SEC Media Picks Georgia to Finish Second in 2025, but Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs Still Control the League’s Power Structure
For the first time in several years, Georgia enters an SEC season not as the predicted frontrunner but as the projected runner-up. The SEC media poll for the 2025 season picked the Bulldogs to finish second in the league, a shift that signals both the increasing parity within the conference and the high expectations that surround Kirby Smart’s program. Yet despite the preseason ranking, anyone expecting Georgia to fall from national contention is likely to be disappointed.
This isn’t the first time Georgia has faced doubters under Smart, and history suggests the Bulldogs will use the slight as fuel. They’ve become a mainstay at the top of the college football world, combining relentless recruiting, elite development, and cold-blooded consistency to dominate in an era when roster turnover and NIL chaos have swallowed other programs whole.
So why were the Bulldogs picked to finish second in 2025? The answer lies in a combination of context, timing, and narrative. With Texas and Oklahoma now full SEC members, the league has shifted into a new structure, creating more challenging schedules and unfamiliar matchups. Georgia’s projected finish reflects not a lack of belief in the Bulldogs, but the perception that the path through the conference gauntlet has become steeper.
Texas was picked by a narrow margin to finish first. Riding the momentum of a 2024 College Football Playoff appearance and loaded with returning offensive weapons, the Longhorns have captured national buzz. Steve Sarkisian’s squad enters the season with the hype of a team ready to take over the SEC. But that storyline feels eerily familiar to past years when Alabama or LSU were dubbed the “next” dominant force—only to find Georgia still standing at the end.
Make no mistake: Georgia remains the most stable powerhouse in the conference. Kirby Smart has built more than a team; he’s constructed a football machine. The Bulldogs didn’t just recruit the best classes—they retained talent, developed depth, and constructed a culture where every year feels like a championship-or-bust campaign. Few programs in college football have maintained such a consistent blend of high-level execution and adaptability.
The quarterback position remains a cornerstone of Georgia’s 2025 outlook. Returning starter Gunner Stockton, now in his second year leading the offense, brings poise and a command of Mike Bobo’s system. His growth throughout 2024 was critical to Georgia’s success, and all signs point to further progression in the fall. Behind him, the Bulldogs have depth, experience, and talent at the skill positions. Running back depth is solid with Roderick Robinson and Branson Robinson leading the way, while the wide receiver corps, once an area of concern, is now full of versatile, explosive threats.
But what really keeps Georgia in the championship conversation is defense. Even with multiple players headed to the NFL year after year, Georgia reloads like few others. The 2025 defense is once again expected to be elite. The front seven is anchored by blue-chip talent, and the secondary is loaded with experience and speed. If there’s one consistent truth in the SEC, it’s that Georgia’s defense will be physically dominant, technically sound, and schematically overwhelming.
Yet, the expectations in Athens go beyond dominating their side of the ball. The standard is championships. The standard is perfection. Anything less feels like failure.
That’s why a second-place preseason prediction, while arguably meaningless in the long run, stings in Athens. Georgia has earned the right to be considered the conference’s premier program. Since 2021, the Bulldogs have either won or been on the doorstep of winning the national title. Their recruiting classes have consistently ranked in the top three. Their NFL Draft output is unmatched. They’ve turned the rest of the country into chasers.
Still, the 2025 schedule is arguably Georgia’s toughest in years. An early road game at Alabama looms large. A late-season showdown with Texas will give the Bulldogs a chance to directly respond to the SEC media poll. In between, they face battles against Florida, Ole Miss, and Tennessee—none of which are guaranteed wins. In the new SEC, there are no off weeks, and Georgia’s margin for error has never been slimmer.
That’s why Kirby Smart’s edge matters. He has turned Georgia into a program that thrives under pressure. Smart’s teams don’t panic. They don’t deviate from the plan. They outlast, outwork, and out-execute. The Bulldogs may not be flashy in 2025, but they will be ruthlessly efficient. That identity remains the greatest asset in a league full of hopeful upstarts.
The offseason has also been productive in Athens. Georgia has once again secured one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, including key defensive additions and a pair of offensive linemen expected to compete immediately. The transfer portal brought depth at wide receiver and linebacker, and the coaching staff has remained intact—a rarity in today’s volatile coaching carousel.
Leadership, too, plays a role in keeping Georgia afloat at the top. Veteran players like safety Malaki Starks, linebacker Smael Mondon, and offensive tackle Earnest Greene are not just stars—they’re culture carriers. These are the types of leaders that turn close games into wins and make sure standards don’t slip behind closed doors. In Smart’s program, those voices matter as much as the head coach’s.
From a national perspective, Georgia’s biggest challenge may not be internal—it’s perception. The Bulldogs have become so consistently elite that anything less than perfection is viewed as a step back. That’s the price of dominance. It’s not fair, but it’s reality. A 12-1 record that includes a conference title game loss might earn Texas praise but would spark existential questions in Athens.
And yet, Smart wouldn’t have it any other way. He knows that being the hunted comes with pressure, but it also comes with control. Georgia still controls its destiny. If they win, they go to the playoff. If they dominate, they’ll get the No. 1 seed. If they beat Texas head-to-head, the preseason poll becomes irrelevant. It always does.
That’s the quiet confidence Georgia carries into every season now. They are the gold standard, even if the rankings suggest otherwise. While others chase headlines or preseason accolades, Smart’s focus is on building a team that will be better in November than it is in September. That long-view approach is what turned Georgia from an SEC heavyweight into a national superpower.
The Bulldogs’ schedule, leadership, and coaching stability all suggest that the No. 2 prediction may say more about voters’ desire for something new than any true regression in Athens. Texas is exciting. Tennessee is rising. Alabama is always a threat. But Georgia? Georgia is still Georgia.
This fall, expect Georgia to embrace the underdog narrative, even if it’s only symbolic. It’s rare that a program as loaded and accomplished as the Bulldogs can credibly claim disrespect, but Smart knows how to weaponize even the smallest slight. He’ll remind his players that the media picked someone else. He’ll frame every practice and meeting with that doubt in mind. And when it’s time to play, Georgia will be as motivated as any team in the country.
The 2025 SEC race will be a war. No one denies that. But if you’re betting against Georgia simply because they were picked second, you haven’t been paying attention. The Bulldogs have built too much, recruited too well, and developed too long to be shaken by a media poll.
In many ways, being picked second may be the best thing that could’ve happened to Kirby Smart’s team. It gives them a psychological edge, a chip on the shoulder they haven’t been able to fully use in recent years. And for a program that thrives on internal motivation and external skepticism, that edge could be the final push they need to turn preseason doubt into postseason glory.
So while the media may have crowned Texas as the team to beat in the SEC this year, Georgia still holds the throne. And until someone proves otherwise on the field, the Bulldogs will remain the standard against which all others are measured.
