CFP provides Georgia added incentive to score decisive win over Georgia Tech

ATHENS — Georgia’s College Football Playoff resume is not complete, and the Bulldogs aren’t the only team applying for optimal positioning in the 12-team field.

“Texas Tech is a really good team,” CFP chairman Hunter Yurachek said of the Red Raiders team sitting at No. 5, one spot behind Georgia.

“You look at their margin of victory, leads the country at 33.8. They have 10 wins of 20-plus points. They are in the top 5 in relative scoring offense and relative scoring defense.”

The top four teams in the CFP Rankings will earn first-round byes and not have to play until the quarterfinals, on Dec. 31 (Cotton Bowl) or Jan. 1 (Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl).

It’s possible that UGA could finish in the top four of the rankings without playing in the SEC championship game — Georgia needs either Texas A&M to lose at Texas, or Alabama to lose at Auburn, in order to play on Dec. 6 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium to defend its league title.

Kirby Smart is focused on playing in Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 3:30 p.m. this Friday, however, and he didn’t need any added motivation to want to pile up points on Georgia Tech.

After all, the Yellow Jackets nearly came back after falling behind 28-0 last week and might have had Haynes King not thrown a 100-yard Pick-6 against Pitt.

Then, last season, Georgia had to come from 17-0 down at halftime and 27-13 with 5 1/2 minutes left to send the game overtime, where it took eight extra periods for the Bulldogs to win 44-42.

That sort of close win would not look as good to the committee as a two-touchdown win — which Georgia is favored to win by — when the teams are measured side-by-side.

Texas Tech, which plays West Virginia and is projected to play No. 11 BYU in the Big 12 title game, isn’t the only one-loss team the Bulldogs are measured against.

“(Red Raiders) are a really strong team, as are Georgia and Ole Miss and Oregon, the one-loss teams right there,” Yurachek said. “We talk about all four of those teams at great length and great depth, each and every week, four really good one-loss teams grouped there together.”

The committee has noted some positives about the Bulldogs, as well.

“You look at Georgia, they have got some impressive wins over Tennessee, Ole Miss and Texas,” said Yurachek, who is also the athletic director at Arkansas.

“And then you look at on both sides of the ball; they are really strong, obviously, defensively, and I think that quarterback is really coming into their own,” he said. “Their relative scoring offense is in the top 25 in the country. Their relative scoring defense is in the top 10.

“They have been very consistent on both sides of the ball and found ways to win those close games.”