Power ranking the SEC in 2025 preseason: #2 - Georgia
The Bulldogs are simply going to be this high until proven otherwise at this point. Do I have questions about Gunner Stockton headed into this year? Without a doubt. I'm not sure in the slightest that he's the guy who can lead the Bulldogs back to a championship, but he'll have a heck of a lot of help.
Adding Noah Thomas and Zach Branch will mix in a lot of juice to what was a lagging offense at times in Athens last year. Hosting Texas and Ole Miss will help as well when it comes to win totals, as both will be breaking in first-time quarterbacks and neither seems extremely likely to break UGA's eye-popping home win streak.
The defense will again be a complete monster for Kirby Smart, which again will just have to be assumed until proven otherwise. Losing Damon Wilson isn't ideal, and there was the usual exodus of Bulldog talent to the NFL Draft, but Smart's elite recruiting and the emergence of key freshmen like KJ Bolden mean that he'll most likely have another intransigent unit between the hedges this fall.
The early showdown against Alabama is the key game on the Bulldogs' schedule. They were unable to conquer the Tide in Tuscaloosa, continuing Smart's slide against Bama, but they welcome them into Athens this time. This will no doubt once more be an early contender for game of the year— and it will tell us a lot about Georgia's ceiling.