Georgia moved past just two teams (who both lost) in the College Football Playoff rankings after beating Tennessee
The Georgia Bulldogs are back in the College Football Playoff bracket after a statement 31-17 win over the Tennessee Volunteers. Georgia rises to the No. 11 seed and are ranked No. 10.
Georgia moved past Tennessee and BYU, which both lost.
The Bulldogs now have an outside shot at making the SEC championship. They won the Tennessee game due to a solid game from quarterback Carson Beck and five sacks by the group of Chaz Chambliss, Smael Mondon Jr. and Damon Wilson II, who also forced a fumble.
After losing to No. 9 Ole Miss, the Bulldogs temporarily found themselves out of the playoff, and they were in a playoff eliminator against No. 11 Tennessee. Never count out Kirby Smart’s squad.
Georgia showed why it belongs in this bracket. It now has two wins against top 11 teams. Barring an upset loss to either UMass, which just fired its coach, or Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs should make the final bracket when the last playoff rankings come out.
Georgia is slated to play the Penn State Nittany Lions, the No. 6 seed, in the first round on Dec. 20 or 21.
How many teams in College Football Playoff 2024?
For the first time, 12 teams will participate in the College Football Playoffs. There are automatic bids for each of the Power Four conference champions and to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The remaining seven slots are given to at-large teams.
When next College Football Playoff rankings come out?
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives more respect to Georgia after UGA’s win over Tennessee
ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) rankings are out after Week 12’s college football action, which featured some massive turnover in the SEC and the Big 12.
According to ESPN, FPI is defined as “a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward.” In the FPI, nine of the top 25 teams are in the SEC, including five of the top 10.
The Georgia Bulldogs’ 31-17 win over the Tennessee Volunteers rises them up to No. 5. Georgia now have two wins against teams in the top 10. The Bulldogs have a playoff spot locked up if they win their next two games. Meanwhile, the Volunteers are more than likely on the outside looking in, despite placing No. 9 on this list.
The BYU Cougars stunningly lost last week to Kansas. BYU still has the top conference record in the Big 12, but there are three Big 12 teams above them in the FPI rankings. The Cougars are not in the FPI top 25, so ESPN doesn’t buy them being legitimate contenders.
Another Big 12 team, Kansas State, suffered the biggest fall of anyone on this list, dropping six spots after a rough 24-14 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils, who are just outside of the top 25. Louisville also dropped four spots after a wild 38-35 loss to 2-7 Stanford where Louisville Cardinals blew a 35-21 lead.
Week 13 features Indiana versus Ohio State, a matchup that will go a long way in deciding the Big Ten championship race. The Hoosiers have been dominant offensively, but Ohio State is their first ranked opponent.
Georgia football’s PFF grades from their win vs. Tennessee have been announced.
The Georgia Bulldogs entered a do-or-die game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. Fresh off their second loss of the season against the Ole Miss Rebels, they UGA was in must-win territory if they wanted to make the College Football Playoff. Georgia took care of business, winning against the Volunteers 31-17.
The passing game finally emerged for the Bulldogs after looking dreadful recently. Carson Beck silenced the critics with 347 passing yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. As a result, he made PFF’s All-SEC team. Beck distributed the ball well. A staggering five different receivers finished with over 50 yards. Oscar Delp emerged as his No. 1 red zone target.
The defense was less consistent than in past games, but at the start of the second half, they finally gelled together to shutout Nico Iamaleava and the Volunteers offense. Chaz Chambliss led the team with two sacks. Smael Mondon Jr. had a sack and a tackle for loss, looking as healthy as ever. As a cherry on top, Damon Wilson II stripped Nico Iamaleava of the ball to end the game.
Highest and lowest PFF grades from the Georgia offense and defense vs. TENNESSEE
Offense
Best Grades
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Tight End Oscar Delp: 87.0 overall grade, 88.3 receiving grade, 73.3 pass-blocking grade, 56.8 run-blocking grade
Rece Davis ranks Georgia football outside of his top five in his latest CFB rankings.
ESPN “College GameDay” analyst Rece Davis released his top 10 rankings after Week 12 of the college season. Davis is an Associated Press voter and agreed with the media consensus for his top team this week. He ranked the Oregon Ducks No. 1.
