Georgia extended its SEC-record streak of holding the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll to 18 weeks on Sunday, which also represents the longest of the college football playoff era.

The Bulldogs (7-0) garnered 43 of 63 first-place votes after dispatching of Vanderbilt by a 37-20 count in Nashville Georgia is now tied for having the third-longest streak of No. 1-rankings with Coach John McKay’s 1972-72 USC teams.

Number-two ranked Michigan had 16 first-place votes, while No. 5 Washington had two first-place votes and Ohio State and Florida State each had one.

Coach Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans of 2003-2005 hold the all-time mark with 33 consecutive polls being ranked No. 1.

• 2003-05 USC, 33

• 2001-02 Miami, 21

• 2021-23 Georgia, 18

• 1972-73 USC, 18

• 1999 Florida State 17

• 2015-16 Alabama 16

• 2017-18 Alabama 16

Kirby Smart, whose Bulldogs head to Florida to play the Gators in Jacksonville, was the defensive coordinator through 2015 at Alabama, recruiting many of the players who were part of the Tide’s previously unprecedented (in the SEC) streaks at No. 1 from 2016-18.

The program Smart built at Georgia has surpassed Nick Saban’s team in some capacities, becoming the only to win back-to-back championships in the four-team CFP era.

The Bulldogs’ current 23-game SEC win streak is bettered only by Paul “Bear” Bryant’s 1976-80 Tide teams (28) and Steve Spurrier’s 1994-97 Florida Gators (24).

The current No. 1-ranking will be celebrated more by Georgia fans and future generations reflecting the historical run than the UGA coaches.

“I don’t care,” Smart told media after a 51-13 win over Kentucky earlier this season, when asked about the No. 1 ranking. “I want to be the number one team at the end of the year.

“The goal to get there is to get better. I could care less where anyone ranks us.”

Indeed, Smart’s staff will be chopping up game footage and holding its breath while waiting on MRI results on Brock Bowers’ ankle after the Bulldogs’ go-to star offensive player left the second quarter of the win in Nashville.

Here is this week’s AP Top 25 poll result

1. Georgia

2. Michigan

3. Ohio State

4. Florida State

5. Washington

6. Oklahoma

7. Penn State

8. Texas

9. Oregon

10. North Carolina

11. Alabama

12. Oregon State

13. Ole Miss

14. Utah

15. Notre Dame

16. Duke

17. Tennessee

18. USC

19. LSU

20. Missouri

21. Louisville

22. Air Force

23. Tulane

24. Iowa

25. UCLA