Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs, already back-to-back defending College Football Playoff champions, are again picked by college coaches across the country as the team to beat this fall, per the AFCA Coaches Preseason Top 25.
College football's season opens Aug. 26, with a handful of games that includes No. 13 Notre Dame facing Navy in Dublin, Ireland.
The Bulldogs received more than 100 points (1,643) in votes above preseason No. 2 Michigan, while Alabama, Ohio State and Louisiana State rounded out the top 5.
For those growing weary of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten narrative, buckle up.
In addition to the top 5 teams hailing from just those two power leagues, No. 6 USC is joining the Big Ten in a year and No. 7 Penn State already is a longtime Big Ten resident.
The ACC has the Nos. 8 and 9 teams with Florida State and Clemson, respectively.
Fresh off an 11-win season in which it smacked Clemson in the Orange Bowl, Tennessee rounded out the top 10 with the program's loftiest preseason perch in nearly a decade. The Vols are entering Year 3 under Josh Heupel largely clear of the NCAA scandal of ex-head coach Jeremy Pruitt that had plunged the program into disarray.
But 15 of the top 25 teams in the preseason poll already are or will be residents of the Big Ten and SEC by 2024.
At No. 23, Tulane was the only non-power conference resident to land in the poll's preseason rankings.