The Georgia Bulldogs are coming off a bye week, but they are in a strong position in ESPN’s updated College Football Playoff predictions (subscription required).
ESPN projects Georgia will win the SEC championship and secure the No. 2 seed in the playoff, which results in a first-round bye.
However, Georgia’s path to winning the SEC is not clear. The Bulldogs (4-1 SEC) are behind Texas A&M (5-0) in the SEC standings. Georgia could end the season tied with several other one-loss teams in the SEC. Texas, Tennessee and LSU all have one conference loss. Georgia owns the tie-breaker over Texas thanks to its head-to-head win over the Longhorns.
Georgia plays Tennessee in a few weeks, so that will likely decide if UGA or Tennessee remains in the SEC title race. Georgia does not play LSU, so the next SEC tie-breaker would be record versus common opponents. Georgia and LSU share three common opponents: Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss. Georgia is 0-1 against these three teams; LSU is 1-0.
Georgia’s three remaining SEC games are against Florida, Tennessee and Ole Miss, which offers the Bulldogs a chance to pad their résumé.
“The Bulldogs still own the best résumé in the country,” said Heather Dinnich of ESPN. “According to ESPN’s strength of record metric, the average playoff contender would have a 15% chance to go 6-1 against Georgia’s schedule.”
Georgia has a pair of impressive wins over Clemson and Texas, which are also in ESPN’s projected playoff.
Georgia’s most likely opponent in the playoff is predicted to be the seventh-seeded Texas Longhorns, who Georgia would be playing for a second time. ESPN projects Georgia to face the winner of Texas and No. 10 Boise State.
The 12-team playoff brings more excitement for more teams in the postseason, but it opens up the possibility of some teams playing each other two or three times in one season.
