Georgia as a two-loss champ would be a tough call. The CFP committee has shown that, when in doubt, it errs on the side of conference champs. That's why Oklahoma was included ahead of Georgia last year, even as there was sentiment for the Bulldogs as the nation's second-best team. (That sentiment hugely underrated Clemson, it must be said.) I don't know that anybody holds this Georgia team in such high regard, at least not yet.
What the committee sees when it looks at Georgia _ a team that beat Notre Dame and Florida by almost the same score (23-17 and 24-17, respectively), with the first coming between the hedges and the second in a split stadium. Notre Dame and Florida each have two losses. The Bulldogs will need to burnish their resume before December. The South Carolina loss means that beating Auburn, which isn't a must in terms of winning the East, is something approaching a must in the eyes of the committee.
The good news is that winning at Auburn, which no visitor has managed this season, would be a major profile-enhancer. It would position the Bulldogs to be a one-loss SEC champ, and there's no way such a team wouldn't make the playoff. (You can snub the Pac-12 and the Big 12 and even the Big Ten, but Greg Sankey would go off and form his own playoff if that happened.) The road for Georgia isn't as straight as the past two years _ that's what losing to a lousy team will do _ but it is navigable.
At issue is whether the Bulldogs are stout enough not to stumble again. Coming off South Carolina and Kentucky, their performance in Jacksonville was most heartening, though it wasn't quite comprehensive. They had a chance to put the Gators away and didn't. Jake Fromm seemed himself again, and after three quarters this seemed done and dusted. Then you looked up and Florida was twice within a touchdown. You also note that LSU scored 42 points against Todd Grantham's defense; Georgia converted on 12 of 18 third downs _ third-and-Grantham, as UGA fans used to say _ and managed just 24.
The belief here is that Georgia isn't quite where it needs to be. It still, however, has time to get there. There's work to do, but there are capable workmen to do it. To ensure playoff qualification, the Bulldogs need to win out. They just might.
