Championship victory leaves Georgia Bulldogs all alone at the top

What was once a reputation for not winning the big game is no more.

The Georgia Bulldogs secured their first national title in 41 years, with a 15-point victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The Bulldogs are the best college football program in the country.

"It's a blessing to be the head football coach at the University of Georgia," said Bulldogs Head Coach Kirby Smart during the postgame press conference when asked how he felt about the victory.

New reputation: The Bulldogs had endured six consecutive losses to Alabama, including two times in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship game and once in the CFP National Championship in 2018. More recently the two teams met in the SEC championship game on Dec. 4 in Atlanta, a 41-24 Alabama victory.

Georgia's 33-18 victory cemented an already strong reputation among college football fans all over the Southeast and among potential recruits. Heading into the 2022 season, Georgia has the third-ranked recruiting class behind Texas A&M and Alabama, according to 247sports.com.

Rise in profile: The University of Georgia's national profile will grow. The Dec. 4 SEC championship game against Alabama drew an 8.2 rating, which works out to just over 15.2 million viewers, according to Sportsmediawatch. That game competed with other conference championship games that weekend, including the Big Ten (6.2 rating) and Big 12 (4.8) conference championship games. Monday night's game was the only college football game being broadcasted in the country.

A special moment: Smart, a UGA defensive back from 1995 to 1998, called the victory "a special moment for this university and a special moment for this team." He added, "This is a special group that will be remembered for a long time."

Grainy highlights from the 1980 national championship against Notre Dame can still be seen in commercials during Georgia football broadcasts. The 2022 title game will have an even longer lifespan because of the national television coverage on ABC/ESPN and massive social media following the program has. "We owe it to the G; we owe it to Dawg nation," said senior defensive lineman Jordan Davis, who thanked the media for covering him and his teammates the past four seasons. "Winning a national championship is all that was on our mind."

Senior running back James Cook called being on stage holding the national championship trophy "the greatest moment."