ESPN predicts Georgia will miss College Football Playoff in 2025

ESPN released a preview for the 2025 college football season on Thursday, revealing a bevy of information on a bevy of topics exactly 100 days before Week 0.

Among the preview’s categories was a section with 10 “wild predictions” for the upcoming season. Now, this part of ESPN’s preview was meant to be a little on the edge — thus the word “wild” in the subhead describing the predictions below it.

But wild or not wild, No. 4 on the list is sure to raise eyebrows throughout the SEC and specifically in Athens. ESPN is predicting that Georgia, which under Kirby Smart has become a certifiable powerhouse, will miss the 2025 College Football Playoff.

That’s right. Georgia, which overcame its close-but-no-cigar reputation by capturing back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022, was predicted by ESPN to miss out entirely on playing for it all in 2025. The Bulldogs did just miss the Playoff in 2023 when they were going for a 3-peat, but that was under the 4-team Playoff format. Had the expanded format that exists now been in place a few years ago, Georgia would’ve made it.

Last season, Georgia dealt with some uncommon adversity even as it was busy winning the SEC Championship. Starting quarterback Carson Beck injured his elbow against Texas, couldn’t play in the Playoff against Notre Dame and eventually transferred to Miami. Georgia lost that Playoff game to Notre Dame, and now ESPN is predicting that Smart’s football machine won’t even make the Playoff in the new year.

Here is what ESPN’s David Hale wrote about the Dawgs:

For the better part of three seasons, the Bulldogs seemed invincible. Only an injury-plagued one-score loss to Alabama in the 2023 SEC title game might have prevented Georgia from winning three straight national championships. And yet, by the end of 2024, it was clear some of the shine was off the once-dominant program. Carson Beck struggled without much help from his skill positions. The Dawgs lost to Alabama, were whooped by Ole Miss, and nearly fell to Georgia Tech before escaping in eight overtimes. By the time Notre Dame eased past Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, it was pretty clear Kirby Smart didn’t have a championship-level team. So, will 2025 be a return to greatness? It’s possible, but the SEC is stacked, and with games at Tennessee, home vs. Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss and the rivalry showdown vs. Florida, there are ample opportunities to stumble. Is 8-4 possible? Would a 9-3 Georgia be a sure bet for the playoff? Could things get worse? When the standard is dominance, it’s hard to maintain the standard for long in today’s college football.

Come December, we’ll find out if this was just ESPN throwing something “wild” out there or an actual foreshadowing of Georgia’s continued slight decline from elite status. For what it’s worth, Georgia currently has the third-shortest odds to not only make the CFP but win the national championship at DraftKings.

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.