What must Kirby Smart accomplish if he wants to be an all-time great coach at the University of Georgia — or at least produce one of the most memorable seasons in the team’s history?

The Georgia Bulldogs claim two official national titles in football, and have also received some form of national championship consideration in three other seasons.

Georgia has won 12 SEC championships – all under the direction of great coaches Wally Butts, Vince Dooley and Mark Richt. As a new era of Georgia football begins, we take a look back at the greatest seasons in school history.

Honorable Mention

1920: 8-0-1

The first undefeated team in Georgia football history, the 1920 squad allowed just 1.9 points per game under head coach Herman Stegeman and recorded seven shutouts. The lone blemish on an otherwise-perfect season was a scoreless tie against Virginia. It’s worth noting that while in use casually since at least 1901, the nickname “Bulldogs” became common during the 1920 season.

1927: 9-1, (6-1 Southern Conference)

Nicknamed the “Dream and Wonder Team,” the 1927 Georgia Bulldogs garnered national championship attention from the Boand and Poling polls following a 9-1 season. Georgia’s 14-10 victory over mighty Yale early in the campaign was considered one of the most important for college football in the south, but the Bulldogs lost the season finale 12-0 to Georgia Tech.

1966: 10-1, (5-0), SEC Co-Champions, No. 4 Final Ranking

The first Vince Dooley-coached Georgia team to win an SEC championship, the Bulldogs were undefeated in conference play, but didn’t face Alabama and were therefore forced to share with the undefeated Crimson Tide. Georgia beat No. 7 Florida and No. 5 Georgia Tech in the regular season, as well as No. 10 SMU in the Cotton Bowl, though the only thing standing between the Bulldogs and a perfect record was a 7-6 loss to Miami.

1968: 8-1-2, (5-0-1), SEC Champions, No. 8 Final Ranking

In 1968, Georgia was undefeated during the regular season but tied No. 9 Tennessee in the season opener and No. 15 Houston midway through the campaign. After throttling rivals Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech by a combined score of 115-11 in the final three weeks of the regular season, the Bulldogs were named national champions by Litkenhous. Unfortunately, Georgia lost to No. 9 Arkansas 16-2 in the Sugar Bowl to spoil the undefeated season.

1971: 11-1, (5-1), No. 7 Final Ranking

The 1971 Georgia Bulldogs didn’t win the SEC or challenge for a national championship, but they were one of the most dominant teams in school history. Georgia won its first nine games by an average score of 30.8-5.9 with four shutout victories. A 35-20 loss in Week 10 to No. 6 Auburn and its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Pat Sullivan kept the Dawgs from winning the league title.

1981: 10-2, (6-0), SEC Co-Champions, No. 6 Final Ranking

Georgia nearly won a second consecutive national championship in 1981, though a 13-3 loss to eventual champ Clemson in Week 3 and a 24-20 loss to No. 10 Pitt in the Sugar Bowl ruined the Bulldogs’ shot at a repeat. All-American running back Herschel Walker still helped the Bulldogs win a share of the SEC title with Alabama.

1983: 10-1-1, (5-1), No. 5 Final Ranking

Life after Herschel began with an 8-0-1 march through the first nine weeks of the 1983 season, and Georgia rose all the way to No. 4 in the AP poll before a 13-7 loss to No. 3 Auburn killed the Bulldogs’ chances at an SEC title. A 27-24 win over Tech and a 10-9 victory over No. 2 Texas in the Cotton Bowl gave the Dawgs their fourth consecutive top-six final ranking.

1992: 10-2, (6-2), No. 8 Final Ranking

Ray Goff had the unfortunate task of following Vince Dooley as the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, and fans in Athens remember few of Goff’s teams fondly. However, the 1992 squad was easily Goff’s best. Led by offensive stars Eric Zeier and Garrison Hearst and a defense that allowed just 12.9 points per game (No. 3 in the nation), the Bulldogs lost two games to ranked opponents by a combined five points.

2007: 11-2, (6-2), No. 2 Final Ranking

Losses to South Carolina and Tennessee nearly pushed Georgia out of the AP Top 25 midway through the 2007 season – and also cost the Dawgs a shot at an SEC title — but the Bulldogs responded with a seven-game winning streak to end the season. Following a dominant 41-10 victory over No. 10 Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, Georgia ranked No. 2 in the nation.

2012: 12-2, (7-1), No. 5 Final Ranking

Mark Richt’s last great Georgia team came five yards short of a victory against No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, which would have given the Bulldogs a spot in the BCS National Championship against Notre Dame. The Bulldogs were far from perfect (Georgia lost to No. 6 South Carolina 35-7), but were legitimate national championship contenders.

