Georgia coach Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs entered their bye week with the knowledge they've already done a lot of the heavy lifting for the 2021 season.
The Bulldogs are the nation's consensus No. 1 team, riding a stingy defense that has allowed a Division I-best 6.6 points per game to a 7-0 record that includes victories over four teams that were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at the time.
The season's initial College Football Playoff rankings will be released Nov. 2, and Georgia is a lock to be atop that list if it defeats Florida on Oct. 30 in Jacksonville. Smart, however, isn't thinking that far ahead — and especially not as far as any playoff scenarios at the end of the season.
"It doesn't get mentioned much," Smart said of his team's No. 1 ranking, during his weekly video news conference. "… What are our threats? Complacency. Good being the enemy of great is something we talk about a lot. We don't want those things to affect us."
Still, a quick glance at the Bulldogs' remaining schedule shows a clear path to Atlanta for the SEC championship game. Their three remaining SEC opponents — Florida, Missouri and Tennessee — are a combined 11-10. If Georgia enters the SEC title game undefeated, it will have a solid chance of making the playoff even if it lost that game.
Georgia might not be the only SEC team to make the playoff. Defending national champion Alabama (6-1) could get there if it runs the table and wins the SEC title game. One-loss Ole Miss and Kentucky are on the wrong end of tiebreakers vs. Alabama and Georgia, respectively.
What about Cincinnati?
When the first playoff rankings are released, the most intriguing question will be where the committee slots Cincinnati. The second-ranked Bearcats (6-0) own a 38-24 victory over Indiana and a 24-13 win at then-No. 9 Notre Dame, but their schedule the rest of the way features only one ranked team, No. 21 SMU. Will that schedule be hefty enough for a Group of Five team to earn its first playoff berth?
