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Paul Finebaum evaluates whether Georgia would be safely in College Football Playoff with SEC Championship loss

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh11/27/24griffin_mcveigh
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Kirby Smart, Georgia - © Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Georgia is already guaranteed a spot in the SEC Championship game, just needing to know their opponent. There appears to be some risk heading to Atlanta since the Bulldogs already have two losses on their College Football Playoff resume. Would a third knock them out of the conversation for an at-large bid?

If you ask ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, the answer is no. Finebaum does not believe Georgia should be punished if they were to lose in the SEC Championship. Having 12 teams in the CFP is why he ultimately believes this, quite different from last season.

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“If they get to the SEC Championship game and lose to Texas, you really shouldn’t get knocked out because you earned a ticket into the SEC game because of the 12-team Playoff,” Finebaum said Wednesday on First Take. “They got knocked out last year being undefeated. But that was a different year.”

An undefeated Georgia rolled to Mercedes Benz Stadium last year and still needed to beat Alabama in order to get into the four-team CFP. But a loss wound up knocking them out as the Crimson Tide was the SEC’s lone representative in the field.

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Georgia will enter Friday’s in-state rivalry game against Georgia Tech ranked No. 7. This scenario from Finebaum likely assumes they take care of business in Clean Old Fashioned Hate. If UGA can get to Atlanta with a 10-2 regular season, Finebaum has them safely in the Playoff.

Texas or Texas A&M will be the opponent, depending on their own matchup. College Station is going to be home to college football’s game of the weekend. A rekindled rivalry will have stakes at an all-time high, as the winner will face Georgia in the conference title game.

Finebaum has the Longhorns getting there, meaning a highly ranked team will be lining up opposite of Kirby Smart‘s bunch. Winning comes with a ton of perks, including a top-four seed and a first-round bye. We will have to wait to see what the CFP committee does with a loss but Finebaum would still have Georgia in.