As UGA, KSU vie for conference titles, 3 Georgia teams host playoff games
There are five collegiate football programs in Georgia playing meaningful postseason games this weekend.
Kennesaw State (9-3) kicks off the slate playing for a Conference USA title on Friday. The Owls are in their first year under coach Jerry Mack and clinched a trip to the CUSA championship, against Jacksonville State (8-4), after defeating Liberty in double overtime on Saturday.
Then on Saturday, the Mercer Bears (9-2) host the South Dakota Coyotes (8-4) in the second round of the FCS playoffs at noon, the same time Berry (10-1) will host Trinity — a team Berry beat 29-6 in the regular season — in the third round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs.
Mercer, carrying a No. 8 national ranking, won the Southern Conference championship for the second year in a row and earned a first-round playoff bye.
Berry went undefeated in its conference and suffered only one loss — against then-ranked Carnegie Mellon in its third game — all season. Berry ended its regular season ranked. No. 17, according to D3football.com.
Kicking off at 1 p.m. Saturday, Albany State (12-1) hosts Newberry College in the Division II playoff quarterfinals.
Albany State, which earned a No. 1 seed for the playoffs, beat Valdosta State in the first round and Benedict in the second round.
The final — and most notable — game of the Peach State postseason notables is Georgia (11-1) taking on Alabama (10-2) in the SEC championship game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
This is the fourth time in Kirby Smart’s tenure that the Bulldogs have met the Crimson Tide in the conference championship. Georgia is 0-3 in those games.
About the Author
Caitlyn Stroh-Page is the senior sports editor high school sports and college football at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her resume includes stops at Sports Illustrated Kids, Scout.com, The (Macon) Telegraph, the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader and the Athens Banner-Herald. A South Georgia native, Stroh-Page lives in the Athens area.
