Georgia‘s SEC Championship Hopes Hang in the Balance After Alabama Loss
ATLANTA – Georgia’s path too defending its SEC Championship title became significantly more complex Saturday following a 24-21 loss to Alabama. While still mathematically alive in the race, the Bulldogs now face a challenging scenario dependent on tiebreakers and results from other conference games.
The loss drops Georgia to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in SEC play, placing them second in the SEC East behind undefeated Tennessee (9-0, 5-0 SEC). Should Georgia and Tennessee both finish with identical conference records, the SEC has a specific set of tiebreaking procedures to determine the division champion and ultimately, the SEC Championship game participants. These procedures, according to the SEC, prioritize head-to-head results, record against common conference opponents, and a series of further criteria if necessary.
Here’s a breakdown of the tiebreakers:
- Head-to-head competition among the tied teams
- Record versus all common Conference opponents among the tied teams
- Record against highest (best) placed common Conference opponent in the conference standings, and proceeding through the Conference standings among the tied teams
- Cumulative Conference winning percentage of all Conference opponents among the tied teams
- Capped relative total scoring margin versus all Conference opponents among the tied teams
- Random draw of the tied teams
Currently, Georgia has wins over Tennessee (44-41 in overtime on Sept. 13), Kentucky (35-14), Auburn (20-10), Ole Miss (43-35), Florida (24-20), and Mississippi State (41-21). Their remaining SEC game is November 22nd against Charlotte and November 28th against Georgia Tech.
Georgia’s schedule to date includes:
* Saturday,Aug. 30: No. 4 Georgia 45, Marshall 7
* Saturday, Sept. 6: No. 3 Georgia 28, Austin Peay 6
* Saturday, Sept. 13: No. 3 Georgia 44, No. 15 Tennessee 41 (OT)
* Saturday, Sept. 20: BYE
* Saturday, Sept. 27: No. 16 Alabama 24, No. 3 Georgia 21
* Saturday, Oct. 4: No. 10 Georgia 35, Kentucky 14
* Saturday, Oct.11: No.9 georgia 20, Auburn 10
* Saturday, Oct. 18: No. 7 Georgia 43, no. 5 Ole Miss 35
* Saturday, Oct.25: BYE
* Saturday, Nov. 1: No. 5 Georgia 24, Florida 20
* Saturday, Nov. 8: No. 5 Georgia 41, Mississippi State 21
* saturday, Nov.15: vs. No. 5 Georgia 35,No.10 Texas 10
* Saturday, Nov. 22: vs. Charlotte | 12:45 p.m. | SEC Network
* Friday, Nov. 28: vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech | 3:30 p.m. | ABC
The Bulldogs will need to win out and hope for a Tennessee loss to secure a spot in the SEC Championship Game. If both teams finish with the same record, Georgia’s head-to-head win over Tennessee would give them the tiebreaker advantage. However, any further complications will require a deep dive into the SEC’s tiebreaking procedures.
