ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia is back at No. 1, and the Bulldogs know how quickly that can disappear. Top-ranked Georgia hosts Missouri on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Sanford Stadium, with the game on ABC.
The Bulldogs are 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the Southeastern Conference and sit first in the College Football Playoff rankings. Their last turn at the top lasted one week. Four weeks ago, as a newly crowned No. 1 at home, Georgia lost 27-24 to Auburn, which had been a three-touchdown underdog.
Georgia has rebounded since then, beating Florida 27-8 and then routing Mississippi 42-7 in Oxford last week. Coach Kirby Smart has said the rankings carry no weight inside his program and that the focus stays on improving the roster.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton is drawing Heisman Trophy talk after throwing for 186 yards and four touchdowns and running for another score against Ole Miss. His season line shows a completion rate near 71 percent, 1,857 passing yards, 20 touchdown throws and four interceptions, plus 233 yards on the ground.
Missouri arrives at 6-3 and 3-3 in league play, ranked 22nd by the playoff committee, after Texas beat the Tigers 34-20 in Columbia. The Tigers are 15 1/2-point underdogs. Their offense runs through Jamal Roberts, who leads the SEC at 119 rushing yards a game, but he will see a Georgia defense that allows just 83.8 rushing yards a game, tops in the conference.
Georgia owns the series 12-1 and won the last meeting 30-21 in Athens in 2023. Smart, in his 11th season, is 125-22 at Georgia. The Bulldogs will need to stay sharp: with a 12-team playoff field, one loss no longer ends a title run, but a second one would make the path much harder.
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