No. 1 Georgia beats LSU, 50-30, to claim SEC title

ATLANTA, Ga. (WTVM) - For the first time since 2017, the Georgia Bulldogs are SEC Champions. UGA beat LSU 50-30 on Saturday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Dawgs have all but secured the No. 1 overall seed in the 2022 College Football Playoffs.

The four playoff teams will be announced on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET. Until then, here are three major takeaways from championship Saturday across college football.

Georgia continues to show up for big games: Sure, the Dawgs haven’t been as dominate as they were last season. This became apparent when they let up 22 points to Kent State and then barely edged out Missouri the following week. You could also point to a sleepy November showing at Kentucky, or the slow start against rival Georgia Tech last year. Whatever you do, remember that Kirby Smart’s teams always seem to show up when it matters most. That’s become obvious over the past couple of seasons: A blowout win over Michigan in the CFP semifinals at the Orange Bowl, a toe-to-toe battle with Alabama for the program’s first championship since 1980 and, most recently, a throttling of Tennessee in arguably the most anticipated game of the season. And don’t forget, Georgia hasn’t lost a regular season game since November 7, 2020 (Florida).

Home away from home: Georgia took care of business today, and then some. That should assure UGA’s spot in the CFP semifinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31. The other semifinal will be played on the same day at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. At 13-0, two of Georgia’s wins this season have come in Atlanta. I’d guess that at least 80% of the seats at the SEC Championship game were occupied by Georgia fans. No matter who the opponent is at the end of the month, you can expect more of the same.

Alabama has a chance to make the playoff: Well, well, well. What do we have here? Alabama appeared to be out of the mix after losing at LSU last month. Loses this weekend by No. 3 TCU and No. 4 USC have brought No. 6 Alabama back in the conversation. Most agree that Southern Cal is now out of the picture after losing to Utah for the second time this season. That should slide No. 5 Ohio State back into the final four. The question is this: what happens to TCU? Are the Horned Frogs punished for losing, or does the committee respect their appearance in the Big 12 championship game and otherwise unblemished record? My guess is that TCU stays in. I don’t see how you can punish a previously undefeated Horned Frogs team for losing their conference championship in overtime.

To change your push alert settings on the WTVM News App, click on the setting icon and toggle the icon on the right side of your device.