Georgia to play Florida State in the Orange Bowl after missing out on College Football Playoff

ATHENS — Georgia won’t be playing in the College Football Playoff, but it will still be facing a quality opponent in its bowl game. The Bulldogs will take on the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl.

The game is scheduled for Dec. 30, with ESPN broadcasting the game at 4 p.m. ET. Florida State, despite being 13-0 and winning the ACC, was left out of the College Football Playoff in favor of Alabama. The Seminoles are the highest-ranked ACC team, while Georgia is the highest-ranked SEC and Big Ten team. Brett McMurphy of The Action Network was the first to report the news.

The Bulldogs finished No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff standings. Florida State came in at No. 5. Florida State lost its starting quarterback Jordan Travis in its 11th game of the season, but still picked up wins over Florida and Louisville without Travis.

This will be the first time Goergia and Florida State have met since the 2003 Sugar Bowl, a game Georgia won 26-13.

On Saturday, Georgia lost 27-24 to Alabama, knocking the Bulldogs out of the College Football Playoff picture. Georgia coach Kirby Smart though still believed he had one of the four best teams in the sport.

“It’s the best four teams. So, if you’re going to tell me somebody sitting in that committee room and doesn’t think that Georgia team is one of the best four teams, I don’t know if they’re in the right profession because it’s a really good football team,” Smart said. “It’s a really talented football team. It’s a really balanced football team. So, they have to make that decision, but it’s the best four teams, and that’s critical.”

The four teams to make the College Football Playoff were Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama. Michigan will play Alabama while Washington will play Texas. Those two games are scheduled for Jan. 1.

Smart provided a brief outline as to what Georgia’s schedule would look like on Sunday. He understand players, such as Brock Bowers, Carson Beck and others, have key decisions to make about their future.

“We’re coming in to grade the film, evaluate and see what we can do better and different,” Smart said. “Then the coaches will have to go out on the road and go recruiting. We’ll have a team meeting tomorrow afternoon sometime to go over the plans for the future, but these guys need some time. They’ll get some time off, but we’ll have a team meeting tomorrow to go over what our plans are based on what we find out.”

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