With three regular-season games to go, it’s hard to imagine No. 1 Georgia (9-0) losing a matchup remaining on its schedule, though it’s certainly not an easy stretch. UGA has road games at Mississippi State and Kentucky before closing with Georgia Tech at home.
But will UGA face LSU, Ole Miss or Alabama in the SEC title? What about the playoffs? LSU is on pace to clinch the SEC West. But it needs to beat Arkansas this weekend (LSU minus-3, per BetMGM).
Georgia’s looking to repeat as national champions this season. So far those prospects are looking good for the Dawgs. They’re 9-0 and the odds of repeating are sitting at plus-110, per BetMGM. But winning a national championship is hard enough. Repeating is extremely difficult. … I’d imagine.
Seven teams that pose the biggest threat to Georgia repeating as national champs:
7
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State national title odds: +50,000
Spread: Georgia -16.5
This is a road game that will be difficult for Georgia.
Last week, Georgia played Tennessee. Georgia won, but it came at a cost with the injury report getting crowded. Now it travels to Mississippi State to play Will Rogers and the Bulldogs. Rogers has been a passing machine this season and ranks sixth in the nation with 2,912 yards.
It will be a night game, and Starkville will be rocking. A loss here, and Georgia has to run the table the rest of the way.
6
TCU Horned Frogs
TCU national title odds: +3,000
First, TCU has to beat Texas this weekend. Then it has to win the rest of its games. If it does that, the Horned Frogs are in a good position to make the College Football Playoff as a three or four seed. Let’s assume Georgia has the No. 1 seed and TCU No. 4 for the sake of this post. That would be an ideal matchup for Georgia in the CFP.
Offensively, TCU is getting it done, ranking third in scoring offense and fourth in total offense. But the Horned Frogs leave plenty to be desired defensively, allowing an average of 27 points per game.
5
Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky national title odds: +50,000
Remember when everyone was saying Georgia had an easy schedule? I said that, too, this offseason. There is nothing easy about the second half of this schedule for the Bulldogs.
Oct. 29: Florida (W)
Nov. 5: Tennessee (W)
Nov. 12: at Mississippi State (TBD)
Nov. 19: at Kentucky (TBD)
Georgia-Kentucky is usually a strength vs. strength game and the Dawgs like to run it down their throats. But Kentucky is no joke, and quarterback Will Levis is the real deal.
Again, if Georgia loses this, it has to run the table the rest of the way.
4
LSU Tigers
Kentucky national title odds: +5,000
Right now, it’s looking like it’ll be a Georgia-LSU battle for the SEC championship in Atlanta on Dec. 3.
LSU has dropped two games, so if it makes it to Atlanta it will need to win in to make the playoffs. The Tigers will be giving it their all, but I like Georgia’s odds against a Brian Kelly coached team, as we saw in 2017 and 2019 when Georgia beat Kelly’s Fighting Irish.
LSU can clinch the West this weekend with a win over Arkansas and an Alabama win over Ole Miss.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels is legit and can beat you with his arm or his legs. The Tigers have multiple weapons at wide receiver and defensively they’re good enough to give anyone trouble.
3
Michigan Wolverines
Michigan national title odds: +900
Georgia may not get a chance to play Michigan this season, but if it does, I don’t think it will be a blowout like we saw last year in the Orange Bowl. I think Georgia would win, but it would be a fight.
Michigan’s defense is one of the best in the nation, ranking No. 3 in scoring defense and No. 2 in total defense. Offensively, it’s No. 5 in scoring offense and No. 4 in rushing offense, behind star running back Blake Corum.
Georgia’s run defense is stout, but this is not the same defense it had last year.
2
Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee national title odds: +2,000
I’m not counting Tennessee out yet. The Vols still have a very solid path of sitting out the SEC Championship game and still making the CFP.
The current CFP rankings:
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- TCU
- Tennessee
We know either Ohio State or Michigan will lose since those two teams play each other. The question becomes, does the loser of that game drop below Tennessee? And I don’t know how strongly I feel about TCU finishing undefeated. I think Tennessee finds its way into the rankings as a three or four seed.
Georgia just delivered a beat down over Tennessee, but the Dawgs had some things go their way, like Hendon Hooker overthrowing wide open receivers.
1
Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State national title odds: +200
If Georgia makes it to the College Football Playoff, consider Ohio State the team I want to avoid.
“They have not played anyone” is what people are saying. I don’t care. That does not mean anything to me when they have the offensive firepower they do.
No. 1 in the nation in scoring offense and No. 8 in scoring defense. The Buckeyes would score points on Georgia, and the problem is they’d be able to stop the Bulldogs’ offense if Stetson Bennett is not playing at his absolute best.
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