Bulldogs finish with Top 5 rankings in both polls
The Georgia Bulldogs finished with a Top 5 ranking in both The Associated Press and coaches’ final polls released early Tuesday. But the Bulldogs remained behind Notre Dame, which lost to Alabama 42-14 in the BCS national championship game Monday night.
Georgia (12-2) finished in a tie for fifth with Texas A&M in the AP poll, which is a compilation of media votes. Notre Dame (12-1) was fourth. The Bulldogs were fourth in the USA Today coaches’ poll, one spot behind the Fighting Irish.
This represents the third time under coach Mark Richt the Bulldogs’ have closed out a season with a Top 5 ranking. They were No. 2 in 2007 and No. 3 in 2002. It’s Georgia’s sixth Top 10 final ranking under Richt, including 2003 (7), 2004 (7), 2005 (10) and 2008 (10). It’s the 18th time overall UGA has finished ranked among the AP top 10.
Alabama secured its third BCS title in the last four years Monday night in Miami to finish No. 1. Oregon (12-1) was second in both polls and Ohio State was ranked third in the AP, despite being on NCAA probation and ineligible for postseason play or conference championships.
Following are the complete polls:
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Record Pts Pv
1. Alabama (59) 13-1 1,475 2
2. Oregon 12-1 1,358 5
3. Ohio St. 12-0 1,302 3
4. Notre Dame 12-1 1,288 1
5. Georgia 12-2 1,230 6
5. Texas A&M 11-2 1,230 10
7. Stanford 12-2 1,169 8
8. South Carolina 11-2 1,038 11
9. Florida 11-2 933 4
10. Florida St. 12-2 922 13
11. Clemson 11-2 889 14
12. Kansas St. 11-2 871 7
13. Louisville 11-2 781 22
14. LSU 10-3 756 9
15. Oklahoma 10-3 615 12
16. Utah St. 11-2 456 18
17. Northwestern 10-3 443 21
18. Boise St. 11-2 419 20
19. Texas 9-4 358 NR
20. Oregon St. 9-4 303 15
21. San Jose St. 11-2 243 24
22. N. Illinois 12-2 227 16
23. Vanderbilt 9-4 180 NR
24. Michigan 8-5 147 19
25. Nebraska 10-4 119 23
Others receiving votes: Baylor 95, Penn St. 90, Cincinnati 78, Oklahoma St. 42, Tulsa 34, UCLA 31, Arkansas St. 28, TCU 9, UCF 9, Wisconsin 6, N. Dakota St. 1.
USA TODAY COACHES’ POLL
Record Pts Pvs
1. Alabama (56) 13-1 1,400 2
2. Oregon 12-1 1,322 3
3. Notre Dame 12-1 1,253 1
4. Georgia 12-2 1,213 5
5. Texas A&M 11-2 1,171 9
6. Stanford 12-2 1,167 8
7. South Carolina 11-2 1,064 10
8. Florida State 12-2 942 12
9. Clemson 11-2 916 13
10. Florida 11-2 886 4
11. Kansas State 11-2 841 6
12. LSU 10-3 775 7
13. Louisville 11-2 772 18
14. Boise State 11-2 633 15
15. Oklahoma 10-3 600 11
16. Northwestern 10-3 580 17
17. Utah State 11-2 444 20
18. Texas 9-4 398 25
19. Oregon State 9-4 366 14
20. Vanderbilt 9-4 248 NR
21. San Jose State 11-2 244 24
22. Cincinnati 10-3 186 NR
23. Nebraska 10-4 175 21
24. Northern Illinois 12-2 156 16
25. Tulsa 11-3 110 NR
Others receiving votes: Michigan 101; UCLA 75; Baylor 52; Oklahoma State 36; Wisconsin 18; Central Florida 15; Arkansas State 13; Arizona State 10; Rutgers 9; Kent State 5; Louisiana Tech 2; Arizona 1; Ohio 1.
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368 comments Add your comment
puff
January 8th, 2013
9:39 am
Bryan Kelly must be a popular guy. ND exposed itself as barely belonging in top 10.