Following Georgia’s 31-17 win over Tennessee, the Bulldogs are back in Davis’ top 10 rankings. UGA has wins against two top-10 teams, which is an impressive resume. Still, due to its record, it is ranked outside of the top five, at No. 6. Tennessee remains in the top 10, falling to No. 9
BYU fell out of Rece Davis’s top 10 after suffering a brutal 17-13 loss against Kansas. The worst part was BYU had three drives to get the lead back, including two that reached Kansas territory, but it failed to produce any points.
BYU’s loss along with the Tennessee-Georgia game have massive playoff implications. BYU still controls its title game path in the Big 12, but the Cougars next play the Arizona State Sun Devils, who are ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Tennessee is in jeopardy of being one of the first teams out of the College Football Playoff similar to Georgia’s situation last week. Tennessee finds itself in a crowd of two-loss teams.
Speaking of tiebreakers, Week 13 will feature a clash in the Big Ten between Indiana and Ohio State. The Hoosiers, who are No. 5 in Davis’ rankings, are undefeated. However, Ohio State is the first ranked team Indiana has faced.
Rece Davis’ top 10 college football rankings after Week 12:
Safe to say, they answered convincingly, winning 31-17 versus the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers. In the first quarter, it was looking bleak when the Volunteers went up 10-0, but quarterback Carson Beck rattled off two dimes in the end zone to Oscar Delp to make it 14-10.
Tennessee countered with a Dylan Sampson rushing touchdown and Georgia was able to get a field goal to deadlock it at 17-17 at halftime. The Georgia defense shutout the Volunteer in the second half and the Georgia offense played in control the rest of the way, with Beck and stud freshman Nate Frazier running in one touchdown each to reach the final score.
Carson Beck was hyper-efficient in this one, passing for 347 yards and two touchdowns on 40 attempts. Most importantly, he had no turnovers, something that has plagued him all season against the SEC. He also ran in a touchdown for good measure.
Beck helped to offset a mediocre Georgia running game. Nate Frazier, who has been filling in as the lead running back with Trevor Etienne out, recorded 68 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown. Frazier’s touchdown made the game out of reach for the Vols late in the fourth.
The defense also showed out in the second half. The run-defense looked ugly in the first, letting up big runs to Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson, but by the second half, they took advantage of Georgia’s offense forcing Tennessee to pass more often. The pass rush got five sacks, including a strip sack on Nico Iamaleava to end the game.
Georgia now rises to 8-2 and finishes their SEC schedule with a 6-2 record. They seemingly control their destiny to make the playoff and could have an outside chance of making the SEC championship if they win out and Alabama loses next week. Tennessee, meanwhile, falls to 8-2, and while they are far from out of the playoff, they’re now in the mosh pit of two-loss teams in the SEC (Alabama, Ole Miss, and Georgia).
Here are four key takeaways from Georgia’s win over Tennessee:
Georgia’s offense was insanely efficient
Georgia Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo arrives with the team before the start of the G-Day spring football game in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
Part of the problem with Mike Bobo’s offense has been turnovers. The Georgia offense had committed 15 turnovers since playing SEC opponents, including 11 in the last four matchups. A lot of those were from Carson Beck Turnovers have been a killer for the Bulldogs for a long time, and the hope was that if Georgia could decrease their turnovers per game, their offense would wake up again.
Mike Bobo’s offensive was super efficient in this regard. The Georgia offense did well in taking what the Tennessee defense gave them, and as a result, Georgia mustered four long, time-consuming drives that spanned over 75 yards, including one touchdown drive that spanned 92 yards.
Carson Beck spread the wealth
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
In the midst of a disappointing season for Carson Beck, he finally looked like a first-round draft pick. A big part of it was spreading the wealth to Georgia’s playmakers. Tight end Oscar Delp had the best game in his career, totaling 56 receiving yards and two touchdowns on four receptions. Vanderbilt transfer London Humphreys also shined as a deep threat with 63 yards on three receptions.
Overall, Georgia had five players with over 50 receiving yards in this game.
Georgia’s pass rush is the catalyst
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The biggest catalyst for Georgia winning games has been their pass rush. The Bulldogs have so many dynamic players on their front seven and it showed against Tennessee.
