Last Week’s Record: 9-1 (90.0%)
Season Record: 99-29 (77.3%)
The Predictions Dept. saved some of its best for last, going 9-1 on Rivalry Week, missing only the Clemson-South Carolina result. This week, it’s the SEC Championship Game, although in light of the new playoff structure, there is a question as to how important this game really still is, or at least how interesting it might be.
TEXAS vs. GEORGIA (at Atlanta, Ga.)
On top of everything else that might affect interest in this game, we get a rematch of the Oct. 19 matchup between these two teams, when Georgia went into Austin and beat Texas 30-15, a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. That day, Georgia looked like a team from a completely different division of play than did the Longhorns, but two weeks later, the Bulldogs would get smacked around by a good-but-not-great Ole Miss team.
Texas is playing more consistent football right now, but the same issues (i.e., primarily relating to physicality) that gave the Longhorns trouble with Georgia the first time around still exist. Texas also finds itself with a bit of a quarterback controversy going on and it’s one thing to manage such a thing against Florida or Kentucky; it’s another entirely to manage it in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia. The Texas offense also stumbled a bit down the stretch, although the defense found its legs.
As for what’s at stake, it’s basically a title and a trophy. Both teams will make the College Football Playoff regardless of the result, and nothing that happens this week will have any impact on the CFP outside of initial seeding. Until we can believe Texas is a better matchup for what Georgia does physically, we’re taking the Bulldogs.
Georgia 27
Texas 17
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN