ATHENS — Georgia should have made the four-team CFP Field and would have been favored to win the national title, according to renowned oddsmaker Danny Sheridan.

“UGA, at full strength, would be favored over everyone,” said Sheridan, a national oddsmaker and sports analyst for USA Today for 30 years who still appears frequently in major newspapers and television outlets.

“My opening number would be UGA -2 vs. Michigan.”

The Bulldogs might not have been full strength for the Wolverines -- it’s questionable if a rested Brock Bowers would have given it a go -- but they had electric receiver Ladd McConkey play in their Dec. 30 game with Florida State.

Georgia, just as Kirby Smart had suggested earlier in the week, looked appreciably fresher and stronger in their 63-3 Orange Bowl win than the team that limped in the SEC title game and suffered a 27-24 loss to Alabama on Dec. 3.

Sheridan said he would have had Georgia as a 3-point favorite over Alabama in a CFP rematch, a 5-point favorite over Washington and a 7-point favorite over Texas.

“UGA got screwed big time, not FSU,” Sheridan penned. “(Georgia) was one of the four best teams at season’s end.”

Sheridan, like College Football Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier, questioned how a Georgia team that had been ranked No. 1 throughout the season could suffer such a dramatic fall in the rankings after a close, 3-point loss.

“If the CFP Committee were objective/credible,” Sheridan stated, “you don’t rank a team (No.) 1 all year, then when they lose to Alabama drop them out. The last team with the ball wins that game, and UGA wins if they stop Alabama from running the clock out.”

Sheridan said if Georgia had played at full strength against Florida State the score would have been even more lopsided than the record-breaking 63-3 margin already was with Smart pulling starting quarterback Carson Beck out at halftime and utilizing four quarterbacks.

“At full strength UGA would be much better and would have broken 100 points vs. FSU if they wanted to,” Sheridan said.

McConkey and Bowers, Sheridan pointed out, are difference makers.

“McConkey is a huge playmaker and Bowers is the best tight end I’ve ever seen in college football,” Sheridan wrote. “And that puts a lot of pressure on any defense, which opens up other UGA receivers and UGA’s running game.”

Sheridan looked ahead to next season, predicting the first-ever 12-team CFP field should be titled “The SEC/Big 10 Invitational.”

Sheridan also suggested the 13-member CFP Committee should add an objective handicapper to help choose the field in addition to the media member, former coaches and active administrators that currently make up the selection committee.