After Georgia's win this weekend against Tennessee, the AP voters decided to reward the Bulldogs by moving them up one spot to No. 5 in the updated AP Poll top 25. This movement did come as somewhat of a surprise because the five teams above UGA all won this weekend as well, but the voters were apparently not impressed with Oregon as the Ducks dropped two spots which made way for Georgia to move up.
The fact that the Bulldogs still moved up even though no one in front of them lost is a big reason for them to say "thank you" to the AP voters, but there is another reason why Georgia should thank the AP voters and that's because they just gave them some extra motivation.
AP voters give Georgia extra motivation
The four teams still above Georgia in the AP Poll are Ohio State, Penn State, LSU and Miami (FL). The Buckeyes and Hurricanes have a better resume than Georgia at this point, so they deserve to be ranked above UGA. Penn State however is yet to play any real competition, but the AP voters ranked them above Georgia to start the season so it still makes sense that they are above Georgia now.
But LSU does not deserve to be above the Bulldogs.
The reason LSU was ranked above Georgia in the first place was because of their week one win at Clemson. This win caused the voters to leapfrog Georgia in the top 25, and at the time it was more than fair for them to do so. Fast forward two weeks though and LSU's win over Clemson doesn't look as strong anymore.
Clemson barely beat Troy in week two before falling to 1-2 this weekend after losing to Georgia Tech. Clemson no longer is ranked inside the top 25, meaning LSU no longer has any ranked wins. Georgia on the other just beat a really good Tennessee team that didn't even fall in the rankings after this weekend's game. So Georgia has the better win compared to LSU, but they were not rewarded in the AP Poll even if that is the case.
rennuSo Georgia should say "thank you" to the AP voters because they now have a new reason to be motivated moving forward this season. Georgia looks like the No. 1 team in the SEC after their win this weekend, but the AP voters clearly disagree. So that fact could be the thing that continues to push Georgia this season as they look to repeat as SEC Champions.