College Football Playoff Bubble Watch: Could Georgia be tripped up by brutal schedule?

Georgia looked like the best team in the country most of last season. But the College Football Playoff came and went without Kirby Smart's Dawgs because they had to face an elite Alabama team in the SEC title game, and the upset win for Nick Saban's team ended up keeping Georgia out.

Could Georgia, a supposed sure thing to crack the expanded 12-team bracket, fall victim to a brutal schedule in a supersized conference and miss the Playoff again? It's more possible than it sounds after the Bulldogs lost on the road Saturday at Alabama.

Georgia rallied from a 28-0 hole to take the lead before Ryan Williams' spectacular catch-and-run allowed Alabama to reclaim the lead and secure Kalen DeBoer's first big win as Crimson Tide coach.

The Bulldogs might have an even tougher game next month when they travel to face Texas, a team that beat Alabama last season in Tuscaloosa, made the Playoff last year and already routed Michigan earlier this year in Ann Arbor.

Three weeks later, they have another tough road trip to face a loaded Ole Miss roster in Oxford with Playoff hopes of its own, despite a shocking loss Saturday to Kentucky. And a week later they'll host Tennessee , which looks as good as any team in the country.

Bigger conferences after the latest wave of realignment mean conference schedules are tougher. Among national title contenders this year, no one has a tougher conference schedule than Georgia, which is rather inexplicable in the first year of the SEC's 16-team configuration with Texas and Oklahoma . All together, the Bulldogs face three opponents ranked in the current top AP top five, plus No. 12 Ole Miss .

It's still easy enough to assume Georgia can or will win all of its remaining games, considering the Dawgs return quarterback Carson Beck at a program that hasn't finished the season lower than No. 7 in the AP poll in the past seven seasons.

But Georgia also got bullied by Alabama for a half before it came alive and didn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter in a 13-12 win against Kentucky earlier this month.

So, let's say Georgia, which opened with a quality win over Clemson , navigates the rest of its schedule and avoids landing on the wrong side of a shocking upset.

It's not unthinkable that Georgia goes 1-2 at Texas, at Ole Miss and home against Tennessee and is sitting at 9-3, likely with just two Top 25 wins on its resume: Clemson and whichever team it beats in that stretch.

Despite having a team ranked No. 2 in 247Sports Team Talent composite and despite possibly having one of the five best teams in the sport, that resume would be unlikely to make the Playoff. It's hard to picture because Georgia hasn't lost three regular-season games since Smart's first season and has lost three only once since after a Sugar Bowl loss to Texas.

Not everyone can enjoy the same spoils of scheduling that teams like Notre Dame or this year, Missouri, enjoy. And it might cost the SEC a chance to send one of its best teams to the Playoff, even as it expands from four teams to 12.

Each week, Bubble Watch will examine who's in, who's out and who's somewhere in the middle leading up to the first 12-team College Football Playoff. It's a realistic snapshot of the field, not a projection. The five highest-ranked conference champions will get an automatic Playoff berth. Find Austin Mock's model's bracket projections here .

Miami 's Playoff stock looked in serious peril until the replay officials overturned a Hail Mary against Virginia Tech . And with the escape, each week it's more likely preseason favorites Miami and Clemson will meet in the title game with only Playoff seeding on the line. Will either stumble and open an opportunity for someone else to sneak into Charlotte, N.C.?

Louisville lost at Notre Dame but still doesn't have a conference loss; and Duke is undefeated with three wins by one score over UConn , Northwestern and North Carolina. It's not exactly a murderer's row, but the Blue Devils still control their fate.

Big Ten

Ohio State , Oregon and Penn State were easy picks to be among the Big Ten's final undefeated teams.

But what about Rutgers and Indiana ? Both are forcing onlookers to sit up and notice. Indiana's win over Maryland is its best of the season, but the Hoosiers have been dominant and have an offense that ranks in the top 10 nationally.

Greg Schiano is leaning on running back Kyle Monangai — now with 589 yards and six scores in four games — and Rutgers has wins over Washington and at Virginia Tech to bludgeon their way into Bubble Watch.

The league's top three teams all look Playoff-worthy but can any pack the bracket behind them?

Big 12

Utah 's loss to Arizona further complicates an already wide-open race for the Big 12's Playoff bid. Utes quarterback Cam Rising should, in theory, return at some point from a finger injury, and Utah may still be the favorite.

But the loss also installs undefeated Iowa State as the clubhouse leader after the Cyclones shut out Houston. K-State's offense bounced back and sent Oklahoma State tumbling down the standings at 0-2 despite a 3-0 start. Colorado , BYU and Texas Tech are sitting atop the conference standings at 2-0 and have played their way into consideration after modest preseason expectations. BYU has been the most compelling of that group after routing Kansas State and hanging on to beat Baylor on the road after racing to a 21-0 lead.

What if we get a Holy War in Arlington with a Playoff spot and conference title on the line? Is the world ready for something like that?

Ole Miss' home loss out of nowhere to an uneven Kentucky team was brutal, but the Rebels still have a favorable schedule, with a road trip to LSU and home games against Oklahoma and Georgia as their toughest matchups remaining. If the Rebels can hang on and get to Selection Sunday at 10-2, they'll likely still crack the field, though the odds are steeper.

Alabama and Georgia are still both making the field if the season ended today, but Georgia's road ahead is much more difficult, and Texas may be a big roadblock to getting to Atlanta.

Oklahoma has to be the least respected 4-1 team in the country, but rallied to beat Auburn on The Plains and stayed in the Playoff conversation ahead of Red River in two weeks. Texas A&M was discarded in the scrap heap after losing to Notre Dame, but the Aggies have some juice with Marcel Reed at quarterback and got their best win of the season Saturday against Arkansas . South Carolina will play its way in or out of serious contention next week when it hosts Ole Miss.

Group of 5

UNLV quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams made sure the Rebels didn't miss a step without Matthew Sluka , who left the team last week over a dispute over NIL money. Williams, a transfer from Campbell, might be even better after throwing for three scores on 13-of-16 passing and adding 119 yards and a score on the ground.

Boise State all but ended Wazzu's Playoff hopes but the quality win bolsters its own. The Broncos aren't far behind the Rebels for the Group of 5 bid. North Carolina 's loss to Duke hurts James Madison's resume, too. And Army and Navy are both 4-0 for the first time since 1945.

UNLV and Boise will face off on Oct. 25 and might play again in the MWC title game.

The Irish offense looks much improved, and Marcus Freeman's defense held off a late Louisville rally as Notre Dame notched its second Top 25 win of the season and continues to play well after the shocking loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2.

(Photo of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck: Kevin C. Cox / )