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College Football Playoff Rankings: Georgia holds at No. 1

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•11/15/22•

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Photo by Rob Davis

Georgia is the nation’s No. 1 team per the College Football Playoff Rankings for the second week in a row. The Bulldogs are in that top spot for the seventh time in two seasons and for the ninth time during Kirby Smart’s tenure as head coach.

Ohio State remains in the No. 2 spot followed by is most hated rival, Michigan, at No. 3. TCU rounds out the projected playoff spots at No. 4.

Tennessee and it’s one loss to UGA stand in the No. 5 spot. The Bulldogs and LSU both clinched spots in the SEC Championship game with wins this past weekend and the Tigers move up one spot to No. 6. Those two teams will do battle on December 3.

USC surges to No. 7 with a couple of ranked opponents and a league title game left. Alabama is No. 8 followed by Clemson at No. 9 and Utah at No. 10. Oregon, the team Georgia knocked off in week one, falls to No. 12 after losing to Washington.

Kirby Smart and company have been here before. They were ranked No. 1 from week 10 through the entire regular season in 2021. Georgia lost that spot when it fell to Alabama in the SEC Championship game but still made the College Football Playoff as the No. 3 seed.

Wins over Michigan in the Orange Bowl and Alabama in the National Championship game got the Bulldogs back up there again to end the year. Georgia entered the 2022 season ranked No. 3 in both polls.

Now, for the second straight week, it’s No. 1 for the Bulldogs across the board. The AP and coaches’ polls had Georgia ranked No. 1 prior to the initial rankings but the College Football Playoff committee disagreed, placing Tennessee and its two wins over top-10 teams over UGA’s one such win. Georgia now has two big-time victories over the Vols and Oregon, two of the sport’s most impressive wins this season based on current rankings.

Speaking of looking at rankings, Kirby Smart knows that there are certain things that his players won’t be able to ignore. But not much, if any, time will be wasted talking about getting to the top spot.

“We just don’t talk about it much,” Smart said last week. “They understand it’s wasted energy when you talk about it. And you guys want to write about it, do all that. You just focus on Mississippi State. And, like, what do we have to do to play well against them? What do we have to do to play well on the road in the SEC? Those are the focus. That’s nothing but a number and a distraction and it’s irrelevant. It just really doesn’t matter. They see it. But they don’t get it discussed around here. Because I think the more you talk about it, the more attention you bring to it.”

The Bulldogs have two games left in the 2022 regular season. They will travel to Kentucky for a November 19 clash. Kickoff there has been set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Georgia will then end the regular season at home vs. Georgia Tech. That game is set for a noon kick on November 26 with ESPN televising the games.

Dating back to the 2020 season, Georgia has won 25 regular season games in a row. It’s two wins away from its second straight undefeated regular season. The Bulldogs have also won 28 of their last 29 games.

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