There seems to be something about the Georgia Bulldogs that just does not do it for the Associated Press... Once again, the Coaches Poll viewed the Dawgs slightly more favorably than the AP Top 25 Poll. Georgia is still a top-five team in both polls that matter, but what they did on Saturday at Tennessee should have mattered a bit more in the eyes of the Associated Press. Will they ever get it?
No, it was not a pretty game for Georgia, far from it in fact. However, to win a game that you probably should have lost over a rival that you have continued to own for the ninth season in a row is quite impressive. Georgia was able to run the ball effectively to essentially out-physical Tennessee down the stretch. The Volunteers are still a good team, but Georgia once again proved to be the better one.
With the latest Coaches Poll coming out first on Sunday, here is where Georgia is ranked this week.
Where are Georgia Bulldogs ranked in the Coaches Poll ahead of Week 4?
Without further ado, here is what the US LBM Coaches Poll looks like heading into the Week 4 slate.
- Ohio State Buckeyes: 1,668 points (62 first-place votes)
- Penn State Nittany Lions: 1,559 points (3 first-place votes)
- Georgia Bulldogs: 1,501 points (1 first-place vote)
- LSU Tigers: 1,468 points (1 first-place vote)
- Oregon Ducks: 1,444 points
- Miami Hurricanes: 1,379 points
- Texas Longhorns: 1,209 points
- Illinois Fighting Illini: 1,150 points
- Florida State Seminoles: 1,023 points
- Texas A&M Aggies: 1,003 points
- Ole Miss Rebels: 951 points
- Oklahoma Sooners: 906 points
- Iowa State Cyclones: 896 points
- Alabama Crimson Tide: 630 points
- Tennessee Volunteers: 625 points
- Texas Tech Red Raiders: 563 points
- Indiana Hoosiers: 550 points
- Utah Utes: 510 points
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 333 points
- Michigan Wolverines: 316 points
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 296 points
- Missouri Tigers: 252 points
- Vanderbilt Commodores: 249 points
- South Carolina Gamecocks: 198 points
- Auburn Tigers: 160 points
To add more intrigue in all of this, here is every team that received at least one vote from the coaches.
- BYU Cougars: 158 points
- Arizona State Sun Devils: 141 points
- USC Trojans: 117 points
- Clemson Tigers: 116 points
- Tulane Green Wave: 107 points
- Louisville Cardinals: 53 points
- TCU Horned Frogs: 49 points
- South Florida Bulls: 48 points
- Mississippi State Bulldogs: 27 points
- SMU Mustangs: 24 points
- Nebraska Cornhuskers: 24 points
- Navy Midshipmen: 15 points
- Memphis Tigers: 14 points
- Washington Huskies: 13 points
- North Carolina State Wolfpack: 13 points
- Baylor Bears: 8 points
- Houston Cougars: 5 points
- Kansas Jayhawks: 2 points
- UNLV Rebels: 1 point
- California Golden Bears: 1 point
Georgia is once again slotted third in the Coaches Poll behind only Ohio State and Penn State. Although the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are not without their faults, it is good to see Georgia be ranked ahead of LSU, as well as holding off other strong teams like Oregon and Miami just a bit. Through three weeks, Oregon and Miami are two teams who have better resumes than Georgia.
After seeing where Georgia is ranked in the Coaches Poll, here is why the Dawgs are in the AP Top 25.
Where are Georgia Bulldogs ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll ahead of Week 4?
Here is the latest AP Top 25 Poll heading into the fourth week of the 2025-26 college football season.
- Ohio State Buckeyes: 1,631 points (55 first-place votes)
- Penn State Nittany Lions: 1,490 points (5 first-place votes)
- LSU Tigers: 1,470 points (2 first-place votes)
- Miami Hurricanes: 1,434 points (3 first-place votes)
- Georgia Bulldogs: 1,428 points
- Oregon Ducks: 1,423 points (1 first-place vote)
- Florida State Seminoles: 1,123 points
- Texas Longhorns: 1,111 points
- Illinois Fighting Illini: 1,110 points
- Texas A&M Aggies: 1,101 points
- Oklahoma Sooners: 1,056 points
- Iowa State Cyclones: 820 points
- Ole Miss Rebels: 748 points
- Alabama Crimson Tide: 599 points
- Tennessee Volunteers: 583 points
- Utah Utes: 573 points
- Texas Tech Red Raiders: 538 points
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 511 points
- Indiana Hoosiers: 458 points
- Vanderbilt Commodores: 397 points
- Michigan Wolverines: 356 points
- Auburn Tigers: 344 points
- Missouri Tigers: 292 points
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 207 points
- USC Trojans: 105 points
To provide more context, here is every team that got at least one vote from the Associated Press.
- BYU Cougars: 94 points
- South Florida Bulls: 83 points
- South Carolina Gamecocks: 82 points
- Mississippi State Bulldogs: 69 points
- TCU Horned Frogs: 67 points
- Arizona State Sun Devils: 57 points
- Tulane Green Wave: 33 points
- Louisville Cardinals: 25 points
- Nebraska Cornhuskers: 9 points
- Baylor Bears: 6 points
- Clemson Tigers: 5 points
- SMU Mustangs: 4 points
- North Carolina State Wolfpack: 4 points
- UNLV Rebels: 2 points
- Navy Midshipmen: 1 point
This is where it does not make sense. LSU being ranked ahead of Georgia should not sit right with Dawg Nation. Their two wins of note are over two teams who had College Football Playoff aspirations coming in that no longer have them in Clemson and Florida. Georgia would be LSU head-to-head tomorrow. Miami has played a tougher schedule so far, but would Carson Beck have won at Neyland?
While it may not seem like much, there is something to the Coaches Poll valuing Georgia a bit more.
The coaches know Kirby Smart is too good to ever be grossly overlooked
Heading into the season, Kirby Smart was in a group of three head coaches with Ohio State's Ryan Day and Clemson's Dabo Swinney who have won the College Football Playoff before. For all intents and purposes, those were easy choices to be the best head coaches in all of college football. While Clemson has fallen off a cliff, Ohio State is still undefeated with a big home win over Texas under Day.
By removing Day from the equation, are any of the coaches leading teams ranked ahead of Georgia this week better than Smart? James Franklin cannot win as an underdog, struggles vs. top-five opponents and Ohio State completely owns him. Brian Kelly commits coaching malpractice at least once a month at LSU. Mario Cristobal could not spell his own name if you spotted him all five letters.
And that right there is the difference. The coaches simply respect Smart a lot more than do the finicky AP voters. They always want their new flavor of the week now. Entering Week 4, it is probably Miami after crushing South Florida on Saturday en route to a 3-0 start. Beck is a great player. Miami has two elite coordinators in Shannon Dawson and Corey Hetherman. Their problem is fully Cristobal.
The very instant you start to doubt what Smart is all about, he reminds you of how great he really is.