Georgia Tabbed as the Only 'Tier One' Program in College Football

ESPN tabs Georgia football as the only 'tier one' program heading into the 2023 college football season.

With week one of college football just a few days away from officially being kicked off, the last bit of preseason rankings and predictions are rolling in. ESPN's College Gameday crew released their college football playoff predictions last weekend, and none of them had the Bulldogs winning three straight titles. However, the nationwide sports network still has a lot of respect for head coach Kirby Smart's football program. 

ESPN staff writer David Hale ranked all 133 FBS programs into 20 different tiers, and only one program made the tier one list, the Georgia Bulldogs. There's no denying that the Bulldogs have been in a league of their own over the last two seasons as they repeated as national champs, completed a blemish-free season in 2022, and have had 25 total players selected in the last two NFL drafts. Those are just a few of the reasons why Hale placed Georgia in a tier of their own. 

"You know those old clown car skits, where a VW Beetle that barely seats four shows up and like 60 clowns hop out? That is essentially what talent production at Georgia looks like these days. Over the past three years, Georgia has had 34 players selected in the NFL draft (approximately 32 of which were drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles), including 13 in the first or second round, and yet the stars keep piling out of the car, one after another, to the point that the rest of college football has to be asking, "How are there still more of these guys?"

Hale also notes that the only true question that Georgia needs to answer this season is if starting quarterback Carson Beck can replace the production that Stetson Bennett took with him to the NFL. Even with that, though, Hale stated, "There's no sign the fun will end any time soon."

So while Georgia may not be getting the preseason love right now that people expected them to receive at this point in the season, the Bulldogs are still expected to be a very respectable program in 2023. 

Other Georgia News:

• Despite Injuries, Smart Bullish on Georgia's Running Backs
• Practice Observations - Georgia Priming for Second Scrimmage
• Preseason All-SEC Teams Released

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