Could Georgia still make the College Football Playoff with loss to Tennessee?

It will not be easy, but there is still a chance Georgia can make the College Football Playoff, even if the Dawgs were to lose to Tennessee at home on Saturday.

Even with a potential home loss to Tennessee, Georgia can still make it into the College Football Playoff.

Admittedly, it will not be the least bit easy. Although Tennessee is the No. 1 team in the country at the time of their meeting, this is a home game for No. 3 Georgia, one where the Dawgs are favored by more than a touchdown. While there is no shame in losing to a division rival and a fellow playoff contender, Georgia would no longer control its own destiny to make the field, if that were the case.

Here is what would probably need to happen for Georgia to make the playoff if the Dawgs were to lose at home to the Vols on Saturday afternoon.

How Georgia can still make the College Football Playoff after a Tennessee loss

First things first, Georgia would need to win the rest of its regular-season games. Those would be at Mississippi State next weekend, at Kentucky to close out SEC play in two weeks and then in-state rival Georgia Tech coming to town over Thanksgiving Weekend. With Mississippi State and Kentucky both at 5-3, Georgia will need for one of them to be ranked at the time of their meeting.

Although it is highly unlikely, Georgia could still win the SEC East with a 7-1 mark and a Tennessee loss if the Vols drop two of their final three games of SEC play. Those would be vs. Missouri next week, at South Carolina in two weeks and then at in-state rival Vanderbilt over Thanksgiving Weekend. The chances of Tennessee ending up 6-2 in SEC play with a Georgia win are almost zero.

And even if Georgia goes 11-1 (7-1) and does not win the SEC East, there is a chance the Dawgs get in as an at-large team. For that to happen, the Dawgs need the Vols to beat whoever comes out of the SEC West this year in Atlanta between Alabama, Ole Miss, or even LSU. 13-0 Tennessee really helps out Georgia. A Vols loss in Atlanta further complicates things, as they still will get in.

Basically, Georgia would have to be getting in as the second SEC team. That means two of the three champions between the ACC, Big 12 or Pac-12 are not getting in. Since every team in the Pac-12 has at least one loss on the season, that may be one of the conferences. The Big 12 still has undefeated TCU, but not much else. The ACC has undefeated Clemson and a one-loss UNC.

From there, the Dawgs are also probably going to need some help in the Big Ten. The winner of Michigan at Ohio State needs to be undefeated and beat presumably Illinois in the Big Ten Championship Game. Frankly, it serves a one-loss Georgia team to have an undefeated Ohio State squad win the Big Ten over an undefeated Michigan squad, or potentially a one-loss Illinois team.

The reason for this is Georgia would get the boost from having the better non-conference slate over a one-loss Michigan team. The Wolverines’ lackluster non-conference schedule will be the reason they won’t make it in if they don’t come out of the Big Ten slate unscathed. The best thing to help out the Dawgs is to see two Power Five champions have two more losses on the season.

There is plenty of football left to be played, but a home loss to the Vols will be hard to overcome.

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