Greg McElroy debates whether CFP committee would leave out one-loss Georgia

Georgia is the new No. 1 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings and is well on its way to completing its three-peat and cementing itself as a modern college football dynasty.

Before they return to the playoffs, three obstacles stand in front of them — No. 18 Tennessee this weekend, Georgia Tech in the regular season finale, and No. 8 Alabama in the SEC Championship game.

But what happens if the Bulldogs fall short against the Crimson Tide in Atlanta like they did in 2021? ESPN’s Greg McElroy isn’t convinced the CFP selection committee will rule in favor of Georgia despite being the reigning two-time national champions.

“The problem is that the committee — at least in my experience having covered the sport — the committee they always say, ‘Well, the four best teams, the four best teams, the four best teams.’ But it’s never been the four best teams,” McElroy said. “For instance, 2015’s Ohio State. They lost to Michigan State in the regular season. … They looked unbelievable for the rest of the year but they lost to Michigan State, and there was not a soul on planet Earth that would have told you that Ohio State was not one of the four best teams, but they were left out.

“Basically, the playoff committee was tasked with putting in the four teams that they can most easily justify. And that’s what I think the criteria is.”

If McElroy’s theory is correct and Georgia does lose to Alabama in the SEC title game, the committee would favor Alabama, or maybe even another team if that were to happen. In that case, which teams could be considered above a one-loss Bulldog team?

“You would have an undefeated Michigan or Ohio State. You have an undefeated Pac-12, or a one-loss Pac-12 champion [Washington or Oregon]. You have an undefeated ACC champion [Florida State]. Then you have a one-loss Big 12 champion [Texas] and you have a one-loss SEC champion [Alabama],” McElroy continued. “The committee has long said that they have to value, when all things are equal, one of the criteria they reference is conference championships won.

“With all those other teams with comparable resumes having a conference championship banner that they’ve hung — that could be the differentiator.”

All Georgia has to do is keep winning. After all, they’ve won 28 games in a row and haven’t been defeated since the loss to Alabama in the 2021 SEC Championship game. Three years later, the same game might be their undoing as Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide look to reclaim what they feel is their rightful place atop the college football mountain.