Georgia moves up to No. 4 in AP poll after concluding SEC play

ATHENS — Georgia made an emphatic statement on Saturday night as it beat Texas 35-10 at home.

The win moved Georgia to 9-1 on the season and wrapped up SEC play with a 7-1 conference record.

Georgia moved up in the AP Top 25 Poll for Week 13 as the Bulldogs now sit as the No. 4 team in the poll. Georgia is also the No. 4 ranked team in the Coaches Poll this week.

The three teams ahead of Georgia — Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M — are all unbeaten. Thanks to Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma, Georgia is now the highest-ranked one-loss team in the country.

Georgia outscored Texas 21-0 in the fourth quarter, making a statement to not just the Longhorns, but also the rest of the SEC.

“We’re gonna dominate and try to win the fourth quarter,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It’s what we do in practice. It’s what we do in the offseason. It’s what we build our core culture around is being the more physical team. You have to recruit physical players, and they have to buy into that process.”

Georgia is still No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings, which will be updated on Tuesday night. While Georgia has concluded SEC play, it has games against Charlotte and No. 16 Georgia Tech still on the schedule.

With the win over Texas, Georgia actually finishes with a better conference record than it did last season, when Georgia won the SEC championship game.

As for this year’s trip to Atlanta, Georgia has not yet punched its ticket and won’t know if it will be able to until the final week of the regular season.

Georgia does not control its own path to Atlanta. The Bulldogs need Texas A&M or Alabama to lose their respective final SEC games to get to the SEC championship game for a fifth-straight time. Texas A&M faces Texas while Alabama visits Auburn. Georgia did beat both of those teams this season.

There are also scenarios that don’t require Texas A&M or Alabama to lose, but they involve Georgia’s conference opponents finishing with a higher winning percentage than Alabama’s.

Georgia takes on Charlotte on Saturday. The SEC Network will broadcast the game, which is set for a 12:45 p.m. start.