Joel Klatt: ‘Georgia is playing for their life this weekend’

Georgia could very well play for their playoff lives this weekend, according to Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt.

Now at 7-2, Georgia has two losses in the SEC and a third one in conference or overall could eliminate the Bulldogs from playoff contention. Playing Tennessee? It could be an elimination game entirely.

Tennessee only has one loss, but you just never know how the rankings will shake out.

“Georgia’s playing for their life this weekend,” Klatt said on his podcast. “They’re 7-2, their best win is obvious. It’s on the road against No. 3 Texas. That’s a great win. They beat Clemson in the neutral site game to open the year. Their strength of schedule is number one in the country.

“The fact that they’ve had to play all of those teams in the SEC above them and still have one to go, they’ve had to play Texas, they’ve had to play Alabama, they’ve had to play Ole Miss, and now they have to play Tennessee. It’s wild. They’re going to have to go play those teams, all on the road, except for Tennessee.” 

Georgia was revealed as the first team out in the latest College Football Playoff projections, despite being ranked No. 12. With the way the seedings work, the reshuffling caused the Bulldogs to be on the outside looking in.

“We knew this before the year, but now that it’s played out, that is wild,” Klatt said. “Now, I think that they’re playing for their lives pending some craziness that happens. There is a scenario where Georgia at 9-3 could still get in. I think that they’re the only ones, though, because of that schedule, other teams are not going to have that opportunity. If you were to ask me, ‘What am I more confident in? A 10-2 SEC team not making it, or Georgia as a 9-3 team being able to be in the playoff?’ I would say I’m more confident that there’s going to be a 10-2 SEC team that is not in the College Football Playoff, that’s my gut right now.” 

So while Georgia is fighting for their lives, Tennessee is going to do the same. The rankings could tell a totally different story by next week.

“The way that these rankings have come out, this is not a good situation for Tennessee, because anytime that Kirby Smart can use this, like us against the world mentality, nobody believes in us mentality, he’s going to use that,” Klatt said. “And that’s when his team plays their best. We’ve seen that time and time again. He used it in the game at Texas. That’s easily their best performance of the year, most complete performance of the year. 

“Do I still have concerns about their offense? Yes, I am very concerned about their offense in particular facing that Tennessee defense, which is an incredible defense, maybe the best in their conference, but George’s placement right there at 12 that one jumped out to me.”

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