Georgia heavily favored over potential playoff opponents
Georgia will probably never have a clearer path to the national title than right now.
The Westgate SuperBook rates the Bulldogs six points higher than their closest competition — and that team, Ohio State, will not make the College Football Playoff after losing 42-27 to Michigan last week.
Georgia can also clear out the Westgate’s No. 3 team, Alabama, by handing the Crimson Tide a second loss Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
That could leave the Bulldogs rated at least two touchdowns better than any of their potential opponents in the playoff — 14 over Michigan, 18 over Cincinnati, 19 over Notre Dame and 21 over Oklahoma State.
Here are the Westgate’s power ratings of all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, from No. 1 Georgia to No. 130 Massachusetts:
WESTGATE RATINGS
1. Georgia, 110.5
2. Ohio State, 104.5
3. Alabama, 103.5
4. Michigan, 96.5
5. Cincinnati, 92.5
6. Notre Dame, 91.5
7. Pittsburgh, 90.5
8. Wisconsin, 90.5
9. Utah, 90.5
10. Texas A&M, 90.5
11. Oklahoma State, 89.5
12. Mississippi, 89.5
13. Penn State, 88.5
14. Oklahoma, 88.5
15. Iowa State, 88.5
16. Oregon, 88.5
17. Arkansas, 88.5
18. Clemson, 87.5
19. North Carolina State, 87.5
20. North Carolina, 86.5
21. Wake Forest, 86.5
22. Michigan State, 86.5
23. Baylor, 86.5
24. Mississippi State, 86.5
25. Tennessee, 86.5
26. Houston, 85.5
27. Brigham Young, 85.5
28. Miami (Fla.), 84.5
29. Nebraska, 84.5
30. UCLA, 84.5
31. Appalachian State, 84.5
32. Kentucky, 84.5
33. Iowa, 83.5
34. Minnesota, 83.5
35. Arizona State, 83.5
36. Florida, 83.5
37. Auburn, 83.5
38. Purdue, 82.5
39. Western Kentucky, 82.5
40. Fresno State, 82.5
41. LSU, 82.5
42. Texas, 81.5
43. Kansas State, 81.5
44. Air Force, 81.5
45. Oregon State, 81.5
46. West Virginia, 80.5
47. Boise State, 80.5
48. Coastal Carolina, 80.5
49. Virginia, 79.5
50. Louisville, 79.5
51. UAB, 79.5
52. Army, 79.5
53. UNR, 79.5
54. San Diego State, 79.5
55. Washington State, 79.5
56. Florida State, 78.5
57. Louisiana (Lafayette), 78.5
58. SMU, 77.5
59. East Carolina, 77.5
60. Virginia Tech, 77.5
61. Boston College, 77.5
62. Maryland, 77.5
63. Marshall, 77.5
64. UTSA, 77.5
65. Liberty, 77.5
66. California, 77.5
67. Central Florida, 76.5
68. Tulsa, 76.5
69. Toledo, 76.5
70. Texas Tech, 75.5
71. Western Michigan, 75.5
72. Southern California, 75.5
73. Memphis, 74.5
74. Illinois, 74.5
75. Central Michigan, 74.5
76. Syracuse, 73.5
77. Rutgers, 73.5
78. Miami (Ohio), 73.5
79. Utah State, 73.5
80. Georgia State, 73.5
81. Kent State, 72.5
82. Washington, 72.5
83. Missouri, 72.5
84. South Carolina, 72.5
85. Tulane, 71.5
86. Georgia Tech, 71.5
87. Wyoming, 71.5
88. Navy, 70.5
89. TCU, 70.5
90. Northern Illinois, 69.5
91. Colorado, 69.5
92. San Jose State, 68.5
93. Stanford, 67.5
94. Florida Atlantic, 66.5
95. Old Dominion, 66.5
96. Ball State, 66.5
97. Eastern Michigan, 66.5
98. Hawaii, 66.5
99. Colorado State, 66.5
100. Indiana, 65.5
101. Middle Tennessee, 65.5
102. Troy, 65.5
103. South Florida, 64.5
104. Northwestern, 64.5
105. North Texas, 63.5
106. Ohio, 63.5
107. Buffalo, 63.5
108. Arizona, 63.5
109. South Alabama, 63.5
110. UTEP, 62.5
111. UNLV, 62.5
112. Louisiana Tech, 61.5
113. Kansas, 60.5
114. Rice, 59.5
115. Bowling Green, 59.5
116. Charlotte, 58.5
117. Georgia Southern, 58.5
118. Duke, 57.5
119. Southern Mississippi, 57.5
120. Vanderbilt, 57.5
121. Arkansas State, 56.5
122. Texas State, 55.5
123. Louisiana-Monroe, 54.5
124. Temple, 52.5
125. New Mexico, 52.5
126. New Mexico State, 46.5
127. Connecticut, 45.5
128. Akron, 45.5
129. Florida International, 39.5
130. Massachusetts, 38.5
BIGGEST RISE
— UNR gained three points to 79.5, moving from No. 68 to No. 53, after beating Colorado State 52-10.
