Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It turns out a 65-7 victory in the College Football Playoff national championship game is enough to convince the Associated Press voters that you are the top team in the country.
The final AP Poll of the 2022 campaign was released following Georgia’s throttling of TCU, and the Bulldogs checked in as an obvious No. 1:
1. Georgia
2. TCU
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State
5. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Tulane
10. Utah
11. Florida State
12. USC
13. Clemson
14. Kansas State
15. Oregon
16. LSU
17. Oregon State
18. Notre Dame
19. Troy
20. Mississippi State
21. UCLA
22. Pittsburgh
23. South Carolina
24. Fresno State
25. Texas
While roster turnover that comes with the transfer portal, recruiting and NFL draft decisions will surely impact the outlook for the 2023 season before it starts, Georgia will likely begin the next AP Poll right where it finished in this one.
After all, the Bulldogs are back-to-back national champions and left absolutely no doubt about how Monday would unfold from the start.
They jumped out to a 38-7 lead by halftime and continued to add on after intermission against a TCU team that was simply overmatched from a talent and physicality standpoint. Stetson Bennett threw four touchdowns and ran for two more and will forever be remembered as a Georgia legend. Meanwhile, the defense had no trouble slowing down TCU’s attack.
In terms of the AP Poll, there may be some debate about where teams should slot in for the rest of the rankings, but there was zero question about who the No. 1 team was after the dust settled.
Now the 2023 season will be defined by Georgia’s attempt at a three-peat as the rest of the college football world attempts to catch up to the two-time reigning champions.
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