25 games that will shape the 2019 College Football Playoff

Week 2: Georgia at South Carolina

Georgia came within one drive of lifting the National Championship Trophy last season. They’ll head into 2018 having to replace several key players but still find themselves on a short list of favorites to return to the playoff.

The first test they’ll face this fall comes in Week 2 against South Carolina in Columbia. Georgia has historically dominated, leading the all-time series 50-18-12, and they’re riding a three-game winning streak at the present time. But this version of the Gamecocks looks like the best the program has had since 2013 and even when South Carolina hasn’t been at its peak as a program, they’ve been able to play spoiler to the Dawgs early in the season.

With LSU, Florida, Auburn and a potential rematch with Alabama in the SEC Championship looming on the back half of their schedule, this may not be a game circled on Georgia’s calendar.  But it’s definitely circled on South Carolina’s.

Only one of these teams is a playoff contender but that’s all it takes. And South Carolina doesn’t have to be a better team than Georgia, they just have to be better one Saturday this fall. Home dogs with a season defining-win on the line and low expectations create a dangerous cocktail for a team like Georgia.