Chaz Chambliss sacked Nico Iamaleava twice and he now has 4.5 sacks this month, which is outrageous. Smael Mondon Jr. looks fully healthy. He led the team in tackles with eight and picked up both a sack and a tackle for loss. Damon Wilson II had the most notable play of the bunch, strip sacking Iamaleava to end the game.
Overall, when this Georgia pass rush is firing on all cylinders, they’re almost unstoppable, and this week proved it.
Georgia controls its own destiny
Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch
With this win, the Bulldogs are more than likely rewarded a playoff spot. They’ll obviously need to win out, but if they do, they’ll be guaranteed a playoff spot, since they’ve already won against two top-10 teams. This win also means that Georgia can make a run at the SEC championship.
It looks like the winner of Texas A&M or Texas will represent the “home team” in the SEC (unless the winner loses their Week 14 matchup), but if Alabama loses to Oklahoma, Georgia would only have to worry about Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. Georgia and Texas A&M would rank above Ole Miss and Tennessee due to conference opponent win percentage, and Georgia would rank above Texas A&M due to a common-games tiebreaker.
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Safe to say, Georgia is still very much alive in the SEC, and rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.
The Georgia Bulldogs rise in Joel Klatt’s newest rankings, but are still ranked behind four Big Ten teams
Fox Sports college football expert Joel Klatt released his top 10 college football rankings after an interesting Week 12 produce massive shakeups in the SEC and the Big 12.
Week 12 featured an SEC heavyweight bout between the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers. In a potential elimination game, the Georgia Bulldogs won 31-17 by shutting out the Vols in the second half. Carson Beck had one of his best games of the season, 347 yards and two touchdowns, and the UGA pass rush racked up five sacks.
The Bulldogs rose to No. 6 thanks to the win, while Tennessee fell to No. 9, where Georgia was previously ranked.
The Big 12 featured a major upset in the Kansas-BYU game. The BYU Cougars were looking to keep their undefeated season alive against the Kansas Jayhawks (3-6), who were considered inferior competition. Instead, they received a rude awakening, stunningly losing 17-13. Kansas scored the go-ahead touchdown with 13:19 left. Even with three drives and plenty of time, BYU couldn’t muster anything other than two punts and a turnover on downs. BYU falls out of Joel Klatt’s rankings, and BYU is tied with Colorado for the best conference record in the Big 12.
With the third College Football Playoff rankings coming on Nov. 19, there’s more urgency to lock in a playoff spot. Oregon has more than likely earned a spot, finishing 8-0 in the Big Ten even if it looked sloppy against Wisconsin (5-5). Notre Dame will more than likely earn a playoff spot if it beats Army. Georgia did great work in making sure it is in perfect position for a spot, too.
Tennessee, meanwhile, could slide out of the playoff bracket just as Georgia did last week, opening the door for SMU, Texas A&M or Colorado to take the final spot.
Next week will be huge for the Big Ten. Undefeated Indiana heads to Columbus to play the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Big 12 also might have some big changes. BYU plays Arizona State, a much more difficult opponent than Kansas.
Former ESPN analyst David Pollack, who played for UGA, predicts the winner of the Georgia-Tennessee game
Former Georgia Bulldog and ESPN analyst David Pollack has a number of opinions on the matchup between the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs. With massive playoff implications for Georgia, he believes the Bulldogs will show up and win. Pollack talked about the Georgia-Tennessee game on his YouTube channel.
“Georgia can’t lose at home to Tennessee,” Pollack said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Pollack also went on to call this a de facto elimination game for either Georgia or Tennessee. People, such as Paul Finebaum, have called this an elimination game for Georgia, but so far no one has covered Tennessee’s playoff chances after this loss.
“They’re (Georgia) going to have three players that are going to be mocked in the top 15 of the (NFL) draft,” said Pollack, who thinks Georgia has more than enough talent to win.
With a loss, Tennessee will be 5-2 in the SEC but could end up behind other two-loss teams due to tiebreakers. That would eliminate it from the SEC championship race. If Tennessee loses a close game to Georgia, there’s still a chance it could make the playoff, but it’d be an uphill battle with the competition from the Big Ten.
