CFP projection puts five SEC teams in the top 12, led by Georgia at No. 2 and Kentucky at No. 8

The SEC could hold five of the 12 spots when the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its first ranking on Tuesday night. In ESPN's projection after Week 9, Heather Dinich puts Georgia at No. 2 behind unbeaten Miami, Kentucky at No. 8, Texas at No. 9, Ole Miss at No. 11 and LSU at No. 12, the last spot in the field.

Georgia's case starts with two wins away from Athens, 20-17 at Alabama and 27-8 over Florida. ESPN notes that the Bulldogs are scoring 41 points a game and allowing 14.9. What could hold them back is the 27-24 home loss to Auburn and a schedule that ranked last in the SEC going into the weekend. Projected as the SEC champion, Georgia would get a first-round bye.

Kentucky is the conference's résumé story. The Wildcats were first nationally in ESPN's Strength of Record metric heading into their bye, and CBS Sports ranked them No. 1 in its résumé rankings this week. They have road wins at Texas A&M, South Carolina and Oklahoma, but ESPN points out that they win by an average of 8.1 points and rank outside the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Texas leads the two-loss group on the strength of its Week 2 win over Ohio State. Ole Miss has wins over LSU and Missouri and had the No. 2 schedule in the country going into the weekend. LSU holds the bubble spot because both of its losses came to teams that are also in the projection. The projected bracket would put Texas at Kentucky and Ole Miss at Indiana in the first round.

What it means for Week 10

Three of these teams play games on Nov. 7 that could move them in or out of the field. Kentucky (7-1) goes to Tennessee off its bye. The Wildcats have won six straight since their 45-17 loss to Alabama, but four of those wins came by eight points or fewer, including one-point wins over LSU and South Carolina. Tennessee beat that same Alabama team 26-10. Tennessee is favored on the board at -194 on Novig. Kentucky is +178 there and +181 at Kalshi, the best price anywhere. The point spreads range from Tennessee -5.5 at DraftKings to Kentucky +6.5 at FanDuel, so the nine venues differ by about a point.

LSU (6-2) opens the toughest remaining schedule in the country, by ESPN Analytics, with a home game against Alabama. Texas and Tennessee come after that. The Tigers have won their last two SEC games by a combined 69-17, and ESPN's FPI gives them a 55% chance to beat Alabama. The market has LSU a little higher than that. LSU is favored at -182 on Novig, and Polymarket has the best price at -168. Alabama is +150 on Novig and +152 at Kalshi. The spread is LSU -3.5 across the game page, but the price on it varies a lot: -141 on Novig against -115 at FanDuel. The total is 52.5.

Georgia (7-1) visits Ole Miss (6-2) in what ESPN calls the Bulldogs' toughest remaining game. The Rebels beat Auburn 45-15 without running back Kewan Lacy, who is out with a dislocated shoulder. If Ole Miss wins, the two teams would both have two losses and the Rebels would own the head-to-head result. Texas (6-2) plays at Missouri, the first of three road games in its last four. The Longhorns go to LSU after that, a game ESPN says could decide which of the two gets an at-large bid.