Saturday wasn’t Georgia’s best effort. It was still good enough to win, as the Bulldogs beat Samford 33-0. Yet the Bulldogs still did enough to vault to the top of the AP Poll for Week 3.

Georgia picked up 53 of the first place votes after having just 17 last week. Georgia came in at No. 2 in this week’s Coaches Poll as well. This is the second straight season Georgia has claimed the No. 1 ranking. The Bulldogs won the national championship last season after spending nine weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the country.

Related: Georgia football remains behind Alabama in Week 3 Top 25 Coaches Poll

Alabama dropped to No. 2 after the Crimson Tide eeked out a 20-19 win over Texas on Saturday. Ohio State meanwhile won 45-12 over Arkansas State, but its resume took a hit after Notre Dame lost to Marshall.

The Fighting Irish were far from the only team to suffer a shocking loss, as Texas A&M lost at home to App State. Baylor, Florida and Pitt all lost but those defeats all came against teams that were ranked.

While the Florida loss at the hands of Kentucky did come as a surprise, it has vaulted the Wildcats up the standings. Tennessee meanwhile pulled out a road victory over Pitt.

Georgia will see No. 18 Florida, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 9 Kentucky later in the season. Before that, Georgia will travel to Columbia, S.C., as the Bulldogs visit South Carolina next weekend. The Gamecocks are coming off a 44-30 road loss to Arkansas.

The Bulldogs have not yet been tested as they’ve won their first two games by the score of 82-3. Smart expects the hostile environment in Williams-Brice Stadium should tell us a little more about how good this Georgia team can be.

“How they’re gonna respond when it gets tough,” Smart said. “How they’re going to respond when it gets thick, when it gets physical, when it gets fast, when they get tired, when they give up a touchdown. My biggest concern is what is the response mechanism, and what are they wired with.”

The Georgia football team takes on South Carolina at 12 p.m. ET next Saturday. You can see the full Week 3 AP Poll Top 25 rankings below.

AP Poll Top 25 Week 3 rankings

  1. Georgia
  2. Alabama
  3. Ohio State
  4. Michigan
  5. Clemson
  6. Oklahoma
  7. USC
  8. Oklahoma State
  9. Kentucky
  10. Arkansas
  11. Michigan State
  12. BYU
  13. Miami
  14. Utah
  15. Tennessee
  16. NC State
  17. Baylor
  18. Florida
  19. Wake Forest
  20. Ole Miss
  21. Texas
  22. Penn State
  23. Pitt
  24. Texas A&M
  25. Oregon

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