Can Georgia three-peat as national champions? Odds, predictions

The AP Preseason Top 25 dropped on Monday, and a familiar SEC juggernaut is in the drivers’ seat.

The defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs are your preseason No. 1, receiving 60 of 63 first-place votes. They are followed by Michigan (two first-place votes), Ohio State (one first-place vote), Alabama and LSU.

Can Georgia win its third straight national championship? According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Bulldogs are slated to have as much, if not more, success than they’ve had in previous years.

Georgia is currently the favorite to win the SEC title (-110), with Alabama in second at +300. UGA also has the best odds to make it to the College Football Playoff (-220) and the team is favored to win the national title once again (+220).

The Bulldogs have won the last two national titles while going 29-2, but this will be only the second time in program history they have been preseason No. 1. The first was in 2008.

Georgia started the 2021 season No. 5 before going on to win its first national title since 1980. The Bulldogs followed up with a perfect season in 2022 after being preseason No. 3.

Since the AP preseason poll started in 1950, 11 teams that started No. 1 also finished No. 1. Only two of those have occurred since 2000: Southern California in 2004 and Alabama in 2017.

“The threat for us is complacency,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “The first thing you have to do is acknowledge that it’s a threat. Like if you acknowledge the complacency is a threat, it’s the first step towards stomping it out.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.