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The SEC might not run through Georgia any longer.
During a conversation on SiriusXM on Thursday, SEC Network analysts Peter Burns and Chris Doering discussed the changing landscape in college football and the paradigm shift taking place in the SEC. Georgia won last year’s SEC Championship game, beating Texas a second time, but Doering wonders if the Bulldogs haven’t taken a step back in the era of NIL.
“We are seeing things that we haven’t seen from Georgia before. We’re seeing the inability to retain a roster,” Doering said. “They were one of the last schools to be able to keep their team in place and have the kind of depth that you have to have to win championships the way Alabama did, the way that Georgia did.
“They were hurt last year up the middle of their defense with injuries and not having that next wave of player to be able to step in. We’re seeing things from Georgia where they go and they get manhandled by Ole Miss the way they did. We’re seeing them get physically beaten the way they did by Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. These are things that are signs of concern, and knowing what the landscape of college football is now, we don’t know if it can sustain in this type of environment.”
Burns added that Georgia’s dominance was built in the same way Alabama’s was. Kirby Smart, like Nick Saban before him, stacked elite talent in ways few others could. The top line of the two-deep had future NFL players, the next line of the two-deep had future NFL players, and the reserve units had young players who would eventually develop into NFL prospects.
“That style of roster management is no longer available because of NIL and the transfer portal,” Burns said. “If Georgia is a team that has struggled, is it Texas that is now the superpower of the SEC? Going back-to-back in their College Football Playoff runs, now they’re looking at spending $35-40 million on this roster.
“If you look at the numbers, the SEC does not run through Georgia right now. The SEC powerhouse (is) the Texas Longhorns.”
It’s an interesting conversation to have. Georgia had 13 players selected in last week’s NFL Draft, 2 off an all-time record for players from a single school in one draft cycle. Texas had 12 players taken in the 7 rounds. But the Longhorns were soundly beaten by the Bulldogs in Austin during the regular season and then beaten once again in the conference title game.
Georgia won the first meeting despite throwing 3 interceptions. Georgia won the second meeting despite losing its starting quarterback at halftime.
The latest national championship odds suggest Texas has a better chance of winning the CFP next season than Georgia, but it’s close.
They’ll play each other in Athens on Nov. 15. That game promises to be one of the best on the league’s calendar all year.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
