10 Power 5 National Championship dark horse contenders
By John Buhler
Despite yet another 10-win season in Athens, University of Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity made a bold move by parting ways with head coach Mark Richt. The long-time Bulldogs skipper may have averaged 10 wins annually over the course of his 15-year tenure, but registering only a pair of SEC Championships — to go along with zero National Championship appearances — simply wasn’t job security enough.
Enter Kirby Smart, the former Alabama defensive coordinator and onetime Georgia defensive back, who assumes the reins of a team seemingly never more than a few wins away from title contention. After building some of the best defenses the game has ever seen, Kirby now faces the difficult task of taking a good program and turning it into a great one.
Even with a locker room culture change, Georgia should be a 9-3 (6-2) team in Smart’s first year in Athens. But does Georgia have an outside shot at the College Football Playoff in 2017?
The Dogs are one of roughly five teams that could theoretically win the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, but will have to overcome three obstacles in the early part of its season:
1.) The Bulldogs draw the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Ole Miss Rebels, and the Tennessee Volunteers in their first five games.
2.) Both star running backs in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are overcoming offseason injuries.
3.) Once again, Georgia must sort through a three-man quarterback battle — this one between Jacob Eason, Greyson Lambert, and Brice Ramsey.
Smart is a strong defensive-minded coach, so he’ll likely call a conservative offensive game during the soft part of the schedule. That would likely mean Lambert, the incumbent quarterback, starting through the first few. Should Chubb or Michel be available Week 1 versus North Carolina at the Georgia Dome, the Bulldogs have a chance start their 2016 campaign off with a big win versus a top 25 program in a neutral-site.
Winning at Vaught-Hemmingway against a more polished Ole Miss team doesn’t seem realistic, but if Georgia can go 6-0 in SEC East play and dominate SEC West rival Auburn at home, like it has done for the much of the last decade, the Bulldogs could win the SEC East and play for a conference championship this December.
To have any shot at the College Football Playoff in 2016, Georgia must beat Tennessee at home, and absolutely can’t afford to be embarrassed against arch-rival Florida. If the talented Eason can overtake Lambert on the quarterback depth chart mid-season, Chubb authors a Heisman-caliber season, and Smart gets the most out of his defensive personnel, Georgia could forge the balance necessary to win its first National Championship since 1980.
Next: 4. Oklahoma State Cowboys.