74 Dawg
January 8th, 2013
9:39 am
Ranking Notre Dame in the top 5 is really a prime example of a new phenomena spreading through the so called elites in our society today: a ridiculous refusal to admit they were wrong. see major league baseball after the infield fly gate in the playoffs, Roger Goodell almost anytime, the administration after Benghazi, and the media after 4 years of policy and leadership failure. in the 21st century if you are self important you never admit you were wrong, you double down on your idiocy. I mentioned to someone last night that the voters in the polls who voted ND # 1 should hang their heads in shame. they put a team on the level with Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, maybe Vandy, into the title game. anyone who doesn’t think Oregon, Stanford, even Fla State or Clemson would not have made for a much better game. nD did not earn the spot. if they join a conference where they have to actually play somebody and win something to qualify, then they would deserve it. But the same people who voted ND #1 refuse to admit they were historically wrong. and anyone who follows college football knows it. all you sports writers, I got some news: the king ain’t wearing no clothes, everybody knows it, and it ain’t pretty:)
Just Asking?
January 8th, 2013
9:40 am
How is Florida and LSU ranked so high after the way they played their Bowl games?
HABDAWG
January 8th, 2013
9:40 am
Irish Still IRRELEVANT!!!
Buckeye
January 8th, 2013
9:41 am
Righteous,
You are right (eous).
But dogs remain delusional about the final rankings.
dogs must think the AP is in cahoots with the Zebras from the 350 rushing yard beat down from Bama.
Buckeye
January 8th, 2013
9:41 am
habdawg,
dogs STILL IRRELEVANT!!!
Just Asking?
January 8th, 2013
9:42 am
I’m really just amazed that USC didn’t get any votes. Weren’t they the preseason No. 1 team? What cha want to bet that they are back in the top 20 before next season starts?
Mouth Breather
January 8th, 2013
9:43 am
HEY THIS IS #### ####.
We won the East, we beat Florida! We almost beat Bama and if we had a month to prepare we’d beat Bama.
WE SHOULD BE RANKED #1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dawg Tired
January 8th, 2013
9:43 am
Apparently, you must be required to flunk an I.Q. test to be allowed to vote in these polls. How could anyone watch the SEC Championship and then watch the National Championship and then conclude that ND is better than UGA? Answer: You are stupid.
Just Asking?
January 8th, 2013
9:44 am
Buckeye, do you really wish your team had been on that field last night to get the but whupping that ND got? Ohio St. wouldn’t have fared any better.
damngooddawg!
January 8th, 2013
9:45 am
Hey Buckeye, you guys know all about being IRRELEVANT don’t you?
AJ
January 8th, 2013
9:45 am
Let me see Alabama 33, GA 28………………..Alabama 42, ND 14…………how the hell does ND get ranked higher than GA.???? ND looked like a High School team last night!!
ARdawg
January 8th, 2013
9:46 am
beanster
I’m afraid Special Ed Buckeye’s safety helmet has fallen off
VinceVanGo
January 8th, 2013
9:46 am
Evidently since the game wasn’t that entertaining to watch the only thing Brent Musberger could find to keep his eyes on was McCarrons girlfriend. What a perv! Dogs should be very good next year but the SEC is loaded. The problem is that by the time the SEC teams beat up on each other there is only room for one to be in the top 4, and the “diaper dandies” slide up in the polls. I doubt the new playoffs will change that, but the SEC has proved many times(7 straight) that they are the best football conference in college.
OMG
January 8th, 2013
9:49 am
This whole ranking scheme for Notre Dame is simply to help them make money for a mediocre team. Notre Dame will go broke if the system is not tweaked to give them extra tv times and higher rankings. This so disgusting ranking them in the top five.
Andy
January 8th, 2013
9:52 am
I’m confused. Who did UGA beat to make them worthy of being top 5?
Orlando Dawg
January 8th, 2013
9:54 am
Bama 1, UGA 2, A&M 3….and that’s a fact…Lou Holtz probably voted ND #1…this is a farce….Go Dawgs!
That ND backer is just no good
January 8th, 2013
9:55 am
The LB for ND is lousy. ND reminds me of that Hawaii team that UGA stomped in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago. ND was so over rated and SLOW!
SEC OWNS college football.
trueblueeagle
January 8th, 2013
9:55 am
ND should behind Fla and Louisville ahead of Fla. This poll is a joke
Stiffneck
January 8th, 2013
9:58 am
I think Tech could have beaten the gold domers last night. Sad.
