Before the start of any college football season, there is a lot of off-season debate. Which players are the best, which coaches are the best, which teams are the best, etc. There are usually many different opinions on all of those things, but there seems to be one thing almost everybody agrees on heading into the 2023 season: Georgia football is the best team in the game. Georgia has won the last two national titles and looked especially dominant last year, steam-rolling everyone that was in their way. The Bulldogs went 15-0 last season, and they enter this year ranked #1 in the preseason AP poll, receiving 60 out of 63 first place votes. However, there is one person that doesn't believe the Bulldogs are #1, and in fact has them at #5, and that person is former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz.
Lou Holtz released his top-16 teams ahead of the season, and fans quickly bashed his rankings. His top-16 is as follows:
- Michigan
- USC
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- LSU
- Florida State
- Notre Dame
- Penn State
- Washington
- Clemson
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma State
- Texas
- South Carolina
- Oklahoma
You won't find too many rankings that have Georgia all the way back at #5. There isn't much out there for Kirby Smart to show his team for fuel, as just about everyone in the College football world praises Georgia daily, but this is some disrespect that Smart can show his team.
Outside of Georgia, the rankings are comparable to most. USC football is higher than most people think, but that's not nearly as questionable as the Bulldogs' ranking. You never know, Holtz could be onto something, but until Georgia loses another football game, he'll be hearing about this one.