Georgia path to CFP championship could include matchup against Carson Beck

ATHENS — Georgia’s path to a CFP Championship will begin where it ended last season and could face an SEC team it played this season.

The Bulldogs (12-1), on the heels of a 28-7 win over Alabama in the SEC championship game, earned the No. 3 overall seed and will begin play in the CFP quarterfinal Sugar Bowl at 8 p.m. on Jan. 1.

UGA finished last season with a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinal Sugar Bowl. The Irish (10-2) were the first-team ranked outside of the CFP 12-team bracket this season.

Georgia will play the winner of No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1) playing host to No. 11-seed Tulane (11-2) in Oxford, Miss., at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 20.

A win for Georgia in the Sugar Bowl would lead to a trip to play in the CFP semifinal Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, against the winner of the Cotton Bowl.

The Cotton Bowl, at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, will feature Big Ten runner-up and No. 2-seed Ohio State (12-1) as one of its teams.

The Buckeyes (12-1) will play the winner of the game between No. 7-ranked Texas A&M (11-1) and No. 10 -ranked Miami (10-2), which is notably led by former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck.

Big Ten champion Indiana (13-0) got the No. 1 seed and is headed to the Rose Bowl to face the winner of the game pitting No. 9 seed Alabama (10-3) at No. 8 seed Oklahoma (10-2).

Texas Tech is the No. 4 seed and will play in the Orange Bowl against the winner of the game between No. 12-seed James Madison at No. 5 seed Oregon (on Dec. 19-20).

Georgia, it could be argued, got the better end of the draw as the No. 3 seed rather than the No. 2 seed, as the Bulldogs will either face an Ole Miss program with a first-time head coach in Pete Golding or a Group of Six program in Tulane.

Golding was promoted from his defensive coordinator position after Lane Kiffin left the program to take the head coaching job at LSU.

The Green Wave, coached by Jon Sumrall who will head to Florida after the conclusion of Tulane’s season, won the American conference championship game over North Texas 34-21 on Friday night.

Ole Miss beat Tulane 45-10 in Oxford this season on Sept. 20.

Georgia handled Ole Miss in Athens, 43-35, on Oct. 18, but has not played the Green Wave in 40 years. UGA won the most recent meeting with Tulane 58-3 in 1985.

CFP first-round games

(At campus sites)

• No. 9-seed Alabama at No. 8 seed Oklahoma (8 p.m. Dec. 19)
• No. 10-seed Miami at No. 7-seed Texas A&M (noon, Dec. 20)
• No. 11-seed Tulane at No. 6-seed Ole Miss (3:30 p.m., Dec. 20)
• No. 12-seed James Madison at No. 5-seed Oregon (7:30 p.m., Dec. 20)

CFP quarterfinal games

Dec. 31-Jan. 1