What needs to happen for Georgia to reclaim No. 1 ranking from Texas?

College football Week 5 is offering a unique slate of high-profile games with enormous College Football Playoff implications. Particularly, No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama's heavyweight bout in Tuscaloosa could force AP voters into a tough decision over whether either deserves the top spot over No. 1 Texas.

Here's what needs to happen this weekend for Georgia to reclaim its preseason No. 1 spot from the Longhorns.

Georgia must beat Alabama (somewhat convincingly too)

Granted, a win over the No. 4 team in the country is impressive in its own right, but when you're the No. 2 team in the nation and think you deserve to be No. 1 then you gotta really put an inferior team (in theory) down to convince poll voters.

Alabama are home dogs for the first time since 2007 but have won six of the last seven meetings against Georgia, including last year's SEC Championship Game.

The only Bulldog victory was by a 33-18 margin in the 2021 national championship game. The team will have to repeat that kind of performance on Saturday if it wants to declare itself superior to any other potential challengers.

In a stacked SEC, which features the No. 1 Longhorns, resume building will be key when jockeying for poll positioning. Texas currently has an impressive win over a Top 10 Michigan team on the road so Georgia must one-up that in Tuscaloosa or risk tumbling below Alabama's current positioning (worst-case scenario).

Texas doesn't need to lose, it just needs to look vulnerable

The No. 1 Longhorns will travel to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Bulldogs — albeit a much weaker litter than those from Athens, Georgia.

It will be Texas' SEC debut and it's a game they should easily win, regardless of which quarterback it starts. In Week 4, freshman Arch Manning took the place of the injured Quinn Ewers and showed he still has a lot to learn despite an impressive performance.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian hasn't revealed which passer will start against Mississippi State yet and despite that decision not mattering to who will win the game, it could matter for Georgia's sake.

A convincing win by three or more scores should keep Texas solidly in their No. 1 position regardless of the result in Tuscaloosa. That's not to discount the achievement of either Georgia or Alabama but it just means there will likely be too many contradicting votes in the next poll to topple the Longhorns.

However, anything within the aforementioned margin might give voters enough cover to swap the No. 1 and 2 spots — at least until Georgia and Texas meet on Oct. 19. That game in Austin, Texas will determine the undisputed No. 1 team for likely the rest of the season.