Georgia falls out of the top spot in the USA TODAY Sports College Football Playoff bracket projection but stays inside the 12-team field after dropping Saturday night’s thriller at Alabama.
The win is enough to vault the Crimson Tide to No. 1, given the strong probability the playoff selection committee puts the eventual SEC champion as the highest-ranked seed.
Coming out of a 28-0 hole to take the lead late in the fourth quarter makes this a strong loss for the Bulldogs. Looking down the line, one-loss Georgia would reach the SEC championship game with a chance to secure a top-four seed; in that case, the Bulldogs would be in the field regardless of what happens in a possible rematch with the Tide.
The odds of a playoff berth get fuzzier when you add another loss, though. That Alabama’s offense was able to find flaws against an unfailingly elite defense – the Tide gained 547 yards after the Bulldogs had allowed just 606 yards through three games – could spell real trouble for Georgia in three enormous SEC matchups against No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Tennessee and No. 12 Mississippi.
While currently in the bracket, the Bulldogs have to button things up defensively and get quarterback Carson Beck back on track to avoid a second playoff miss in as many years. The first four teams out of the field include two from the SEC in Missouri and Mississippi along with Notre Dame and Michigan.
College Football Playoff bracket projection
There are obvious front-runners in three of the Power Four leagues as the regular season heads into October. Alabama is atop the SEC. Ohio State leads the Big Ten. Miami stays in front in the ACC after surviving a serious scare against Virginia Tech.
But the Big 12 remains very hard to predict. Kansas State was in the lead before losing at Brigham Young. Utah took over before Saturday’s loss to Arizona….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/alabama-now-top-seed-kansas-110359628.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-01 11:03:59
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