Why Georgia will win the CFP National Championship.
By Tony Barnhart
Georgia Bulldogs had been beat upside the head with numbers
before they took the field on Dec. 6 in Atlanta to play Alabama in
the SEC championship game.
But here was the big one, the one which sent Alabama fans
racing to find their bookies as kickoff drew near: For all of his
success in 10 seasons at Georgia, which included national
championships in 2021 and 2022, head coach Kirby Smart was 1-
7 against the Crimson Tide.
“Means nothing,” Smart said before the game. “This is a different
team.”
It should also be pointed out that all but one of Smart’s seven
losses to Alabama were to Nick Saban, his mentor and the
greatest college football coach of all time.
Smart’s only win against Saban came in the CFP National
Championship Game in 2022. It marked the second time that
Smart and Saban had met with the national championship on the
line. Saban won that one 26-23 Jan. 6, 2018 in Atlanta.
It was Smart’s second season as the head coach at Georgia, his
alma mater where he was an All-SEC safety and academic All-
SEC.
“I just want to say this,” Smart said in his post-game news
conference in Atlanta. “This is not the end. It is just the
beginning.”
He spoke the truth.
With Saban now gone as the gold standard of college football,
Smart has not missed a beat in asserting his role of the game’s
best coach. Going into the 2025 College Football Playoffs Smart
has won 117 games (11.7 average) with four SEC championships
and two national championships ( 2021, 2022).
Early on Smart did it with a roster full of NFL Draft choices. He
was Saban’s most relentless recruiter and that momentum
carried over when he became head coach at Georgia.
But from a coaching standpoint I would argue that this season has
been his best as a head coach. When the season started, 54
percent of Smart’s roster was made up of first-year or second-
year players. There were questions everywhere.
Quarterback was a big question mark. Gunner Stockton took over
in the SEC championship game the previous December when
starter Carson Beck was hurt. Beck would then leave Georgia for
Miami, where he signed a $4 million NIL deal.
But as spring practice began the Georgia faithful didn’t know if
Stockton would be an asset or a liability.
And when Georgia lost at home to Alabama (24-21) in Athens on
Sept. 27 the Bulldogs looked like a good, but not a great team,
that would struggle against quality competition.
But, as one person close to the program told me: “We’re going to
be fine. These kids are not going to let him (Stockton) fail.”
From that point on, Georgia had an identity. Like the glory days
with Saban, Georga would pound the ball relentlessly and give
Stockton the freedom to make plays with his arm and his legs.
And when the fourth quarter arrived as was the case in a 43-35
win over Ole Miss on Oct. 18 in Athens, Georgia would put the
game away with a long, bone-crunching drive against an
exhausted defense.
“We are hard to kill,” said Smart.
One other thing: Georgia’s defense again has a nasty streak.
They are second in the SEC to Oklahoma in points allowed (207),
When the rematch with Alabama arrived in the SEC
championship game on Dec. 6, Georgia was a very different
football team. Georgia won 28-7 and the game wasn’t that close.
It was one of most dominating performances against a quality
opponent in Smart’s time at Georgia.
Now Georgia returns to the playoffs, where the Bulldogs will play
the winner of the first-round game between Ole Miss and Tulane
in Oxford.
And given what we have seen lately from Georgia, the path to the
national championship in Miami looks favorable.
Should Georgia play Ole Miss in the quarterfinals, the Bulldogs
would face a team without its head coach (Lane Kiffin) who has
moved on to LSU. The Rebels would be coached by Pete Golding
who was elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach.
Charlie Weis, Jr., the Ole Miss offensive coordinator, will work the
playoffs with the Rebels and then return to LSU.
If Georgia wins the quarterfinal game in the Sugar Bowl they will
play a semifinal game in the Fiesta Bowl, against either Miami, Fla, Texas A&M or Ohio State. A win there and
Georgia is playing in Miami for another national championship.
Bottom line: Aside from the two national championships, Smart
has this season fielded his most complete team since he got to
Georgia in 2016.
Smart, as we said, has had more talented teams than the one
which enters the playoffs. But this team has the “It” factor. If
Stockton stays healthy, I see the Bulldogs beating Indiana for the
national championship.
And from.......
By Mark Blaudschun
Why Texas Tech will win the CFP National Championship.
Before we address the issue of the 2025 College Football playoff bracket, we need to make one overall assessment of the job the CFP committee did.
It FAILED.
Here's why.
In a 12-team playoff field, there are always going to be discussions of the merits of all the teams included. But what must be understood is that if there is a team which has at least a 50 percent chance of winning the national championship it must be included in the field.
We understand the inclusion of two Group of 4 teams this season because of some unexpected results.
That still left six spots open.
Notre Dame was not one of them.
That was and is a mistake.
Moving on to the fun part of the season, playing Nostradomus to our good friend Mr. College Football: Tony Barnhart.
Mr. CFB has chosen Georgia as his champion.
Not a surprise from a man whose list of books includes What it Means to be a Bulldog.
And he may indeed be right. Picking against these Dawgs is risky business.
They may have the best team with an easier path in basically friendly territories.
But it's not going to happen Mr.CFB.
We think the "best team that money can buy'' axiom is again in play as it was last season when Ohio State came out of the pack and won the national championship with the highest NIL budget.
This year that honor went to Texas Tech and they are going to emerge in Miami on January 19 as the national champion.
Here's the path:
A bye in the opening round gets the Red Raiders a spot in a quarterfinal game in the Orange Bowl against the winner of the Oregon-James Madison game, which everyone assumes is going to be Oregon. We think so as well, but that game is going to be tougher than Oregon thinks. Oregon then hits the road for a tough game in Miami. Oregon is tough but Texas Tech is tougher and has the best defensive player in the country in multi-award winner Jacob Rodriguez.
Tech wins a shootout, say 28-24.
That sends the Red Raiders to the Peach Bowl semifinal where either Alabama, Oklahoma or Indiana will be waiting.
We think the Cinderella season for Indiana will get them to this game, but in Texas Tech, they will run into a gritty, highly paid Red Raider team that has its own Cinderella story to tell.
And that should put Texas Tech in the championship game in Miami against, yes, Georgia.
This will be the street fights of all street fights. Maybe a 13-10 type game for the national title.
I have learned in the past not to pick against Georgia in these type of games, but my nose says that Texas Tech is just a bit tougher.
Sorry Mr. CFB, not this year.
#30