No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs secure spot in SEC championship game

A wild day in the SEC provided only one postseason guarantee: Georgia is headed back to the league championship for a fourth consecutive season.

The league confirmed Georgia’s spot in the championship game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta shortly after No. 15 Texas A&M’s 43-41 loss to Auburn in four overtimes. The Aggies were one of three top-15 SEC teams to lose to unranked foes on the road Saturday when No. 7 at Alabama lost 24-3 at Oklahoma and no. 9 Ole Miss fell at Florida 24-17.

No. 10 Georgia will face the winner of next week’s game between No. 3 Texas and Texas A&M in College Station. The Longhorns and Aggies haven’t met since 2011, when they were both members of the Big 12. Texas beat Kentucky 31-14 on Saturday and remains the only one-loss team in the SEC.

Georgia, which has lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss on the road, but owns wins against Texas and No. 11 Tennessee, beat UMass 59-21 Saturday at Sanford Stadium.

The Crimson Tide entered Saturday needing to beat Oklahoma and then Auburn and for Missouri to win once to punch their ticket to Atlanta.

Georgia lost to Alabama in the 2023 SEC title game, costing it a spot in the final four-team College Football Playoff.

Asked about Georgia’s path to the SEC title game after the UMass game, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said he was thinking solely about next week’s regular-season finale against visiting Georgia Tech.

Georgia won the SEC title game in 2017 and 2022, while falling in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.