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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
A wild day in the SEC produced only one postseason guarantee: Georgia is headed back to the conference championship game for a fourth consecutive season.
The league confirmed Georgia’s spot in the Dec. 7 title game in Atlanta shortly after No. 15 Texas A&M‘s 43-41 loss at Auburn in four overtimes. The Aggies were one of three top-15 SEC teams to lose to unranked foes on the road Saturday, as No. 7 Alabama lost 24-3 at Oklahoma and No. 9 Ole Miss fell at Florida 24-17.
No. 10 Georgia will face the winner of next week’s game between No. 3 Texas and Texas A&M in College Station. The Longhorns and Aggies have not met since 2011, when they were both members of the Big 12. Texas beat visiting Kentucky 31-14 on Saturday, and the Horns remain the only one-loss team in the SEC.
Georgia, which has lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss on the road but owns wins against Texas and No. 11 Tennessee, beat UMass 59-21 on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
The Crimson Tide entered the day needing to beat Oklahoma then Auburn and for No. 23 Missouri to win once in its final two league games in order to punch their ticket to Atlanta. (Missouri prevailed 39-20 at Mississippi State on Saturday.)
Georgia lost to Alabama in the 2023 SEC title game, costing the Bulldogs a spot in the final four-team College Football Playoff.
Asked about Georgia’s path to the SEC title game after the UMass game, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said he was thinking solely about next week’s regular-season finale against visiting Georgia Tech.
Georgia won the SEC title game in 2017 and 2022, while falling in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.