Should Georgia or Oklahoma be in the College Football play-off?

And so, it happened. Georgia didn’t have to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game to cause bedlam….they just had to play the Crimson Tide close.

Close? The Bulldogs damned nearly beat them, ramming the ball down their throat during a first half whirling dervish. The second half was your usual tale of Alabama adjusting, Georgia being a little more conservative – an assinine 4th-and-11 call side – and Alabama have two National Championship-winning quarterbacks to use to take home a 35-28 victory.

Earlier in the day, Oklahoma had righted the wrongs of a Red River Shoot-Out by exacting revenge on Texas 39-27, and after the SEC Championship Game, Clemson took care of business against Pittsburgh to win the ACC Title Game. In Indianapolis, Ohio State started slowly but ended up completely – and predictably – dominating Northwestern, begging the question – yet again- why on earth didn’t they play like this against Purdue, Maryland and Nebraska?

Anyway, back to the Bulldogs. At the moment they sit in the No.4 seat in the College Football Play-Off, below Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame. Oklahoma and Ohio State are just below that.

Thanks to Oklahoma beating a tougher opponent, as well as exacting revenge for an earlier season loss, you can count Ohio State out. Urban Meyer’s team got it’s scarlet and grey behind given to it in Purdue, and that’s their fault. In our view, they are gone. A New Year’s Day Bowl probably won’t suffice for angsty Buckeyes fans, but there you go.

That leaves Oklahoma and the Bulldogs.

WORKING IT OUT

If you look at total record:

• Oklahoma has one loss (12-1) to Georgia’s two (11-2).
• Oklahoma has won at 13th-ranked West Virginia, and exacted revenge for its earlier-season loss to No.19 Texas by – like Georgia did in 2017 to Auburn – exacting revenge on their hated rival (ranked 14th) last night. OU has won
• Georgia beat No.9 Florida on a neutral site and No.9 Kentucky on the road (both of them are arguably overrated now after Florida was blown out at home by Missouri and Kentucky was blown out on the road by Tennessee, but lost two of its biggest games of the year in No.13 LSU and No.1 Alabama.

EDGE: Oklahoma

IN THEIR LOSSES

• Georgia lost by 20 at LSU and by 7 to Alabama. In the Alabama game they led 21-7, and missed a chip shot field goal.
• Oklahoma lost by 3 on a neutral field.

EDGE: Oklahoma

EYE TESTS

The Committee loves talking about ‘eye tests’ and teams that have really impressed.

• Oklahoma‘s offense have done just that, enabled by the most exciting player in college football in Kyler Murray (watch him, if you haven’t already). It’s a wonder mix of rush and pass, with the offensive line the best in the league. On the other hand, the defense is not. Although it’s made some exceptional plays – notably against West Virginia in Morgantown and this week against Texas – offenses have been able to run through it like a sharp knife through tender brisket.  And if you want to say one thing about the defense, they had HUGE plays at West Virginia and against Texas in back-to-back weeks – and that’s more than Georgia’s secondary managed at the end of the SEC Championship Game, against arguably a worse QB.
• Georgia’s offense is more brawny, depending on the run and ramming that down your throat and then reverting to the pass when needed. They’ve absolutely crushed teams. Jake Fromm proved that he’s evolving from game manager to outright Heisman hopeful for 2019, and the Dawgs are young. But the Bulldogs have savagely beaten pretty medicore opposition since the LSU loss, and when the big game has happened, it’s lost the second half battle, losing it 21-7. But Georgia was predestined to get blown out by Alabama, but they weren’t, were they? They were fantastic (for three quarters), before the house of red and black-coloured cards imploded.

EDGE: Georgia (because of the offense)

WHO SHOULD GET IN THE PLAY-OFF?

The SEC Championship game was so damned good that we would happily see Georgia back for the play-off game, where they are a No.4 seed and playing Alabama again. But Georgia is a two-loss team. And didn’t win its conference. And that is a fact. And they had their chance to confirm their place in the play-off. And they didn’t make it.

Oklahoma, on the other end, may not be great defensively, but it’s got a fantastic offense, won back-to-back tough games away from Norman, walked away with the Big-12 Championship, and should have the chance to play for a Championship Game play-off place.