Late Tuesday night Georgia became the new betting favorite to win the national championship this season. CBS Sports reporter Danny Kanell however does not agree with that as he proposed a scenario that would see Georgia on the outside looking in when it comes time to set the College Football Playoff field in December.
So there is definitely going to be a 9-3 team in the playoff. Maybe multiple. I think the following teams would be the strongest to make IF they indeed finish 9-3:
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) October 20, 2026
LSU
Ole Miss
Texas
Ohio State
Michigan
Don't think these would:
Georgia
USC
Ohio State was the favorite to win it all after this past weekend, but their starting quarterback Julian Sayin was just ruled out indefinitely. This led Vegas to update their championship odds to favor Georgia over everyone else. Kannel however believes Georgia could end up missing the playoff altogether if they finished this season 9-3, and after this past weekend that isn't much of a stretch to say.
Georgia's loss to Auburn exposed what could happen to UGA this season
Georgia was riding high heading into this past weekend after knocking off Alabama on the road two weeks ago. They however were quickly humbled by an average Auburn team at home this past weekend.
If Georgia can lose to Auburn then there are still a handful of games they could lose this season. Their next three games are against Florida, Ole Miss and Missouri and all three teams have proven to be better than Auburn this year, so that means these are games Georgia could lose.
The chances of them losing all three of these games are slim, but it's not impossible after what happened in Athens on Saturday. Kannel however sees a scenario where Georgia finishes 9-3 and gets left out of the playoff field even though there's a good chance multiple 9-3 teams make the playoff this season due to all the upsets that have happened already this year.
Vegas oddsmakers don't think Georgia will miss the CFP
While Kanell believes Georgia could miss the playoff this season, Vegas does not. Not only does Vegas have them as the betting favorite to win the national championship at +470, they also give UGA -900 odds to make the playoff field. This implies that Vegas believes Georgia has a 90 percent chance to make the playoff which is the second-best odds in the country behind Miami who is undefeated and has a much easier schedule.
There is a chance Georgia misses the playoff this season, and until they win a few more games that will continue to be true. Vegas however doesn't think it's likely at all that they miss the playoff and that's what matters most.
Georgia however probably doesn't care about any of this. All they are focused on right now is correcting their mistakes from the Auburn game and gearing up for their final five games of the regular season.
Georgia controls their destiny both in the race to win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff, and as long as that is the case all they need to do is focus on themselves, take it one game at a time and handle their business over the next five weeks.
Betting odds adjust periodically and are subject to change.
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