It may not be in Georgia's best interest to earn a top four seed in the College Football Playoff going forward. Not only is Georgia 0-2 as a top four seed since the playoff expanded to 12 teams two years ago, but the top four seeds are a combined 1-7 in the quarterfinals of the CFP the last two seasons.
So while it may be crazy to suggest this, Georgia failing to earn a top four seed this season may just be the best outcome for them.
CBS Sports' Brad Crawford recently dove into why he thinks this would be a good thing for Georgia. He predicted that Georgia would go 11-1 this season and lose to Texas in the SEC Championship game, but after reading his explanation this might be something UGA fans would sign up for right now.
“With an 11-win finish, the Bulldogs would own one of the nation's strongest résumés -- likely with multiple wins over ranked opponents -- a convincing strength of schedule and enough road-tested credibility to outweigh a single surprising blemish,” Brad Crawford said via cbssports.com. “Losing to Texas in Atlanta would sting, but it wouldn't damage Georgia's profile enough to push the team down the bracket. In fact, the No. 5 seed might be the ideal landing spot. Georgia would miss a first-round bye, but likely draw one of the more favorable at-large matchups while staying on the opposite side of the bracket from the second-seeded Longhorns. With championship-level talent on both lines of scrimmage and postseason experience everywhere, the Bulldogs would still feel like one of the most dangerous teams in the field.”
CBS Sports may have had the best idea to help fix Georgia's CFP woes
In this scenario Crawford believes Georgia's resume would be good enough to earn them the No. 5 seed in the College Football Playoff. That means they would have to play in the first round of the playoff, but they would play the No. 12 seed who is supposedly the worst team in the playoff.
Not to mention this game would also take place in Athens which would immediately become one of the greatest atmospheres in Georgia football history.
If Georgia won their first round game they would then play the No. 4 seed which on paper isn't that much different of a team from them. And considering the 4-seed is 0-2 in the expanded playoff maybe this is exactly who they should want to play.
Losing to Texas in the SEC Championship game would not be fun, especially because that is exactly what Vegas and fans around the country think will happen. But Georgia fans are very frustrated with the lack of playoff success over the past three seasons, so right now that is more important than winning the conference.
It's impossible to guarantee any outcome to occur, but at this point Georgia should be willing to try anything. They by no means should lose any game on purpose, but if they do lose in the SEC Championship game but earn the No. 5 seed in the CFP no one should complain because that is what could lead to a deeper playoff run.
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