Now is the time for the Georgia Bulldogs to fully lock in. They can afford one more loss, but not two, if they have any serious aspirations about making the College Football Playoff. While losing at home by a field goal to your biggest nemesis in the Alabama Crimson Tide is not the end of the world, Georgia needs to win at least seven of its final eight regular-season games to ensure itself of a playoff berth.
Even though the Dawgs were ranked No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, they were given slightly better marks in the Coaches Poll. Perhaps most importantly, they still have decent odds of making the College Football Playoff in one way, shape or form, based on the percentages from ESPN's FPI. To make everyone feel better, go check out where this one college football analyst had Georgia slotted.
On Monday, ESPN's Heather Dinich released her projected College Football Playoff field for Week 6.
- Miami Hurricanes (4-0): Projected ACC champion
- Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0): Projected Big Ten champion
- Oregon Ducks (5-0): Projected Big Ten runner-up
- Texas A&M Aggies (4-0): Projected SEC champion
- Oklahoma Sooners (4-0): Projected SEC runner-up
- Ole Miss Rebels (5-0): Projected SEC at-large
- Florida State Seminoles (3-1): Projected ACC runner-up
- Alabama Crimson Tide (3-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Georgia Bulldogs (3-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Indiana Hoosiers (5-0): Projected Big Ten at-large
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-0): Projected Big 12 champion
- Memphis Tigers (5-0): Projected AAC/Group of Five champion
Her first two teams out were the Tennessee Volunteers and the Penn State Nittany Lions for Week 6.
Dinich wrote an interesting follow up by citing where each contending team resides on the bubble.
- Would be in (12): Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Memphis, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
- On the cusp (4): BYU, Georgia Tech, LSU, Penn State
- Work to do (29): Arizona, Arizona State, California, Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, Nebraska, North Carolina State, North Texas, Old Dominion, South Florida, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, UCF, UNLV, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington
- Would be out (30): Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, Clemson, Colorado, Duke, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Wisconsin
To see Georgia in the playoff field both in Dinich's projections and in terms of FPI feels pretty good.
Georgia still has a great road win and a quality home loss to a playoff team
That might be the biggest point in all of this. Georgia's resume one-third of the way into the season is simply too compelling to keep the Dawgs out of the playoff field and settling in at the doghouse. The road win over rival Tennessee in overtime still means something. Because Alabama's lone loss was to a team Dinich has in the playoff field in the Florida State Seminoles, it still remains a high-quality loss.
What is important to know is Georgia's home loss in Week 5 was far less punitive in the world of playoff odds than what happened to Penn State in Happy Valley vs. Oregon. Georgia has a win over a ranked team, and should be able to get a few more before all is said and done. Penn State faces two more ranked teams the rest of the way at Ohio State and Indiana at home. Not sure they win either...
In the end, this is not about Penn State or any other program that is on the cusp or has work to do. Georgia is one of 12 teams slated to make it in. Although the chances of them beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa in a theoretical No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup do not seem that promising, anything can happen on any given Saturday in college football. It is about being among the sport's most dirtiest of dozen.
The best part is if Georgia beats Kentucky on Saturday, its playoff chances will improve into Week 7.