SEC Bowl Projections after Week 5: Way too early postseason picture for Texas, Alabama, Georgia and more

The 2024 college football season is through five weeks and fans are starting to get a general sense of which teams are legit playoff contenders. There have also been upsets that changed the college football landscape.

After Week 5, which saw SEC powerhouses like Georgia and Ole Miss lose, here are the SEC Bowl projections and what the playoff picture looks like.

SEC Bowl Projections after Week 5

College football playoff berths:

• Texas Longhorns
• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Georgia Bulldogs

After the Ole Miss Rebels lost to the Kentucky Wildcats, their chances of being one of the 12 teams in the college football playoff likely ended. Ole Miss can't afford another loss and they still have to play LSU on the road and Oklahoma and Georgia at home.

Missouri is a fringe playoff team that will likely be the 11th seed or miss it. But after the Tigers barely beat Vanderbilt, Missouri is on the outside looking in.

Instead, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia will be the four SEC teams who will get into the college football playoff. Although the Bulldogs lost, they will still get a shot at the playoff and even ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum expects it.

“Yes, I’m well aware. We all saw the same game,” Finebaum said on Sunday via SportsCenter. “They were down and they were out, but they came back and I think that has to give Kirby Smart hope and faith that this program is going to get on track and make the playoff.”

If Georgia can beat Tennessee and Ole Miss, that will punch their playoff ticket.

Other SEC Bowl Projections

• Arkansas: Birmingham Bowl, Dec. 27
• South Carolina: Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 27
• Missouri: Pop-Tarts Bowl, Dec. 28
• Kentucky: Music City Bowl, Dec. 30
• Ole Miss: ReliaQuest Bowl, Dec. 31
• LSU: Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Dec. 31
• Texas A&M: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Dec. 31
• Oklahoma: Texas Bowl, Dec. 31

In the projection, Florida, Mississippi State, Auburn and Vanderbilt all fall short of being bowl-eligible.

Other SEC teams will get into notable bowl games like LSU in the Citrus Bowl, Ole Miss in the ReliaQuest Bowl and Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl, among others.