ATHENS — Georgia should have made the four-team CFP Field and would have been favored to win the national title, according to renowned oddsmaker Danny Sheridan.
“UGA, at full strength, would be favored over everyone,” said Sheridan, a national oddsmaker and sports analyst for USA Today for 30 years who still appears frequently in major newspapers and television outlets.
“My opening number would be UGA -2 vs. Michigan.”
The Bulldogs might not have been full strength for the Wolverines -- it’s questionable if a rested Brock Bowers would have given it a go -- but they had electric receiver Ladd McConkey play in their Dec. 30 game with Florida State.
Georgia, just as Kirby Smart had suggested earlier in the week, looked appreciably fresher and stronger in their 63-3 Orange Bowl win than the team that limped in the SEC title game and suffered a 27-24 loss to Alabama on Dec. 3.
Sheridan said he would have had Georgia as a 3-point favorite over Alabama in a CFP rematch, a 5-point favorite over Washington and a 7-point favorite over Texas.
“UGA got screwed big time, not FSU,” Sheridan penned. “(Georgia) was one of the four best teams at season’s end.”
Sheridan, like College Football Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier, questioned how a Georgia team that had been ranked No. 1 throughout the season could suffer such a dramatic fall in the rankings after a close, 3-point loss.
“If the CFP Committee were objective/credible,” Sheridan stated, “you don’t rank a team (No.) 1 all year, then when they lose to Alabama drop them out. The last team with the ball wins that game, and UGA wins if they stop Alabama from running the clock out.”
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