3 takeaways from first College Football Playoff rankings
By John Buhler
1. Them Dawgs’ resume is hell, don’t they!
When the Georgia Bulldogs decided to fire the stoic Mark Richt in favor of hiring their jumpy, emotional son Kirby Smart, people had their doubts. Smart was only Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama and Richt was winning 10 games annually in Athens. However, the move has been good for both UGA and The U.
Thanks to two marquee wins at Notre Dame and a beatdown of the Mississippi State Bulldogs at home, them Dawgs is hell, don’t they, as they are the finest team in the land this week at No. 1! To the surprise of many in the Classic City and the Greater Atlanta area, them Dawgs’ resume was better than what Roll Tide could offer.
Turns out that neutral site pummeling of the Florida State Seminoles doesn’t mean much any more. Florida State probably isn’t going to a bowl. At this point, Alabama’s best win is over the Texas A&M Aggies at home, 27-19. Fortunately, Alabama’s best games are ahead of them in LSU, at Mississippi State and at Auburn for the Iron Bowl.
Georgia still has three respectable SEC opponents left on the slate in the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn, plus a decent Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team at regular season’s end.
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At the end of the day, Georgia and Alabama will presumably meet in the 2017 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Both will likely be 12-0 (8-0) depending on how the Auburn rivalry games shake out. Alabama might be the better team, but Georgia has played a tougher schedule to this point. Them Dawgs is hell don’t they and were rewarded for it thanks to a killer resume. The Committee loves resumes.