ESPN projects that the Georgia Bulldogs would be the No. 2 team in their predicted College Football Playoff rankings. However, since the Texas Longhorns are ranked ahead of Georgia, the Bulldogs would not get a bye in the playoff. Only the SEC championship winner will have the luxury of a bye week in the playoff.
ESPN college football expert Heather Dinich (subscription required) predicts that Georgia’s recent win over Kentucky would prevent the Bulldogs from being ranked No. 1. “Georgia’s ugly 13-12 win against Kentucky is still holding it back,” said Dinich.
Georgia, who had a bye in Week 4, will play a massive road game against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sept. 28. A win over the Crimson Tide would look very good on Georgia’s résumé, which looks stronger based on how Clemson is playing.
“The Bulldogs’ season-opening win against Clemson is even more impressive after the Tigers’ back-to-back dominant wins against App State and NC State. After scoring just three points against Georgia, Clemson has scored at least 59 points in consecutive wins,” said Dinich.
Clemson is looking like an early favorite to make the ACC championship game along with Miami. Georgia’s 34-3 win over Clemson is the Dawgs’ most impressive win so far. UGA will love to earn a win over Alabama to move to 4-0 on Saturday.
Alabama, who also had an extra week to prepare, represents a major challenge for Georgia. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is just 1-5 in his career against Alabama.
The Bulldogs primarily focused on themselves during their bye week. Georgia has many things to clean up after the Kentucky game.
“What do you do in the bye week? You look back at yourself,” said Kirby Smart. “You look back and you do quality control. You try to find tendency breakers. You try to find new wrinkles. You try to really get better at blocking and tackling, which is what football is. That’s what we focused on.”
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Georgia also used its bye week to heal up ahead of the Alabama game. The Bulldogs have been missing several key pieces along their defensive line.