ATHENS — Georgia football will cap its season against an undefeated and determined Cincinnati team in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

The No. 9-ranked Bulldogs (7-2) and the No. 8-ranked Bearcats (9-0) will kick off at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit indicated he felt Georgia was playing about as well as anyone during the CFP Selection Show on Sunday.

“If you want to just put teams right now at the end of the season on the field right now that you don’t want to play?” Herbstreit said. “I don’t know about you guys, but Georgia right now with JT Daniels, and Oklahoma.”

Indeed, Georgia is averaging more than 41 points and nearly 500 yards of offense per game since Daniels took over as its starting quarterback.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, sealed the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six Bowl bid on Saturday night by defeating Tulsa in the AAC Championship Game, 27-24, completing its first-ever undefeated campaign.

The Bearcats are one of only two teams in the country to rank in the Top 20 in scoring, total offense, and total defense — Clemson is the other.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco made the case Cincinnati’s undefeated record makes for a case the Bearcats should be in the CFP.

The AAC has had teams go 2-2 in New Year’s Six Bowl matchups, including UCF’s 34-27 win over Auburn in the 2018 Peach Bowl.

No doubt, the Bearcats will be looking to change the college football narrative by kicking off a Bulldogs’ team that’s expected to be missing some opted-out players.

Defensive players Richard LeCounte, Eric Stokes, Monty Rice, DJ Daniel and Mark Webb are not expected to play in the bowl game, per UGASports.com, and outside linebacker Jermaine Johnson is in the transfer portal.

Georgia offensive players Ben Cleveland and Tre’ McKitty are also expected to opt out of the postseason game.