The CFP committee cites an insulting “inconsistency” for Georgia's hasty exit from the 12-team playoff field

ATHENS — Kirby Smart makes it a point not to rely on external factors for motivation, but the College Football Playoff committee has provided some anyway.

The Bulldogs fell nine spots to No. 12 in the CFP rankings released Tuesday night after losing 28-10 on the road last Saturday to Ole Miss, previously ranked No. 16.

RELATED: More on Georgia's fall to No. 12 in the latest CFP rankings

Boise State is ranked No. 13 in the latest CFP rankings, but due to the provision that the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion receives a spot in the 12-team playoffs, the Bulldogs would be left out if the season ends ends today.

The top four seeded conference champions will receive the top four seeds and a first-round bye.

As shown in the current CFP rankings today (bottom story), if the season ended today, the seeds and matchups would be as follows:

Bye in the first round

1. Oregon (Big Ten) CFP Rank 1

2 Texas (SEC) CFP Rank 2

3. BYU (Big 12) CFP Rank 6

4. Miami (ACC) CFP Rank 9

First round games

5. Ohio State vs. 12th seed Boise State

6. Penn State against eleventh seed Ole Miss

7. Indiana vs. 10th seed Alabama

8th seed Tennessee vs. 9th seed Notre Dame

Smart said before the rankings were released Tuesday night that his team didn't necessarily need an added sense of urgency ahead of the loss to the Rebels.

Certainly all Georgia players will recognize the need to beat No. 7 Tennessee when the teams meet in Saturday's showdown at 7:30 p.m. if the team wants a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff Field.

The way the CFP committee saw things was that previously unbeaten Miami fell just five spots after a 28-23 road loss to unranked Georgia Tech, compared to the nine spots the Bulldogs fell after the road loss dropped to first place against an SEC opponent.

CFP chairman and Big Ten athletic director Warde Manuel described Georgia as a “very good team that struggles offensively with an inconsistent offense, but is still a great team” when discussing Ole Miss' impressive win .

When Manuel compared Miami's decline in the rankings to Georgia's, he again mentioned the Bulldogs' offense.

“Their offense wasn't consistent, the committee discussed that, they struggled with some turnovers,” Manuel said. “The defense was solid, although in the loss to Ole Miss we felt like (inconsistent offense) played a role as the offense struggled and their defense was on the field quite a bit.

“But they just lacked consistency on offense. So when you look at where they're ranked and how they've fallen, both Alabama and Ole Miss have beaten them head-to-head as far as teams that are ahead and that's obvious over time in the rankings and Looking at everyone, they obviously dropped to 12th, but that depends on who won before them and then a head-to-head and everything we look at in terms of the overall work.”

Manuel, who heads the committee that currently has four Big Ten teams ranked in the top six, added: “Georgia could have one of its best wins of the year if it goes to Texas and wins there.”

Manuel said the CFP Committee considers the strength of the schedule in any comparison.

“For each team, we see where the different data points and strength of schedule are,” he said. “Of course we also watch the games to see how a team plays, to see the results of the games and to see how the teams play.”

College Football Playoff Rankings for Week 12

1.Oregon

2. Ohio State

3.Texas

4. Penn State

5.Indiana

6.BYU

7. Tennessee

8. Notre Dame

9.Miami

10. Alabama

11. Ole Miss

12. Georgia

13. Boise State

14. SMU

15. Texas A&M

16. Kansas State

17.Colorado

18. Washington State

19. Louisville

20. Clemson

21.South Carolina

22. LSU

23. Missouri

24th Army

25. Tulane