Does College Football Playoff’s final spot come down to Oklahoma and Georgia?

By Blair Kerkhoff

Updated December 2, 2018 12:44 PM

Teams with designs on the College Football Playoff made their statements Saturday, and so did the coaches.

“We definitely have one of the four best football teams in the country,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.

The Bulldogs led top-ranked Alabama for much of the SEC title game before falling 35-28.

That was a few hours after Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley had his say.

“I think (the selection committee) saw one of the best teams in the country,” said Riley, after the Sooners defeated Texas 39-27 for the Big 12 Championship.

Finally, after Ohio State defeated Northwestern 45-28 for the Big Ten title, Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer weighed in. “I think we deserve a shot,” he said.

With Sunday’s bracket announcement, the final College Football Playoff spot figures to come down to Georgia, Oklahoma or Ohio State, teams ranked fourth, fifth and sixth heading into the weekend.

With the top three ranked teams—Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame—winning or not playing and seemingly locked in, Georgia may have played itself off the bracket.

The Bulldogs were terrific most of the day, but fell to 11-2. The Sooners and Buckeyes stand 12-1.

My prediction: Oklahoma will be in the College Football Playoff. The better record and the Sooners’ avenging their regular-season loss will be the arguments that carry the day.