What does the Texas game mean for Georgia’s playoff hopes? | Georgia Sports

As if playing on the road against the No. 1 team in the country wasn’t nerve-wracking enough, Georgia’s spot in the playoffs could be on the line when it travels to Austin, Texas on Saturday.

A loss in this game a year ago almost condemned the Bulldogs to a meaningless bowl game, but even with the expanded Group of 12 College Football Playoff contenders, the fate of their season could well hinge on this game.

With the new playoff format, the five highest-ranked conference champions – likely the Power Four champions plus a mid-major champion – will receive automatic bids, and the other seven highest-ranked non-conference champions will fill the remaining spots.

If Georgia actually loses to Texas on Saturday, it would drop to sixth in the SEC standings at best, but could fall as low as eighth depending on the conference’s results.

In either case, the Bulldogs’ chances of even reaching the SEC Championship would be minimized even if they completed their full, remaining conference schedule unscathed.

Most likely, this would limit Georgia’s playoff hopes to one of the seven highest-seeded non-conference champions and require a perfect performance the remainder of the season. Even then, the Bulldogs would still be at the discretion of the College Football Playoff Committee, which has not favored the Bulldogs in recent years.

However, Georgia’s matchup against Clemson earlier in the year is a wild card that could significantly increase Georgia’s playoff chances. Should Clemson continue its current winning streak all the way to the ACC Championship, Georgia’s 34-3 win over the Tigers in August could be the deciding factor in the Bulldogs’ playoff berth if they lose to Texas but win the rest of their games.

On the other hand, a win against the Longhorns would move Georgia to at least third place in the SEC standings, but could move into first place with losses to Texas A&M and LSU.

A win would also give Georgia some breathing room for the rest of the season, as a loss to a team like Tennessee or Ole Miss wouldn’t necessarily knock the Bulldogs out of the playoff race.

While the playoff implications of Saturday’s game are quite complex, head coach Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have a simple approach.

“They’re trying to be one of the top 12 teams and how that fits into this game is irrelevant,” Smart said Tuesday. “We have to think about how we play in this game. We have to worry about what we need to do to play well in this game, not some narrative that’s out there or what people are talking about in the playoffs, because that’s a long way off.”