After coming back down to Earth after Georgia’s 30-15 win over Texas Saturday night, one question kept creeping into my head as I tried to fall asleep.
Will Georgia be the new No. 1 team in the country?
There’s no denying that Georgia is part of that conversation now, but there are still some other trams in that discussion as well. But I think Georgia deserves to be the new No. 1, and here’s why.
1. Road win against No. 1
The fact that Georgia now has a road win against the No. 1 team in the country is part of the reason why I think the Bulldogs should be the new No. 1 team in the country.
Texas wasn’t just any No. 1 team though, they were nearly unanimous. Last week’s AP Poll saw 56 out of 62 voters rank them number one. That’s about as decisive as the AP voters can get.
On top of that, everyone throughout the country didn’t believe in Georgia in this game. The College GameDay crew all picked against Georgia, and the public pushed the betting line severly in Texas’ favor compared to where it opened.
So if everyone thought Texas was so much better and Georgia beat them by 15 in their own stadium, why shouldn’t the Bulldogs be the new number one team now?
2. Two best wins in the country
If the win against Texas wasn’t enough to convince you, what about if you add in the Bulldogs’ second best win? Georgia’s 34-3 drubbing of Clemson week one in my opinion is the second best win in the country this season, right after UGA’s win at Texas last night.
The only other win that you could argue is better is Oregon’s narrow win against Ohio State last week. But the Buckeyes nearly won that game while Georgia left no doubt in their two wins. So I think Georgia has the two best wins in college football this season, which should give them the number one ranking this week.
3. More difficult schedule than Oregon
I recognize that Oregon is the one team that has a case to be ahead of Georgia now. Sure they are undefeated, but a lot of that has to do with the schedule they’ve played thus far.
We already mentioned their impressive win against Ohio State, but who else have they beat this year? Their win against Boise State is looking stronger as each week goes by, but other than that they haven’t played any other team with a pulse this season.
Georgia on the other hand has the two big wins we already mentioned, while also having played at Alabama. I also think wins against Kentucky, Mississippi State and Auburn are more impressive than Oregon’s wins against Michigan State, Oregon State and Purdue.
So the Bulldogs’ strength of schedule compared to Oregons deserves some sway here.
What will the AP Poll do?
As the No. 5 team in the country, Gerogia will need to move ahead of four teams to become No. 1. Obviously they will be ahead of Texas, but what about the other three Big Ten teams?
Penn State and Ohio State are above Georgia, but I really don’t think there’s a debate there. Georgia has been far more impressive than both, even with Penn State still being undefeated.
But we do have to consider Oregon, who is undefeated as well and have the great win over Ohio State. I personally think Georgia should pass them as well, but if I had to guess the AP voters will probably keep Oregon ahead.
Being the No. 2 team right now wouldn’t be all that bad though. Rankings don’t even matter all that much during the season anyways, and maybe being No. 2 instead of No. 1 is the extra motivation Kirby Smart and his team need to finish the season as strong as possible.