On Thursday, the first Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports was released for the 2019 college football season.
The Georgia Bulldogs check in at No. 3 in the inaugural rankings for the 2019 season. That’s right about where most expected Georgia to be, coming off an 11-3 year that included a 35-28 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
Occupying the No. 1 spot in the rankings are the defending champions, the Clemson Tigers, followed by Alabama at No. 2.
Rounding out the top-five is Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State.
Looking ahead to Georgia’s schedule, the Bulldogs will face four teams ranked inside the preseason top-25; five if you include Alabama.
Georgia will square off against two preseason top-10 opponents in the regular season, Florida (8) and Notre Dame (9), plus both Texas A&M (11) and Auburn (16) in back-to-back weeks in November.
This marks the second year in a row that the Bulldogs start the season ranked inside the top-five of the Amway Coaches Poll. Last season, Georgia began the year ranked No. 4, one spot behind where it starts its 2019 campaign. Kirby Smart and company finished with a No. 8 ranking in 2018 following postseason losses to Alabama and Texas.
Below is the preseason Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports in its entirety, voted on by 65 FBS head coaches.
1) Clemson
2) Alabama
3) Georgia
4) Oklahoma
5) Ohio State
6) LSU
7) Michigan
8) Florida
9) Notre Dame
10) Texas
11) Texas A&M
12) Washington
13) Oregon
14) Penn State
15) Utah
16) Auburn
17) Central Florida
17) Wisconsin
19) Iowa
20) Michigan State
21) Washington State
22) Syracuse
23) Stanford
24) Iowa State
25) Northwestern
