ATLANTA — Kirby Smart is “the best coach in all of football” according to SEC Network star Peter Burns, but the road runs through Texas this season.
Burns said it this summer, and the media who voted in the SEC Media Poll doubled down on that concept that last in Atlanta, as the Longhorns had 96 votes to Georgia’s 44, Alabama’s 29 and LSU’s 20 before a steep drop to South Carolina (5).
“I said I thought the road through the SEC went through Texas and a lot of that had to do with because of what I’ve seen Sark (Steve Sarkisian) build offensively, and then really more of the quarterback situation,” Burns said, referring to the high expectations on Heisman Trophy favorite Arch Manning at Texas.
“I’ve seen a little bit of Gunner (Stockton), Kirby has seen a whole lot more than I have, but at the same point I felt there would be more offensive success at Texas than there would be at Georgia.”
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The Longhorns certainly have the easier schedule on paper, facing just two teams this season that had winning records in SEC play while the Bulldogs have four such teams on their schedule, including the Nov. 15 showdown in Athens.
Burns explained why he feels like the Texas game is a bigger game for Georgia than its relatively early home date against Alabama on Sept. 27 (TV: 7:30 p.m., ABC).
“It was always more about (Nick) Saban and Kirby than it was Georgia and Alabama,” Burns said, comparing the budding rivalries.
“I know what happened last year (in Tuscaloosa), but that was such a flukey game for so many different reasons,” Burns said on DawgNation Daily. “To me, the new Alabama is Texas right now, that’s going to be litmus test.”
Burns, who correctly predicted Georgia to win its two national titles in 2021 and 2022 — but missed the mark picking the Bulldogs to win the championships in 2023 and 2024 — still puts UGA on a pedestal.
“Still, the new Georgia is still Georgia,” Burns said. “That’s still going to be the gold standard right now, and the conference itself is still the gold standard.”
The Big Ten has produced the past two CFP champions with Michigan and Ohio State emerging as champions.
But Burns explained why the SEC is still the premium conference.
“I know we are on a two-year drought, but there’s also, two maybe three, if you add Penn State with bringing back (QB) Drew Allar, I think there’s three teams in the Big Ten (that could win the national title),” Burns said, grouping the Nittany Lions in with Ohio State and Oregon.
“I think there’s six teams in the SEC that could compete for a title.”
Georgia is one of those teams, regardless where the road starts or ends, and there’s so much to be determined that preseason picks are somewhat moot.
“Nobody really knows what the hell the rosters are right now because there is so much churn,” Burns pointed out.
Further, Burns noted how the NFL playoff mentality now applies more to college football, with the regular season not as important now that the playoffs have been expanded to 12 teams.
“The idea was never who was by far the best, the idea was do you have a good enough team to get into the playoff,” said Burns, who covered the Denver Broncos before emerging as the lead anchor on the SEC Network. “And then once you got into the playoff, could you win it?
“There’s no doubt with the foundation Kirby has built with the recruiting — he’s crushing it once again — that they’ve put themselves in that position.”
