Georgia’s CBS nationally televised SEC East showdown with Tennessee between the Hedges at Athens just got a lot bigger after the first College Football Playoff Top 25 was revealed Tuesday night.
Unbeaten 8-0 Georgia may have been No. 1 in the AP and the Coaches poll, but unbeatens Tennessee (8-0) and Big Ten Goliath Ohio State were both ranked ahead of the Dawgs in the minds of the 13-member CFP selection committee.
If the Dawgs lose, they likely will not make the SEC championship game and the defending national champions could be left out of the national semi-finals if Alabama comes back from a 52-49 loss at Tennessee to beat the Vols in a rematch and win the conference title.
Right now, unbeaten Clemson is the fourth team in ahead of unbeaten Michigan, one-loss Alabama and unbeaten Big 12 leader TCU.
Tennessee, which had never been ranked before, has been on fire, averaging 49 points and lleading the FBS in total offense. The Vols are No. 1 in ESPN’s strength of record with wins over the Tide and LSU. Seven of the past eight teams ranked No. 1 in the committee’s initial rankings have made the CFP .
This is all new territory for the Vols, who has a legit Heisman canddidate in quarterback Hendon Hooker but must deal with Georgia’s top-ranked defense. The Dawgs took a hit this week when it was announced that senior outside linebacker Nolan Smith was ouit for the season. Smith, who leads Georgia with three sacks and is fifth with 18 tackles, suffered a torn right pectoral muscle in last week’s 42-20 win over Florida Smith will ahve surgery Thursday and is expected to make a full recovery.
Smith was one of only three returning starters from the 2021 defense that led the Dawgs to their first national championship since 1980. Five starters from that unit was taken in the first round, but Georgia (8-0) is sitll second in the nation this season with an average of 10,50 points allowed.