Dawgman
January 8th, 2013
10:00 am
Notre Dame would lose to UGA, Florida,Texas A&M,LSU, Ole Miss and probably Vandy. How they stay in the top 5 is ridiculous!
carbon
January 8th, 2013
10:01 am
ND is a team of sissy boys undeserving of a #4 ranking in the SEC much less nationally. Dawgs should be ranked ahead of them. But otherwise, good finish for UGA
James at Amelia Island , Florida
January 8th, 2013
10:02 am
A complete blow out last night of a SEC team vs Notre Dame ! The build up by some of the press for how ND would stop the run was bull. Lou Hotlz was pitiful speaking about how ND would win on ESPN before the game. So Lou how do you explain a complete blow out and your defense played so bad?
At least 4 SEC Teams would have beaten ND last night. Georgia and Texas A&M shold be ranked higher than ND.
Game was over at halftime. Congrads to Bama on another National Championship. 7 years in a row for SEC.
Hoping for UGA to wrap up some great prospects to close the year. Nice hire on the D Line. Look forward to 2013 at UGA.
GO DAWGS
wreckmaniac
January 8th, 2013
10:03 am
Notre Dame should not be in the top 10 and Ohio State should be excluded.
Dawgman
January 8th, 2013
10:03 am
Buckeye……………………………with your record against the SEC, I believe you would be smart to stay quiet otherwise you make yourself look kind of foolish!
Col AG
January 8th, 2013
10:05 am
I’m sorry Notre Dame 3 , 4, 5 NO WAY. All 5 SEC teams could have beat her last night, I agree Oregon # 2 but they have yet to play the SEC. My Rankings Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia, Florida.
See you next year
Go Dawgs, GO SEC
Tuitts Momma
January 8th, 2013
10:06 am
Where was my boy last night ?
wreckmaniac
January 8th, 2013
10:07 am
To Tuitts Momma: Apparently, on his butt
observer
January 8th, 2013
10:10 am
The polls never made much sense to me. But ND top 5? That’s irrational considering last night’s debacle and then considering SOS. At the same time, UGA has no business being top 5. Who did UGA beat to deserve such lofty ranking. UF who laid an egg with Louisville? UGA’s best game was a loss. In the SEC you could argue 1-UA; 2-TAM; USC-3 UGA-4th
wreckmaniac
January 8th, 2013
10:11 am
The ACC dosen’t need Notre Dame.
Jon P
January 8th, 2013
10:12 am
BUCKEYE,
Better to be “IRRELEVANT” then to be INVISIBLE like Ohio State. Where are you guys in the final Coaches Poll? Nowhere to be found. Must hurt to be completely disregarded and ignored. Even your head coach wanted no part of Bama last night (he wanted to see Oregon play Bama, but not his Buckeyes).
wreckmaniac
January 8th, 2013
10:15 am
Definition of having a life: Not watching the second half of last nights laugher.
john
January 8th, 2013
10:18 am
Until ND officially joins a conference they should be lumped in with the other NON-AQ like Boise State.
OldFan
January 8th, 2013
10:19 am
Didn’t hear UGA mentioned once by the commentators last night when the discussion turned to next year. This good season is over, and the Dawgs still don’t have national respect. Until we prove it at the SEC Championship, we’re just another also-ran. ND’s ranking is a wash over from all the feel good, it’s just like old times, sentiment that the sportswriters love. 1980 was a long time ago. Need another one, Dawgs.
wreckmaniac
January 8th, 2013
10:19 am
The worst moment of this year for Oklahoma was not the egg they laid in their bowl game but seeing a team that beat them play in that farce we all saw last night.
JD
January 8th, 2013
10:22 am
Now you know why so many of us dislike ND. They are always rated higher than they deserve.
RedandBlackDAWG
January 8th, 2013
10:27 am
Notre Dame, would be the fifth best team if they were in he SEC, in this conference. Alabama, Texas A&M, UGA, and S.C. are superior to them. Florida and LSU might also be their equal although both, need offensive help.
If not for the media bias, Notre Dame, might not be considered even a top 10 team, as last night clearly showed.
Alabama is still clearly the cream of the crop in college ball, but the magic of what the SEC is, dictates that the other teams will still keep on pushing and the SEC champion each year, will most likely be the superior team in the college football world again next year and for the foreseeable future. Notre Dame will limp off to join the ACC in 2014, so they can be assured of a BCS bowl, even though, after the debacle of the competition in the games the last few years, the orange bowl will not be considered top flight in the near future.
