Georgia

SEC title game scenarios: Auburn upset sets up Georgia vs. Texas-Texas A&M winner in Atlanta

Published

1 year ago

November 24, 2024

SEC title game scenarios: Auburn upset sets up Georgia vs. Texas-Texas A&M winner in Atlanta

Rival programs Texas and Texas A&M will meet next Saturday for the first time in 13 years and will have an SEC championship game berth on the line when they do.

The winner between the No. 3 Longhorns and No. 15 Aggies will clinch a berth in the SEC title game and will play No. 10 Georgia. The SEC office confirmed Saturday night that following Week 13’s results, the Bulldogs have clinched a spot in the conference title game for the fourth consecutive season.

That’s the unexpected outcome of a stunning day of upsets in the SEC, which saw Ole Miss and Alabama eliminated by taking a third loss, No. 11 Tennessee eliminated because of tiebreakers and Georgia clinch a spot after the new tiebreaker rules were examined.

Here’s a look at the top four teams in the standings heading into Week 14:

Team	SEC record	Final SEC opponent
	6-1	at Texas A&M
	6-2	n/a
	5-2 Advertisement	Texas
	5-2	at Vanderbilt

Breaking down the SEC scenarios

• If Texas wins next week, then it has the best record and No. 1 seed. Georgia would then be the second seed whether or not Tennessee wins against Vanderbilt, as Georgia owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Volunteers.

• If Texas A&M wins, it creates either a three-way or four-way tie for first place, depending on whether Tennessee wins. None of the first tiebreakers would appear to apply, so it would go to schedule strength. Texas A&M has that edge right now, and according to the SEC office calculations that would still hold after next week. Here is what they are after this weekend’s games:

Team	Opponents’ cumulative conference record
	28-30
	26-32
	26-35
	23-36

But that would only clinch the first seed, and the tiebreaker process would go back to the beginning with the remaining three teams. In that case, Georgia would get the second seed, by virtue of having beaten Tennessee and Texas.

If Texas A&M wins but Tennessee loses, then Georgia still gets the spot via its head-to-head win over the Longhorns.

The bottom line: It’s complicated.

Here are the six SEC tiebreakers, in order:

Head-to-head competition among the tied teams
Record versus all common conference opponents among the tied teams
Record against highest (best) placed common conference opponent in the conference standings, and proceeding through the conference standings among the tied teams
Cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents among the tied teams
Capped relative total scoring margin versus all conference opponents among the tied teams
Random draw of the tied teams

How Auburn upset the Aggies

Auburn receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith made a leaping catch in the middle of the end zone of a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Payton Thorne in the fourth overtime that proved to be the game winner. Texas A&M had a chance to match it, but Marcel Reed’s rollout pass to Amari Daniels was dropped. Auburn fans stormed the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium to celebrate the win, its first over a ranked team in the Hugh Freeze era.

The Tigers (5-6, 2-5) raced out to a 21-0 second quarter lead behind their passing game. Thorne connected on four pass plays of 15 or more yards in the first quarter alone, including a 63-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman and a 60-yard completion to Lambert-Smith.

Texas A&M charged back with three touchdowns on its next four drives to tie the game at 21 with 7:57 to go in the third quarter. Aggies receiver Noah Thomas (five catches, 124 yards) accounted for two of those on touchdown catches of 14 and 73 yards in the third quarter.

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter (130 rushing yards, three touchdowns) gave the Tigers a 28-21 lead, but Texas A&M responded with a Randy Bond field goal and an 8-yard Daniels touchdown run to take a 31-28 lead with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers penetrated inside A&M’s 10 in the final minute but settled for a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation.

The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime and field goals in the second overtime. By rule, teams must attempt alternating two-point conversion plays beginning in the third overtime. Both teams failed to convert theirs in the third overtime.

Looking ahead

Despite the loss, the Aggies still have a chance to make it to the SEC title game for the first time in school history. Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012 but failed to win its division under Kevin Sumlin or Jimbo Fisher.

New coach Mike Elko has a chance to do something neither of his predecessors could, but it will require an upset of rival Texas. A loss will eliminate the Aggies from College Football Playoff contention since they’ll be ranked well outside the top 12.

The Longhorns visit Kyle Field next week, the first time since 2011 the rivals will meet and the 119th edition of the rivalry. Texas leads the all-time series 76-37-5 and won the last meeting 27-25 on a Justin Tucker field goal as time expired.

Earlier in the day, Georgia wasn’t considering the SEC championship a strong possibility, much less clinching a spot before the day was over. More of the discussion had been about whether it would be better to miss the game, rest and prepare for the first round of the Playoff, rather than risk a loss and drop further in the rankings.

“We haven’t really discussed it,” guard Tate Ratledge said. “If it falls into place, we’re going to do our best to go up there and do our best to win it. But if it doesn’t it doesn’t. Right now we’re just focused on (Georgia) Tech.”

(Photo: Michael Chang / Getty Images)

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Georgia Tech salvages finale vs. North Carolina ahead of UGA matchup

Published

2 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Georgia Tech salvages finale vs. North Carolina ahead of UGA matchup

Georgia Tech didn’t let the weekend get away.

The No. 2 Yellow Jackets were flying high with a 13-game win streak heading into the weekend showdown against No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels took the first two games, but Tech salvaged the finale 5-2 on Sunday.

