The Georgia Bulldogs earned the No. 1 ranking by the Associated Press ahead of the 2023 season. ESPN's Rece Davis doesn't, because of this reason.
The 2023 college football season is almost here, and fans got their first taste of what to expect this upcoming season. This past week, the Associated Press unveiled its first rankings for the upcoming season. To the surprise of no one, the back-to-back College Football Playoff national champions Georgia Bulldogs. Sure, the Bulldogs and head coach Kirby Smart did lose a ton of talent for the NFL in the past couple of years, but still had the second-best recruiting class for the upcoming season this year, per 247Sports.
Well, one prominent member of college football media doesn't believe that Georgia is deserving of the top ranking in all of football.
During an appearance on SportsCenter, Scott Van Pelt asked College GameDay host Rece Davis where there might be questions on the Bulldogs roster. Davis says the questions are at quarterback. Additionally, Davis says he didn't rank Georgia first overall, instead giving the nod to the Michigan Wolverines.
"It's not that they don't have talented guys, Carson Beck likely the starter. I was told by someone close to the Georgia program just a couple of days ago that Brock Vandagriff's been really terrific in fall camp. So they've got a couple of talented options, but they're unproven.
"And while I don't have them ranked No. 1 to start in the preseason poll, I have Michigan on top, it's not unreasonable to think that Georgia's just going to reload. And the schedule suggests that they only have two games that they could even find a way to give away over the course of the regular season."
ESPN's Rece Davis doesn't have Georgia ranked No. 1
Georgia received 60-of-63 first place votes in the preseason poll, with Michigan receiving two votes and Ohio State getting one vote.
As mentioned earlier, the Bulldogs saw plenty of their top talents declare for the NFL Draft. One of those players was quarterback Stetson Bennett, who was selected in the fourth-round by the Los Angeles Rams. As Davis mentions, it looks as though it will be Beck who gets the starting nod for the start of the season.
Beck had been with the program since 2020 as a four-star recruit, and had minimal playing time. Last year, Beck completed 26-of-35 pass attempts for 310 yards and four touchdowns in seven games played.
Vandagriff, meanwhile, joined the program in 2021 as a four-star recruit. As Davis mentions, a source told him that Vandagriff had been impressing during fall ball with Georgia. So, there could be a chance that Vandagriff receives playing time this season, especially if Beck struggles. However, their schedule is relatively easy, as the only ranked teams they are facing are No. 22 Ole Miss (Nov. 11) and No. 12 Tennessee (Nov. 18).
As for Michigan, they will have a relatively easy first half of the season. But that second half of the season is tough, especially playing No. 7 Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State in two of their last three games.
The Bulldogs will look to prove the doubters wrong this upcoming season, as they look to make it three years in a row as national champions.