Georgia football should sit atop first CFP rankings, or the system is wrong

Georgia football has done enough to prove they will be the top-ranked team when the first College Football Playoff rankings drop on Tuesday evening.

So who will fill out the remaining top-10?

The Dawgs beat three ranked teams in a row, giving them four on the season.

There is an argument for five ranked opponents, but Florida hasn’t been in the top-25 since the beginning of October — so we will keep it at four.

Georgia football will be top dawg in the first CFP rankings.

Georgia will be the No.1 team on Tuesday evening, and that shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. They have demoralized teams each week, and that defense could beat up on some NFL offenses.

Through eight games, the Dawgs outscored their opponents 303-53, which means Georgia gives up 6.63 points a game. If they continue this pace, they will be among history defenses and have a better scoring defense than the 2011 Alabama team with an 8.2 point per game average.

Plus, the Dawgs are six undefeated teams left in college football, but they are the only ones among the perfect squads that have flat-out steamrolled their opponents.

So Georgia is the clear No.1 team, and the rest of the pack can fight it out amongst themselves. The Dawgs need to remain focused and ride their slaughter campaign all the way to Atlanta.

Now comes the fun part as we predict what the top-10 will look like, then highlight the No.2-No.4 picks and why they are there. These aren’t the actual rankings, just how we predict they will be.

College Football Playoff ranking prediction:

1: Georgia Bulldogs (8-0)

2: Alabama Crimson Tide(7-1)

3: Michigan State Spartans (8-0)

4: Cincinnati Bearcats (8-0)

5: Oklahoma Sooners (9-0)

6: Oregon Ducks (7-1)

7: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-0)

8: Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1)

9: Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-1)

10: Michigan Wolverines (7-1)

Oklahoma just missed out because that quarterback situation is hugely concerning, along with the lack of defense as they give up 24.2 points a game and 383.3 total offensive yards.

Oregon and Wake Forest are higher than Ohio State because the Ducks beat the Buckeyes and the Demon Deacons are undefeated. However, Wake Forest is only that high because they are undefeated.

Oklahoma State and Michigan round out the top-10 because they both suffered tough losses in the last two weeks. The Cowboys got stunned by Iowa State, but that game was one of those upset games long overdue.

They’ve got a decent defense, ranked No.2 in the Big 12 behind Iowa State, so they’re in the top-10 for now.

The top-four wasn’t as easy to put together as No.5-10 were. There are so many questions surrounding these teams, but all three have done enough to make it in the top four, at least in this first prediction.

No.2 Alabama

The Tide saw a moment of weakness against Texas A&M, and until they lose again, they will likely remain at the No.2 spot.

Alabama is the best one-loss team in the country. Georgia is in a league of its own, but the Tide were right there until the Aggies happened. Since then, they’ve put up 49 and 52 points.

Plus, every Georgia fan out there wants to see this matchup.

No.3 Michigan State

We pushed the Spartans up to No. 3 after beating their comeback win over Michigan. Mel Tucker has instilled confidence in this team, and they are showing what good coaching does.

The Spartans are undefeated, and they are trending upward. There are still some questions surrounding them. If they can beat Ohio State on Nov. 20, but if they go into that game undefeated, Michigan State could cement their spot in the playoffs.

No. 4 Cinncinati

Yes, the Bearcats deserve to be in the top four over the Oklahoma Sooners. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t in a Power 5 conference. They are a solid football team with a quarterback that can make things happen.

They’ve gotten challenged the last couple of weeks, but they rise and find ways to win. Cincinnati is No. 9 in scoring offense as they average 39.9 points a game and No. 2 in scoring defense with 14.3 points. Plus, they are the only team with a top-10 scoring offense and scoring defense.

We will see if other programs do more to jump the Bearcats, but they deserve one of the four spots if they win out the regular season.

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday evening, and it’s going to be fun to see who rounds out the top-4 after Georgia gets their name called first.