Kirby Smart was asked the other day if he had any special plans to watch Tuesday’s initial College Football Playoffs rankings show on ESPN to see where his Bulldogs fall.
Of course not.
"We look at all our tape. We watch practice, and then we go third down plan and go over that,” said Smart, when quizzed about his Tuesday routine. “I don't even see it (rankings). I get text messages about it and things like that, but we all know the deal. You've got to win the games you play and take care of that. The rest is out of our hands."
Nevertheless, it’s safe to assume it did not take Smart long to hear that his Bulldogs (8-0, 4-0) were voted No. 2 in this week’s inaugural rankings behind Ohio State.
The Bulldogs were followed by Michigan at No. 3, Florida State at No. 4, and Washington at No. 5.
"With several 8-0 teams, the committee debated it all. Ohio State was ranked No. 1, due in part to their big wins against Penn State and at Notre Dame," said Committee Chair Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at North Carolina State. "Georgia at No. 2 is an excellent team and they keep winning decisively."
Corrigan was asked about Georgia's strength of schedule which did not rank as high as some of the other top teams.
"Well, I think you look at the rivalry game with Florida and the way they played the game against Kentucky, and to win that 51-13," Corrigan said. "Add to the fact that Brock Bowers did not play against Florida, their overall team makeup, team speed, a defense allowing about 14 points a game, in the total body of work, you've got to be able to make these decisions as you're looking at it, and again."
Credit a trio of former coaches - Jim Grobe, Joe Taylor, and Chris Ault - for helping convince the committee that the Bulldogs deserved to be the No. 2 team.
"The beauty of it is to have Coach Taylor, Coach Ault, Jim Grobe and have Coach Grobe in there as former coaches and their ability to talk about what they see," Corrigan said. "It really enhances kind of the overall experience of everyone in the room to make sure that we're getting this right."
Georgia won't have to worry about strength-of-schedule moving forward.
The Bulldogs' next three games are against ranked teams. And there's a possible spot in the SEC Championship.
"I had no idea that was coming out, but our goal is to play Missouri," linebacker Jalon Walker said. "Of course, that's a main part of our future, but our main goal is Missouri, and taking care of business week to week."
