Georgia drops from top spot in AP Poll after narrowly escaping upset

The latest version of the AP Poll is out, and after a close road win over Kentucky, voters opted to drop Georgia out of the top spot. The Bulldogs are down to No. 2 behind Texas and ahead of Ohio State. UGA, who still received 23 nods at No. 1, split the first-place votes with the Longhorns (35) and Buckeyes (5).

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Georgia drop out of the top spot after a win that was too close for comfort. In 2022, the Bulldogs escaped Columbia, Missouri with a narrow 26-22 victory over the Tigers and dropped out of the top spot. They would return after a week and held the position atop the AP Poll for 24 consecutive versions, lasting through the 2023 regular season.

“I’d rather not have faced it. I mean, I didn’t prefer it to be that way, but I also told people all week, I knew it,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about the adversity his team faced. “I mean, we played on the road at Missouri two years ago, and then we played on the road at Auburn. I get it. When you go on the road for the first time in the SEC, at night, and you keep a team in the game, you don’t start fast, it’s going to be a challenge, and we responded to the challenge.”

“I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of our leadership. I honestly believe we won this game with culture, and the culture of our team never panicked. I saw more leadership tonight than I’ve seen all season,” he continued. “You guys have asked me a thousand questions about this team this, what about this team, this. I don’t know much about this team, but I found out more tonight than I’ve known up to this point, and that makes me extremely proud of how they responded and how they handled some difficult situations.”

Georgia will have its chances to prove to voters that their performance on Saturday was an outlier. UGA plays four of the other five teams ranked in the top-6. Three of those games are on the road including a date with No. 4 Alabama after the bye week on September 28th.

AP TOP 10

1. Texas (35)
2. Georgia (23)
3. Ohio State (5)
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Tennessee
7. Missouri
8. Miami (Fl)
9. Oregon
10. Penn State

For more from DawgsHQ, be sure to check out our YouTube channel where Kirby Smart’s postgame press conference, plus our instant reactions show, can be found!

The post Georgia drops from top spot in AP Poll after narrowly escaping upset appeared first on On3.

This article was originally published by Palmer Thombs at On3 – (https://www.on3.com/teams/georgia-bulldogs/news/georgia-drops-from-top-spot-in-ap-poll-after-narrowly-escaping-upset/).

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