How Georgia could clinch a spot in the SEC championship game this weekend
ATHENS — There are multiple scenarios where Georgia wakes up Sunday morning having clinched a spot in the final SEC championship game.
In the event that Georgia beats Missouri and three of the following four teams — Alabama, Texas, Kentucky or Tennessee — lose this weekend, the Bulldogs will have secured their place in the conference title game.
Georgia is the only SEC team with just one conference loss heading into this weekend’s set of games. Alabama, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee all have two losses.
The Bulldogs control their own path to getting back to Atlanta. If they beat Missouri and No. 17 South Carolina in the next two weeks, Georgia will play in its sixth consecutive SEC championship game.
“To be honest, it would just mean that we did our job, you know what I mean? We’ve got two more games to get there, so that means that we had a successful game this week, hopefully a successful game this weekend, the week after that,” Georgia safety Khalil Barnes said. “But we can’t really focus on that right now because the SEC is so competitive. If we mess around and think about that, we won’t even be in that game. So we’ve just gotta keep taking care of business one week at a time.”
Doing so would set an SEC record for consecutive appearances in the conference championship game, which began back in 1992. The Bulldogs have won the last two SEC title games and would look to join Florida and Alabama as the only programs to win three consecutive SEC championship games.
As for the teams the Bulldogs could face, Alabama is the highest-ranked in the most recent College Football Playoff standings. The Bulldogs have a head-to-head win over the Crimson Tide, having beaten Alabama 20-17.
The Crimson Tide have conference games left against Vanderbilt and Auburn. Of the two-loss SEC teams, the Crimson Tide are the only ones who don’t have a game against a team currently ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Alabama did lose to Tennessee. In the event the Volunteers finish tied with Alabama, Tennessee would head to the SEC championship game. If Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama all finish with two conference losses, Georgia and Tennessee would play for the SEC championship.
Tennessee dropped its matchup against to Texas. The Longhorns have games left against LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M. Texas is the No. 6 team in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings. Kentucky faces Florida this week and then travels to Missouri for the Wildcats’ final SEC game.
If Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Texas all finish with two conference losses, the tiebreaker would come down to conference opponents’ winning percentage.
Conference opponents’ winning percentage
- Alabama: .500
- Kentucky: .473
- Tennessee: .466
- Georgia: .458
- Texas: .421
Heading into this weekend’s set of games, Alabama and Kentucky have the two highest opponents’ conference winning percentages. Tennessee sits in third and Georgia is fourth in that metric. But it will change as the rest of the SEC games are played.
Whether Georgia should want to play in the SEC championship game is an understandable question. It would be a 10th game against an SEC opponent for both participants, in addition to an 11th game against a Power 4 opponent.
The winner of the SEC championship game has earned a bye in each of the two previous seasons. But the loser has had to play a first-round game.
Consider there’s a world where No. 5 Notre Dame earns a first-round bye and that the Fighting Irish would have had to play only 12 games to get to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. The loser of the SEC championship game would have had to play 14.
For this weekend, Georgia is focused solely on beating Missouri. While a win against the Tigers wouldn’t lock up a spot in the conference championship game, it would push the Bulldogs that much closer to making the SEC’s final conference championship game.
“It’s a great, historic game,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It’s great for the players, the programs, the fans. The location has been awesome for us. The venue is incredible. All those things are awesome, but times they are a-changing. As they change, you’ve gotta adapt with it.”