Joel Klatt predicts Georgia's College Football Playoff fate
Joel Klatt believes that Georgia will be the No. 5 seed in the playoff, losing to Texas in the SEC championship. He projects that the Bulldogs will against the No. 12 Boise State Broncos, who win the Mountain West and earn the Group of Five playoff spot.
Klatt has the Bulldogs winning over the Boise State Broncos at Sanford Stadium on their way to the quarterfinal against No. 4 Ohio State, who has a first-round bye. It was a tough decision for Klatt to make.
"I can't wrap my head around Georgia," Klatt said on his show. "I think that Ohio State, at that point, will have their quarterback figured out. I think (Matt) Patricia will have the defense figured out. I think that they've got the two best players in the sport, with Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. This is a tight game, this is a coin-flip game, but I'm going to go with the Buckeyes over the Bulldogs in getting to the semifinal."
In this scenario, Ohio State would advance to play Big Ten champion Penn State in the semifinal.
It would be an interesting rematch of the Peach Bowl that happened on New Year's Eve in 2022. Ohio State built a 38-24 lead by the beginning of the fourth quarter, but Georgia and quarterback Stetson Bennett took a 42-41 lead with less than a minute left to go. Ohio State still had enough time to get into field goal range, but the 50-yard kick by Noah Ruggles sailed left by the time the 2023 year started.
Georgia's hoping the same would happen if they faced Ohio State in the playoff this season. Klatt has Ohio State advancing to the national championship, but falling to the Clemson Tigers.
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