The College Football Playoff (CFP) committee faces a challenging decision regarding the ranking of the SEC teams following Georgia’s 31-17 win over Tennessee on Saturday. With five SEC teams—Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Tennessee—looking to be playoff-worthy, the committee is tasked with sorting out a logjam of four 8-2 SEC squads: Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. As each of these teams has a legitimate case to be ranked higher, the committee will need to dig deeper into their resumes and head-to-head matchups to make its determination.
Head-to-head results add complexity to the equation. Georgia, fresh off a convincing win over Tennessee, has a strong argument to be ranked higher, but they’ve already lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss, which complicates matters. Alabama and Ole Miss, with victories over Georgia, might believe they should be ahead in the rankings. On the other hand, Tennessee’s victory over Alabama gives them a reason to claim a higher ranking, though their head-to-head loss to Georgia knocks them down a peg.
While head-to-head matchups typically play a key role in the committee’s decisions, in this case, the results seem to cancel each other out. Georgia’s win over Tennessee gives them a leg up over the Volunteers, but their losses to Alabama and Ole Miss must also be factored in. Similarly, Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss has them at a disadvantage in that comparison. The result is a complicated situation where no single team has a clear advantage over the others in terms of head-to-head matchups.
This is where the teams’ overall resumes come into play. Georgia, despite the losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, boasts wins over quality opponents, including a victory over a ranked Texas team earlier in the season, as well as a win over a ranked Clemson team. These wins will likely carry significant weight with the committee when compared to the resumes of Tennessee, Alabama, and Ole Miss, who each lack a similarly impressive victory. Georgia’s strength of schedule and overall body of work could push them to the top of this group.
Alabama and Ole Miss, meanwhile, have been dominant in their own right, with Alabama’s loss to Texas being the most significant blemish on their resume. Ole Miss, having knocked off Georgia, has a strong case for a higher ranking as well, but their lack of high-profile wins outside of that could hold them back. Tennessee, despite being ranked highly earlier in the season, now faces the reality that their loss to Georgia, combined with the other teams’ stronger resumes, may leave them at the bottom of this group.
In terms of prediction, the most likely order the CFP committee will settle on for these four teams is:
1. **Alabama Crimson Tide** – Despite their loss to Texas, Alabama’s wins over Ole Miss and Georgia, along with their consistency, could earn them the top spot among the 8-2 teams.
2. **Georgia Bulldogs** – The Bulldogs’ impressive victory over Tennessee and strong overall resume, including the wins over Texas and Clemson, should land them in second.
3. **Ole Miss Rebels** – Ole Miss, with a win over Georgia but a lack of other marquee victories, likely sits at third.
4. **Tennessee Volunteers** – Despite their loss to Georgia, Tennessee’s victory over Alabama keeps them relevant, though they likely sit at the bottom of this group.
The committee’s ranking will ultimately come down to how much weight they place on head-to-head results versus overall strength of schedule and key victories. In any case, the SEC’s dominance and the tight race among these teams only add to the drama as the CFP picture begins to take shape.
