The long offseason is reaching its end, as there will be real college football games this weekend.

Georgia will have to wait another week, as the Bulldogs open the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against Tennessee State.

As for how the season is expected to end, the Bulldogs have national championship expectations.

“We’re focused on one goal, and that’s getting to a national championship and winning one,” Georgia wide receiver Sacovie White-Helton said. “And we all understand that the role we need to have for this team to be where it needs to be in January, at the end of January. And whatever that may be, it’s definitely not listening to somebody outside of here.”

The national media seems to agree that the Bulldogs are a national championship contender. Throughout the various bowl projections, most in the national media view Georgia as a College Football Playoff team.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura both have Georgia making the College Football Playoff. Bonagura has Georgia earning the No. 5 seed and hosting No. 12 Boise State before losing to No. 4 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

Schlabach has Georgia as the No. 2 seed and beating No. 7 Miami before falling to No. 3 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

Brett McMurphy of On3 has Georgia as the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff. McMurphy has Georgia beating No. 6 Miami in the Peach Bowl before losing to No. 2 Oregon in the semifinals.

Brad Crawford of CBS Sports also pegs Georgia as the No. 3 team in his College Football Playoff rankings. Crawford did not predict how the College Football Playoff would turn out beyond the Bulldogs facing Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.

Georgia has not had much success in the College Football Playoff since it expanded to 12 teams, as the Bulldogs have gone one-and-one in each of the past two seasons.

Heading into 2026, the Bulldogs know they have to play at their best at the end of the season.

“How do we keep the continuity of going with what we do?” Georgia coach Kirby Smart asked at SEC media days. “Look, we’re a grind-you-out, hard-nosed, culture team. We’re physical. We’re better when we’re playing in rhythm, when we have week after week after week and we have to rebound to play somebody. The breaks have probably affected us some.”

There is at least one national media member who has the Bulldogs achieving their stated goal of winning a national championship. Andy Staples of On3 has Georgia as the No. 6 seed in his College Football Playoff rankings before beating Indiana, Oregon, Michigan and Notre Dame en route to winning a national championship.

Georgia last won a national championship during the 2022 season. The road to potentially winning its next starts at 3 p.m. ET on Sept. 5 against Tennessee State.