No. 6 Tennessee visits No. 11 Georgia with SEC and CFP implications

Two big SEC football matchups this week are headlined by Saturday's battle between No. 6 Tennessee and No. 11 Georgia.

It's one of the latest in what seems like a weekly potential elimination game for the SEC championship game and a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.

Should the Vols (8-1, 5-1 SEC; No. 7 CFP ) win at Georgia, it would be the Bulldogs’ third loss this year. Maybe a great team with three losses can still into the national championship bracket, but the Bulldogs would be much better off not testing that notion and they are currently not in the CFP bracket as it is.

Georgia (7-2, 5-2; No. 12 CFP) has had its way with Tennessee the past seven years, winning every matchup by 14 points or more. The Vols last won Between The Hedges in 2016.

Tennessee has won its past four games, including a 24-17 win over Alabama three weeks ago. Georgia returns home after more than a month away, a stretch that included a 28-10 loss at Ole Miss a week ago. The Bulldogs are 14-3 under Kirby Smart after a loss and the last time they lost two straight came in 2016.

In other ranked SEC action, No. 24 Missouri (7-2, 3-2) is at No. 23 South Carolina (6-3, 4-3).

South Carolina’s dominating defense and revived run game have sparked the recent surge with convincing wins against Oklahoma (35-9), then-No. 10 Texas A&M (44-20) and then-No. 24 Vanderbilt (28-7).

A win over Missouri, a top 10 team earlier this season, would be the first time South Carolina had beaten three straight ranked teams after losing their past eight vs. Top 25 opponents.

Four SEC teams will host games against non-conference opponents they are favored to beat handily this week. Those include Auburn against Louisiana-Monroe, Kentucky against Murray State, No. 9 Alabama against Mercer and Texas A&M against New Mexico State.



(AP Photo Wade Payne)