ATHENS — Georgia just played its best foe of the season this past weekend. The Bulldogs came away with a gritty, 30-21 victory over the Missouri Tigers.
Now Georgia will have another tough game lined up entering Week 11, as the Bulldogs welcome Ole Miss to town.
Per the AP Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 11, this will be a Top 10 matchup. Georgia is the No. 1 ranked team, as it has been all season, while Ole Miss moved up to No. 10 in the poll. Missouri fell to No. 16 after the loss.
“I am super excited to have a good opponent like Ole Miss, I’m pretty sure they won today, so to have them come into our house, I’m super excited,” Georgia quarterback Carson Beck said after Georgia’s win.
Behind Georgia, the top 5 remains the same as No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Washington all won on Saturday.
While the Bulldogs are the No. 1 ranked team in both the Coaches Poll and AP Poll, they are not the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings. The committee had Georgia at No. 2, behind No. 1 Ohio State. The Buckeyes rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Rutgers on Saturday.
Georgia’s lack of quality wins likely kept it behind the Buckeyes but picking up wins over Missouri and potentially Ole Miss should help Georgia’s case. The Bulldogs are also likely to see a ranked Tennessee team when they visit Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 18.
Before that though, Georgia will have its full attention on Lane Kiffin’s team. A win for Georgia against Ole Miss would clinch the SEC East for Georgia and punch their ticket to Atlanta for the SEC championship game.
Alabama can do the same if it beats Kentucky on Saturday. The Crimson Tide gave Ole Miss its only loss of the season thus far.
“Lot of respect for what Lane’s done and built there. He’s a tremendous offensive mind,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Saturday. “He’s gone out and they’re playing good defense now too. It’ll be a hell of a matchup because they’ve got a really good football team.”
Ole Miss is the only non-Georgia SEC school that Smart has not beaten in his time as a head coach. The Rebels beat Georgia 45-14 the last time they met, which was during Smart’s first season in Athens back in 2016.
The next College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday evening. Georgia’s game against Ole Miss is set for a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN.
