They have done it! After 41 years of heartbreak, missed opportunities, and wondering what could have been, the Georgia Bulldogs are National Champions for the first time since Georgia native Jimmy Carter was President. Just for reference on how long it’s been, the last time Georgia won it all you had to say spoiler alert before mentioning that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father. Last Monday night was an end to over four decades of mockery and frustration for Georgia fans, while Georgia has seen it’s fair share of success over the years, a rival fan could disregard all of it by simply saying “1980”.
Anytime Georgia dominated a hated rival, said rival could just bring up the Dawgs’ title drought and the jokes would roll in. Georgia is one of the blue blood programs in the south and had all the makings of a program that could win championship after championship however college football’s ultimate prize eluded them for nearly half a century. Every other blue chip program in the region won at least one championship in this time span and they all made sure to remind Georgia fans that they were the odd ones out. Last Monday wasn’t just the first championship experienced by most Georgia fans, it was also validation for all painful losses over the years.
Where do I even begin with the torment Dawg fans have had to go through over the years? Maybe I can start with Georgia’s other national title appearance back in 2017 where Georgia squandered a double digit fourth quarter lead and watched helplessly as Tua Tagovailoa’s 41-yard walk off TD fell right into the hands of DeVonta Smith. I could also mention the Bulldogs being five yards away from the national championship back in 2012 but once again Alabama got in their way as Chris Conley couldn’t get out of bounds to stop the clock as the Dawgs came up just short of what would have been a surefire championship win over Notre Dame.
I haven’t even mentioned how Georgia had Alabama right where they wanted them in the 2018 SEC Championship game before Jalen Hurts came off the bench and led the Tide to 21 unanswered points and robbed Georgia of redemption for the previous year’s national title. It meant that much more that Georgia’s first championship in 41 years came against the team that had ruined their championship hopes time after time.
Georgia fans will no longer have to hear a Florida fan or an Auburn fan or a Georgia Tech fan say “1980” to them and even if they did, it wouldn’t matter because Dawg fans know that they are the reigning champs. Alabama fans had long joked that Georgia had Alabama’s mouth with Vanderbilt’s trophy case but after what transpired last Monday night in Lucas Oil Stadium, Georgia stole a trophy from Alabama’s trophy case and reversed the roles after all these years.
While Georgia fans will enjoy this long overdue celebration, college football continues into an era of massive change and transition. I said before this season that 2021 could be the last season of college football as we know it and with all the changes that may not have been an exaggeration. The impending conference realignment will shift the landscape of the sport as the SEC grows more powerful and the other major conferences just hope to keep up the best they can. NIL has already made an impact on the sport as the first Early Signing Day in the post-NIL era showed which programs would most benefit off of the rule change put into effect last summer. Several of the top programs in the sport will have new coaches come 2022 and time will tell which hires lead to national prominence and which ones flame out into an expensive buyout.
I’ve heard several people claim that these changes could ruin the sport, however I am confident that college football will remain the amazing experience it has been for so many years. Yes the sport will look
different but the sport has gone through changes in the past and come out fine. College football is an amazing game and I cannot wait to spend all my Saturdays glued to the tv for 12+ hours next fall.
College Football Top 25 Rankings
1.Georgia Bulldogs (14-1) W vs Alabama 33-18, W vs Michigan 34-11, preseason-3
2.Alabama Crimson Tide (13-2) L vs Georgia 33-18, W vs Cincinnati 27-6, preseason-1
3.Michigan Wolverines (12-2) L vs Georgia 34-11, preseason-unranked
4.Cincinnati Bearcats (13-1) L vs Alabama 27-6, preseason-8
5.Baylor Bears (12-2) W vs Ole Miss 21-7, preseason-unranked
6.Ohio State Buckeyes (11-2) W vs Utah 48-45, preseason-5
7.Oklahoma State Cowboys (12-2) W vs Notre Dame 37-35, preseason-unranked
8.Michigan State Spartans (11-2) W vs Pittsburgh 31-21, preseason-unranked
9.Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-2) L vs Oklahoma State 37-35, preseason-10
10.Utah Utes (10-4) L vs Ohio State 48-45, preseason-unranked
11.Oklahoma Sooners (11-2) W vs Oregon 47-32, preseason-2
12.Ole Miss Rebels (10-3) L vs Baylor 21-7, preseason-unranked
13.Pittsburgh Panthers (11-3) L vs Michigan State 31-21, preseason-unranked
14.Houston Cougars (12-2) W vs Auburn 17-13, preseason-unranked
15.Arkansas Razorbacks (9-4) W vs Penn State 24-10, preseason-unranked
16.Clemson Tigers (10-3) W vs Iowa State 20-13, preseason-4
17.Kentucky Wildcats (10-3) W vs Iowa 20-17, preseason-unranked
18.Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (13-1) W vs Marshall 36-21, preseason-19
19.Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-3) W vs Rutgers 38-10, preseason-unranked
20.Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4) L vs Kentucky 20-17, preseason-18
21.Utah State Aggies (11-3) W vs Oregon State 24-13, preseason-unranked
22.San Diego State Aztecs (12-2) W vs UTSA 38-24, preseason-unranked
23.Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) bowl game canceled, preseason-7
24.NC State Wolfpack (9-3) bowl game canceled, preseason-unranked
25.Oregon Ducks (10-4) L vs Oklahoma 47-32, preseason-11
Preseason Top 25 teams that finished unranked- Iowa State, North Carolina, Miami, Wisconsin, LSU, Indiana, USC, Florida, Arizona State, Coastal Carolina, Penn State, Washington, TCU, Texas