What Georgia football locked into SEC championship game does and doesn’t mean for CFP spot

Congratulations, Georgia football, you are locked into the SEC championship game against either Texas or Texas A&M.

You are one of the two top teams from the conference that has won six of the last nine national titles.

Woo-hoo. College Football Playoff here come the Dawgs!

Probably. Almost certainly, right?

A 10-3 team that lost in its championship game wouldn’t be left out of the 12-team playoff right?

Cue the CFP selection chairman, Warde Manuel.

“We’re not going to speculate on what will happen, but we have a lot of value for the teams that make a championship game,” Manuel, the Michigan athletic director, told ESPN’s Rece Davis last Tuesday on the weekly top 25 rankings show. “That says a lot, playing 12 games in a season. Making your championship game is a really valuable data point.”

First things first, Georgia needs to take care of business against Georgia Tech Saturday. OK, it really doesn’t but won’t want to risk it.

Lose to the 19 ½-point underdog Yellow Jackets and the Bulldogs can still grab the SEC’s automatic first-round bye and a trip to the Sugar Bowl by winning in Atlanta on Dec. 7 in a 4 p.m. game.

Smael Mondon knew it was a possibility for Georgia to land in the SEC championship game, but couldn’t have expected the Bulldogs to clinch. They did after Saturday night upsets in the league.

“I just didn’t really think it was going to happen,” the senior inside linebacker said. “I woke up in the middle of the night. I guess I couldn’t really go to sleep. I got on my phone and saw it then. I was surprised, but really excited.”

UGA students got emails Monday morning about SEC championship tickets for $80.

“It’s a great honor to play in the SEC championship game,” coach Kirby Smart said Monday after first saying he’s focused on Georgia Tech. “It’s probably one of the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/georgia-football-locked-sec-championship-090948976.html

Author : Athens Banner-Herald

Publish date : 2024-11-26 09:09:00

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