Georgia has won back-to-back national championships, racking up 29 wins to just a single loss in that span. It has clearly been the top team in college football in each of the past two seasons.
And ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg doesn’t see the Bulldogs slowing down any time soon. In his future power rankings, Rittenberg had Georgia as the No. 1 ranked team for the next three seasons. He previously gave Georgia the No. 1 future defensive ranking, the No. 3 offensive ranking and the No. 4 quarterback ranking.
It should be noted that at the time he wrote his quarterback ranking story, Georgia had not yet landed Dylan Raiola. He is the No. 1 ranked player and quarterback prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
“Coach Kirby Smart has molded Georgia into college football’s preeminent program after ending a 41-year national championship drought with back-to-back titles,” Rittenberg wrote. “Georgia has succeeded in sending its players to the NFL thanks to its recruiting efforts. Georgia had a seven-round record 15 players selected in the 2022 NFL draft and added another 10 in 2023, and they are not slowing down.”
Just behind Georgia was Alabama at No. 2, Ohio State at No. 3, Michigan at No. 4 and LSU rounding things out at No. 5. Georgia had been behind Alabama in Rittenberg’s 2022 rankings. But Alabama has quarterback uncertainty of its own this season, even with the commitment of 5-star quarterback Julian Sayin.
Other SEC teams to make the list include Tennessee at No. 9, Oklahoma at No. 12, Texas at No. 15, South Carolina at No. 22 and Ole Miss at No. 25. Georgia’s two biggest annual rivals, Florida and Auburn, did not make Rittenberg’s top-25.
Georgia has now mastered the art of player development, aiding its rise to the top of the college football world. Smart has signed a top-four-ranked recruiting class in every recruiting cycle going back to 2016.
The Bulldogs have also led the way over the last three NFL draft cycles in terms of total player selections with 34 Bulldogs landing with NFL teams on draft day. Given Georgia has the likes of Brock Bowers, Sedrick Van Pran, Nazir Stackhouse and others who are draft-eligible you can imagine the 2024 NFL Draft will once again be flush with Bulldogs.
Georgia currently holds the No. 1 ranked recruiting class for the 2024 cycle, with Raiola being the crown jewel. Georgia has a commitment from 5-star cornerback Ellis Robinson as well. The Bulldogs already have commitments from nine top-100 recruits in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
Smart has made it a point to say his goal at Georgia isn’t to win one or two championships. He came to Georgia to make the program an annual championship contender. And if the Bulldogs get a few breaks along the way, they’ll probably come home with a national championship.
Georgia did that in each of the past two seasons. With the way Georgia is currently constructed, it seems like it will be in a position to do that again for the next handful of seasons under Smart.