Georgia ranks No. 5 in initial AP Poll Top 25 for 2025 season

The initial AP Top 25 rankings for the 2025 season are out, with the Georgia Bulldogs landing at No. 5.

It marks the eighth consecutive season Georgia begins the season ranked in the top five. Only the Ohio State Buckeyes have a longer active streak, having started nine consecutive seasons in the top five.

Ohio State is ranked ahead of Georgia, with the Buckeyes coming in at No. 3. Texas is No. 1, Penn State is No. 2, and Clemson comes in at No. 4.

Georgia was ranked No. 4 in the initial coaches poll that came out Aug. 4. Texas also was ranked No. 1 in that poll.

Georgia is set to face Texas on Nov. 15, with the game being played in Athens. The Bulldogs beat Texas twice in 2024, going 11-3 on the season. Georgia won the SEC but lost in the College Football Playoff to Notre Dame.

The Bulldogs will face a tough schedule once again in 2025, playing five foes ranked in the AP Top 25. The Bulldogs play No. 24 Tennessee on Sept. 13, No. 8 Alabama on Sept. 27, No. 21 Ole Miss on Oct. 19 and No. 15 Florida on Nov. 1.

The SEC had 10 teams ranked in the poll, with LSU at No. 9, South Carolina at No. 13, Oklahoma at No. 18 and Texas A&M coming in at No. 19. The 10 ranked teams are the most of any conference.

Georgia already is hard at work preparing for the season; the Bulldogs held their first scrimmage Saturday. Despite the lofty ranking, Georgia still has plenty of questions. It had 13 players taken in the NFL draft, with head coach Kirby Smart routinely noting how young of a team he has this season.

But Smart said he likes the fire, passion and energy he has seen from this group and hopes that carries into the season.

“We’ve always had some form of it, but it’s the analogy of small campfires,” Smart said. You can have all these little small campfires or you can have a burning inferno, and we want a burning inferno. We want all those campfires to come together and be 11 burning fires, not a couple of burning bushes over here and over there.”

Georgia opens the season against Marshall on Aug. 30.