No. 3 Georgia football to meet No. 2 Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl
Georgia football sealed their spot in the College Football Playoffs with a 28-7 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship Game . The Bulldogs improved to 12-1, 8-1 in the SEC.
Georgia football learned its fate early Sunday afternoon. For just the second time ever, Georgia is traveling to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl. And for the first time ever, Georgia will play Oklahoma. The Sooners are one of, if not the best program that Georgia has never played before.
The last time Georgia played in the Rose Bowl was 1942 when the Bulldogs led by Hall of Famers head coach Wally Buts, Heisman winning fullback/halfback Frank Sinkwich and halfback Charlie Trippi. Georgia defeated UCLA 9-0 in that Rose Bowl to claim the program’s first consensus National Championship and second National Championship overall.
Georgia earned the trip to the Rose Bowl with a 28-7 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship Game. The Bulldogs moved up three spots in the playoff rankings as a result of the win. The top-four is completed by No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Alabama.
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Clemson and Alabama will meet in the Sugar Bowl in a rematch of the last two National Championship Games. If Georgia defeats Oklahoma, they will play the winner of the Sugar Bowl in Atlanta for the National Championship.
Georgia has already sealed one of the greatest turnarounds in school history. Georgia ended the 2016 season 8-5 with a blowout loss to Ole Miss, embarrassing losses to Vanderbilt, Florida and Georgia Tech and a last second loss to Tennessee.
Media and fans expected Georgia to have more success in 2017, but that was only because of a weaker SEC East. Even then, the Bulldogs were 50/50 favorites with Florida. Most sources favored Georgia to finish the regular season 10-2 before losing in the SEC Championship Game.
The consensus was that Georgia was still one year away from contending for National Championships. Yet here we are. The Bulldogs are heading to the Rose Bowl for a semi-final playoff game. Then possibly a National Championship Game after that.
Next: Georgia beat the Tiger crap out of Auburn
After going 8-5 last year, the worst Georgia can finish now is 12-2; SEC Champions, College Football Playoff semi-finalist. Not bad for the second year under coach Kirby Smart.
But knowing Smart and this team, they’re not about to fall back on recent success. He’ll have his Bulldogs ready to leave Pasadena with a victory. And then he’ll have them ready to take on whoever they have to back in Atlanta.