Why is Kirby Smart's Georgia ranked below Alabama in Week 12 AP Top 25 Poll?

Georgia and Alabama are both 7-2, and both have good but not perfect College Football Playoff resumes. Yet with the season winding down, Alabama is No. 9 and Georgia is No. 11. Given the automatic berths to the top five highest-ranked conference winners, that difference could be pivotal to both teams' postseason chances.

So here's the rundown on why UGA trails Alabama.

Why is Georgia ranked below Alabama?

September's Georgia/Alabama battle leads a season-long CFP battle between the teams. (Photo Credit: IMAGN)

Georgia's resume

The Bulldogs are 2-2 against teams ranked in the top 20. Their only losses are to the Tide and No. 10 Ole Miss, with both losses coming on the road and at top 10 teams. Georgia has wins over No. 3 Texas and No. 17 Clemson, with both victories coming by convincing margins.

Georgia has five wins over unranked teams. But some of those wins over unranked teams have been pretty unimpressive, like a 13-12 triumph over a 3-6 Kentucky team and a 41-31 victory over 2-8 Mississippi State.

Georgia hasn't exactly amassed a ton of style points. In a world where there's probably going to be a multitude of 10-2 or 9-3 SEC teams, that could matter.

The Bulldogs have yet to play No. 6 Tennessee, and Georgia Tech is substantially better than any team remaining on Alabama's schedule. A 10-2 Georgia team would be an almost certain CFP squad. It's if the Bulldogs drop another game that their situation will get dicey.

Alabama's resume

The Tide are 4-1 against ranked teams. Granted, there's a bit of fool's good in that statistic, because it includes wins over the current No. 21, No. 23 and No. 24 teams. Those three teams are obviously ranked by only the barest of margins. Meanwhile, the Tide are 1-1 against teams in the top 20. That win came head-to-head against Georgia, which carries a genuine significance.

Meanwhile, Alabama hasn't always been impressive. It lost to an unranked Vanderbilt team in what might be the biggest single-game shocker of the college football season. The Tide won easily in each of the first three games of the season over fairly mediocre competition.

Alabama's remaining schedule won't strengthen its scheduling case, as it involves FCS member Mercer and then Oklahoma and Auburn teams located near the bottom of the SEC standings. Alabama is highly likely to finish the regular season at 10-2.

Should Georgia be ranked below Alabama?

While Alabama's 4-1 record against ranked teams isn't as all-encompassing as it seems, the Tide probably have the better resume to date. After all, Alabama also beat Georgia head-to-head, which can't be overlooked in the question of which team should be ranked higher.

But Georgia still has one massive game left with Tennessee, and the Georgia Tech game now has major ramifications. If Georgia can get to 10-2, that mark probably will be more impressive than Alabama's 10-2. The Bulldogs, if both teams win out, could have the better argument for a higher ranking, if not for the head-to-head loss.

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