Coaches Poll Top 25 Rankings: Georgia Falls From No. 1 After Home Loss

ATHENS — Not that Kirby Smart cares, but Georgia is no longer the No. 1 team in the country.

The Georgia Bulldogs lost the top spot in the Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 8, dropping to No. 4.

The fall was precipitated by a stunning home loss to the unranked Auburn Tigers.

It was the first time since the 2019 season that Georgia lost to an unranked team. The Bulldogs had won 53 straight games against such teams.

After the game, Smart did his best to try to push the team past its disappointing loss.

“I really just worry about my team,” Smart said. “I really think the standings don’t matter, you know? The only thing that will matter is what you do next week. And next week will be just as tough a game as this week. And next week will be just as tough a game as this week. There’s nowhere to run and hide in this league. Nowhere. And so you just have to find ways to get better and try to win the next moment.”

Georgia was far from the only top team to lose on Saturday, as five of the previous top seven teams in the coaches’ poll also lost. Notre Dame and Alabama lost to ranked teams on the road, while Georgia and Texas were upset by unranked teams at home.

Miami is the new No. 1 team, followed by Ohio State at No. 2. BYU is at No. 3. Texas Tech rounds out the top five.

As for what’s next for Georgia, the Bulldogs get a well-deserved bye week. The Bulldogs are a football team in shambles, as they were without star safety KJ Bolden on Saturday. Gunner Stockton, Dwight Phillips Jr. and Elijah Griffin all left Saturday’s game at different times, although they all returned to action.

“We need to get some guys healthy and back,” Smart said. “We had about eight or nine guys that didn’t really practice this week, in terms of coming in, coming out last game. And we have to get better, we can’t turn the ball over, we can’t have undisciplined penalties. But we’re really good in some areas. We have a good defense, we have a good offense, but we have to get better. I need more players to play winning football.”

Georgia’s next three foes are all ranked at the moment. The Bulldogs will face No. 24 Florida on Oct. 31 before visiting No. 7 Ole Miss. Georgia’s next home game is against No. 21 Missouri, but that game isn’t until November 14.

You can see the full Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings below for Week 8.

Coaches question Top 25 rankings for Week 8