ATHENS — Kirby Smart doesn’t pay too much attention to the rankings outside of the final CFP rankings that set the playoff field.

That said, it’s interesting to note where rival coaches, and national media had the Georgia football program ranked after a season that saw it rise to No. 2 CFP Selection Committee rankings despite having played arguably the most difficult schedule in the nation.

The Bulldogs (11-3) finished No. 6 in the final Coaches’ Poll, taking a hit after their 23-10 Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal loss to eventual national runner-up Notre Dame.

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, who was one of six coaches to have Georgia at No. 4 — its peak ranking among the 53 voters — said he took into consideration the Bulldogs were not at full strength in the playoffs.

“Overall (Georgia) was a really good team that had a QB injury,” Narduzzi told DawgNation. “That doesn’t make them go down in my opinion … if the QB doesn’t get hurt, they may win the entire thing.”

Indeed, Carson Beck was injured on the final play of the first half against Texas in the SEC title game, leaving it up to backup Gunner Stockton to lead a come-from-behind win.

It was the Bulldogs’ second win of the season over the Longhorns (30-15 in Austin, 22-19 in SEC title game in Atlanta).

Texas finished 13-3, winning playoff games against Clemson 38-24) and Arizona State (39-21, 2OT).

The vast majority of 53 voting coaches had Texas ahead of Georgia on their final ballot.

Georgia Tech coach Brent Key — on record expressing “hate” toward Georgia as a rival — was one of only seven voting coaches who had the Bulldogs ranked ahead of Texas on his final ballot.

Texas finished in the final Coaches’ Poll at No. 3 — behind No. 1 Ohio State (14-2) and No. 2 Notre Dame (14-2) — with No. 4 Oregon (13-1) and No. 5 Penn State (13-2) also ahead of No. 6 Georgia.

Georgia was also ranked sixth in the final AP Top poll, as determined by its 56 voting media representatives.

The Bulldogs were ranked fourth by seven of the voters, while 35 of the 56 media voters had Texas ranked ahead of Georgia.

Zach Klein, WSB-2 Atlanta sports anchor, disagrees with those who had the Longhorns ranked ahead of the Bulldogs.

“Georgia was 2-0 against them, it’s a no-brainer, I don’t know why you would even consider putting Texas ahead of them in the final rankings without Texas getting to the national title game,” Klein said.

“The first differential for me as a voter is head to head, and Texas not only lost twice to Georgia, but it did so at home and at a neutral site.”

The greatest variation between the Bulldogs and the Longhorns in the media, and Georgia’s lowest AP rank, came from Stephen Means of Cleveland.com, who had Texas No. 3 and Georgia No. 8.

Among the coaches, Eastern Michigan’s Cris Creighton and Washington coach Jedd Fisch were the only two coaches who had Georgia ranked that low, also voting them No. 8 on their ballots.

Here’s where each of the SEC coaches who have a vote had Georgia ranked on their final ballot:

• Kirby Smart, Georgia, had Georgia 4th

• Kalen DeBoer, Alabama, had Georgia 5th

• Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri, had Georgia 5th

• Mike Elko, Texas A&M, had Georgia 6th

• Clark Lea, Vanderbilt, had Georgia 6th

• Mark Stoops, Kentucky, had Georgia 6th