It is good to be Georgia. Despite having to play seemingly every game of note down to the wire, there is something impressive about Kirby Smart's team to just find a way to win anyway. Although the home loss to arch nemesis Alabama was less than stellar, the Crimson Tide feel like the best team in the SEC as October starts to wind down. The good news is Georgia is clearly a top-three SEC team.
According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Georgia had an 81.5-percentage chance of making the playoff as of Monday's recalibrations. There are micro adjustments throughout the week, but Georgia is one of six teams with a 75-percentage chance or better of getting in. Anything above 50 percent is good, anything above 75 percent is great, and anything above 90 percent is amazing. Let's go Dawgs!
After Saturday's games, ESPN's Heather Dinich shared her 12-team College Football Playoff bracket.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0): Projected Big Ten champion
- Indiana Hoosiers (7-0): Projected Big Ten runner-up
- Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1): Projected SEC champion
- Texas A&M Aggies (7-0): Projected SEC runner-up
- Georgia Bulldogs (6-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Miami Hurricanes (5-1): Projected ACC champion
- Ole Miss Rebels (6-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Oregon Ducks (6-1): Projected Big Ten at-large
- Oklahoma Sooners (6-1): Projected SEC at-large
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-0): Projected ACC runner-up
- BYU Cougars (7-0): Projected Big 12 champion
- South Florida Bulls (6-1): Projected AAC/Group of Five champion
Let the record show her first team out would be the national independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Not long after, Dinich sorted every Power Four team and assorted Group of Five teams accordingly.
- Would be in (12): Alabama, BYU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, South Florida, Texas A&M
- On the cusp (4): Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Virginia
- Work to do (19): Arizona State, Boise State, Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, James Madison, Louisville, LSU, Memphis, Michigan, Missouri, Navy, North Texas, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, UNLV, USC
- Would be out (19): Arizona, Baylor, California, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, TCU, UCF, Utah, Wake Forest, Washington
- Out (22): Arkansas, Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, South Carolina, Syracuse, UCLA, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Adding an additional subsection of Out is nice, but can clearly seen that Georgia is comfortably in.
Georgia has built up enough early equity to make the playoff effortlessly
At this stage of the season, Georgia is one of roughly six locks to make it in. Ohio State and Indiana are the surest locks at both well over 90 percent. Alabama is a close third at a tick above the 90-percent threshold. Georgia is fifth behind undefeated Texas A&M as two other high-quality SEC teams. Oregon makes it a cool half-dozen, based solely upon the Ducks' ability to crush tomato cans.
The reason Dinich has Georgia so high is the Dawgs have two high-quality wins over Ole Miss at home and Tennessee in Knoxville. Ole Miss feels like a playoff team, while Tennessee feels like one of the first four out. They should both finish the season with around nine wins apiece in a worst-case scenario. The chances of either of them falling out of the top 25 feel rather slim. There is also this...
Georgia has a great chance to finish ahead of the ACC champion should the Dawgs win out. There is an outside shot that they may not make it to Atlanta at 11-1 (7-1) should Alabama and Texas A&M both win out. Again, Alabama has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Georgia. Right now, Dinich believes Georgia's loss to Alabama is better than Miami's to Louisvile. Again, a lot can change soon.
The other big thing is Georgia has one, maybe two more opportunities to get resume-boosting wins. Texas is a five-win team, but the Longhorns feel like they will be missing out on the playoff with something like an 8-4 or 9-3 record this year. They might fall out of the top 25 all together, but not before Georgia potentially beats them. There is also a chance to end Georgia Tech's perfect season.
The Ramblin' Wreck could conceivably get to Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at 11-0 (8-0) and heading to Charlotte. They may need to win the ACC Championship to get in over someone like Miami should they stumble vs. the Dawgs in the regular-season finale. While the Yellow Jackets nearly stung the Dawgs last year in Athens, Georgia has not lost to Georgia Tech in Atlanta since the very late 1990s.
So with their three other games being vs. Florida in Jacksonville, at Mississippi State and home vs. Charlotte, a loss to any of them would really complicate things for Georgia. The Dawgs really just need to beat either Texas at home or Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to finish the season at 10-2. Again, getting that win over Ole Miss has Georgia feeling like a top-four team in the SEC already.
As long as Georgia plays its final five regular-season games with composure, this team will make it in.