ATHENS — If preseason accolades meant anything, the 2024 Georgia football team would already have the CFP trophy in Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.

That’s not the way things work, of course, but it speaks volumes about the program that Kirby Smart has built that so many are projecting the Bulldogs win the SEC and national title.

ESPN College Football Playoff expert Heather Dinich is among the latest to project Georgia greatness, penning the Bulldogs in as the projected top seed in this season’s 12-team playoff.

According to ESPN analytics, Dinich, penned, “Georgia has the best chance (47 percent) of any team to win the SEC title game.”

Dinich said projections suggest the Bulldogs will rank in the top three in both offense and defense, with Carson Beck at quarterback and a defense that has dominated college football over the past three seasons.

Per Dinich, the rest of the CFP 12-team playoff seeding projections:

No. 2 Ohio State

No. 3 Florida State

No. 4 Utah

No. 5 Texas

No. 6 Oregon

No. 7 Notre Dame

No. 8 Ole Miss

No. 9 Alabama

No. 10 Miami, Fla.

No. 11 Penn State

No. 12 Boise State

Under the new format, the No. 1 team would play the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup.

If Dinich’s projections are correct, not only would Georgia face three playoff teams in the regular season, but it would also get a rematch against Alabama or Ole Miss.

It’s worth noting that Dinich’s “First four out” of the playoffs list includes SEC teams LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Clemson, which Georgia opens the season against at 12:30 on Aug. 31 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is in the next group of four teams expected to narrowly miss making the 12-team college football playoffs.