As expected, Georgia’s 31-17 win over Tennessee has propelled the Bulldogs back into the thick of the conversation for the College Football Playoffs.
Tuesday night, the Bulldogs jumped up to No. 10 in this week’s CFP rankings, and based on their seeding (No. 11), would travel to No. 6 Penn State in the first round of the playoffs set to begin Dec. 20.
Naturally, there’s much work to be done.
Georgia still has to beat UMass and Georgia Tech to clinch itself a spot in the Top 12.
Meanwhile, SEC rivals Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Ole Miss still have two conference games remaining.
Per this week’s rankings, Texas is No. 3, Alabama No. 7, Ole Miss No. 9, Tennessee No. 11, and Texas A&M is No. 15.
Based on Tuesday’s rankings, pairings for the playoffs would be as follows:
First Round
G1. No. 12 BYU at No. 5 Ohio State
G2. No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame
G3 No. 11 Georgia at No. 6 Penn State
G4 No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Indiana.
Quarterfinal
G5. BYU-Ohio State winner vs No. 4 Boise State
G6. Alabama-Notre Dame winner vs No. 1 Oregon
G7. Georgia-Penn State winner vs No. 3 Miami
G8.Ole Miss-Indiana winner vs No. 2 Texas
Semifinal
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs Game 6 winner.
Game 10. Game 7 winner vs Game 8 winner.
Final
Game 11: Game 9 winner vs Game 10 winner.
The first-round playoff games are scheduled for December 20, with the higher-ranked seeds boasting home-field advantage.
Then, the quarterfinals will be played on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, where the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl serve as the hosts.
Semifinal games will be held at the Orange and Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9, with the National Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20.