Georgia became the first team in the College Football Playoff era to win back-to-back national championships. And most of ESPN’s writers believe the Bulldogs will be well positioned to potentially win it all once again.

While previewing the 2023 season, ESPN’s stable of scribes shared their early playoff predictions for the 2023 season. Of the eight writers polled, seven had Georgia back in the playoff for a third consecutive season.

The Bulldogs were the most popular pick along with Alabama, which also appeared on seven ballots. USC was picked by six of the writers, while Michigan was selected by five.

  • Blake Baumgartner: Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, USC
  • Alex Scarborough: Georgia, Ohio State, USC, Alabama
  • David Hale: Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Oregon
  • Chris Low: Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, USC
  • Tom VanHaaren: Georgia, USC, Alabama, Michigan
  • Heather Dinich: Georgia, Alabama, USC, Michigan
  • Adam Rittenberg: Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Washington
  • Bill Connelly: Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, Ohio State

The lone writer to not pick Georgia was Hale. He pointed to the fact that Alabama still has Nick Saban as a motivating factor for the Crimson Tide entering this upcoming season.

“If anyone thinks he hasn’t paid attention to the continual refrain that Georgia has surpassed the Tide as the nation’s premier program,” Hale wrote. “Well, you don’t know Saban.”

Related: David Pollack blows Nick Saban’s mind during halftime of Georgia’s rout of TCU

Georgia and Alabama are not scheduled to meet during the 2023 season, with the Bulldogs drawing Auburn and Ole Miss out of the SEC West. The last time the two sides met, it was Georgia who came away with a 33-18 victory.

Both Georgia and Alabama have a number of key pieces to replace and neither rank in the top half of the country in terms of returning production. Alabama replaced both of its coordinators while Georgia is still waiting to learn what becomes of Todd Monken. He has interviewed for multiple offensive coordinator jobs at the NFL level.

Even with the turnover, both schools should be among the best teams in the country. Alabama inked the No. 1 recruiting class in this cycle, while Georgia signed the No. 2 class for the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Georgia does have a more favorable schedule than Alabama, with the toughest non-conference game for the Bulldogs being a visit to Georgia Tech. Alabama meanwhile gets Texas at home, along with the meatgrinder that is the SEC West. Georgia’s most difficult game is likely to be the Nov. 18 game to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

Georgia will begin spring practice at some point in March, most likely March 14. The spring game is set for April 15.

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