— Kansas gained three points to 60.5, moving from No. 118 to No. 113, after losing 34-28 to West Virginia.
BIGGEST FALL
— Florida International dropped five points to 39.5, staying at No. 129, after losing 37-17 to Southern Mississippi.
WEEK 14 POINT SPREAD COMPARISON
Here is a comparison of Week 14 point spreads to spreads created by two popular power rating services, ESPN’s FPI and Jeff Sagarin, along with the raw numbers from the Westgate SuperBook (which sometimes differ from actual spreads).
Notes: Power rating spreads are rounded to the nearest half-point and reflect three points added for home-field advantage. ESPN FPI does not produce ratings for Football Championship Subdivision teams. Teams are listed with Associated Press poll ranking where applicable.
Friday
— Conference USA title game: Western Kentucky (-3, 73) at UTSA, 4 p.m.
ESPN FPI: Western Kentucky PK
Sagarin: UTSA PK
Westgate: Western Kentucky -2
— Pac-12 title game: No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 14 Utah (-3, 58), 5 p.m. (at Las Vegas)
ESPN FPI: Utah -3
Sagarin: Utah -1½
Westgate: Utah -2
Saturday
— Big 12 title game: No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State (-5, 46½), 9 a.m. (at Arlington, Texas)
ESPN FPI: Oklahoma State -5
Sagarin: Oklahoma State -4½
Westgate: Oklahoma State -3
— MAC title game: Kent State (-3½, 73½) vs. Northern Illinois, 9 a.m. (at Detroit)
ESPN FPI: Kent State -1
Sagarin: Kent State PK
Westgate: Kent State -2
— Mountain West title game: Utah State vs. No. 19 San Diego State (-5½, 50½), noon (at Carson, Calif.)
ESPN FPI: San Diego State -7½
Sagarin: San Diego State -9
Westgate: San Diego State -8
— Sun Belt title game: Appalachian State (-3, 53½) at No. 20 Louisiana (Lafayette), 12:30 p.m.
ESPN FPI: Appalachian State -3½
Sagarin: Appalachian State -1
Westgate: Appalachian State -3
— SEC title game: No. 1 Georgia (-6½, 50) vs. No. 4 Alabama, 1 p.m. (at Atlanta)
ESPN FPI: Georgia -5½
Sagarin: Georgia -4
Westgate: Georgia -7
— American Athletic title game: No. 16 Houston at No. 3 Cincinnati (-10½, 52), 1 p.m.
ESPN FPI: Cincinnati -12½
Sagarin: Cincinnati -12
Westgate: Cincinnati -10
— Big Ten title game: No. 2 Michigan (-11, 43½) vs. No. 15 Iowa, 5 p.m. (at Indianapolis)
ESPN FPI: Michigan -9½
Sagarin: Michigan -7½
Westgate: Michigan -13
— ACC title game: No. 17 Pittsburgh (-3, 72½) vs. No. 18 Wake Forest, 5 p.m. (at Charlotte, N.C.)
ESPN FPI: Pitt -4
Sagarin: Wake Forest PK
Westgate: Pitt -4
— Regular-season makeup game: Southern California at California (-4, 57½), 8 p.m.
ESPN FPI: California PK
Sagarin: California -1½
Westgate: California -5
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.
