It's not the ultimate goal, but it's still a goal.
Winning the SEC East has become almost an annual tradition for Kirby Smart's Bulldogs. Georgia has won the division five times in the past six seasons. That hasn't been done since Florida won the first five SEC East titles from 1992-96.
How have the Bulldogs been able to build that sustained success?
"It takes consistency in performance," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "It takes a commitment to excellence from your entire administration. It takes physicality in this league. It takes a really mature team to manage every game like it has a history and life of its own. That's what it takes."
Much of that comes down to being able to repeat successful habits. Smart said that's the key in every profession - to do things better than those in the same field.
"You got to do that by recreating yourself, by consistently outworking someone, and sometimes people get comfortable," Smart said. "When you get comfortable, you're not always at your best. We're trying our best to be at our best. That's our job. The challenge is how do you do that better than the team you're up against.”
Despite reaching the big game, Georgia hasn't had much success in Atlanta. The Bulldogs have lost three straight championship game appearances, dating back to the Alabama defeat in 2018.
That means something to veterans like fifth-year senior Kearis Jackson. The conference title game always falls around Jackson's birthday, leading to plenty of melancholy celebrations in recent years.
That's just one of the bigger goals the Bulldogs see in the distance. Beyond Atlanta lie the College Football Playoff and a national championship, which Georgia of course won in 2021, despite not taking home the SEC crown.
The prospect of an undefeated season also still lies before Georgia. That feat has only been accomplished three times in program history: 1920 (although that team had a tie), 1946, and 1980.
As Jackson met with the media on Monday, he looked at the wall in the team's meeting room turned press conference setting. There were years on the wall indicating division and conference champions.
Jackson feels this team has the potential to be the next to be remembered on that wall of legends.
"I feel like this team is special enough to accomplish a goal like that," Jackson said. "It’s always hard to go to Kentucky, especially on the road in November. They only remember what you do in November. You can go in and actually execute. Then that’s moving toward our goal. But we have to worry about this week first in order to put those types of numbers on the wall."