Ohio State can brag about being undefeated in the big 10?, this year, in what has to be considered a pretty poor year from teams of that conference, and Alabama would have crushed them as well, if they had played last night. I don’t think I have seen a more dominating game, where one team was so superior to another in the championship game than I did last night, and that stretches back quite a few years. Alabama is simply the best team right now, in college, and presents a goal for the rest of college football to try and obtain. Congratulations to them, for a terrific championship game.
pikedawg
January 8th, 2013
10:29 am
article is wrong..UGA was 13-1 in 2002…finished in top 3.
DeezNutz
January 8th, 2013
10:32 am
Buckeye you don’t see the parallels between ND and Ohio State? They both played a bunch of pansies in the BIG10 (aka MAC-b) and barely beat the same Purdue, Michigan, etc. The only difference is ND played and beat Stanford and Oklahoma which are both certainly better than the cellar dwellers of the BIG10. As so many people like to say about the Bulldogs, Ohio State didn’t play anybody. Ohio State was lucky they didn’t get to go lose their bowl game this season and get exposed AGAIN! Ohio only matters once every four years and it has nothing to do with football.
RedandBlackDAWG
January 8th, 2013
10:32 am
wreckmaniac
January 8th, 2013
10:11 am
You are right, the ACC doesn’t need Notre Dame. As bad as they showed last night, once they start ACC play, they will most likely dominate the ACC. Not to mention the fact that the ACC will actually benefit momentarily quite a bit. by having a money draw like Notre Dame to feed off of. Just think, now Georgia Tech. will continuously be dominated by two teams each year, with both UGA and Notre Dame, having to play Tech.
Dawg Patrol
January 8th, 2013
10:37 am
R&B Dawg — You can go ahead and add the Seminoles to your list. They’ll dominate Tech too as long as PJ is there.
water dawg
January 8th, 2013
10:37 am
Notre Dame at 4th in the nation? They wouldn’t even be fourth in the SEC — sixth at best, behind Bama, Texas A&M, UGa, LSU, SC and Fla.
Bill
January 8th, 2013
10:38 am
Its just a poll..thats it!
Why all the crying…idiots run the polls, simple answer.
Bo in North Carolina
January 8th, 2013
10:38 am
Looks as if ND will be right at home in the ACC
Discount DoubleDawg
January 8th, 2013
10:39 am
Buckeye- I haven’t heard your SEC chant yet today. Can you please do it for all of us today?
VALDAWGSTA
January 8th, 2013
10:39 am
How is Notre Dame a spot ahead of UGA?
C’mon man!!
Jborodawg
January 8th, 2013
10:41 am
“…To put ND in front of Georgia and to put Florida in front of Louisville is unbelievable…”
I agree; it’s crazy. Seems like ND makes the rankings almost by default every year. They get a lot of pub from the talking heads even when they’re having losing seasons. So, ‘74 Dawg’, it’s not at all a “new phenomena”.
I’d have to put T A&M ahead of the Bulldogs only because they did beat Bama. Kudos to Vandy for making the rankings. How ’bout N Dakota St being ranked ahead of half the SEC teams? They do play some tough football up there.
I see the Bulldogs no higher than 10th in pre-season rankings; and ND a top 5…even though pre-season rankings don’t amount to a hill of beans. I wouldn’t mind even 15th and under the radar. I worry about the team’s mindset when they’re ranked too high right off the bat.
All that being said, How ‘Bout Them Dawgs?!! Great season!
Bill
January 8th, 2013
10:41 am
Dawg Patrol, it has nothing to do with CPJ..FSU has all the $$ and school don’t have all the rules etc GT does plus a big beautiful camps. FSU has more to offer..open your eyes.
Gorilla Biscuit
January 8th, 2013
10:42 am
I’m glad Bama took care of things early last night so I could go to be at halftime. I had to get up and go to work this morning. No doubt exists that if the Dawgs had been able to “finish the drill” against Bama they would be basking in the glory and hoisting the crystal football.
UGA Fan
January 8th, 2013
10:42 am
New BCS format.
The SEC representative in the National Championship game will be the team with the lowest BCS ranking and the other team will be allowed 22 players on the field at all times.