In case you missed it, earlier this week Georgia football was ranked No. 12 in the updated College Football Playoff rankings, which actually puts them outside of the 12-team CFP field. After this news dropped, it was safe to say that Georgia fans were upset.
But not only were Georgia fans upset, many national reporters and analysts couldn't make sense of this decision either. Sure the Bulldogs already have two losses, but they were to teams currently in the 12-team field. Georgia also has big wins over No. 3 Texas and No. 20 Clemson.
So the consensus was that Kirby Smart and Georgia likely deserved a higher ranking because of their strength of schedule, impressive wins, and the fact that most people feel they would beat a lot of the teams ranked in front of them. But is that actually true? How many of the teams currently in the 12-team CFP field would Georgia beat?
It's impossible to know for sure, but using a tool on collegefootballinsiders.com, we can project who would win between Georgia and all 12 teams currently in the playoff field on a neutral field.
Georgia vs. 12-team CFP field Projections
CFP Seed | Opponent | Prediction |
|---|---|---|
1 | Oregon | Oregon by 5.5 |
2 | Texas | Texas by 2 |
3 | BYU | Georgia by 1.5 |
4 | Miami (FL) | Georgia by 1 |
5 | Ohio State | Ohio State by 4 |
6 | Penn State | Penn State by .5 |
7 | Indiana | Indiana by 3 |
8 | Tennessee | Georgia by 2 |
9 | Notre Dame | Even |
10 | Alabama | Alabama by 3.5 |
11 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss by 2 |
12 | Boise State | Georgia by 12.5 |
Key Takeaways
Based on the above projections, Georgia would only be picked to win against four teams with a dead even tie with a fifth team. Unfortunately for Georgia, three of the four teams they are projected to beat are automatic qualifiers into the 12-team field. So at this time it is impossible for Georgia to be put in the field ahead of BYU, Miami (FL) and Boise State.
The one team Georgia is projected to beat that they could pass is Tennessee. This is great news for Georgia as they take on the Vols this weekend in Sanford Stadium in a must win game.
Georgia is somehow projected to lose to Texas by two points. Everyone knows how much UGA dominated Texas on the road a few weeks ago, so the Longhorns being projected to win is a bit shocking.
It's also hard to convince anyone that Indiana and Penn State should be projected to beat Georgia. Neither team has a quality win on their resume while Georgia has multiple, so until either team actually proves it on the field, Georgia should be the favorite against both teams.