During a regular season defined by widespread parity, it’s starting to feel like we might be headed toward debut College Football Playoff appearances from two teams that faced off in last year’s Birmingham Bowl — Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
The No. 17 Commodores snapped a decades-long drought Saturday, beating LSU for the first time since 1990. Coupled with No. 12 Georgia Tech’s road win at Duke, both teams have surged to the front of the pack in the SEC and ACC, respectively. Vanderbilt’s second top-25 win this season moved it to 6-1 overall, with three ranked opponents still ahead — Missouri, Texas and Tennessee — along with Kentucky and Auburn.
For the Yellow Jackets, Miami’s loss to Louisville on Friday night blew the ACC race wide open, giving Georgia Tech a potential storybook path as the season turns toward November.
The Yellow Jackets (7-0) don’t face another ranked opponent the rest of the way and are one of only three unbeaten teams in ACC play — joining SMU and Virginia — entering Saturday’s games. Georgia Tech won’t face either of those teams this season and was featured in last week’s CBS Sports playoff projections.
With the playoff selection committee’s first rankings just a couple of weeks away, both the Commodores and Yellow Jackets could find themselves comfortably inside the top 15 if they stay on course.
Vanderbilt’s playoff path
Given Commodores’ beefed up schedule, a 4-1 record over their final five SEC games to finish 10-2 on the season would be enough to warrant a playoff bid. That would give Vanderbilt at least four wins over ranked teams this fall, which would dwarf the number of most playoff entries.
Next week’s titanic matchup against Missouri could be Vanderbilt’s first this season as a top-10 team depending on where AP voters slot the Commodores on Sunday. Road trips to Texas and Tennessee follow in November. That game at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 29 could potentially be a playoff play-in game of sorts for both teams.
Credit Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s confidence this season. He said in July at SEC Media Days everyone inside the Commodores’ program felt they could win the national championship, a take that was laughed at nationally — and look who’s still in the playoff mix after eight weeks.
Georgia Tech’s decisive stretch
The Yellow Jackets are guaranteed a playoff appearance if they win out — which would include a victory over Georgia during rivalry weekend. The home win over then-ranked Clemson last month kickstarted this banner start for Brent Key and Co., and quarterback Haynes King’s leadership has persevered throughout.
Thanks to Omar DAniels’ school-record 95-yard fumble return for a touchdown against the Blue Devils, Georgia Tech led early before a decisive fourth quarter pushed the team to its fourth ACC victory. Georgia Tech will be favored over its final four conference games against Syracuse, NC State, Boston College and Pitt prior to the finale in Atlanta against the Bulldogs.
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