College Football Playoff Rankings: Georgia Bulldogs should be No. 1
By John Buhler
The Georgia Bulldogs just beat the Auburn Tigers to win the 2017 SEC Championship. Here is why Georgia should be No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
It looks like the second team of the day has punched its ticket into the College Football Playoff. The Oklahoma Sooners won the Big 12 Championship over the TCU Horned Frogs 41-17 earlier in the afternoon, and now the Georgia Bulldogs have clinched their playoff berth by beating the Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship, 28-7.
Georgia is 12-1 on the year and will absolutely climb up the College Football Playoff rankings from No. 6 — but how high? Could they be the No. 1 seed heading into the four-team playoff? Well, the Dawgs should be No. 1 and here is why.
It’s pretty simple. Georgia will have the best resume of any team that ultimately gets in. The Dawgs are a conference champion and avenged their only loss of the season by thrashing Auburn on a neutral field. Georgia also has a quality road win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and a win over another ranked team in the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Oklahoma may have a conference championship game victory with two wins over TCU, a win over Oklahoma State and Ohio State in the non-conference. However, the Sooners’ home loss to the Iowa State Cyclones doesn’t look as good as it once did. Iowa State still made a bowl game but finished the year at 7-5. Georgia’s loss is better than Oklahoma’s.
If we’re looking at the ACC Championship teams, the Clemson Tigers have a terrible loss on the road to the Syracuse Orange. The same thing can be said for the Miami Hurricanes. They lost in the final week to a team that’s not even bowl eligible in the Pittsburgh Panthers. The winner of this game is getting in, while the loser is not. Their resumes may not be good enough to get the No. 1 seed after all.
Now with the Big Ten Championship teams, though the Wisconsin Badgers are undefeated, they have one quality win. That would be over the Northwestern Wildcats. Iowa and Michigan weren’t good when the Badgers played them. Even if they beat Ohio State, that means they will have beaten a three-loss team to win a conference championship game.
Ohio State could win the Big Ten but would have two losses on their résumé. Yes, the Buckeyes would have three wins over top-10 teams in Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State. However, they did get crushed twice by Oklahoma and to Iowa.
Pac-12 champion USC is probably out of it and Alabama needs Ohio State to win to have any shot at getting in. The Crimson Tide might be 11-1, but they won’t have played in a conference championship game. Their best wins are over LSU and Mississippi State. Georgia’s resume is better than Alabama’s with the SEC Championship in hand.
Next: Georgia Bulldogs win 2017 SEC Championship over Auburn
Obviously, we will have to wait and see what the College Football Playoff Selection Committee decides. If Georgia is the No. 1 seed, the Dawgs will play in the Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Should they be No. 2 or No. 3 for some reason, Georgia would play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Dawgs are in a good spot and should be the No. 1 team heading into the playoff.