The Georgia Bulldogs have grown accustomed to sitting atop the AP Poll, having occupied the No. 1 spot for nearly all of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Bulldogs opened the 2024 season as the top ranked team in the country as well, and thus far, they've proven they're worthy of that distinction, having won their opening two games of the season by a combined score of 82-6.
Of course, anyone who lives in SEC country will tell you that the top spot in the AP Poll may as well permanently belong to one of the conference's 16 schools. The last two decades have been dominated by the SEC, and the 2024 season will apparently be no different.
In the eight-decade-long history of the AP Poll, no conference has occupied six of the top seven spots… until this week, when the SEC achieved this unique honor.
Per the Associated Press:
“After the first shake-up of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference grabbed six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25 — a first in the 88-year history of the rankings.”
The shake-up atop the AP Poll comes in the form of a stunning upset in South Bend that saw Northern Illinois become the first team in MAC history to defeat a top five opponent. Combine that with dominant wins by Georgia and a handful of the SEC's best — Texas (2), Alabama (4), Ole Miss (5), Missouri (6), and Tennessee (7) — and you have unparalleled conference dominance.
SEC gauntlet set to begin soon
Now after dominating the early portion of their non-conference schedules, all of the SEC's top programs will soon begin going toe-to-toe against each other. Georgia opens SEC play next week on the road at Kentucky before they get two weeks to prepare for a showdown with Alabama in Tuscaloosa. A possible 1 vs. 2 matchup with Texas looms in mid-October.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns went into the Big House and punched the Michigan Wolverines in the mouth, cruising to a 31-12 win. Texas is now ranked No. 2 in the country, their highest placement in the AP Poll since 2009.
If we're measuring early season success by point differential, then no program in the SEC has put together a more dominant opening eight quarters than Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss Rebels, who have taken advantage of a cupcake early season schedule to the tune of a 128-3 edge over Furman and Middle Tennessee. The only one of these other five SEC teams ranked in the top seven that Ole Miss plays is Georgia, who comes to Oxford in November.
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