Georgia‘s SEC Championship Hopesโ Hang in โthe Balance โAfter Alabama Loss
ATLANTA – Georgia’s path too defending its SEC Championship title became significantly more complex โSaturday following a 24-21 โloss to Alabama. While still mathematically alive in the race, the Bulldogs now face a challenging scenario dependent onโข tiebreakers and results from other conference games.
The loss โฃdrops Georgia to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in SEC play, placing them second in the SEC โEast behind undefeated Tennessee (9-0, 5-0 SEC).โข Should Georgia and Tennessee both finish with identical conference records, the SEC has a specific set โฃof โtiebreaking โprocedures toโฃ determine the division champion andโข ultimately, the SEC Championshipโข game participants. These procedures, according to the SEC, prioritize head-to-head results, record against common conference opponents, and a series โof further โคcriteria if necessary.
Here’s a breakdown of theโค tiebreakers:
- Head-to-head competition among the tied teams
- Recordโ versus all common Conference โopponents among the tied teams
- Record against highest (best) placed common Conference opponent in the conferenceโข standings, and โproceeding through the Conference standings among the tied โteams
- Cumulativeโข Conference winning percentage of all Conference opponents among the โขtied teams
- Capped relative total scoring marginโฃ versus all Conference opponents among the tied teams
- Random draw of the tied teams
Currently, Georgia has wins over Tennesseeโ (44-41 in overtime on Sept. 13), Kentucky (35-14), โคAuburn (20-10), Oleโฃ Miss (43-35), Florida โ(24-20), and Mississippi State (41-21). Theirโฃ remaining SEC game is November 22nd against โขCharlotte and November 28thโ against Georgia Tech.
Georgia’s schedule to date โincludes:
* โค Saturday,Aug. 30: โNo. 4 Georgia 45, Marshall 7
* โค Saturday, Sept. 6: โ No. 3 Georgia 28, Austin Peay 6
* Saturday, Sept. 13: No. 3 Georgia 44, No. 15 Tennessee โ41 (OT)
* Saturday, Sept. 20: BYE
* โ Saturday, Sept. 27: No. 16 Alabama 24, No. 3 Georgia 21
* Saturday, Oct. 4: No. 10 Georgia โข35, Kentucky 14
* โฃ Saturday,โข Oct.11: No.9 georgia 20, Auburn 10
* Saturday, Oct. โข18: No. 7 Georgia โค43, no. 5 Ole Miss 35
* Saturday, Oct.25: BYE
* โค Saturday, Nov. 1: โ No. 5 Georgia 24, Florida 20
* Saturday, Nov. 8: No. 5 Georgia 41, Mississippi โคState 21
* โ saturday,โฃ Nov.15: vs. No. 5 Georgia 35,No.10 Texas 10
* Saturday, โขNov. 22: โข vs. Charlotteโข | 12:45 p.m. | SEC โNetwork
* Friday, Nov. 28: vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech |โ 3:30 p.m. | ABC
The Bulldogs will need to win out and hope for a โTennessee loss to secure a spot in the SEC Championship Game. If both teams finish with โthe same record, Georgia’s head-to-head win over Tennessee would give them the tiebreaker advantage. However, any further complications will โrequire a deep dive into the SEC’s โtiebreaking procedures.
