Heather Dinich explains impact Georgia's win over Tennessee has on College Football Playoff

Georgia entered Saturday as the first team out of the College Football Playoff race. After defeating Tennessee 31-17, they’ve firmly inserted themselves back in the field of 12.

The victory does raise a few questions, however. In particular of where the selection committee should slot the Bulldogs in relation to Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee. ESPN’s Heather Dinich was able to break down what to expect from Tuesday’s upcoming reveal during SportsCenter on Sunday morning.

“Georgia’s win put them squarely back into the college football playoff bracket. Period,” Dinich said. “But the question is, will the committee this week honor their strength of schedule and their strength of record, in spite of head to head losses to Alabama and Ole Miss?

“When you look at Georgia’s resume right now, a win against Texas, a win against Clemson and now a win against Tennessee, I don’t know that there is another team in the country that can match that — but they have two losses. Last week, [the playoff committee] kept Georgia behind Alabama and Ole Miss. So, if they are consistent, I would expect them to do the same but have Georgia above Tennessee.”

Heading into Week 13, No. 3 Texas is the top-ranked team in the SEC with its only blemish being the 30-15 loss to Georgia in Austin earlier this season. When the rankings are released on Tuesday, they’re likely to remain in the first-round bye slot while Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee fall in behind them.

Dinich explained that in her scenario, Tennessee has moved into the first team out only due to the stipulation that the five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed to make the playoffs. After BYU‘s upset late into the night on Saturday, the Mountain West would take the Big 12’s auto-bid nod as Boise State continued its winning ways during Week 12.

For Georgia, however, it will be interesting to see whether or not the committee preaches consistency in this scenario. With head-to-head losses against both the Crimson Tide and Rebels, many would say that the Bulldogs should be ranked behind those two teams. However, neither of them beat a top-10 team over the weekend nor has the winning resume that Georgia has.

If one thing is for sure, you can’t count the Bulldogs out. Georgia has put itself back in the race and its two-score win over Tennessee is the most impressive of the weekend for any College Football Playoff contender. We’ll have to wait and see if the committee honors that on Tuesday.