Where you land matters. After rivalry weekend, the Georgia Bulldogs find themselves comfortably in the College Football Playoff picture. They finished the regular season with a dazzling 11-1 (7-1) record. Their only loss was a three-point defeat at home to perpetual nemesis Alabama, a team who they will be playing in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday evening. What could ever go wrong?
Regardless of how you feel about the game coming in, Georgia is one of eight teams in the country who will comfortably make the playoff field. In alphabetical order, those eight teams are Georgia, Indiana, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Alabama and Notre Dame are in a good spot to get the two other non-automatic qualifier bids, assuming chalk prevails.
So without further ado, here are the latest College Football Playoff rankings heading into Saturday.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (12-0)
- Indiana Hoosiers (12-0)
- Georgia Bulldogs (11-1)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1)
- Oregon Ducks (11-1)
- Ole Miss Rebels (11-1)
- Texas A&M Aggies (11-1
- Oklahoma Sooners (10-2)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-2)
- BYU Cougars (11-1)
- Miami Hurricanes (10-2)
- Texas Longhorns (9-3)
- Vanderbilt Commodores (10-2)
- Utah Utes (10-2)
- USC Trojans (9-3)
- Virginia Cavaliers (10-2)
- Arizona Wildcats (9-3)
- Michigan Wolverines (9-3)
- Tulane Green Wave (10-2)
- Houston Cougars (9-3)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-3)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4)
- North Texas Mean Green (11-1)
- James Madison Dukes (11-1)
Georgia was ranked No. 3 this week, moving up one spot from No. 4 after defeating Georgia Tech.
Projected College Football Playoff bracket after the penultimate rankings
Based on the criteria of the College Football Playoff, these would be the 12 teams to make the field.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (12-0): Projected Big Ten champion
- Indiana Hoosiers (12-0): Projected Big Ten runner-up
- Georgia Bulldogs (11-1): Projected SEC champion
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1): Projected Big 12 champion
- Oregon Ducks (11-1): Projected Big 12 at-large
- Ole Miss Rebels (11-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Texas A&M Aggies (11-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Oklahoma Sooners (10-2): Projected SEC at-large
- Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2): Projected SEC runner-up
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-2): Projected national independent at-large
- Virginia Cavaliers (10-2): Projected ACC champion
- Tulane Green Wave (10-2): Projected AAC/Group of Five champion
For a little bit more context, these would be the first four teams out of the playoff at this point in time.
- 13. BYU Cougars (11-1): Projected Big 12 runner-up
- 14. Miami Hurricanes (10-2): ACC
- 15. Texas Longhorns (9-3): SEC
- 16. Vanderbilt Commodores (10-2): SEC
Georgia being ranked third and seeded No. 3 is not actually what is going to happen. This is because one of the two undefeated teams ranked ahead of them in Ohio State or Indiana are going to lose because they play each other. Whoever wins the Big Ten championship will be the No. 1 seed. If Georgia wins the SEC, it will be the No. 2 seed. If it loses to Alabama, it drops down to No. 5 or No. 6.
So now that we know who would make the playoff in this scenario, let's see the first-round matchups!
Projected College Football Playoff first-round matchups and byes
Here are the four teams getting first-round byes in this simulation, as well as the first-round games.
- No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (BYE)
- No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers (BYE)
- No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (BYE)
- No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders (BYE)
- No. 5 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 12 Tulane Green Wave
- No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels vs. No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers
- No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies vs. No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide
Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia and Texas Tech all get first-round byes. Three of those four may end up getting them in the end, assuming Georgia and Texas Tech win their respective league title bouts. Maybe all four do if the Big Ten Championship game loser keeps it close? Oregon gets Tulane, Ole Miss faces Virginia, Texas A&M gets Notre Dame in a rematch. Oklahoma gets Alabama in a rematch.
Let's get the easy ones out of the way first. Tulane has very little hope vs. Oregon. Neither does Virginia at Ole Miss. The Green Wave and Cavaliers could win, but let's not count on it. As for the rematch games, let's take Texas A&M to play charged up and beat Notre Dame twice. It may be another one-score affair without the luck of the Irish. Alabama ends Oklahoma's season in Norman.
With Oregon, Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Alabama advancing, who will they play in the quarterfinals?
Projected College Football Playoff bracket national quarterfinals
These would be the four national quarterfinal matchups and the first four of the New Year's Six Bowls.
- Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide
- Orange Bowl: No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers vs. No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies
- Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels
- Cotton Bowl: No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. No. 5 Oregon Ducks
Ohio State will welcome Alabama to the Rose Bowl in a helmet game. Julian Sayin and Caleb Downs beat their former school like a drum. This will not be close. Indiana would go to the Orange Bowl where the Hoosiers will take on a gassed Texas A&M team. That will matter a ton, as the Hoosiers move on rather easily. The other two games are a bit more intriguing than the first two of these ones.
Georgia would face a team it beat in Athens in the Sugar Bowl in an Ole Miss Rebels team without Lane Kiffin. The Dawgs will play with their food in the first half, only to crush the Rebels' souls in the second half. The Cotton Bowl will be between Texas Tech and Oregon. With so much NIL money to be had, Texas Tech will win because it is not losing its two star coordinators to Power Four jobs in 2026.
So chalk comes out on top here with Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia and Texas Tech all moving on here.
Projected College Football Playoff bracket national semifinals
With only three playoff games left, these would be the two matchups in the national semifinals.
- Peach Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers vs. No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs
Top-seeded Ohio State gets a huge break here. Not only do they avoid Indiana and Georgia in the national semifinals, but they have to beat each other up in Phoenix first in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas Tech will be the epitome of a fish out of water in the Peach Bowl. Joey McGuire and his Red Raiders will not know what hit them. It may be something like 31-10 OhioState before Texas Tech can even bat an eye.
As for the Fiesta Bowl, this may end up being the best game of the tournament. It will be the up-and-comers of Indiana going against a true blue-blood in Georgia. Depth will carry the Dawgs in this one. It will be a total bloodbath, with the winner having to drag itself to the finish line to take on a far less exhausted Ohio State team in Miami for the national championship. Georgia vs. Ohio State, let's go!
While Georgia and Ohio State have often met a ton of times in these simulations, the results are odd...
Projected College Football Playoff bracket national championship
The winner of this game between Georgia and Ohio State can claim it has the best head coach.
- College Football Playoff National Championship Game: No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs
For as great as it would be to seed Georgia end Ohio State's season in the playoff once again, the Bulldogs have the far tougher road to Miami than Ohio State in this simulation. Georgia gets pushed to the brink by Indiana, while Texas Tech does not really put up much of a fight vs. Ohio State. For that reason, Ohio State probably has a healthier team coming in and would likely win this matchup here.
To tie a bow on this, it is much easier to pick a bracket simulation objectively when you know deep down in your heart that is not going to happen. There is virtually no chance Georgia is the No. 3 seed in this year's tournament. Again, if the Bulldogs beat Alabama, they will be the No. 2 seed behind the Big Ten champion. If they lose to Alabama, the Bulldogs will be somewhere in the No. 4 to No. 6 range.
As stated above, the penultimate playoff rankings have given us the strangest bracket to date so far.