KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia might still be viewed as the “biggest mystery” in college football entering the weekend, but the computers and pollsters believe in them.

The game pitting the Bulldogs against the Tennessee Vols is a feature matchup of two of the SEC’s top three teams, in terms of schools that would be in the 12-team College Football Playoff field if the season were to end today, per ESPN.

Obviously, one team will improve its odds of making the CFP field with a win, the other team’s chances will take a hit.

The Coaches’ Poll ranks Georgia as the No. 3 team in the nation and Tennessee No. 15, while the Associated Press media poll has the Bulldogs No. 6 and the Vols are No. 15.

But the truth of the matter is, this Georgia team has yet to show the “Fire, Passion and Energy” that Smart has preached throughout the offseason entering the 3:30 p.m. game on Saturday.

Going fire and brimstone and pulling all the stops out — and running all the pressure packages on defense and motions, shifts and gadget plays on offense — was not necessary to beat teams like Marshall and Austin Peay.

Indeed, Heupel noted, “at this point, there’s less current video of what they’re doing,” adding that “adjustments are important in this one.”

“Mystery” team -- as SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum has said -- indeed, and as confident and experienced as Smart is in this position, there’s a degree of unknown for him, as far as how Gunner Stockton — and 54 percent of his team — responds to playing in the sort of hostile environment Neyland Stadium presents.

It’s true, SEC road venues are all difficult, but the 100,000 in Neyland Stadium hits different, with its vertical seating and truly deafening noise.

“Loud affects your offense, it affects your ability to communicate,” Smart said. “The communication goes down the line, and Neyland is one of the loudest …

“You have to be smart when you game plan, you can’t do quite as much as you do at home.”

In other words, Georgia doesn’t have the margin for error in its planning and play selection, as in-game adjustments are more limited.

The Bulldogs’ Pro Style offense typically holds an advantage with the sorts of adjustments the quarterback can make at the line of scrimmage, but that, too, is more limited.

This Georgia team lacks the experience of past teams with 16 players of last year’s team now on NFL rosters, which makes for a lot of newness and players in different or increased roles.

“Nobody’s perfect, at the start of the season, you try to find out where your holes are, you only go against yourself,” Smart said. “I don’t know if in Week 3 everybody has figured out where their holes are and where their weaknesses are, and you’re constantly trying to improve that.

“We have a long way to go, we are not there or where we need to be but I”m pleased with the progress they’ve made.”

Here’s a look at how ESPN metrics projects what the current 12-team College Football Playoff would look like through the first two games:

Ohio State 82.4 percent

Oregon 81.5 percent

Texas coach 63 percent

Georgia 62.4 percent

Ole Miss 59.8 percent

USC 59.3 percent

Penn State 54.1 percent

Alabama 48.6 percent

South Floria 34 percent

Miami 33.4 percent

Auburn 33.3 percent

Utah 27.2 percent

Missouri 26.7 percent

LSU 26.5 percent

TCU 24.8 percent

Notre Dame 24 percent

Florida State 22.8 percent

BYU 22.8 percent

Indiana 21.5 percent

Georgia Tech 17.1 percent

Tulane 19.8 percent

Memphis 16.6 percent

Iowa State 12.9 percent