Georgia-Texas matchup important, but not the end of the road for either team

Georgia and Texas were two of the top teams in College Football last season, and this year, they’re on a collision course in the SEC. While the Longhorns got the best of Alabama in 2023 and will look to make a statement in their new conference early, the Bulldogs are hoping they can bounce back from a season that saw them fall just short of a chance at a third straight National Championship.

That’s part of the reason why October 19th’s meeting of Georgia and Texas is so important. The matchup also features a pair of Heisman Trophy favorites at quarterback, Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers, alongside plenty of other talent. Both head coach also have ties to the Nick Saban tree, each aiming to fill the void left with the legend’s retirement this offseason.

ESPN listed Georgia-Texas as the No. 3 game to watch in 2024 on Thursday – 100 days away from the start of College Football season. They’ve also got the Bulldog-Longhorn battle as the top “new-conference matchup.” As for On3 and JD PicKell, he sees it as a likely the winner will come away with the title of College Football’s “best team” – at least for the time being.

“If both are undefeated, the winner has a couple of things they could attain. Clearly, the inside track to Atlanta for an SEC Championship bid. When it comes time for those rankings to come out, I feel pretty confident in saying the winner of this game will be No. 1 in America. And also, this is a major eye-test implications kind of game if both are undefeated,” PicKell said. “The winner will have the best resume in America – no ifs, ands, ors or buts. Now, there’s probably some people in Columbus, Ohio or Eugene, Oregon that feel like they should have a chance at this title, but Ohio State and Oregon, they play the week before this. Outside of that, I don’t think either team has a game on the schedule you circle right now and say, ‘That’s the one. That’s a top-10, top-15 matchup’ … I think for all that Georgia and Texas have to do to get to this spot, if they’re both undefeated, that resume is going to be pretty tough to argue with.”

PicKell’s point is, Georgia has to play at Alabama before making the trip to Austin in October. There’s also a road game at Kentucky as well as a rivalry matchup with Auburn on the conference schedule, not to mention a date with ACC favorite Clemson to open the season. Texas on the other hand has a trip to Michigan lined up for Week 2 and a Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma the week before playing Georgia.

“In the expanded College Football Playoff, I think the winner of Georgia and Texas, if both are undefeated, more than likely locks up a pretty high confidence level for making that College Football Playoff,” PicKell added. “Obviously you can’t just coast the rest of the way, but let’s look at what they have remaining. If either team were to lose – three games is maybe another conversation, but I don’t see a way where either team is going 2-3 with their schedule.”

Of course, the claim for the top resume is great and bragging rights will belong to the winner for the rest of the regular season, but changes to the SEC Championship Game structure and College Football Playoffs give Georgia and Texas a good chance of potentially playing multiple times in 2024. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are undefeated in rematch situations – having had it happen twice before. Both times (2017 Auburn, 2021 Alabama), Georgia lost the first matchup before getting revenge the second go around. That won’t be the goal against the Longhorns, but it’s a possibility.

“Both these teams are phenomenal. This matchup will be phenomenal, and this is one of the many pros of the conference realignment and the tectonic plates that are shifting,” PicKell said. “We’ve kind of been against this “new era of College Football” with the College Football we grew up knowing and loving. When Georgia plays Texas in Austin though, that’s going to be phenomenal.”

“There’s a very real possibility we see this game played three times in 2024,” PicKell went as far as to say. “From the regular season, to SEC title game, to the College Football Playoff, I wouldn’t be surprised if these two teams got matched up somehow some way too. It could be a National Championship Game. That’s how crazy College Football is right now with all these different schedules.”

PicKell would continue, and his point made to wrap up the segment is absolutely spot on. Georgia-Texas may be the matchup that decides the country’s best team this season, but that may not happen on October 19th. The winner will have plenty to boast about and will be sitting pretty, but the loser isn’t out of the race either. For both though, it absolutely is a measuring stick of where they are and what needs to be done for the next time they potentially play in 2024.