In week five, Florida shocked Texas in Gainesville and upset the Longhorns. As Florida celebrated their victory, one would not expect one of their biggest rivals in Georgia to celebrate too.
However, Georgia fans should have been rooting heavily for Florida to pull away and win this game. Here is why Georgia fans smiled a little bit bigger this past Saturday after Florida's upset win over Texas.
Florida proves the SEC is wide open
The new College Football Playoff format has completely transformed the landscape of college football. Not only that, but the Transfer Portal has allowed players to freely go wherever they want every year. This has opened the door for teams that typically struggle to succeed, and teams that normally have lots of depth struggle to find players to fill in when stars get injured.
Last season, the SEC was a wide open race. Georgia ended up being crowned the champion of the SEC with two conference losses in the regular season, something not accomplished by a team in the SEC since 2007. This season could very well prove to be a similar story.
Texas already has two losses on the season. Every team in the SEC already has a loss except for Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Every one of those four teams have a SEC opponent on their schedule they are projected by the ESPN FPI to lose to. The race, just like last year, is wide open. That means that Georgia's loss to Alabama still puts them in a place where they control their own destiny to earn a trip to Atlanta.
Room for error increases
Georgia can breathe a little bit easier now that Texas has been beaten. The room for error increases, and the feeling that they cannot afford to lose another game this season slightly drifts away. They can now afford to potentially drop a game against Ole Miss or someone else and be fine.
They might not make the SEC Championship on two losses, but the CFP committee would have to take into consideration the strength of the conference. That alone could get them a lower seed in the playoff at two losses.
The race is far from over in college football as a lot could happen in the second half of the season. However, Georgia should feel pretty good about their championship aspirations thanks in part to Florida’s big win.