Kirby Smart Says 'Complacency' Is Biggest Threat to Georgia's 3-Peat Hopes

Georgia is trying to become the second college football team in Division I-FBS history to win three straight national championships since Minnesota from 1934-1936.

As far as what stands in the way of Georgia accomplishing that feat, head coach Kirby Smart believes that the "biggest threat" is "complacency."

"I don't care about the three-peat, the two-peat or the one-peat," Smart said, per ESPN's Alex Scarborough. "I care about complacency."

Georgia has been anything but complacent in its past two seasons, going 29-1 (including a perfect 15-0 last season). The Bulldogs notably finished first in fewest points allowed in 2021 and top five in scoring offense and defense in 2022. Georgia also defeated Alabama 41-24 in the 2021 national title game before crushing TCU 65-7 this past year.

Needless to say, the Bulldogs haven't taken any opponents lightly, and they are the clear favorite at +215 odds ($100 win to $215) to finish off the threepeat, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Alabama is next on the odds ledger at +600.

Quite frankly, the table is set perfectly for Georgia to reach the College Football Playoff at minimum.

The schedule is not daunting. In fact, Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports ranks it as the easiest in the 14-team SEC.

The Bulldogs are on a quest to three-peat, and if they don't make the CFP, the season has to be considered a disaster. Their only Power Five nonconference matchup is intrastate rival Georgia Tech, and they don't have road games on consecutive weeks until they travel to Tennessee prior to the season finale against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia has Ole Miss as its rotating cross-division game, which is going to be tricky. Coach Kirby Smart's crew only has three true conference road games since the rivalry showdown with Florida is in Jacksonville."

Eight of Georgia's 12 games are at home, three are on the road and one is at a de-facto neutral site in Jacksonville against Florida. Only two teams on the schedule (Tennessee at No. 12 and Ole Miss at No. 24) land in Wayne Staats of NCAA.com's most recent Top 25 rankings. The Tennessee game, which will be in Knoxville on Nov. 18, figures to be the hardest test for the Bulldogs.

Still, Georgia returns so much talent that it's hard seeing them outside the top four come December, including first-round NFL draft prospect and tight end Brock Bowers. They return seven defensive starters from their No. 1 defense and three offensive linemen as well, per Kipp Adams of Dawgs247.

UGA will begin its threepeat drive on Saturday, Sept. 2 at home versus Tennessee-Martin.