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What was the world like the last time the Bulldogs won a national championship?

Georgia coach Vince Dooley, center, and a group of his Bulldogs display their 1980 national championship football rings in 1981. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The Georgia Bulldogs won the 1981 Sugar Bowl 17-10 over Notre Dame, securing a national championship for the 1980 season. Things have changed a bit since that historic game in the Louisiana Superdome (though that building still exists under a different name).

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Here are some examples of what the world was like on Jan. 1, 1981:

  • Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was 5 years old.
  • Alabama head coach Nick Saban was 29 years old.
  • The Billboard Top 100 No. 1 song was “(Just Like) Starting Over” by John Lennon.
  • The top film at the U.S. box office was “9 to 5″ starring Dolly Parton (34), Jane Fonda (43), and Lily Tomlin (41).
  • The median home price was $47,200.
  • A new car cost around $7,000.
  • A McDonald’s Big Mac cost $1.60, and the relatively new Happy Meal was $1.10.
  • A VCR could cost around $1,400.
  • The CD player and camcorder were brand-new tech that would be shown off for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show that year.
  • “Space Invaders” on Atari was the biggest console video game.
  • Jimmy Carter was in his final days as president (Ronald Reagan was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1981).
  • President Joe Biden was 38 years old and was in the middle of his second term as U.S. Senator.
  • The Atlanta region population was 2,233,324 on the 1980 census, less than half what it would be on the 2010 census (5,729,304).
  • The population of Georgia was 5,463,105 on the 1980 census, just over half the 2020 census (10,711,908).

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