Be careful what you wish for... Although the last two weeks have been varying levels of frustrating for the Georgia Bulldogs offensively, why would Kirby Smart, Mike Bobo and Gunner Stockton want to show teams they could be meeting in the College Football Playoff anything they do not have to? A blowout win over Texas at home three weeks ago effectively punched Georgia's ticket into the field.
While Georgia is on a growing list of College Football Playoff locks, the Bulldogs are arguably one of the handful of teams who could realistically deliver a knockout blow to the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. In Bill Connelly's latest for ESPN, he argued if it really was Ohio State vs. the field. Any time we get to one of those paradigms, it is almost always the field. But here is why...
Connelly argued that Ohio State is the most relaxed team in the country right now. Outside of a seven-point home win over Texas in Week 1, the Buckeyes have not been pushed around by anyone. Keep in mind that they have not played the two other teams of high-quality in the Big Ten this season in Indiana and Oregon. Ohio State will be taking on Indiana in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday.
While there is a chance Georgia peaked vs. Texas, Ohio State may not be ready for what is coming up.
Georgia is more than capable of knocking Ohio State out of the playoff
Let's unpack this all right now. There are 12 teams who will make the College Football Playoff. Where things stand now, there are eight teams who are locks to make the field. In alphabetical order, they are Georgia, Indiana, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. All eight of those teams have at least a 97.1-percentage chance to make the College Football Playoff, per FPI.
That leaves four spots available for roughly 15 teams. Those include serious contenders to make the field out of the Power Four in Alabama and Notre Dame, as well as major candidates to win the Group of Five in James Madison, North Texas and Tulane. Among those 15 also includes teams with less than one-percent chance to make the field in Kennesaw State out of CUSA, and 7-5 Duke in the ACC.
So of the teams who are locks, or could realistically make it in, Georgia has to be on the shortlist of teams who could end Ohio State's season. Connelly mentioned the likes of Indiana in a rematch in the playoff, fellow Big Ten foe Oregon, or even Texas Tech out of the Big 12 as non-Georgia teams who could do it. The problem with those four teams is none of them have that extra gear that Georgia has.
Georgia is one of a handful of teams who may have the depth to win the playoff. Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, and Texas A&M have the horses to run the gauntlet, whereas Indiana, Notre Dame and Ole Miss may come up short of this lofty goal. What you are looking at in a team that could potentially ruin Ohio State's perfect season is what Georgia has to offer in a loaded roster that is so well-coached.
More importantly, the playoff is all about matchups. If Ohio State wins the Big Ten, the Buckeyes will be the No. 1 seed. The best Georgia can hope for is the No. 2 seed with an SEC Championship victory over Alabama. This is because either Ohio State or Indiana will be 13-0 and the Big Ten champion. They are the only two teams with any shot of getting the playoff's top seed like Oregon did in 2024.
Do you care to remember what happened to top-seeded Oregon last winter? The Ducks beat Penn State in Indianapolis, and got a hungry 10-2 No. 8-seeded Ohio State team in the Rose Bowl. That game was over before the end of the first quarter. Could Ohio State fall to someone in the Rose Bowl this year? Potentially, but what if Georgia does not win the SEC? Could they beat them in the playoff?
Well, where things stand now, Georgia and Ohio State would be on other sides of the bracket. Georgia will likely be ranked No. 3 in the penultimate playoff rankings after Texas A&M's first loss of the season to Texas. Ohio State will be the No. 1 team until proven otherwise. While taking Georgia to beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals is a huge ask, what if they were to meet in the semifinals?
A potential national semifinals matchup could be in the Peach Bowl. That is located in Georgia's home away from home in Atlanta. Ohio State may beg to play Georgia or whomever in the Fiesta Bowl if they can make their opponent travel more, but that might not be up to them. Having to face Georgia in the same venue where Ohio State's 2022 season came to an end would be too good to potentially avoid.
Overall, Georgia has benefited so much from having to play a gauntlet of an SEC schedule, as well as a 9-3 Georgia Tech team in the non-conference, potentially more so than Ohio State avoiding some of the very best teams the Big Ten has to offer. We all saw what happened when Texas A&M finally had to play someone worth a damn in league play. They got smoked by a Texas team those two defeated.
Ultimately, Georgia and Ohio State are the two teams that are built differently this season. They are mirror images of each other. We are talking about the two best coaches in the sport with the two best rosters in college football, potentially going at it for the ultimate prize. See, the perfect team to beat Ohio State just so happens to be its closest approximation below The Mason-Dixon Line in Georgia.
This is not to say Georgia will beat Ohio State if they were to play, but they will make them sweat it out.