The Georgia Builldogs are ranked No. 5 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, which were released Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. Aside from Georgia, the SEC has four other teams in the playoff.
An undefeated Oregon holding steady at No. 1, a position it has maintained throughout the initial year of the expanded 12-team field.
Georgia’s 2024 schedule, which was stacked with ranked teams, held the Athens squad get a good seeding.
As the last remaining undefeated team in the FBS, the Ducks are aiming for their second playoff appearance overall — their first since the four-team field was introduced after the 2014 season — heading into conference championship weekend.
Historically, seven of the 10 teams ranked No. 1 in the initial CFP Rankings during the four-team era have gone on to make the playoff, with Mississippi State (2014), Tennessee (2022), and Ohio State (2023) being the exceptions.
With eight additional spots available in the expanded field this season, Oregon sits in a strong position at 11-0 as the only undefeated team in the country.
Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Georgia round out the top five, with Georgia moving up to No. 5 after Ohio State’s loss to Michigan last Saturday, although the Buckeyes remain in the projected 12-team field.
The rankings have already upset college fanbases across the country, especially in South Carolina, which rode a six-game win streak until the schedule concluded.
ESPN commentator Booger McFarland remarked that the selection process was far from perfect.
“I think that’s gonna be a slippery slope as these playoffs continue to develop. … Miami is 10-2, Alabama is 9-3 … we better be careful as far as that’s concerned when these strength of schedules are imbalanced,” he said.
In the race for the final playoff spots among the three-loss SEC teams and Miami, Alabama currently holds the top spot, ahead of the Hurricanes, Ole Miss, and South Carolina.