(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
It's Time For The College Football Playoff Preview---Georgia. I will be previewing all four CFP teams this week. First up, the Georgia Bulldogs.
#1 Georgia Bulldogs
This is the 3rd time the Bulldogs are in the CFP, having previously made it in 2017 and 2021. This will be the first time they enter with the No. 1 overall ranking, becoming the 4th team to do so.
Teams To Be No. 1 Seed In CFP Since 2014
Alabama 5
Clemson 2
Georgia 1
LSU 1
This year’s Bulldogs team will be the 6th team in the Playoff era to make the Playoff the year after winning the national title. In the previous five instances, the teams were unable to defend their title with 4 of the 5 specifically
losing in the National Title Game (Alabama, 2011-12, is the last team to win back-to-back national titles).
Georgia will open up in Atlanta playing in Mercedes-Benz Stadium vs #4 Ohio State. This season, the Bulldogs are 2-0 in that building, outscoring their opponents 99-33.
Georgia is 2 wins away from having 29 victories over the last 2 seasons. That would match 2018-19 Clemson, 1896-97 Penn and 1894-95 Yale for the most wins over a 2-season span in the history of major college football.
The Bulldogs are also looking to repeat as national champions, something that has not been done since Alabama in 2011-12. Since 1990, the only other schools to win back-to-back national titles are Nebraska (1994-95) and USC
(2003-04).
Stetson Bennett Is The Man!
In the SEC championship game, Stetson Bennett finished with 4 passing touchdowns in the 1st half against LSU, tied for the most in any half in SEC title game history.
Bennett has been a winner in his career, going 27-3 as a starting quarterback. Entering the College Football Playoff, Bennett’s .900 win percentage as a starting QB is tied for the 3rd-best in SEC history (min. 30 starts). Bennett is
also 24-1 as a starting quarterback over the last 2 seasons.
One of his favorite targets has been Brock Bowers, who has 19 receiving touchdowns in his career at Georgia. That is the 2nd-most by a SEC tight end over the last 25 seasons, trailing Albert Okwuegbunam, who had 23 receiving
touchdowns at Missouri.
Tomorrow I will be previewing the #2 seed, Michigan Wolverines. Also, Chris has a great piece on what a 12 team CFP would look like this year. Check it out!
The College Football Playoff is all set; Georgia looks to become first repeat champion since 2011-12 plus The Real Top 25 CFP Rankings
The College Football Playoff is all set; Georgia looks to become first repeat champion since 2011-12 plus The Real Top 25 CFP Rankings. I will have individual team breakdowns during the week of Georgia, Michigan TCU and Ohio State. Craig Shemon's worst nightmare could possibly come true should Michigan and Ohio State both win in the semis and then have to face each other "again" for the title!. Oh the humanity!
The College Football Playoff is all set!
The semifinals are taking place on Dec. 31 and will see Georgia take on Ohio State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (8 ET) & Michigan against TCU in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (4 ET). TCU and Michigan have never faced one another while Georgia and Ohio State have gone head-to-head once before in the 1993 Florida Citrus Bowl. The starting QB for the Buckeyes in that game was ESPN’s own Kirk Herbstreit. The entire CFB bowl schedule is here.
Dec. 31 (4 ET): Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: (2) Michigan vs (3) TCU
Dec. 31 (8 ET): Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: (1) Georgia vs (4) Ohio State
Georgia and Michigan made it for the 2nd consecutive season while TCU and Ohio State round out the Top 4. Alabama was the first team out and misses the Top 4 for just the 2nd time since the CFP was implemented in 2014.
CFP Fun Facts
Clemson also fell short of the College Football Playoff, marking the first time the CFP will not have either Alabama or Clemson.
Historically in the CFP semifinals, the 2-3 matchup is a toss up with each seed winning 4 games. The 1-4 matchup has been a little more favorable to the higher seed with the No. 1 team having a 6-2 record. A silver lining to the No. 4 team…the two times they did win they ended up winning the National Championship (2014 Ohio State, 2017 Alabama).
Georgia is the odds-on favorite to win the national championship, currently at -135 odds per Caesars Sportsbook. Michigan and Ohio State are about the same odds while TCU has the longest of the four at +1600. According to ESPN Analytics, Georgia has a 58% chance to win vs Ohio State and Michigan has a 67% chance to win against TCU.
