The Gould Standard: Georgia, and the SEC, on Everyone's Minds.
Georgia's Bulldogs put on a performance for the ages on Monday when they stampeded TCU’s underdog Horned Frogs 65-7.
It was the second straight national championship for the Dawgs, who are 33-1 in their last 34 games, including 29 wins the last two seasons.
Kirby Smart is now 73-10 since becoming head coach at his alma mater. Smart, who was Alabama’s defensive coordinator before returning to Athens, joins his longtime mentor, Nick Saban, who won back-to-back national championships in 2011-12.
At 47, Smart seems young enough to take a shot at passing Saban as the best college football coach of this century, if not arguably the all-time best.
For those who live outside of SEC country, Smart replacing Saban would seem like switching from vanilla to vanilla bean. Both are detail-oriented, relentless leaders who have all the advantages—and who use them with exceptional skill.
A coach to rival Saban? A program to rival Alabama? Both in the same conference? It's a daunting thought for those trying to challenge the SEC's stranglehold on college football.
The Dawgs are an easy choice as the pre-season No. 1 for the 2023 season. Last year, they lost 15 players to the NFL draft, including eight defensive starters. Heading into next season, they could return as many as 15 starters. And they toughest challengers are likely to be within theirown conference. Again.
Although TCU’s meltdown in the championship was about as ugly as it gets, the Horned Frogs had a remarkable run to the championship game. In his first year, Sonny Dykes and his staff and players did a lot of special things to get onto the SoFi Stadium field against Georgia.
For Georgia and the SEC, these are the headiest of times. Georgia’s national championship is the 13th in 17 seasons for the Southeastern Conference.
The question for everyone outside the SEC, though, is…Who’ll stop the reign?
With Oklahoma and Texas poised to join a league that already overflows with national championship-caliber programs, with television dollars reaching boggling proportions and with a 12-team playoff field all on the horizon, the future could not be brighter for the SEC.