Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart met with reporters on Monday and he was unsurprisingly asked about the Tennessee Vols' uptempo offense.

The No. 1 Bulldogs and the No. 2 Volunteers are set to meet this weekend in Athens in a matchup that should determine the winner of the SEC East.

Smart acknowledged that Tennessee's tempo will be a big challenge for Georgia. And he noted that his players will find out for sure this weekend if they're in shape or not.

During Smart's answer about the Vols' tempo, he commented that I found a bit surprising.

Smart admitted that Georgia has been preparing for Tennessee — specifically their tempo — since week one.

Kirby Smart says his players will find out on Saturday if they’re in shape or not pic.twitter.com/1KF9cwGuLI

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) October 31, 2022

"We've been building towards this week in terms of, since week one, the conditioning level of our players has been a concern for me every week," said Smart.

"We've worked hard at it," added Smart. "We're going to find out on Saturday if we're in shape or not — I can promise you that. Because they're going to try to get a lot of snaps in."

It's not often that you hear a coach — especially a coach as successful as Smart — admit that they've been thinking about a game since early in the season.

Now, I don't think this is a situation where Tennessee is being talked about in Georgia's locker room throughout the season. But early in the year, Smart and his staff knew this would be a tricky matchup for the Bulldogs due to the unique nature of the Vols' offense.

The fact that Georgia has made being in shape for this game a priority since the start of the season says a lot about Tennessee's impact on opposing teams.

In every game this season, the Vols have essentially changed the approach of their opponents just because of UT's style of offense (with the exception of Kentucky…they stuck to their game plan and got blown out).

I don't know who will win on Saturday. Maybe Georgia continues their domination of the SEC and easily handle business. Or maybe Tennessee picks up where they left off against their first four SEC opponents and they keep their winning streak alive.

Regardless of what happens, one thing is certain — Georgia is preparing for Tennessee much differently than they have in previous seasons. The Bulldogs know they're in for a fight. And they've known that since the start of the season.

It should be a fun one in Athens on Saturday. If you're a fan of either team, here's hoping that you can manage the anxiety that comes with a matchup of the top two teams in the nation.

Featured image via USA TODAY Sports