Kirby Smart won his 100th SEC game as head coach of the Georgian bulldogs on Saturday, defeating No. 1 Texas 30-15 on the way.

Georgia’s dominance over the past three and a half seasons has been well documented. However, after losing Alabama Earlier this season, it almost seems like people forgot that the Bulldogs won two straight national titles and lost just one regular season game during that span. Paul Finebaum admitted to doing the same, which he said added fuel to Smart’s fire heading into Saturday.

“Kirby Smart loved and embraced the disrespect,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter Sunday morning. “Every time you do that to a champion, to someone who is great, they dig in. And I was on a set yesterday, like others in Austin, and everyone had no respect for Georgia. Why did we do it? Because Texas was the new toy. We all gravitated, we all came together around Steve Sarkisian and (Quinn) Ewers and even Bow (Crew) and said, ‘They are the new champions.’

‘And what had they really done? They beat a very bad one Oklahoma team. They beat a very mediocre one Michigan team in the Big House, and we all said, ‘Forget Georgia.’ Forget what Kirby Smart has done in recent years in building the best program in college football – and even with Nick Saban’s coaching last year. And that just drove Kirby Smart crazy. He used it and that’s what happened last night.

Georgia’s loss to the Crimson Tide looked like a breakout performance by Alabama under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer. However, after losing Vanderbilt the following week, Texas was the last team standing when it came to undefeated teams in the SEC.

Buzz headed to Austin, of course, and even Vegas had the Longhorns as four-point favorites over the Bulldogs at home.

Many believed that a win over the Bulldogs would put Texas a league above the rest, which is why the win for Smart and his Bulldogs couldn’t have come at a better time. That’s the storyline that was created and Georgia came in and reminded everyone that they belong at the forefront of college football.

The path to an SEC Championship berth is much clearer after the win and with five games remaining on Georgia’s regular season schedule, Kirby Smart’s squad must be mentioned when discussing national championship favorites after Week 8.