Georgia still deserves to be in the College Football Playoff

In a night that will be talked about for weeks to come, the SEC Championship produced the best game of college football since last year’s National Championship. To anyone who watched, it is clear that Georgia is one of the best four teams in the Nation and deserves a College Football Playoff spot…and it isn’t close.

I can guarantee that if you ask Alabama or Clemson if they would rather play Notre Dame/Oklahoma/Ohio State or Georgia in the College Football Playoff, the last choice would be Georgia. Georgia showed the entire world that against an Alabama football team that had beaten every opponent this year by a minimum of 22 points, they are the real deal.

When looking at the opponents vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff the list is short. It will be Notre Dame, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. Let’s look at each individually and determine their status.

Notre Dame

Let’s be honest, Notre Dame isn’t as great as everyone says they are. Who have they played really? Week one they beat a Michigan team that was nowhere near the team we saw in the middle of the year but more like the team we saw against Ohio State. Besides that the next best team they beat was Syracuse who has not beaten anyone of note. Syracuse lost to Clemson, Pitt and Notre Dame, their best win may be NC State (who lost to Wake Forest of all teams, Wake Forest, by the way, lost to Florida State). I could go on and on, but Notre Dame’s schedule when you look hard at it, isn’t impressive. In fact, it lacks a truly impressive win and is missing any conference play as they are an independent.

Oklahoma

The only argument that Oklahoma has is that its offense is one of the best in the country. Where Oklahoma’s argument really hurts is when you look at their non-conference schedule. Outside the Big 12, Oklahoma played FAU, UCLA, and Army. FAU finished the year 5-7, UCLA finished 3-9, Army did finish 12-1 but they are not even ranked. Oklahoma also only won that game by a score of 28-21.

But the killer for Oklahoma is their defense. They are terrible and that is even for Big 12 standards.  I mean they gave up 40 points to Kansas. That alone would keep any other program in this country out of the discussion. However, with Murray at the helm, many believe they are worthy for a playoff spot. I, however, do not.

Ohio State

Where to begin and end with Ohio State. Yes, the Michigan win was huge and ultimately made them relevant again in the Playoff picture. However, I think where you begin and end the conversation with Ohio State is the 29 point beating they received at the hands of a 6-6 Purdue team.

Ohio State on top of that has only had one game against a quality opponent where it was truly dominant, which was Michigan. Besides that Ohio State struggled to beat teams like Nebraska and Maryland, who are terrible in case you slept through the majority of football season.

At the end of the day, Ohio State’s only redeeming quality is they beat Michigan. But you cannot overlook a 29 point loss to Purdue.

Georgia

Finally, we have arrive at Georgia. Let’s begin the conversation with who they lost to and how. The real crux of Georgia getting into the playoffs is the beating it took to LSU in Baton Rouge. They lost by 20 points to LSU, who by the way is currently ranked by the playoff committee as the No. 10 team in the nation.

At the end of the day, Georgia may be left out it is because of the LSU game. If Georgia entered the SEC Championship undefeated and lost to Alabama as it did today than they would still be in the playoffs no questions asked.

However, if Georgia makes the playoffs it is because of the SEC Championship. Let’s begin by saying Georgia is the only team in the playoff talk who lost to two teams in the top 10, with one of these losses being to the No. 1 team.

Alabama was the first team since Yale in 1888 to beat every opponent by at least 20 points. Georgia only lost by 7. Alabama had only trailed for a little over a minute of playing time, for the entire season. Georgia lead for most of the SEC Championship game. For the entire regular season, Tua Tagovailoa averaged a QBR of 93.5 percent. Against Georgia, he had his worst QBR performance collegiately of 33.6 percent. By all means, this Georgia team played the best we have seen against Alabama all year-long. They showed they belong in the debate as one of the best four teams in the country.

Conclusion

So, I believe Notre Dame will be in because they are undefeated. Regardless of their schedule, they are deserving. However, if you made me put my house on the outcome of Notre Dame vs. Georgia, my money is on Georgia every day of the week. The same goes for Georgia v.s either Oklahoma or Ohio State.

There is no argument if the College Football Playoff committee is truly putting the four best teams into the playoffs, Georgia is better than Notre Dame, Oklahoma or Ohio State.

Last year, a lot was made of the committee placing Alabama into the playoffs when it did not play in the SEC Championship. However, the outcome was Alabama proving it belonged and winning the National Championship.

This year I believe the correct decision the committee can make is to put Georgia into the playoffs above Notre Dame. I don’t think anyone would pick Notre Dame if they had to play Georgia tomorrow.

The College Football Playoff Committee should have the rankings be 1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Georgia 4 Notre Dame.

You want the four best, those are the four best.