For Georgia, a win could essentially guarantee it a playoff spot, but it could also open the door for it to reach the SEC championship, since it would have a 6-2 conference record. A loss would be a significant blow to Georgia’s playoff hopes.
How the Georgia Bulldogs can still make the SEC championship with some help
Georgia Bulldogs fans fear missing the playoff after being left outside of the bracket in the College Football Playoff. However, not only is there a significant chance they will make the playoff, but the Bulldogs also can still make the SEC championship game. There are some crazy scenarios out there, but UGA Wire found one that seems reasonable.
For those of you wanting the SEC tiebreaking procedures, here they are.
Georgia wins vs. Tennessee and wins out
First, their part. Georgia needs to beat No. 6 Tennessee this weekend. While the Bulldogs still have a 46% chance of making the playoff with a loss, it would more than likely eliminate them from the SEC championship. However, if they beat Tennessee and win out, they’d finish 10-2 (6-2 SEC), so they’d still be in pretty good shape to at least make the playoff.
Unfortunately, Georgia would need a little help to get to the SEC championship.
Week 14: Alabama loses to Oklahoma
John David Mercer-Imagn Images
Alabama plays a trap game on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma was a ranked team until it started playing its SEC slate; they’re 1-5 against those teams. However, the Sooners have about an 18% chance of winning this matchup. This needs to happen because Alabama is ahead of Georgia due to winning head to head and tiebreaker No. 4 (cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents), so the Crimson Tide need to lose to finish 5-3 in the SEC.
Week 14: LSU loses to Vandy
The Vanderbilt Commodores shockingly upset the Alabama Crimson Tide a few weeks ago, but they’ll have to bring back that magic against LSU for Georgia to have a chance. LSU would be ahead of Georgia in Tiebreaker No. 4 (cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents) unless they lose, too. ESPN gives the Commodores a 26.5% chance of winning.
If all of these events happen, one team would have a 7-1 record in the SEC (either Texas or Texas A&M) and four would have a 6-2 SEC record. You’d have to go to tiebreaker No. 4 to rule two teams out (Ole Miss and Tennessee) due to inferior conference opponent win percentage (Texas A&M and Georgia opponents have .435, Ole Miss has .375, Tennessee has .359).
Then you go through tiebreaker No. 2 between Georgia and Texas A&M, record vs. common conference opponents. Both teams have played Florida, Mississippi State, Auburn and Texas. Georgia’s win over Texas would give it the edge over the Aggies and send it to the SEC championship for a rematch against Texas.
SEC analyst believes the Georgia Bulldogs are in must win game against Tennessee
After the Georgia Bulldogs’ 28-10 loss to Ole Miss, Georgia has a lot on the line coming into this game. According to SEC football analyst Paul Finebaum, that could include their chance at the College Football Playoff.
“They’re a program that has been up and down this year,” explained Finebaum on Saturday Down South, “For the first time, they are now in a Playoff eliminator at home against Tennessee. It’s a monster game.”
Georgia suffered their second loss of the season against Ole Miss last Saturday, the first one against Alabama. It doubled as their second SEC loss of the year, and with Texas A&M and Texas only having one SEC loss. Ole Miss and Alabama are tied with Georgia with two losses. Georgia is in no-mans land for the SEC championship race.
If they were to lose to No. 6 Tennessee, they’ll have three losses, and, since 2020, only two teams with three losses have been in the top 12 after Week 14.
Currently, Georgia has a 74% chance to make the postseason, according to ESPN, but they currently have a 61.8% of winning the Tennessee game right now, and if they lose, they’ll be in the pool of three-loss teams in the SEC.
LSU and South Carolina have less than a 14% chance at making the playoff and even two-loss team Texas A&M has just a 14.3% chance too. With a loss versus Tennessee, Georgia could see themselves out of the top 12 rankings since 2017, Kirby Smart’s second year as head coach.
Georgia beating the Vols aids the #Pac12’s cause, but #USC needs more results for the playoff puzzle to fit. Let’s go to the scoreboard.
The Georgia Bulldogs convincingly handled the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday afternoon in Athens, smothering the Vols’ offense all day long and delivering a 27-13 win.
Tennessee was No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings entering the game, while Georgia was No. 3. The Vols will fall out of the top four. Georgia should rise to No. 1 in the next rankings.
