With just five weeks left in the season, it is officially time to start paying close attention to the SEC standings to see who will be the two teams battling it out in Atlanta in the SEC Championship game. Entering Saturday there were seven teams with one loss or less in the conference, so there were countless scenarios for how this season could play out. Georgia was one of those teams, and since they were on a bye they remained in the fold.
But the same can't be said for two teams who saw their aspirations of winning an SEC Championship come to a crashing end after a tough loss.
Georgia's SEC Championship hopes improve during Week 9
Two of those seven teams lost on Saturday which saw their hopes of winning the conference end. The first team who slid down the SEC standings with a loss was Missouri, who lost at Vanderbilt 17-10. Oklahoma also suffered their second loss of the season as Ole Miss came to town and left with a 34-26 victory.
Both Missouri and Oklahoma were tied with Georgia with one loss, so UGA now comfortably sits above them in the SEC standings. This obviously increased Georgia's chances at making the SEC Championship game, but UGA still needs some more help which they unfortunately did not get this weekend.
Georgia still needs help to make SEC title game
Alabama and Texas A&M are both undefeated in conference play still. So regardless of what Georgia does the rest of the season, they will not make it to Atlanta unless these two teams start losing. Alabama and A&M do not play each other this season either, so there is a chance they both win out and UGA misses the SEC title game with an 11-1 record.
Alabama came into Saturday with an "easy" game against South Carolina, but this was far from an easy win like everyone thought it would be. South Carolina scored a touchdown to take a 22-14 lead with 10 minutes to play, but Alabama stormed back and scored two late touchdowns to win 29-22.
Texas A&M on the other hand hit he road to play an LSU team that wins almost every night game they play at home. Unfortunately the Aggies dominated LSU en route to a 49-25 victory.
So while Georgia did get a major boost in the SEC standings on Saturday, there is still a long way to go if they are going to make it to Atlanta. All Georgia can do is focus on themselves and who they face on their schedule, but every passing week makes it seem more likely they will fall short of the SEC Championship game even if they win the rest of their games.