Should Georgia run the table and win the SEC Championship, mark the Bulldogs down for a spot in the College Football Playoffs at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“The only benefit that the CFP gives to any team is in their selection process. They will place the No. 1 team in a geographical advantage for their fans and their team,” Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl CEO Gary Stokan told UGASports in a telephone interview Thursday. “You’d have to assume that if Georgia wins out, they'd be placed in Atlanta and play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.”
The Fiesta Bowl will host the other CFP Semifinal with the two winners taking part in the National Championship game in Los Angeles.
But as Stokan cautioned, there’s much still to be determined over the next three weeks before teams and venues can be sorted out. There are lots of directions this situation could take.
For example, Georgia has Kentucky, Georgia Tech, and LSU in the SEC Championship. Ohio State and Michigan play next week, with the winner moving to the Big Ten championship. TCU is undefeated but must still navigate the rest of its Big 12 schedule, as well as that conference’s championship game.
USC and Clemson could still find themselves 12-1 and champions of their respective conferences.
Then there’s Tennessee.
The Volunteers currently sit at No. 5 in the CFP rankings and appear primed to move up, given a loss by the Buckeyes, Wolverines, or Horned Frogs.
However, Tennessee might not count its playoff chickens just yet.
If Southern Cal, and perhaps even Clemson and TCU, finish 12-1 with a conference championship, Stokan says the conversation in the CFP war room might get interesting, due to the importance the group places on teams winning their respective league crown.
“That’s one of the main criteria,” Stokan said. “There are five main criteria—conference championships; No. 2 is the strength of schedule; No. 3 is the strength of record; No. 4 is common opponents; and No. 5 is ranked opponents. That conference championship matters a lot to the committee, and it should. If you’re a Power 5 conference champion, you should get rewarded.”
Other scenarios could send the CFP process spinning.
If LSU were to upset Georgia in the SEC Championship, Stokan believes the Tigers would become the first two-loss team in nine years of the CFP to earn a spot in the playoffs. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, he believes Kirby Smart’s team would still be playoff bound.
“I think this year, having sat through the mock selections down in Dallas, this year could be one of the most interesting years we’ve ever had in the CFP selection process,” Stokan said.
Assuming Georgia does find itself back in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the playoffs, that would suit Stokan just fine.
“To have Georgia, which is a major college football brand, your game is right there from a viewership standpoint. It helps, certainly, and, the relationship we have with President Morehead, Josh Brooks, and Kirby Smart, who are all great people to work with, is fantastic,” he said. “Then the fans. We sold out in July, so the opportunity to have Georgia fans come right into Atlanta would just add so much enthusiasm. To have a local crowd here would just be amazing.”
