You are what your record says you are. That should be good enough at this stage of the college football season where nobody really has any earthly idea of how good or bad any of these teams are. Miami might be the class of the ACC. Clemson might be on the verge of a season from hell like Kansas State is going through, and that is about it. So where do the Georgia Bulldogs fall into all this?
Leave it up to ESPN's Bill Connelly to make a living making a mountain out of a molehill because he has the statistical evidence to back up his claims. He ranked all 39 undefeated teams in college football through the first three weeks of the season. Georgia comes out of this better than most, but he has to be kidding himself to think that there are five better teams in college football than Georgia.
Here is how Connelly ranked all 39 unbeaten college football teams heading into the Week 4 slate.
- Oregon Ducks (3-0)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0)
- Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0)
- Texas A&M Aggies (3-0)
- Miami Hurricanes (3-0)
- Georgia Bulldogs (3-0)
- Ole Miss Rebels (3-0)
- USC Trojans (3-0)
- LSU Tigers (3-0)
- Florida State Seminoles (2-0)
- Missouri Tigers (3-0)
- Oklahoma Sooners (3-0)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-0)
- Illinois Fighting Illini (3-0)
- Indiana Hoosiers (3-0)
- Vanderbilt Commodores (3-0)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-0)
- Utah Utes (3-0)
- Louisville Cardinals (3-0)
- Iowa State Cyclones (4-0)
- TCU Horned Frogs (2-0)
- Auburn Tigers (3-0)
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-0)
- Tulane Green Wave (3-0)
- Washington Huskies (2-0)
- BYU Cougars (2-0)
- Memphis Tigers (3-0)
- Arizona Wildcats (3-0)
- Maryland Terrapins (3-0)
- Houston Cougars (3-0)
- Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-0)
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0)
- California Golden Bears (3-0)
- Navy Midshipmen (3-0)
- North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-0)
- UCF Knights (2-0)
- North Texas Mean Green (3-0)
- UNLV Rebels (3-0)
- Michigan State Spartans (3-0)
Having Georgia sixth behind at least two of these teams is embarrassing. While Oregon has looked the part vs. Power Four competition, the Ducks do not have great wins. Ohio State did beat Texas, but the Longhorns may not be good. Who exactly has Penn State played yet? The Texas A&M mark feels so incredibly prisoner of the moment. Miami only being fifth is pretty embarrassing as well for The U.
While Oregon, Ohio State and Miami should be ahead of Georgia, why are Penn State and Texas A&M?
Georgia fans are not going to love how ESPN views their team right now
Of the teams ranked in the top six by Connelly, Georgia has a ranked win on the road. Nobody ahead of them does. Ohio State's came at home vs. Texas. Texas A&M got Notre Dame at Kyle Field. Miami drew Notre Dame and South Florida at Miami Gardens. Notre Dame has yet to win a game this year. South Florida may win the Group of Five, but it suffered its first loss on the season badly to Miami.
Of the teams who have played well enough to merit getting a first-round bye into the College Football Playoff at this point of the season, it is hard to prop up Penn State when the Nittany Lions played absolutely no one in the non-conference. Texas A&M may end up being good, but what if Notre Dame is anything but that? Georgia should have been ranked either third or fourth here, not coming in sixth.
There were other teams Connelly was completely out of bounds on. What is more laughable: LSU coming in ninth, or being ranked by USC coming in eighth? There is plenty of college football left to be played, but can water find its level here before the insanity fully takes over? Truth be told, Georgia may lose in two weeks at home to Alabama and make all of this meaningless, but this is disrespectful.
Georgia has the best coach in the country, an elite roster and the best road victory on the season.