In the final year of the four-team era of the College Football Playoff, there were far more than four teams with legitimate arguments to be in the Playoff. While Michigan and Washington made the playoff as the top two seeds as expected, there was controversy in the third and fourth spots, with Texas and Alabama being selected to make the College Football Playoff semifinals.
So, why did the Georgia Bulldogs get left out of the College Football Playoff?
Why Did Georgia Get Left Out of the College Football Playoff?
Georgia was the top-ranked team in the country by the Playoff Committee heading into Conference Championship Week. However, the Bulldogs, beating Missouri and Ole Miss at home, lacked a signature win. The rest of the Bulldogs’ schedule was weaker than some of the other teams that made the Playoff.
The Bulldogs did go to Knoxville and handily beat Tennessee. However, the Bulldogs lacked wins over strong teams outside of those three teams.
The equation was simple for the Bulldogs—beat Alabama in the SEC Championship and the back-to-back defending National Champions would have made the Playoff. While teams in the past have lost a conference championship game and still made the Playoff (The Bulldogs themselves did this two years ago) there were too many strong teams this season to allow the Bulldogs to sneak in.
The Bulldogs likely had a case for being one of the best four teams in college football, but the Playoff Committee decided that Texas and Alabama had better resumes.
The committee obviously valued head-to-head results, putting Texas in third, thanks largely to the Longhorns’ head-to-head win against Alabama. In doing that, Georgia was all but guaranteed to be eliminated since Alabama beat Georgia Saturday.
No matter what happens in the Playoff, there will be a new National Champion in college football.