Georgia among nation’s elite heading into first CFP rankings

ATHENS — It wasn’t always pretty for Georgia on Saturday, as it once again trailed in the first and fourth quarters against Florida.

But Georgia found a way to win once again and maintain its spot in the AP Top 25 Poll for Week 12. Georgia stayed at No. 5 thanks to a 24-20 win.

“The defense made a huge stop, offense had a great drive, and then defense came out with another big stop,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “So a lot of credit goes to the players, they’ve gotten better throughout the year. We’re a beat up football team with a lot of injuries, so looking forward to getting ready for next week.”

Georgia is also ranked No. 5 in the Coaches Poll Top 25 for Week 12.

Georgia will next go on the road to take on a Mississippi State team that picked up its first SEC win of the season. The Bulldogs rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Arkansas.

Not every Top 25 team was able to get the win Georgia did on Saturday. No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 18 Miami both lost on the road despite entering the game as top-10 teams.

No. 23 Tennessee and No. 15 Vanderbilt both lost in ranked games against No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 13 Texas.

All those losses should make for a very interesting College Football Playoff picture.

The first rankings of the season will be released at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday night.

The final College Football Playoff rankings are the only ones that truly interest Smart, as he knows his team has a number of big games left on the schedule, including contests against Texas and Georgia Tech.

Georgia is going to have to keep finding ways to win, as it did on Saturday, to secure one of the 12 spots in the College Football Playoff field.

“I know that our kids are not uncomfortable playing from (behind). They don’t get chained to a scoreboard,” Smart said. “There’s people that play chained to the scoreboard. Our guys are free of that, and they just play to the team and keep chopping. To keep chopping makes some good things happen. I do think we’re very well conditioned. I do think our guys believe in winning in the fourth.”