ATHENS — Georgia had a 93-percent chance of making the College Football Playoffs, per ESPN, at kick-off time of its game with Georgia Tech.
The No. 7-ranked Bulldogs look to hold off a determined Yellow Jackets team that upset previously undefeated ACC favorite Miami earlier this season.
The Bulldogs knew when the game started all they need to do to clinch a CFP spot is win in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 7 against the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 3 Texas at No. 20 Texas A&M.
ESPN projects that with a win over the Yellow Jackets, Georgia will have a 97 percent chance of making the CFP field even if it loses in the SEC Championship Game.
The Bulldogs clinched a spot to play in the 4 p.m. game on Dec. 7 against the winner of the Texas at Texas A&M game.
Losses to Georgia Tech and in the SEC title game would drop Georgia’s playoff chances to just 17 percent.
The Longhorns, playing the Aggies for the first time since 2011, have a 97 percent chance of making the CFP Field of 12.
Tennessee, ranked No. 8 and finishing its season at Vanderbilt on Saturday, has a 77 percent chance to make the field.
ESPN projected No. 13 Alabama as having a 22-percent chance of slipping into the field and No. 15 South Carolina to have a 17 percent chance,
The Crimson Tide plays host to Auburn on Saturday, while South Carolina finishes its season playing at Clemson on Saturday.
Ole Miss, ranked No. 14, capped its season earlier in the afternoon with a come-from-behind 26-14 win over its in-state rival, Mississippi State, in a game played with temperatures in the 30s.
It was 41 degrees at Sanford Stadium with a 9 mph wind when Georgia kicked off to Georgia Tech as a 17-point favorite.