ATHENS — Kirby Smart famously said at the start of Georgia’s back-to-back national championship runs that, “You’re either elite, or you’re not.”
Smart parted from the SEC title game this month indicating his 2025 Bulldogs enter the 12-team College Football Playoff having grown to “the level we expect.”
For Smart, a noted tough self-critic, that’s saying a mouthful.
Still, the Big Ten buzz remains louder than ever with the first-round of the College Football Playoff set to get underway with Friday’s first-round game pitting Alabama at Oklahoma (8 p.m., ESPN) leading into Saturday’s triple-header of action (Miami at Texas A&M, noon, ESPN; Tulane at Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m., TBS; James Madison at Oregon, 7:30 p.m., TBS).
The Bulldogs are third among the CFP championship favorites behind Big Ten title-game combatants Ohio State and Indiana, per the FanDuel sportsbook.
• Ohio State +195
• Indiana + 310
• Georgia +600
• Texas Tech +850
• Oregon + 850
The Bulldogs are two weeks from taking their first step toward what would be Smart’s third national championship, and it doesn’t figure to be an easy one.
Georgia (12-1) is expected to face Ole Miss (11-1) in the CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Jan. 1 with a trip to the CFP Fiesta Bowl semifinal on the line.
The Rebels, motivated and eager to prove their worth after Lane Kiffin ditched the program for a higher-ceiling opportunity at LSU, play host to a Tulane team they defeated 45-10 earlier this season.
Georgia would be a 5.5-point favorite over Ole Miss, per FanDuel, should the Bulldogs and Rebels meet in a rematch of their regular-season game, won by UGA on Oct. 18 in Sanford Stadium.
ESPN’s recent ranking of its top 50 players in the CFP includes only three Georgia players: Gunner Stockton (No. 24, fourth among CFP QBs), CJ Allen (No. 8) and Zachariah Branch (No. 33, seventh among CFP receivers).
Credit: Jeff Sentell
Credit: Jeff Sentell
This, despite Georgia’s obvious ascension throughout the season.
The Bulldogs are one of two teams in the 12-team CFP field that has not allowed more than 10 points over its past four games, with Big 12-champ Texas Tech being the other.
This, despite three of those four opponents being ranked in the Top 25 with nine wins or more (Texas, Georgia Tech, Alabama).
Christen Miller, a potential first-round NFL pick, heads the list of overlooked defensive players after anchoring the nation’s No. 4 rush defense.
Cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, a redshirt freshman up for national defensive honors with his SEC-high four interceptions among cornerbacks, is another promising young star yet to arrive on national radar.
Offensively, tight end Oscar Delp — despite modest reception numbers that lead his position group (19 catches, 245 yards) — adds a weapon versatility as a blocker and pass catcher that NFL scouts are noticing.
Delp has made 13 of his 19 catches in the back half of the season, with 149 of his yards over that seven-game span.
Tailback Nate Frazier isn’t appearing on any postseason all-star teams, but his recent success is hard not to note.
Frazier scored four of his six rushing touchdowns over the past five games and is averaging 2 yards more per carry (6.77) in that span then he averaged through the first eight games (4.42).
The SEC coaches’ recent all-league voting didn’t account for such things, as only one UGA position player — Allen — earned first-team honors.
Georgia’s upward trajectory and personnel usage is not by chance, as Smart is a noted expert of roster management and talent development.
The Bulldogs boast the SEC’s two most recent national championship seasons (2021, 2022) and are the only CFP team to appear in its respective league’s past five championship games.
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