Pot predictions: Georgia stays ahead, Tennessee hangs, UCLA replaces Clemson in college football game

Georgia won their highly anticipated showdown with Tennessee, 27-13, but while the Bulldogs finished third with the Volunteers first in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings, Dawgs’ win doesn’t change the expected final games. Georgia, a nine-point favorite on the game, was already expected to overtake Tennessee, win the SEC title and earn the top spot in the CFP with the Vols expected to take the fourth seed.

Some help will be necessary for Tennessee to slip into the CFP at 11-1. The most significant of these developments is Georgia undefeated, as it beat SEC 13-0. Any loss to Dawgs will push them down the rankings, and they are now a cap on how high volumes can run out.

Another important factor for Tennessee is Alabama, which should remain as strong as possible given that it is the best win for the Vols. That presence took a beating Saturday night as Crimson Tide lost at LSU, 32-31 in overtime. Alabama now sits 7-2 in the season and is third in the Western SEC behind LSU and the Ole Miss. Rebel Tide plays next week with a chance for second place.

Tennessee will also need help from other conferences. Ideally, the SEC would produce the only unbeaten team in Georgia. You can still succeed with Vols if there are two or even three teams that are undefeated; However, there was no Power Five team that was never undefeated from a College Football match.

Ohio State, Michigan and UCLA remain undefeated, but given that the Buckeyes and Wolverines still have to play each other, the possibility of four undefeated teams went by the wayside on Saturday night thanks to Notre Dame’s 35-14 win over Clemson. With the Tigers suffering their first defeat of the season, the ACC champion is now guaranteed at least one loss on his record.

As such, there are four new spots expected in the playoffs. Clemson withdraws with TCU to replace it. The Horned Frogs defeated Texas Tech on Saturday but has a tough period of her schedule coming up with matches at Texas and Baylor.

College Football Interval

Besides adjustments to the playoff, there may be changes to the six New Year’s predictions with both Alabama and Wake Forest losing this week. Check back Sunday morning for the full updated Jerry Palm pot forecast.