Paul Finebaum Names SEC Powerhouse With 'No Wiggle-Room' in College Football Playoff Race

The Georgia Bulldogs have been the best program in all of college football over the past few years, winning back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 before barely missing out on the College Football Playoff in 2023.

However, the start of their 2024 season hasn't gone quite as planned. Though they beat the Clemson Tigers in dominant fashion to open the year, a frustrating loss on the road to the Alabama Crimson Tide a couple of weeks later set things off course.

Now, with a game against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns on the road Saturday, No. 5 Georgia is in a position where they could be dangerously close to sitting outside of the College Football Playoff picture midway through October.

According to ESPN's Paul Finebaum, the Bulldogs have "no wiggle-room" going forward if they hope to make another championship run.

"To me, Georgia has no wiggle-room because they still have Ole Miss on the schedule later in the season," Finebaum said on "Get Up" Wednesday morning. "What really bugs me about this game for Georgia is the mystique. This is a program that owned college football for three years. They were going for a three-peat, and now they're fighting to stay in the playoff race. That's quite a fall."

With the new 12-team playoff structure, the SEC is likely to get 3-4 teams into the postseason with one automatic bid for the conference champion, and 2-3 at-large bids for other teams. At the moment, you have Texas, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss all jockeying for position in the rankings. With a second loss on their record, the Bulldogs could be pushed to the outside of the playoff picture looking in, with very little opportunity to jump back up in the rankings.

The game against Texas on Saturday night will provide a major opportunity for Georgia to get back on top of the sport, where they have been for the past several years. With a loss, however, it could start the ushering in of a different era of Bulldog football.

Related: Paul Finebaum Makes Official Pick for No. 1 Texas Longhorns vs. No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs