have spoken! The Georgia Bulldogs will enter their biggest game of the season as the No. 3 team in the country in the US LBM Coaches Poll, but only the No. 6 team in the AP Top 25 Poll. They will be traveling to SEC rival Tennessee to take on the No. 15 Volunteers in both polls. ESPN's College GameDay will be there, but will Georgia play up to standard?
It was a frustrating Week 2 game delayed by weather vs. the FCS Austin Peay Governors. While Georgia was still able to come out on top to the tune of 28-6, an offensive struggle culminated in them free falling just a bit in the eyes of the Associated Press. For as overly reactionary as the AP voters can be with every passing week, Dawg Nation nation cannot blame them for their takes here.
Let's take a look at how the college football world stacks up, starting with the Coaches Poll first.
Where are Georgia Bulldogs ranked in the Coaches Poll ahead of Week 3?
With the US LBM Coaches Poll coming out a bit earlier, here is what its latest top 25 poll looks like.
- Ohio State Buckeyes: 1,668 points (62 first-place votes)
- Penn State Nittany Lions: 1,576 points (4 first-place votes)
- Georgia Bulldogs: 1,488 points
- LSU Tigers: 1,472 points (1 first-place vote)
- Oregon Ducks: 1,423 points
- Miami Hurricanes: 1,330 points
- Texas Longhorns: 1,288 points
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 1,041 points
- Illinois Fighting Illini: 1,019 points
- South Carolina Gamecocks: 1,007 points
- Clemson Tigers: 995 points
- Florida State Seminoles: 843 points
- Ole Miss Rebels: 803 points
- Iowa State Cyclones: 794 points
- Tennessee Volunteers: 733 points
- Oklahoma Sooners: 693 points
- Texas A&M Aggies: 514 points
- Alabama Crimson Tide: 436 points
- Indiana Hoosiers: 425 points
- Texas Tech Red Raiders: 362 points
- Utah Utes: 270 points
- Michigan Wolverines: 241 points
- South Florida Bulls: 232 points
- Arizona State Sun Devils: 206 points
- BYU Cougars: 169 points
For more context, here is a list of every team that got at least one vote from the coaches this week.
- Missouri Tigers: 142 points
- Louisville Cardinals: 88 points
- USC Trojans: 87 points
- SMU Mustangs: 87 points
- Florida Gators: 68 points
- Auburn Tigers: 57 points
- Tulane Green Wave: 55 points
- TCU Horned Frogs: 36 points
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 26 points
- Nebraska Cornhuskers: 19 points
- Navy Midshipmen: 16 points
- Washington Huskies: 15 points
- Mississippi State Bulldogs: 15 points
- Memphis Tigers: 11 points
- Baylor Bears: 9 points
- Vanderbilt Commodores: 7 points
- Kansas Jayhawks: 4 points
- UNLV Rebels: 3 points
- Pittsburgh Panthers: 1 point
- North Carolina State Wolfpack: 1 point
From the looks of this, the coaches seem to recognize that Georgia may not have shown anything in the Bulldogs' first two games of the season, particularly on offense. Their assessment of the players making up Kirby Smart's roster is why the Dawgs get better marks over teams such as LSU, Miami and Oregon who are all ranked ahead of them in the AP Top 25 Poll. Water will find its level here soon.
Now let's see what the Associated Press believes to be the best 25 teams in all of college football...
Where are Georgia Bulldogs ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll ahead of Week 3?
Without further ado, here is the latest AP Top 25 Poll entering the third week of the college season.
- Ohio State Buckeyes: 1,614 points (57 first-place votes)
- Penn State Nittany Lions: 1,524 points (5 first-place votes)
- LSU Tigers: 1,487 points (2 first-place votes)
- Oregon Ducks: 1,375 points (1 first-place vote)
- Miami Hurricanes: 1,360 points
- Georgia Bulldogs: 1,350 points
- Texas Longhorns: 1,248 points
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 1,086 points
- Illinois Fighting Illini: 1,001 points
- Florida State Seminoles: 954 points
- South Carolina Gamecocks: 927 points
- Clemson Tigers: 894 points
- Oklahoma Sooners: 893 points
- Iowa State Cyclones: 794 points
- Tennessee Volunteers: 537 points
- Texas A&M Aggies: 532 points
- Ole Miss Rebels: 518 points
- South Florida Bulls: 444 points
- Alabama Crimson Tide: 396 points
- Utah Utes: 361 points
- Texas Tech Red Raiders: 347 points
- Indiana Hoosiers: 331 points
- Michigan Wolverines: 250 points
- Auburn Tigers: 172 points
- Missouri Tigers: 109 points
For more context, here is a list of every team that got at least one vote from the Associated Press.
- Arizona State Sun Devils: 94 points
- BYU Cougars: 92 points
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 78 points
- Florida Gators: 70 points
- USC Trojans: 64 points
- TCU Horned Frogs: 58 points
- Mississippi State Bulldogs: 52 points
- Louisville Cardinals: 49 points
- SMU Mustangs: 26 points
- Nebraska Cornhuskers: 10 points
- Tulane Green Wave: 9 points
- Baylor Bears: 7 points
- UNLV Rebels: 5 points
- Pittsburgh Panthers: 3 points
- Navy Midshipmen: 2 points
- Memphis Tigers: 1 point
- Vanderbilt Commodores: 1 point
In all honesty, it is totally justifiable for the AP voters to have the Tigers, Ducks and Hurricanes all ranked ahead of Georgia. LSU beat a ranked team at their place in Week 1 vs. Clemson. Oregon took a struggling Oklahoma State team to the woodshed in Week 2. Miami is still riding high after eking out a wet and wild one at home vs. a high-quality opponent in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Week 1.
Georgia may be 2-0, but its two wins over Marshall, and especially Austin Peay, are not impressive...
Georgia can only blame itself for taking its latest stumble down AP Top 25
Assuming Alabama holds steady and defeats visiting Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon next week, Georgia's next two opponents will be against ranked teams. Georgia may get a bye ahead of the Alabama game, but picking up wins over the Volunteers and Crimson Tide in SEC play is the fastest way to get the national media back on the Dawgs' side of things. They lost all credibility on Saturday...
Overall, the Georgia defense is what will be the driving force for this team again. The secondary is as good as anyone's in the Power Four. While the running game could be mitigated behind a porous offensive line, Georgia really needs to see if Gunner Stockton can throw the football with any conviction down the field. Opening up more space for the offense to work is paramount for this team.
Ultimately, Georgia has to accept where it falls in the college football hierarchy for the time being. If they win and take care of business vs. the high-quality opponents, the ongoing ranking conundrum the team is dealing with will sort itself out. Regardless, Georgia needs to play with a greater sense of focus in all four quarters to be able to beat Tennessee at their place to improve to 3-0 on the season.
While falling out of the top five is not great, at least Georgia is still firmly ranked inside of the top 10.