As has been the case in every College Football Playoff rankings, Georgia came in at No. 1. The Bulldogs cruised to a 45-0 win over rival Georgia Tech.

The win completed an unbeaten regular season for Georgia, with the Bulldogs winning their final 11 games all by at least 17 points.

Georgia does have another game before the final College Football Playoff rankings, as the Bulldogs take on No. 3 Alabama in the SEC championship game this week.

The Crimson Tide have struggled of late, needing four overtimes to beat Auburn this past weekend. The poor run of form has Alabama in danger of missing the College Football Playoff in the event of a loss. Michigan moved up to No. 2, while Cincinnati sits at No. 4. Notre Dame is in the clubhouse at 11-1 and sits at No. 6 and No. 5 Oklahoma State has a game against No. 8 Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game this weekend.

Factor in the losses by Ohio State and Oklahoma, and Georgia may not need a win in the final weekend to beat the Crimson Tide in the final week of the season to clinch a playoff berth.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart though does not want to hear any of that. He knows that both winning the SEC and beating Alabama would mean a lot to the Georgia program.

“I don’t see that has anything to do with anything,” Smart said. “I’ve said all my career that to win SEC championships is almost just as hard, because the years I spent at Alabama you could say that winning the SEC Championship was just as hard as trying to win a National Championship, and it’s one of our goals.

“We want to put it on this wall in here, and to do that, you’ve got to win the SEC. That’s what we’re focused on.”

Smart is 0-3 as a head coach against Alabama, with one of those losses coming in the 2018 SEC Championship game.

Alabama has only missed the College Football Playoff once since its inception, coming in 2019. Alabama also hasn’t lost to Georgia since the 2007 season.

Georgia and Alabama are set to play at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Atlanta. CBS will broadcast the game. For the full College Football Playoff rankings see below.

College Football Playoff rankings Week 14

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