Georgia headed to Sugar Bowl after bye as No. 3 seed in College Football Playoff
ATHENS — Georgia is officially in the College Football Playoff, having earned the No. 3 overall seed.
The Bulldogs have gone 12-1 to this point, with their latest win coming in the SEC championship game Saturday, defeating Alabama 28-7 to avenge their only loss of the season.
Based on bowl contracts, Georgia will play in the Sugar Bowl, which is set for New Year’s Day at 8 p.m.
As for who Georgia will play, that will be determined in the first round of the CFP. The Bulldogs will take on the winner of No. 6 seed Ole Miss vs. No. 11 seed Tulane, set for 3:30 p.m. in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Georgia is one of five teams from the SEC to make the playoff, along with Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Alabama. Those five teams to make it are the most from any one conference this season.
Georgia is the only SEC team to make the 12-team playoff in back-to-back seasons. Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon all accomplished the feat out of the Big Ten.
It’s the fifth time in 10 seasons that Georgia has made the playoff under Kirby Smart.
“All the credit goes to the players who have had a very long, tough, hard season,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Saturday. “The kids in our program buy into hard. I appreciate their toughness in the way they do things. That pays off in the long run. To win back-to-back SEC championships, it’s every kid in this footprint’s dream, and an honor to be at Georgia and to be the head coach here and win games like this.”
Because of Saturday’s win, Georgia clinched a berth in the College Football Playoff as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. The Bulldogs were joined by Indiana, Texas Tech, Tulane and James Madison in that regard.
Being a top-four seed gave the Bulldogs a first-round bye, along with Indiana, Ohio State and Texas Tech.
The bye gives Georgia time to rest and recover. The Bulldogs were without starting defensive back Joenel Aguero on Saturday, while wide receiver Noah Thomas left the game due to back spasms.
Final College Football Playoff rankings, bracket
- Indiana
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Texas Tech
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Miami
- Tulane
- James Madison
First-round byes: Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech
- No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 James Madison, winner faces Texas Tech
- No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 Tulane, winner faces Georgia
- No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Miami, winner faces Ohio State
- No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Alabama, winner faces Indiana
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.
