NEW ORLEANS – As Clemson was throttling Notre Dame Saturday afternoon in the College Football Playoffs, a handful of Georgia players took to Twitter to express their thoughts on the situation.

“They say the four best teams, huh?” tweeted wide receiver Mecole Hardman.

“The best four should get in,” responded linebacker Monty Rice, who used the hashtag #exposed.

Whether or not a two-loss Georgia team should have been included in the final four has been debated back and forth since the pairings were announced a month ago. It’s not an argument without merit, but players were more reserved with their comments on the subject during Saturday’s press conference.

“I don’t think anybody meant any harm. I don’t think anybody said anything disrespectful,” running back D’Andre Swift said. “We just think we’re one of the best four teams.”

So, does fellow back Elijah Holyfield. “I feel like I’ll take my squad versus anybody,” he said.

That may certainly be the prevailing sentiment for members of the Bulldog squad. But Sunday’s responses to questions about the playoffs and whether or not Georgia should or should not have been included were strictly company line.

“It’s not my place to say whether we should or should not have been,” Holyfield said. “Those are the teams they picked; we’re just focused on playing Texas.”

Quarterback Jake Fromm sang a similar tune.

“That’s not for me to decide,” Fromm said. “Obviously, I would love to believe that yes, we should have been in it, the only thing we can decide is how we play in this football game.”

Wide receiver Terry Godwin, who was another Bulldog who voiced his take on Twitter, was asked if players voicing opinions puts more onus on the team to be successful in Tuesday night’s game (8:45, ESPN).

“I would say there’s more on us. Some of the guys wanted to tweet out their emotions,” Godwin said. “In college football, they put the best four teams out there to play this week. We watched them, but we’re just focused on us and Texas. We’re just going to go out there and play Georgia football.”

Left tackle Andrew Thomas didn’t necessarily agree.

“I don’t think it’s any extra pressure. As a team we understand the meaning of this game, the importance of this game. We understand how we need to play to be successful,” Thomas said. “Twitter is a platform for guys to talk and share their feelings. I guess we’re just ready to play.”

Swift said he watched both games. He was not surprised by either result.

“It was really interesting. It was fun to watch. But the reality is we’re here and we’ve got to focus on that,” Swift said. “That’s all we can do.”

Like Thomas, Swift feels the Bulldogs don’t have anything to prove. In his mind, the Bulldogs are one of the nation’s four best teams, despite what the College Football Playoff committee said.

However, to validate that feeling, he knows the Bulldogs (11-2) have to beat the Longhorns (9-4) Tuesday night.

“Most definitely,” Swift said. “We can’t go out there and lose and have people say they were right. We’ve got to take care of business.”