ATHENS — The College Football Playoff selection committee added more ingredients into the mix, but the cake is not baked quite yet.
Gary Stokan, president and CEO of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, said there’s still time for Georgia to rise in the CFP rankings, provided the Bulldogs don’t get burned by Massachusetts on Saturday or Georgia Tech on Nov. 29.
“There’s still a lot of games, and everyone says they should beat this team, or beat that team,” Stokan said. “I can guarantee you, everyone that’s supposed to win is not going to win the next two weeks.”
That would be a good thing for Georgia, which will need some help to move into the top eight of the rankings, which would enable the Bulldogs to host a first-round game (either Dec. 20 or Dec. 21) in Athens.
Georgia was ranked No. 10 in the third set of CFP rankings, released Tuesday night, leading to a No. 11 seed that would see the Bulldogs traveling to play No. 4-ranked and No. 6-seeded Penn State in a first-round game (Dec. 20/21).
Beyond opening the CFP on the road, that current scenario isn’t terrible for Georgia, as the winner of that game would play projected ACC champ Miami at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, if the season were to end today.
Only the top four teams get first-round byes, and they will consist of the four highest-ranked conference championship teams.
Georgia, which finished the league portion of its schedule with a 6-2 record, has a remote chance of playing in the SEC title game and earning that first-round bye on account of tiebreakers that would bring its head-to-head losses with fellow two-loss teams Ole Miss and Alabama into play.
But anything can happen, and as Stokan notes, college football has proved unpredictable before.
“Right now we’re seeing a snapshot in time from the CFP committee, but not the whole picture,” Stokan said. “There’s still two or three games left to play, and then they’ll take everyone’s body of work, and look through it.
“Georgia has three wins over top-20 teams right now, and Clemson still has to play South Carolina, (and Clemson) is ranked No. 18,” Stokan said. “If Clemson wins, that helps Georgia’s resume, so this is when you become the biggest fans of teams that you beat.”
The Bulldogs opened the season with a 34-3 win over the Tigers in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a game that has helped UGA earn the No. 1 schedule strength in the country.
But more important to Georgia, which is a 42-point favorite over UMass on Saturday, is beating Tech — and the more impressive, the better.
“The Georgia Tech-Georgia game is a huge game for the committee to watch,” Stokan said. “The committee is saying ‘Georgia Tech beat Miami, and how does Georgia look against Georgia Tech.’”
Indeed, the Hurricanes are 9-1 and ranked No. 8, two spots ahead of the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s wins over teams currently are ranked No. 3 (Texas), No. 11 (Tennessee) and No. 17 (Clemson), so how those teams fare matter.
So does the Ole Miss at Florida game (noon, ABC) as the Rebels are a two-loss team ranked ahead of Georgia.
A Gators win would do two things: Hand Ole Miss a third loss, drop them below Georgia and enhance the value of the Bulldogs win over the Gators.
Here’s a look at the remaining games of the teams ranked ahead of and near Georgia in the current CFP rankings (X indicates possible game):
1. Oregon (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
• Vs. Washington, Time TBD Nov. 30
• Big Ten Championship game, 8 p.m. Dec. 7
2. Ohio State
• Vs. Indiana, noon Saturday
• Vs. Michigan, noon Nov. 30
X-Big Ten Championship game, 8 p.m. Dec. 7
3. Texas
• Vs. Kentucky, 3:30 p.m. Saturday
• At Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 30
X-SEC Championship game, 4 p.m. Dec. 7
4. Penn State
• At Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. Saturday
• Vs. Maryland, 3:30 p.m., Nov. 30
X-Big Ten Championship game, 8 p.m. Dec. 7
5. Indiana
• At Ohio State, noon Saturday
• Vs. Purdue, Time TBD, Nov. 30
X-Big Ten Championship game, 8 p.m. Dec. 7
6. Notre Dame
• Vs. Army, 7 p.m. Saturday
• At Southern Cal, Time TBD, Nov. 30
7. Alabama
• At Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m. Saturday
• Vs. Auburn, 3:30 p.m. Nov. 30
X-SEC Championship game, 4 p.m. Dec. 7
8. Miami
• Vs. Wake Forest, noon Saturday
• At Syracuse, 3:30 p.m., Nov. 30
X-ACC Championship game 8 p.m., Dec. 7
9. Ole Miss
• At Florida, noon Saturday
• Vs. Mississippi State, 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29
X-SEC Championship game, 4 p.m. Dec. 7
10. Georgia
• Vs. UMass, 12:45 p.m. Saturday
• Vs. Georgia Tech 7:30 p.m., Nov. 29
X-SEC Championship game, 4 p.m. Dec. 7
11. Tennessee
• Vs. UTEP, 1 p.m. Saturday
• At Vanderbilt, 12 p.m., Nov. 30
X-SEC Championship game, 4 p.m. Dec. 7
12. Boise State
• At Wyoming, 7 p.m. Saturday
• Vs. Oregon State, noon Nov. 29
X-Mountain West Championship game 8 p.m. Dec. 6
13. SMU
• At Virginia, noon Saturday
• Vs. Cal, 3:30 p.m. Nov. 30
X-ACC Championship game 8 p.m., Dec. 7
14. BYU
• At Arizona State, 3:30 p.m., Saturday
• Vs. Houston, TBD, Nov. 30
X-Big 12 Championship Game, noon Dec. 7
15. Texas A&M
• At Auburn, 7:30 p.m. Saturday
• Vs. Texas, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30
X-Big 12 Championship game, noon Dec. 7
16. Colorado
• At Kansas, 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Vs. Oklahoma State, noon Nov. 29
X-Big 12 Championship game, noon Dec. 7
Current CFP Seedings and projections
(if the season were to end today*)
1. Oregon (Big Ten) first-round bye
2. Texas (SEC) first-round bye
3. Miami (ACC) first-round bye
4. Boise State (MWC) first-round bye
5. Ohio State vs. No. 12 seed BYU
6. Penn State vs. No. 11 seed Georgia
7. Indiana vs. No. 10 seed Ole Miss
8. Notre Dame vs. No. 9 seed Alabama
9. Alabama at No. 8 seed Notre Dame
10. Ole Miss at No. 7 seed Indiana
11. Georgia at No. 6 seed Penn State
12. BYU at No. 5 seed Ohio State
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