5. 1982: 11-1, (6-0), SEC Champions, No. 3 Final Ranking

Had Georgia been able to beat No. 2 Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, the 1982 Bulldogs would be remembered as the best in school history. Led by Dooley and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Herschel Walker, Georgia beat defending national champion Clemson 13-7 in the season opener before running through the regular season undefeated. The most impressive victory of the year came against No. 20 Florida in Jacksonville, where the Bulldogs blasted the hated Gators, 44-0.

The victory over Florida helped Georgia rise to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time since the 1980 national championship season. After losing to Penn State in Walker’s final game, it would be more than a quarter century before another Georgia team ranked No. 1.

 

4. 1946: 11-0 (5-0), SEC Co-Champions, No. 3 Final Ranking

Led by head coach Wally Butts and star halfback Charley Trippi – who accounted for 800 rushing yards, 692 passing yards and 120 receiving yards and was responsible for 19 total touchdowns – the 1946 Georgia Bulldogs scored 35.6 points per game, which ranked second in the nation. Georgia ran through its schedule with ease, beating each opponent by at least 10 points.

The Bulldogs were at their best in a 35-7 win over No. 7 Georgia Tech, and finished the perfect season with a 20-10 victory over No. 11 North Carolina in the Sugar Bowl. Unfortunately, Georgia had to share the SEC title with Tennessee because the rivals did not play one another, and the Bulldogs were unable to convince the major pollsters they were more deserving of a national title than Notre Dame or Army.

 

3. 1942: 11-1, (6-1), SEC Champions, National Champions

The first of two national championships Georgia claimed in football came in 1942, when the Bulldogs were under the direction of the legendary Wally Butts. Frank Sinkwich won the Heisman Trophy for his 828 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground, in addition to his 1,456 passing yards and 10 TDs through the air. All-American end George Poschner, halfback Charley Trippi (who accounted for an impressive 1,389 total yards) and Sinkwich helped the Bulldogs score 31.3 points per game, third in the nation.

The Georgia defense also was spectacular, allowing 6.3 points per game with six shutouts, including a 75-0 win over Florida, a 34-0 victory over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the season finale and a 9-0 win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl. The Bulldogs also beat No. 3 Alabama 21-10, but lost to Auburn 27-13, which spoiled an otherwise-perfect season. Ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll, Georgia split the national championship with Ohio State after earning the top spot in several other major rankings.

 

2. 2002: 13-1, (7-1), SEC Champions, No. 3 Final Ranking

The Georgia Bulldogs hadn’t won an SEC title since 1982, which was one of the primary reasons Georgia replaced Jim Donnan with Mark Richt.

It took Richt just two years to win a conference championship. Georgia started 8-0, which included hard-fought victories over No. 22 Alabama in Tuscaloosa and No. 10 Tennessee at Sanford Stadium. A 20-13 loss to Florida in Jacksonville spoiled the Dawgs’ national championship hopes.

Nevertheless, fan-favorite quarterback David Greene, receivers Terence Edwards and Fred Gibson, All-American defensive end David Pollack and a stacked defense that included Thomas Davis, Robert Geathers, Tim Jennings and others helped Georgia climb all the way to No. 3 in the final AP poll.

UGA demolished Georgia Tech 51-7 in the season finale, clobbered No. 22 Arkansas 30-3 in the SEC Championship Game and beat No. 16 Florida State (where Richt spent more than a decade as an assistant) 26-13 in the Sugar Bowl.

 

1. 1980: 12-0, (6-0), SEC Champions, National Champions

The last Georgia football team to win the national championship, the 1980 Bulldogs remain the only team in school history to finish the season No. 1 in the AP Poll.

Freshman running back Herschel Walker announced his presence by running over Tennessee defender Bill Bates for a touchdown during the Bulldogs’ 16-15 victory over Tennessee in the season opener, which set the stage for a perfect season.

Radio announcer Larry Munson canonized quarterback Buck Belue’s 92-yard touchdown pass to Lindsay Scott that beat Florida with just 90 seconds left. The victory catapulted the Bulldogs to No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time since 1942.

With the national championship on the line in the Sugar Bowl against No. 7 Notre Dame, Walker ran for 150 yards (with a separated shoulder), and the Georgia defense and special teams combined for a 17-10 victory over the Fighting Irish. As the only undefeated and untied team in the nation that season, the major polls of the day – the AP, UPI, FWAA and NFF – each crowned the Dawgs national champions.