Bowl Predictions: Georgia passes Texas for No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Tennessee still has a lot of work to do

No. 5 Georgia sent a message Saturday that some of us may have written them off too soon after the Bulldogs arrived in Austin and beat No. 1 Texas 30-15 in a game that wasn’t as close as that result would suggest.

The outcome of this game now has Georgia as the projected No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff field, replacing the Longhorns. Texas has now fallen to sixth place behind Oregon. The Ducks, coming off a 35-0 win over Purdue on Friday, could overtake Texas as the No. 1 team in the polls this week, for what that’s worth.

No. 7 Alabama lost to No. 11 Tennessee 24-17 and fell to No. 8 in the projected CFP category.

I’ve said all along that Tennessee needs to beat either Alabama or Georgia to clinch a CFP spot, but with Texas A&M still in play, the Volunteers may have to beat Georgia when they travel to Athens on November 16th . This is what we should do By then I’ll have a better idea if this is a must-win for the Vols.

The Big Ten also has some unusual names vying for spots in the CFP that haven’t yet been earmarked for a spot. No. 22 Illinois defeated No. 24 Michigan 21-7, ending any hopes of a national championship repeat for the Wolverines. No. 16 Indiana is off to a 7-0 start for the second time in its history, but a soft schedule could keep the Hoosiers out of CFP contention even at 11-1, assuming there is a loss to Ohio State. Indiana was able to play eleven games, but none against an opponent with more than seven wins. The Hoosiers could potentially overcome this, but it depends on who the competition is.

Quarterfinals

January 1st	sugar bowl New Orleans	(1) Georgia vs. (8/9) winner
January 1st	Rose bowl Pasadena, California.	(2) Ohio State vs. (7/10) Winner
January 1st	Fiesta Bowl Glendale, Arizona.	(4) Iowa State vs. (5/12) winner
Dec 31st	Peach peel Atlanta, Georgia.	(3) Miami vs. (6/11) winner

First round

December 20th or 21st	Autzen Stadium Eugene, Ore.	(5) Oregon vs. (12) Boise State	(4)Miami
December 20th or 21st	Bryant-Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, Ala.	(8) Alabama vs. (9) BYU	(1) Texas
December 20th or 21st	Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium Austin, Texas.	(6) Texas vs. (11) Texas A&M	(3)Utah
December 20th or 21st	Beaver Stadium State College, Pennsylvania.	(7) Penn State vs. (10) Clemson	(2) Ohio State

Be sure to check back Sunday morning for Jerry Palm’s full list of bowl projections.