Texas and Georgia: Two Most Complete Teams in College Football?

ESPN's Greg McElroy kicked off his Week 2 Takeaways show to praise the Texas Longhorns, anointing them in the top tier of college football in 2024.

Jan 1, 2019; New Orleans, LA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Elijah Holyfield (13) hurdles Texas Longhorns defensive back Brandon Jones (19) in the second half of the 2019 Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-Imagn Images / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

There's no way to hoist oneself into a tier in college football rankings. After all, the AP Poll is linear, every team must be ranked in a spot, and there is no way to separate them within tiers if it is simply a count of the best team to the 25th-best team in the nation.

But spectators, pundits, personalities and analysts often tend to use "tier-breaks" in sports. It's overwhelmed most of the way we discuss any sort of rankings. Who is the top player in the NBA? Well, the top "tier" usually includes Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, without anyone really saying who is actually better. In the NFL, quarterbacks are often put into tiers, with Patrick Mahomes usually keeping himself in a tier of his own at the top.

Similarly to Mahomes, the Georgia Bulldogs have been in their own tier for what feels like four years now. Two of the last three national championships, zero regular-season losses since the 2021 season, and only individual teams, not full programs, inserting themselves next to or above the Bulldogs. Last year, the Michigan Wolverines were the team that took home the national championship and firmly placed themselves above the Bulldogs, but many AP Poll voters still placed Georgia at the top of their rankings. In fact, in the first week of AP Poll voting, the Bulldogs received nearly 75% of first-place votes.

Heading into the year, the Bulldogs weren't just in Tier 1, they were Tier 1.

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck (15) looks to throw a pass during the first half of a NCAA college football game against Tennessee Tech in Athens, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

But former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy believes there has been a shakeup. Texas, fresh off of a dominant performance against said defending national champions, has catapulted itself firmly into the top tier with Georgia.

"Texas has officially joined Georgia as one of the most complete teams in the sport," McElroy said on his Week 2 Takeaways show. "They looked fast, physical, well coached, excellent in situations that would showcase just how well coached they are... if there is a positive attribute to apply to a team this weekend, Texas should likely get it."

This sentiment has been shared by the AP voters, who have quickly turned their heads toward Austin after the Longhorns didn't receive a first-place vote in Week 1. Though Georgia still dominates the first-place voting, Texas has firmly solidified itself as the No. 2 team in the nation, leapfrogging Ohio State in the poll.

The main attribute that McElroy alluded to, and why the Longhorns are receiving more hype than the Buckeyes, was both Texas and Georgia's ability to dominate in big games in the first two weeks. Georgia spent its first week of the season embarrassing then-No. 14 Clemson, a team with the second-best odds to make the ACC Championship game. Texas did the same, but as an away team, when the Longhorns put the hurt on Michigan and won 31-12.

McElroy was most impressed by two things about Texas: the ability to convert on third down and the versatility of the pass-catching group.

"Having that versatility at wide receiver is amazing, and they did not have that last year," McElroy said. "They're all interchangeable."

Texas and Georgia both pass the eye test and the statistical test. The Longhorns and Bulldogs are two of three teams (alongside Tennessee) to defeat a top-25 team in the first two weeks while averaging over 40 points per game and allowing less than 10 points per game. To Texas' credit, though, the Longhorns have had a harder schedule than either of the other two elite SEC teams. Georgia and Tennessee both played their top-25 matchups at neutral sites, while the Longhorns had to play in the largest stadium in the country as a true away team. They also played Colorado State in Week 1, no powerhouse, but an FBS team, unlike schools like Tennessee Tech and Chattanooga, FCS schools that Tennessee and Georgia were able to pad stats against.

Though being ranked in a tier does nothing for a team on the gridiron itself, Texas fans should cherish where this program is at. The most comparable team to the current Longhorns is the closest thing we have to a current-day dynasty, led by the best coach in the nation in Kirby Smart. Texas still has work to do in-between then, but the Week 8 game where Georgia comes into Austin has not only game of the year written all over it, but possible game of the decade.