Georgia had the No. 1 spot in the preseason AP Poll and the No. 1 spot in the Coaches Poll. So it’s of little surprise that ESPN listed Georgia as the No. 1 in its preseason power rankings.

The Bulldogs were slotted ahead of No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Alabama.

“Georgia will again be one of the most talented teams in the country with one of the best quarterbacks (Carson Beck), perhaps the best offensive line Smart has had at Georgia, and a defense that will again be deep with new faces ready to emerge,” ESPN’s Chris Low said.

Beck is perhaps the biggest reason for optimism entering the season. He was voted Preseason All-SEC First Team quarterback at SEC media days in July and is poised to build off of a season where he threw for 24 touchdowns to just six interceptions.

Georgia does have some key pieces to replace around Beck, but the Bulldogs should be able to weather the loss of Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey.

“He’s just hungry. No one likes how we ended the season last year,” tight end Oscar Delp said. “You can tell he didn’t just the way he approaches practice every day. He’s looking to get better and make guys around him better. He’s confident. He’s a great quarterback. He’s a great guy to practice with. You can just tell he’s got that chip on his shoulder. He’s excited to play this year.”

Last season effectively ended for Georgia when the Bulldogs lost to Alabama in the SEC championship game. The 27-24 defeat kept the Bulldogs from making the four-team College Football Playoff.

The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams this season, which gives Georgia a bigger margin of error against a much tougher schedule. The Bulldogs have trips to Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss, along with neutral site games against Florida and Clemson.

Despite the tough schedule though, Georgia hasn’t been looking ahead to the 2024 season. The Bulldogs have spent much of August focusing on self-improvement.

“We’ve got a lot to fix,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We’re not where we need to be in terms of depth and having enough guys to play winning football. I”m really so focused on how we can get better today and how our team can get better. That’s down the road.”

The Bulldogs will shift their focus to Clemson later this week, with Georgia having finished fall camp this past Saturday. The Tigers, who were ranked No. 15 in ESPN’s rankings, will have plenty to prove as they have not made the College Football Playoff since the 2020 season.

The game against Clemson will be played in Atlanta on Aug. 31. The game is set for a noon ET kickoff.