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You know it鈥檚 been a crazy college football season when mighty Georgia was staring at the prospect of missing the expanded College Football Playoff bracket.

After suffering a thorough 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs plunged from No. 3 to No. 12 in the CFP rankings. That prompted Georgia coach Kirby Smart to tee off on the CFP selection committee.

鈥淚 don't know what they're looking for. I really don't,鈥� Smart said. 鈥淚 wish they could really define the criteria. I wish they could do the eyeball test where they come down here and look at the people we're playing against and look at them. You can't see that stuff on TV, and so I don't know what they look for. But that's for somebody else to decide. I'm worried about our team.鈥�

Earlier this season Georgia earned quality wins over Clemson, 34-3, and Texas, 30-15. And the Bulldogs鈥� losses came on the road in the SEC, 41-31 at Alabama and at Ole Miss.

This is the SEC, where it鈥檚 just more mean.

鈥淭hey're not in that environment,鈥� Smart said of selection committee members. 鈥淭hey're not at Ole Miss in that environment, playing against that defense, which is top five in the country with one of the best pass rushers in the country, and they're fired up. They got a two-score lead, and they're coming every play. They don't know. They don't understand that.鈥�

And . . .

鈥淚t's just the tale of each week, and we're trying to be the cumulative, whole, really good quality team and not be on this emotional roller coaster that's controlled by people in a room somewhere that may not understand football like we do as coaches," Smart said. "We as coaches, look at people and say, 'What can we do better? How do we get better?' I respect their decision. I respect their opinion. But I mean, it's different in our league.鈥�

Georgia figures to climb higher in this week鈥檚 CFP rankings after rallying for a 31-17 victory over Tennessee. The Bulldogs close out their season with an easy game against UMass and manageable game against Georgia Tech.

Writing for ESPN, Mark Schlabach summed up the Bulldogs鈥� scenario:

Georgia coach Kirby Smart wasn't happy that his team would have been the first team left out of the 12-team bracket based on last week's rankings from the selection committee. He probably doesn't have to worry about that now, as long as the Bulldogs take care of UMass and rival Georgia Tech in their last two games at home. Barring complete chaos in the final two weeks of the regular season, Georgia won't reach the SEC championship game, which might not be a bad thing for a banged-up team. I have the Bulldogs as the No. 10 seed right now, but they'll conceivably move up if Ohio State takes down Indiana and Texas A&M beats Texas the next two weeks. In my current bracket, which is sure to change, I had No. 10 Georgia and No. 11 Notre Dame advancing to the semifinals.

THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES

Here is what folks are writing about college football:

Chris Hummer, 247 Sports: 鈥淟et's start with this: Nobody in college football this season is unbeatable. It's obvious through 12 weeks. Sure, Oregon and Indiana remain unscathed. But the Ducks' last-second win Saturday night at Wisconsin shows that that even the nation's No. 1 team is vulnerable. That's just the kind of season this is in college football. There are many good teams but no elite ones. Everyone is going to lose at some point. Go ahead and mark that prediction down in pen. Throw in the looming introduction of the 12-team College Football Playoff, and more than half-a-dozen programs have a legitimate chance to win a national championship.鈥�

Dennis Dodd, : “Tuesday's CFP rankings will reveal that Georgia is somewhere back in the playoff hunt. The Dawgs (8-2, 6-2 SEC) are also one of four SEC teams currently with two conference losses. Either Texas or Texas A&M is also guaranteed to suffer at least a second conference loss when they meet Thanksgiving week. Is the SEC the new Big 12 or the old Pac-12, where there are/were few dominant teams? Example: Georgia now has the tiebreaker over Tennessee in the SEC standings but not Alabama or Ole Miss.

