Spring practice has come and gone. The transfer portal window has opened and closed. Heading into the summer, there’s finally some roster stability around college football.

“I think when spring ball ended for us, it has given me an opportunity to kind of take a break, take a deep breath once the portal ended. That was April 30th,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on a recent appearance on the Paul Finbaum show. “This month of May has been great so far. Our players are finishing final exams. They have a break, we have a break, there’s no changing schools now. The window we’re in right now is good.”

With most of the dust settled on the spring, ESPN has updated its Top 25 rankings for the 2024 college football season.

Even after Alabama, Texas and Ohio State all made major additions via the transfer portal, Georgia is still on top. Not so much because of its eight newcomers via the transfer portal but because of the stars the Bulldogs have been developing over multiple seasons.

“Quarterback Carson Beck is primed for a big season, and he’ll be surrounded by plenty of playmakers and what should be one of the sport’s best offensive lines,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote. “Replacements will have to be identified on the interior defensive line and in the secondary, but that hasn’t been a problem in the recent past. Mykel Williams, who is going to play more outside linebacker this season, looks ready to break out as a pass-rusher.”

Williams had a dynamic performance in Georgia’s spring game, coming away with an interception. He arguably played his best game of the 2023 season against Florida State, where he spent more time lined up as an outside linebacker for the Bulldogs.

Williams has had 4.5 sacks in each of his first two seasons. He looks primed to shatter that mark entering his junior season.

“I thought that he had a really good spring from a standpoint of leadership, toughness. He didn’t get a ton of reps,” Smart said after Georgia’s spring game. “The guy’s been a two-year starter. But it’ll be a chance to get Ty more reps when we come back in the fall, continue to increase Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, and then Justin Greene. We’ve got some defensive ends that can spell him. He was a factor today.”

Schlabach did acknowledge Georgia’s more difficult schedule. The Bulldogs have road games against No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 7 Alabama. Georgia also plays No. 15 Tennessee and No. 16 Clemson this coming season.

Smart is already well aware of the fact that many will use the upcoming schedule as a reason to doubt Georgia.

“Some people will find things wrong with us. We have a really hard schedule,” Smart said. “We play three top-15 teams on the road in our conference. That’s tough. But we’ve got a good football team. We’ve got a very consistent football team. We say it all the time, we’re built to sustain at Georgia. We don’t want to be a one-hit wonder.”

Georgia opens the 2024 season against Clemson on Aug. 31. The game is scheduled for a Noon ET kickoff on ABC.