Our first No. 1 seed has fallen in the bracket determining the top moment of the Kirby Smart era of Georgia football.
In the 2018 region, Smart’s YEET inspired celebration sprung a resounding upset win over Georgia’s SEC East clinching victory over Kentucky.
Perhaps Smart’s celebration was underseeded, given the Florida win turned the Kentucky game into a true, winner-take-all matchup. The Gators at the time were also a top-10 foe and the Georgia-Florida rivalry is unquestionably the top rivalry at the moment.
With the No. 1 seed out of the way in the 2018 bracket, Smart’s joyful dance with his team will take on D’Andre Swift’s 77-yard touchdown run against Auburn for the right to represent the 2018 region in the Final Four. Swift’s run actually took down Jeremiah Holloman’s performance in that Florida game, where he hauled in two touchdown passes.
As for the rest of the remaining bracket — we’ve reached the Elite Eight if you will — see below and remember that you can vote and determine what moves on.
Full bracket
2017 Region
No. 1 Sony Michel’s walk-off against Oklahoma vs. No. 5 shutting out Tennessee
Breakdown: Michel dominated again, winning 97-3 in the second round. Michel’s game-winning touchdown run is the heavy favorite to win the entire bracket. Think back to how great it felt in that moment for the Bulldogs to punch their ticket to Atlanta.
The Notre Dame moment earned a comfortable 61-39 win over Swift’s touchdown run in the SEC championship game. . You could’ve easily argued for Terry Godwin’s touchdown catch or Davin Bellamy’s game-ending strip-sack, but that entire weekend really validated that Georgia had one of the best fan bases in the country. That victory also proved to be a springboard to a season that ended in the national championship game.
2016 Region
No. 1 Nick Chubb’s return vs. UNC vs. No. 3 Jacob Eason’s winner against Mizzou
Breakdown: Chubb cruised again, this time topping the Auburn upset by a 72-28 margin. This was Chubb’s first game back after a horrific knee injury against Tennessee in his sophomore season. He came out and ran for 222 yards, the second-most in his illustrious Georgia career. The result also gave Georgia a win over North Carolina in Smart’s first-ever game as Georgia’s head coach.
Eason actually ended up outlasting any of Jake Fromm’s moments, thanks to beating Rodrigo Blankenship’s game-winner against Kentucky. Unlike Eason’s touchdown in the Tennessee game, this one actually proved to be the winner. Eason’s fourth-down toss to Isaiah McKenzie gave the Bulldogs their first SEC win under Smart and Eason his first road win.
2018 Region
No. 5 Kirby Smart’s post-Florida celebration vs. No. 2 D’Andre Swift’s touchdown run against Auburn
We previewed this at the top of the article. We think there’s a good chance Smart’s Florida celebration ends up winning the 2018 region.
2019 region
No. 1 The Notre Dame lights show vs. No. 2 HBTFD
Breakdown: this was the only region to feature the No. 1 and No. 2 seed. The Notre Dame light show figures to be the heavy favorite to advance, given Smart’s colorful press conference against Auburn has eeked out two close victories just to get to this point.
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