ATHENS — The most demanding SEC college football season in history is on tap with Georgia on the pole position.

The Bulldogs were the preseason No. 1 last year, but as Kirby Smart knows, it’s more about where you finish.

Georgia may very well have won the national title had it been given a chance in the four-team field, but next year that should not be an issue with the CFP field expanding to 12 teams.

HOT

Here’s the five “hottest” — toughest — games of next season for the Bulldogs at the time of this writing:

1. At Texas, Oct. 19

2. At Alabama, Sept. 28

3. At Ole Miss, Nov. 9

4. At Kentucky, Sept. 14

5. Vs. Clemson (In Atlanta), Aug. 31

Just missed: Tennessee Nov. 16 (home)

Warm

If Georgia fans want to feel their temperature rise, they’ll need to catch the take from Tide 100.9 Sports Radio host Ryan Fowler, who said Alabama fans once said “Third-and-Kirby” in reference to Smart not getting third down stops.

Fowler said Jeremy Pruitt was a better defensive coordinator at Alabama than Smart, and he went on to explain why.

Cold

Very cold — Detroit Lions fans booing former Georgia QB Matthew Stafford before their playoff game with the Los Angeles rams.

Stafford and his wife, Kelly, have donated millions of dollars to Detroit and across the state of Michigan. Classless act, considering Stafford was a model citizen and did his best for the Lions’ franchise for 12 years before going to the L.A. Rams.

Mike Norvell was on the wrong end of the biggest blowout in Florida State history and the most lopsided defeat of all time in bowl games.

The Seminoles also recently received NCAA sanctions for trying to cut an NIL deal with Amarius Mims before he was signed.

And yet, Norvell received a raise of almost $3 million after his name was associated with the Alabama opening, from $7.3 million to some $10 million a year.

Does college football have a problem with coaches’ salaries, or common sense?