Georgia in position to possibly earn first-round bye in latest CFP rankings
ATHENS — If the latest College Football Playoff rankings were to hold, the Georgia Bulldogs would earn a first-round bye.
Georgia came in at No. 4 in this week’s rankings, up one spot from its ranking last week. Georgia picked up a convincing 35-10 win over the previously No. 10 Texas Longhorns.
The top three teams in the Week 13 College Football Playoff rankings remain unchanged, with Ohio State at No. 1, Indiana at No. 2 and Texas A&M at No. 3. All three teams are unbeaten this season.
Behind Georgia is Texas Tech at No. 5. The Red Raiders control their path to the Big 12 championship game, something Georgia does not with regard to its own conference championship game.
Georgia wrapped up SEC play with a win over Texas, going 7-1 in league play. But Georgia needs a Texas A&M loss, an Alabama loss, or a series of results that would give Georgia a superior conference opponent winning percentage in the event of a three or four-team tiebreaker.
Georgia moved up in part because Alabama, previously No. 4, lost to Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide dropped to No. 10.
Unlike last season, Georgia does not need to win its conference to earn a first-round bye. The five highest-ranked conference champions earn an automatic berth into the College Football Playoff, but the top four seeds earn first-round byes.
Georgia has games against Charlotte and No. 16 Georgia Tech still on the schedule.
As for potentially playing in the SEC championship game, that is something Georgia coach Kirby Smart would like for his team to do, even if there are possible arguments against it.
“My objective is to win every game that we play, so where does that put us? That puts us in that game,” Smart said. “So, there would be no way I would ever look at not playing in that game. Can’t do that. You’ve gotta look at the opportunity to go play and win a conference championship that has eluded more programs and has been as rare to win, in some cases, as a national championship.”
Georgia takes on Charlotte this Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. The final College Football Playoff field will be announced on Saturday, Dec. 7.
You can see the full College Football Playoff rankings for Week 13 below.
College Football Playoff rankings for Week 13
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- Texas Tech
- Ole Miss
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- BYU
- Utah
- Miami
- Vanderbilt
- USC
- Georgia Tech
- Texas
- Michigan
- Virginia
- Tennessee
- Illinois
- Missouri
- Houston
- Tulane
- Arizona State
College Football Playoff bracket for Week 13
- First round byes: Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia
- No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 12 Tulane, winner faces Georgia *highest-ranked Group of Five team
- No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 Miami*, winner faces Texas A&M *highest ranked ACC team
- No. 7 Oregon vs. No. 10 Alabama, winner faces Indiana
- No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Notre Dame, winner faces Ohio State
About the Author
Connor Riley has been covering the University of Georgia since 2014 before moving to DawgNation full-time before the 2018 season. He helps in all areas of the site such as team coverage, recruiting, video production, social media and podcasting. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016.