Chris Wright, Saturday Down South: 鈥淢izzou wasn鈥檛 in the Playoff hunt, of course, but for those still playing along, South Carolina removed all doubt Saturday, rallying for a thrilling 34-30 win to hand Mizzou its third loss. There has been a growing buzz about whether a 9-3 Gamecocks team could sneak in as the final at-large Playoff team. Well, the Gamecocks are 7-3 now with in-state games against Wofford and Clemson remaining. Unless Notre Dame loses again 鈥� thus opening another at-large bid 鈥� it鈥檚 almost impossible to imagine any viable Playoff path for the Gamecocks. That鈥檚 a shame, too, considering the Gamecocks are legitimately 2 stops (and a couple of horrendous calls) from being 9-1 inside the top 10 of the Playoff ranking. Wonder if the committee takes botched calls into account? Either way, take a bow, Shane Beamer.鈥�

Bill Connelly, : “The SEC has five two-loss teams, but it appears only four of them are heavily involved in the CFP conversation: Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Ole Miss. A&M was just 15th in last week's CFP rankings, hanging around but in need of a few breaks. The Aggies play Texas in two weeks in what could be an SEC championship elimination game. If they win out, they're in. SP+ gives them only a 19% chance of beating both Auburn and Texas, however, and they'd likely be underdogs in the SEC championship game as well. Their margin for error is gone. And the main reason for that is their 44-20 blowout loss to a South Carolina squad that started 3-3 but has been one of the best teams in the country since. Play the Gamecocks in September, and the Aggies are probably 9-1 right now.”

Andy Staples, : “The Rebels are playing as well as anyone, and their win against Georgia — particularly the way they won the game — likely will stick with committee members. They just have to make sure they don’t trip up in Gainesville this week. It looks like the Ole Miss team that lost to Kentucky is a relic of the past, but the Rebels will need to prove that against Florida and Mississippi State.”

Kyle Bonagura, : “The most interesting reveal in the CFP committee's next rankings Tuesday night will be what it does with Tennessee. Losing to Georgia might have effectively eliminated the Volunteers from the playoff, but so long as they are one of the five SEC teams with two losses, nothing is certain. For now, it looks like they will drop behind Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia, but with a win against Alabama, there is a case to minimize the drop. Another thing to keep an eye on: Where does Boise State land in relation to the ACC and Big 12 teams, especially after BYU lost? The Broncos were ranked ahead of SMU and Colorado last week, which points to the possibility they could even land the No. 3 seed when all the dust settles.”

Dan Wolken, USA Today: 鈥淭he entire theory of Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for the Bayou three years ago was that he didn't believe the Irish could win a national championship in this era of college football. 鈥業 loved my time at Notre Dame,鈥� Kelly told the Associated Press in 2022. 鈥榃e were on different paths and that's fine.鈥� What he meant was that after reaching the College Football Playoff a couple times only to get blown out by Clemson and Alabama, he felt like he'd maxed out at Notre Dame and wanted to see if he could reach the Holy Grail at a place without some of the stuffy restrictions around collegiate and academic life that Notre Dame clings to in this era of college football professionalization. Also, LSU is just a flat-out great job where its last three coaches had all won national championships - even Ed Orgeron. It鈥檚 hard to screw up LSU. And yet, here we are. In Kelly's third season, he鈥檚 6-4 after a 27-16 loss at Florida. There鈥檚 no way to spin this. It鈥檚 a stunning, resounding dud of a year. Meanwhile, Notre Dame is likely to cruise into the playoff under Marcus Freeman. Maybe life in South Bend wasn't so bad after all.聽 But this isn't about Notre Dame. It鈥檚 about Kelly being an awkward fit at LSU and not winning nearly enough, yet having no obvious exit ramp and more than $60 million guaranteed on his contract. They are seemingly stuck with each other long past the honeymoon phase, and the way LSU has collapsed over the last three games without showing much fight suggests the problems are deeper than X's and O鈥檚. Whether Kelly still has command of that locker room is now a front-and-center issue that will define whether LSU can find its way back to contention or is stuck with the sunk cost of a splashy coaching hire that looks more like a mistake every week.鈥澛�

MEGAPHONE

鈥淚鈥檝e been very consistent, even with some of the dumbest questions in the world 鈥� no offense 鈥� about our quarterback, because we see him every day. He gets judged on outcomes and stats, but we don鈥檛 judge based on that. We judge based internally on what gives us the best chance to win. And I鈥檓 never going to falter over what I see with my eyes, and what I see with my eyes is a guy that鈥檚 really good in the pocket 鈥� he鈥檚 got poise, he鈥檚 got composure, he puts us in the right play over and over again, and he makes good decisions.鈥�

Kirby Smart, standing up for beleaguered Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck.