The final week of the regular season is upon us in college football. And as has been the case all year, Georgia finds itself atop the Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings.
Georgia once again took the top spot after a commanding 38-10 win over the now No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers. The Bulldogs were followed by Ohio State at No. 2, Michigan at No. 3, Florida State at No. 4 and Washington rounding out the top 5.
The Bulldogs have completed SEC play with an unbeaten record, going 8-0 against conference foes. It marks the third straight season Georgia has completed such a feat. It became the first program in conference history to do so.
“Everybody will say it’s players. I just don’t think that it’s just players,” Smart said. “We’ve got good players. We’ve got really good players. But I think there’s a lot to our culture that the kids buy into, and they stay level-headed. We’re not talking about the streak. They’re not worried about the streak. Like I said, it’s going to end, and we’re going to start a new one. But for right now they just keep getting better.”
Georgia does have a game set against No. 8 Alabama in the SEC championship game, with the winner clinching a College Football Playoff spot and the loser almost certainly missing it. But before Georgia and Alabama meet, the Bulldogs will travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets are 6-5 on the season. It’s the first time since 2018 Georgia Tech has made it to a bowl game. The Yellow Jackets know Georgia well, in part because of former Georgia coaches such as Buster Faulkner and Kevin Sherrer and former players such as Dominick Blaylock and Brett Seither helping Brent Key in his first year on the job.
“Our job is to get ready and prepared for a physical, hard-nosed team that knows everything about us. Buster Faulkner is there, Kevin Sherrer is there, Brent Key is there,” Smart said. “They’ve got good coaches. But it’s not going to be the coaches that win the game. It’s going to be the players. It’s going to be a tough game. Our kids have got to respect it, understand it and go out and be physical. That’s what football is.”
Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. ABC will broadcast the game.
Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings Week 13
- Georgia (61)
- Ohio State (1)
- Michigan (1)
- Florida State
- Washington
- Oregon
- Texas
- Alabama
- Louisville
- Missouri
- Penn State
- Ole MIss
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Oregon State
- Arizona
- Notre Dame
- Tulane
- Iowa
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma State
- Liberty
- Tennessee
- NC State
- SMU