Bulldogs to open season ranked No. 5 in coaches’ poll
Georgia was ranked No. 5 in the nation by the USA Today Coaches’ poll released Thursday.
Considering the Bulldogs lost seven one-time defensive starters off last year’s 12-2 team, the temptation is to think that might be overly optimistic. But then we learn that Georgia coach Mark Richt also picked the Bulldogs fifth.
“I think that’s about where we were in mine,” Richt said during his news conference Thursday. “Five or six.”
Photos: Coaches' poll facts | UGA Media Day
But Richt said he just bases his initial rankings on where he’s sees his team and others in other preliminary polls. Georgia had generally been fourth to eighth in a lot of those.
The Bulldogs finished last season ranked fourth in the coaches’ poll and fifth in The Associated Press rankings.
Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon and Stanford took the top four spots in Thursday’s rankings. Clemson and South Carolina, Georgia’s first two opponents of the season, were eighth and seventh, respecteively.
Here are the rankings:
| RANK | TEAM | 2012 RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS RANK |
| 1 | Alabama | 13-1 | 1545 | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 12-0 | 1427 | NR |
| 3 | Oregon | 12-1 | 1397 | 2 |
| 4 | Stanford | 12-2 | 1262 | 6 |
| 5 | Georgia | 12-2 | 1250 | 4 |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 11-2 | 1215 | 5 |
| 7 | South Carolina | 11-2 | 1136 | 7 |
| 8 | Clemson | 11-2 | 1047 | 9 |
| 9 | Louisville | 11-2 | 1010 | 13 |
| 10 | Florida | 11-2 | 930 | 10 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 12-1 | 872 | 3 |
| 12 | Florida State | 12-2 | 844 | 8 |
| 13 | LSU | 10-3 | 797 | 12 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 8-5 | 726 | NR |
| 15 | Texas | 9-4 | 622 | 18 |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 10-3 | 620 | 15 |
| 17 | Michigan | 8-5 | 589 | NR |
| 18 | Nebraska | 10-4 | 426 | 23 |
| 19 | Boise State | 11-2 | 420 | 14 |
| 20 | Texas Christian | 7-6 | 400 | NR |
| 21 | UCLA | 9-5 | 202 | NR |
| 22 | Northwestern | 10-3 | 186 | 16 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 8-6 | 172 | NR |
| 24 | USC | 7-6 | 165 | NR |
| 25 | Oregon State | 9-4 | 135 | 19 |
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