Heather Dinich explains how Clemson win could impact Georgia's College Football Playoff chances

The Georgia Bulldogs are in a precarious position at the moment, already accumulating one loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide earlier this season, and staring down the challenge of the top-ranked Texas Longhorns in Week 8.

Two losses in prior seasons would’ve been a death blow, but ESPN’s Heather Dinich believes the Bulldogs won’t necessarily be eliminated from the College Football Playoff if they falter in Austin this coming weekend. She’s of the opinion that Georgia’s Week 1 victory over the potential ACC-winning Clemson Tigers will loom larger than many originally imagined.

“I want to add something that Paul [Finebaum] mentioned, because it’s important in this Playoff race, if Georgia loses,” Dinich explained. “They do have that convincing win against Clemson, and if Clemson goes on to win the ACC, Georgia’s ability to claim a win against the ACC champions in that committee meeting room would be huge if they’re fighting for an at-large spot.”

Georgia didn’t just defeat Clemson, the Bulldogs dismantled them. Kirby Smart’s squad won to the tune of a 34-3 victory, spoiling any chance of the showdown living up to it’s expectation inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Since the loss, it’s been relatively smooth sailing for the Tigers. They’ve won five straight games, and they figure to be in the cat-bird seat in the ACC, along with the Miami Hurricanes. Regardless, the win is looking better than ever for Georgia.

Of course, the Bulldogs would rather simply win in Austin and not have to deal with any what-ifs regarding the College Football Playoff, but that’ll be easier said than done. Time will tell, but Georgia and Texas has been marketed as the biggest game of the season for a reason, and the hype is continuing to build entering Week 8.

Paul Finebaum: Georgia will be in a ‘fight for survival’ if Bulldogs lose to Texas

Alas, there’s a lot at stake for Georgia when the Bulldogs travel to take on Texas this weekend. Georgia lost a thriller to Alabama a couple of weeks ago and now get the No. 1 team in the country, a team that happens to also be in the SEC.

With two losses, Georgia cannot afford another misstep post-Texas. If they want to make the playoff, they likely have to win in Austin, according to ESPN’s Paul Finebaum. Safe to say, this is not quite the Georgia of the last few seasons, at least right now.

“Georgia doesn’t want to lose two of these three ‘Game of the Century’s,’” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “Remember two weeks ago when they lost Alabama and another loss would almost be incalculable to think about Georgia, the team that has literally owned college football here for three years. They didn’t lose a regular season game, you have to go back to COVID!

“Now, they’re underdogs, and very few people think they’re going to win here. So if they do lose, they’re in a fight for survival. They’ll have to go to Ole Miss in a couple of weeks, and they can’t lose again, or otherwise, they will be out of the playoffs.”

Moving forward, Georgia has to get through Texas, play rival Florida and then have ranked SEC games against Ole Miss on the road and will host Tennessee. The narrative around Georgia has changed a little bit, but even critics like Paul Finebaum will surely change their tune if they come out of Austin unscathed.

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article.