Kirby Smart, Georgia Must Beat Alabama, Win National Title - CBS Sports Radio

Alabama and Clemson are the top two programs in college football. This is indisputable.

But who’s the best of the rest?

“Right now I think it’s Georgia,” CBS Sports college football and NFL analyst Randy Cross said on Taz & The Moose. “I think Georgia has gotten to that point. Now they’ve got to break through here – and there’s only one way to break through for Kirby Smart. They got to win a national title. They’ve gotten themselves in that position. Right behind them would be teams like LSU and Ohio State that are in the same kind of category. But I think Georgia is the one that’s done it the best most recently.”

Georgia is 24-5 over the last two seasons and played for a national title in 2017. Ohio State, meanwhile, has won 11+ games seven years in a row and won a national title in 2014.

Cross expects a fairly seamless transition for Ryan Day as he replaces Urban Meyer.

“If he was replacing a Woody Hayes or Lou Holtz, that’s a different deal,” Cross said. “Everyone fully expects Urban Meyer to be back in college football. I think Ryan Day showed last year when the coach was on the sideline for the first three what he could do. Thats the main reason he got that job and Luke Fickell didn’t – and he’s proven he’s a heck of a coach at Cincinnati. I think it’s pretty obvious (Ryan Day has) got the chops. The No. 1 job obviously is to have that great record; the No. 2 job is to keep up this dominance over Michigan. You keep doing that, you can keep that job for a long time.”

Day, as expected, named Georgia transfer Justin Fields Ohio State’s starting quarterback. Cross expects Fields to succeed in his first year as a starter.

“I think he’s going to do pretty well,” Cross said. “If you look at Ryan Day and the guys he’s worked with at Ohio State, I think you got to be really, really optimistic. This kid is a true dual-threat quarterback. He’s a better runner than he is a passer, and that’s the challenge Ryan Day has. If he can increase his accuracy, if he can make it more natural and more of a quick progression in the passing game, then you get a true dual-threat quarterback – and that could be deadly. I put Jalen Hurts down at Oklahoma in the same category. I think Lincoln Riley will have a real challenge in seeing if he can develop that side of his game because the feet are no problem.”

Click below to listen to Cross’ interview in its entirety.