Georgia faces rematch in ESPN’s playoff projections

ATLANTA, GA – December 6: The National Championship trophy is displayed following the College Football Playoff Semifinal Head Coaches News Conference on December 6, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

The Georgia Bulldogs are coming off a bye week, but are in a strong position in ESPN’s updated College Football Playoff predictions (subscription required). ESPN projects that Georgia will win the SEC championship and secure the No. 2 seed in the playoff, which has a first-round bye.

However, Georgia’s path to winning the SEC is not exactly clear. The 4-1 Bulldogs are behind 5-0 Texas A&M in the SEC standings. Georgia could end the season tied with several other one-loss teams in the SEC. Texas, Tennessee and LSU all have one conference loss. Georgia owns the tie-breaker over Texas thanks to their head-to-head win over the Longhorns.

Georgia plays Tennessee in a few weeks, so that will likely decide if UGA or Tennessee remains in the SEC title race. Georgia does not play LSU, so the next SEC tie-breaker would be record versus common opponents. Georgia and LSU share three common opponents: Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss. Georgia is currently 0-1 versus these three teams, while LSU is 1-0.

Georgia’s three remaining SEC games are against Florida, Tennessee, and Ole Miss, which offers the Bulldogs a chance to further pad their résumé.

“The Bulldogs still own the best résumé in the country,” said Heather Dinnich of ESPN. “According to ESPN’s Strength of Record metric, the average playoff contender would have a 15% chance to go 6-1 against Georgia’s schedule.”

Georgia has a pair of impressive wins over Clemson and Texas, who are also in ESPN’s projected playoff.

Georgia’s most likely opponent in the playoff is predicted to be the seventh-seeded Texas Longhorns, who Georgia would be playing for a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/georgia-faces-rematch-espns-playoff-160819916.html

Author : UGA Wire

Publish date : 2024-10-29 16:08:19

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