ATHENS — Georgia wasn’t out of the top 10 of the AP Poll for long, as the Bulldogs came in at No. 8 in the AP Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 13.
Georgia moved up from No. 11 after the Bulldogs took down Tennessee 31-17 on Saturday. The Volunteers were previously the No. 6 ranked team in the AP Poll but dropped to No. 10 after the loss. Georgia is No. 8 in this week’s Coaches Poll.
Quarterback Carson Beck had perhaps his best game as a Bulldog, throwing for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown in the win.
“I’ve been very consistent, even with some of the dumbest questions in the world, no offense, about our quarterback, because we see him every day,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Beck. “He gets judged on outcomes and stats, but we don’t judge based on that. We judge based internally on what gives us the best chance to win. I’m never going to falter over what I see with my eyes. What I see with my eyes is a guy that’s really good in the pocket. He’s got poise, he’s got composure. He puts us in the right play over and over again and makes good decisions.”
The win moves Georgia to 8-2 on the season and completes its run through SEC play. Georgia went 6-2 in conference games this season. The wins include victories over Tennessee and No. 3 Texas. The losses are against No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss, with both being played on the road.
Georgia will have to wait to find out if they will play in this year’s SEC championship. Texas and Texas A&M each have only one conference loss but those two teams will play each other on Nov. 30.
With two weeks left in the regular season, Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia and Tennessee now all have two conference losses. As it stands right now, Alabama would be the favorite to get to the SEC championship game among those two-loss teams.
As for Georgia, it is focused on UMass this week.
“I mean, everybody thinks we should win every game,” Smart said. “I’m very proud of our team. If you told me that this group would be this resilient, I would probably say I don’t doubt it, because they’re great kids. And they played the toughest schedule in our league, and we still got two games left of tough teams. Georgia Tech’s been a great team, and UMass has played three or four SEC teams already.”
Saturday’s game is set for a 12:45 p.m. ET start on SEC Network.
You can see the full AP Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 13 below. The College Football Playoff rankings for this week will come out on Tuesday.
AP Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 13
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Penn State
- Indiana
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Ole Miss
- Tennessee
- Miami
- Boise State
- SMU
- BYU
- Texas A&M
- Colorado
- Clemson
- Army
- South Carolina
- Tulane
- Arizona State
- Iowa State
- UNLV
- Illinois
- Washington State