Georgia begins three-peat quest at No. 1 in AP preseason poll - ESPN

Georgia will begin its drive for an unprecedented college football championship three-peat as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press preseason Top 25.

The Bulldogs received 60 of 63 first-place votes in the poll released Monday to easily outpoint No. 2 Michigan, which received two first-place votes and has its best preseason ranking since being No. 2 in 1991. The Wolverines' Big Ten rival, Ohio State, is No. 3 with one first-place vote.

Two more Southeastern Conference teams join Georgia in the top five. Alabama is No. 4, the Crimson Tide's lowest preseason ranking in more than a decade, and LSU starts at No. 5, its best preseason ranking since 2016.

First-place votes in parentheses.

The Bulldogs have won the past two national titles while going 29-2, but this will be only the second time in program history they have been preseason No. 1. The first was in 2008.

Georgia started the 2021 season No. 5, before going on to win its first national title since 1980. The Bulldogs followed up with a perfect season in 2022 after being preseason No. 3.

The Bulldogs have had 25 players drafted by NFL teams the past two years, including quarterback Stetson Bennett and All-America defensive tackle Jalen Carter this April. Coach Kirby Smart has built a program to rival Nick Saban's Alabama dynasty, so voters are now giving Georgia the Crimson Tide treatment.

Alabama had been preseason No. 1 each of the past two seasons, and five of the previous seven. Clemson was preseason No. 1 in the other two seasons, making Georgia the first team other than the Tide or Tigers to be preseason No. 1 since Ohio State in 2015.

Alabama is also the last team to win back-to-back major college football national championships, doing so in 2011 and '12.

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