ESPN Calls Georgia the Third Best Team of the 2020s… Seriously

The Georgia Bulldogs may have their latest motivational piece for the 2023 season. This time its thanks to ESPN

This past decade, while still in its infancy has been a transcendent time for college football. Conference realignment, NIL, a pandemic, and new champions have already changed the trajectory of the sport in such little time. But while just three seasons have been played during this decade so far, it is never too late to rank which teams have performed the best up until this point. This is exactly what ESPN decided to do earlier this week.

For this ranking system, ESPN relied on statistical data of points scored, points scored against, along with other factors to rank teams throughout the decade. While the data are all reliable and factual, some of the results were... puzzling to say the least. 

Having only lost three games total and won two of the three national championships during this decade. Many would expect the Georgia Bulldogs to be ranked as the number-one team of the 2020s thus far. However, according to the statistical data, the Bulldogs are in fact not the number one team. In fact, they are not even the second-ranked team. Instead, the rankings are Alabama at number one, Ohio State at number two, and Georgia at number three.

The Bulldogs are the only of this decade to have defeated both Ohio State and Alabama during this decade so far. Photo Credit: UGAA Tony Walsh

Naturally, a team that wins 29 out of its last 30 games, produces more first-round draft picks in two years than entire teams, and is crowned national champions not once, but twice would be a shoo-in for the number one ranking. But unfortunately, computers are unable to identify such accomplishments. Hence, the Bulldogs' surprisingly low ranking on this list. 

While lists such as this may be trivial in the grand scheme of the college football world, and the Bulldogs' ranking will bear no effect on the performance of this year's team, it still serves as a reminder that it's usually the best statistical data combined with human input when it comes to sports rankings. 

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