College Football Playoff: Georgia ranked No. 3 in 12-team CFP bracket
The first every College Football Playoff bracket rankings are out in the new 12-team format and Georgia is ranked No. 3 and projected No. 2 in the bracket. As it stands the Bulldogs are projected as the SEC Champion, which would provide a first-round bye.
Oregon is at No. 1 due in large part to a home win over Ohio State, which is ranked No. 2. Because Oregon is the projected conference champion of the Big10, it pushes Ohio State outside of the top four in the bracket.
Miami is ranked No. 4 but because it’s projected to win the ACC, it is projected No. 3 in the bracket. BYU is ranked No. 9 but sits at No. 4 in the bracket because it is projected to win the Big 12. Winning a conference provides a bye.
Georgia is 7-1 on the season and has won 53 of its last 56 games dating back to a four-game win streak to end the 2020 season. All three of those losses have come to Alabama with one coming in 2021, one in 2023, and one earlier this season by a score of 41-34 in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide are ranked No. 11.
The Bulldogs have a pair of ranked wins on the year and neither have been at home. They started the season with a 34-3 win over No. 23 Clemson in the Aflac Kickoff game, which took place in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia also went to Austin last month and beat No. 6 Texas 30-15 after leading 23-0 at the half.
Kirby Smart‘s ninth team in Athens also has wins over Tennessee Tech, Auburn, and Mississippi State at home. The Bulldogs have also beaten Kentucky on the road and they’re coming off a sloppy 34-20 win over Florida in Jacksonville. It is Georgia’s fourth straight win in that series and the longest UGA win streak since the 1980s.
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Despite the record and the lofting ranking, Georgia is still searching for its best game. The Bulldogs have found a way in all but one game but they haven’t looked complete in any of them. The closest is the season opener vs. Clemson but UGA had just six points at halftime of that game and struggled with penalties and miscues in the first two quarters.
Fifth-year quarterback Carson Beck enter’s Saturday’s matchup with No. 16 Ole Miss in a historic turnover funk. He has 11 interceptions and 12 turnovers in Georgia’s past five games. That includes eight interceptions in the past three games against Mississippi State, Texas, and Florida. Beck is responsible for all of the Bulldogs’ turnover this season and isn’t deflecting any of the blame.
“I mean, a lot of it comes down to me, honestly,” Beck said of Georgia’s offensive struggles after the win over Florida. “I feel like I prepare well, but there’s just certain situations in games where maybe I try to make a play that doesn’t need to be made. Maybe it’s a throwaway instead of trying to force something and just moving on to the next play. I think it really comes down to me at the end of the day.”
In addition to its matchup with Ole Miss, Georgia is set for a top-10 matchup vs. Tennessee on November 16. The Volunteers are 7-1 on the year and they’re ranked No. 7 but projected No. 8 in the initial rankings due to the BYU leap. In all there are four SEC teams projected to make the 12-team field in the initial rankings. Texas A&M is ranked No. 14 and projected as the second team out at the moment.
