ATHENS, Ga. - The initial installment of the 2017 college football playoff rankings will be revealed tonight at 7 on ESPN.
For the first time in the short history of the event, the Georgia Bulldogs will be ranked among the top four teams. Georgia improved to 8-0 with last Saturday's 42-7 shellacking of Florida in Jacksonville, and the Bulldogs will be seeking their first 9-0 start since 1982 this Saturday against South Carolina inside Sanford Stadium.
Attaining a 9-0 start would mean handling not only the Gamecocks but the added hype from the playoff rankings, with that chore starting tonight.
"We'll handle it fine," Bulldogs senior outside linebacker Davin Bellamy said Monday afternoon. "We don't listen to the outside stuff. We've got like five games left, and we play in the SEC. We've got to stay focused at the task at hand.
"We've got a hot team that's coming in this weekend, so the last thing on our mind is where we're ranked with five games left or however many we have."
Will Muschamp's Gamecocks improved to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in Southeastern Conference contests this year with a 34-27 win over visiting Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Gamecocks are bowl-eligible for a second straight year under Muschamp, though their four league triumphs have come at the expense of teams who are 1-18 in SEC play (Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt).
SEC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
CO-OFFENSIVE: Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who rushed for 105 yards, threw for 141 and scored three touchdowns against Texas A&M.CO-OFFENSIVE: Kentucky running back Benny Snell, who rushed 27 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns in the 29-26 triumph over Tennessee.CO-DEFENSIVE: Kentucky linebacker Jordan Jones, who had a game-high 13 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack against the Volunteers.CO-DEFENSIVE: Georgia safety J.R. Reed, who had eight tackles and a 3-yard fumble return for a touchdown during the 42-7 hammering of Florida.SPECIAL TEAMS: Arkansas receiver and return specialist De'Vion Warren, who returned five kickoffs for 141 yards (28.2-yard average) in the win at Ole Miss.FRESHMAN: Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley, who engineered the largest comeback in school history, taking the Razorbacks from down 31-7 to a 38-37 win.OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: South Carolina center Alan Knott, who helped the Gamecocks rush for 212 yards and 5.7 yards per rush in the 34-27 win over Vanderbilt.DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Mississippi State end Montez Sweat, who had six tackles and two sacks as the Bulldogs held Texas A&M to a season-low 14 points.- David Paschall
Georgia was out of the conference picture and nowhere close to the top four of the playoff rankings each of the past three seasons after losses to Florida, but the Bulldogs are expected to be either first tonight or second behind Alabama. Georgia's 20-19 win at Notre Dame on Sept. 9 keeps getting more impressive as the Irish continue to roll, while the Crimson Tide's 24-7 opening defeat of Florida State continues to lessen in value given that FSU is 2-5.
Bulldogs second-year coach Kirby Smart became quite familiar with playoff rankings and the preceding BCS standings during his run as Alabama's defensive coordinator from 2008 to 2015. How did Nick Saban and his staff handle the added distraction once they were revealed?
"They talked about rat poison a lot and things like that," Smart said, cracking a smile. "We don't really have to address it if you confront it from the beginning, so the rankings that have been coming out up until this point - the AP ones are the same thing. It's just a distraction, so it is just a matter of who can manage it best and which team is mature enough to handle it, because it has zero outcome on performance on Saturday."
The Bulldogs have never been higher than ninth in the playoff rankings, which began in 2014.
"We don't focus on those rankings," sophomore safety J.R. Reed said. "We're basically halfway done with the race, so we have to keep going and keep pushing. We could be ranked No. 3 one day and No. 20 the next. We've just got to keep working."
Said sophomore cornerback Tyrique McGhee: "I'm not saying we don't see what's going on, but we try to focus on what's ahead. We've got a great schedule coming up."
Defensive score
Georgia's defense under the guidance of coordinator Mel Tucker scored its first touchdown of the season against Florida when Reed scooped up a Feleipe Franks fumble and returned the ball 3 yards for the score midway through the third quarter.
"That was long overdue," Smart said. "We've been close several times this year, and we've been emphasizing this. Coach Tucker and his defensive staff do a tremendous job. They show non-offensive touchdowns from the SEC every week on Tuesday or Wednesday.
"It's cool, because you see everybody else score, but we hadn't been on there. Now we get to be on there, and they'll be jacked up in the meeting."
The Bulldogs had two defensive scores last season: Lorenzo Carter's fumble return against Nicholls and Maurice Smith's interception return against Auburn.
Odds and ends
Georgia's game Nov. 11 at Auburn will be televised either by CBS at 3:30 or by ESPN at 7. ... Carter and junior inside linebacker Roquan Smith are two of the 15 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, while Smith is also among 18 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award. ... Senior tailback Nick Chubb is among the 18 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award. ... The Bulldogs received a commitment for their 2019 signing class Monday from Jalen Perry (6-1, 175), a four-star cornerback prospect from Dacula, Ga.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.