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Gaudette & Patel Pitch Past No. 3 UNC, 5-2

Published

14 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Gaudette & Patel Pitch Past No. 3 UNC, 5-2

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 2 Georgia Tech got back to its winning ways, defeating No. 3 North Carolina (33-7-1, 15-6 ACC) by a final score of 5-2 from Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Yellow Jackets (32-7, 16-5 ACC) held UNC in check from the third inning on, using 6.1 scoreless innings from Caden Gaudette and Mason Patel to salvage the series and collect its 10th Top 15 victory of the season for this first time this century.

After both teams traded runs in the first inning, the Jackets struck for three runs on three hits in the third. The inning started with a leadoff double from Drew Burress who was quickly brought to the plate by a single from Jarren Advincula. Vahn Lackey drew a walk off a full count before Kent Schmidt connected for an RBI double, bringing in Advincula for what would become the game-winning run. Lackey made it a three-run inning when he scored on an RBI groundout by Ryan Zuckerman. UNC would work the bases loaded and score a run in the bottom of the inning before Gaudette entered the game and induced an inning ending groundout. UNC wouldn’t get another runner into scoring position until the eight inning as Gaudette and Patel slammed the door on any potential comeback.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

The Jackets improve to 32-7, the best start to a season since 2010. Tech is 16-5 in ACC play, the best start since 2011.
Tech has won 32 of its first 39 games for only the 6th time in the program’s 131 seasons: 2010, 2003 2002, 1997, 1993 and now 2026.
James Ramsey owns the best record by any GT head coach in his first season through 39 games (32-7).
The Jackets improve to 8-1 in nationally televised games this season.
Tech has now won 10 games over Top 15 opponents for the first time this century.
Tech has scored 417 runs through their first 39 games. It’s the most runs Georgia Tech has recorded after 39 games in the program’s 131-year history and the most runs any Power 4 team has scored through 39 games in the BBCOR era (since 2011).
The Jackets scoring average now stands at 10.7 runs/game this season. The program record is 10.3, set back in 1984.
GT is outscoring its opponents 417-174, that +243 margin is the highest through 39 games in program history.
The bullpen delivered 6.1 scoreless innings, marking the 15th scoreless outing of the season and second of the weekend.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

Junior Drew Burress produced his 17th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
He has scored 51 runs this season, one shy of Vahn Lackey for the most on the team. Burress has scored 201 runs over his career, tied with Danny Payne (2005-07) for the 11th most in Georgia Tech history.
He becomes the first Yellow Jacket in the BBCOR era to record 200+ runs over a career.
Junior Kent Schmidt went 2-for-4 with a go-ahead RBI double and a shift-beating bunt.
He leads the team with 26 RBI in ACC play and has delivered 35 for the season.
Schmidt has now collected extra base hits in three straight games for the first time this season and third time in his GT career.
He finishes the series with a .500 average, going 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and three walks
Junior Jarren Advincula recorded his 24th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
He leads the ACC with 68 hits this season, averaging 1.7 hits per game and putting him on pace for 94 hits over the course of the regular season. With potential postseason games, that would put him in striking distance of being the first 100-hit player at GT since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
He drove in his 45th RBI of the season, the third most on the team behind Vahn Lackey and Ryan Zuckerman.
Junior Ryan Zuckerman became the first Jacket to reach 50 RBI when he drove in Lackey for the fourth run of the game.
Sophomore Caleb Daniel came off the bench in the 5th inning and blooped an RBI double, it was his 24th RBI of the season and his 5th as a pinch hitter.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

Sophomore Jackson Blakely made his sixth consecutive weekend start, pitching 2.2 innings with two earned runs allowed and three strikeouts.
He has only allowed runs in only three of his eight appearances this season (37.1 innings) this season.
His ERA stands at 2.65, the lowest among all starting pitchers on the roster.
R-junior Caden Gaudette made his team-leading 16^th appearance of the season and 2^nd of the weekend, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings.
He entered the game with a two-run lead (4-2) and the bases loaded with two outs before inducing an inning ending groundout to short.
Gaudette lowers his ERA to 2.86 in 22.0 innings of work.
The man they call “Rock” pitched a total of 3.1 innings this weekend, allowing only one hit with four strikeouts.
He has now pitched as many innings this season as he had in his previous two years combined (22.0) while allowing less than half as many earned runs (7 in 2026, 15 in 2024-25) and exactly half as many hits (12 in 2026, 24 in 2024-25).
Mason Patel got the ball to start the 6th inning, keeping the score at 5-2 for the final four frames and collecting his fourth save of the season.
Since recovering from an injury that saw him miss 20 days, Patel has made six appearances out of the bullpen, pitching 13.2 scoreless innings with a victory and four saves.
Over the last two seasons, Patel has made 29 appearances out of the bullpen, posting 12 wins and nine saves.
This was his longest relief appearance of the season (4.0 innings) after pitching at least 3.0 innings in 15 of his 23 appearances during his All-American season last year.

Up Next

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Tuesday at 7 pm at Truist Park. Tickets are available HERE with all proceeds benefiting the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on X (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.

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Georgia receiver and draft prospect Zachariah Branch arrested for misdemeanor obstruction

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Georgia receiver and draft prospect Zachariah Branch arrested for misdemeanor obstruction

Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who projects as a Day 2 draft pick, may have just damaged his draft stock with an arrest on misdemeanor obstruction charges.

Athens Clarke County police arrested Branch Sunday morning for obstructing public sidewalks/streets-prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Branch was booked into the Clarke County Jail at 1:26 a.m. Sunday and released at 3:44 a.m.

Branch was considered the No. 1 wide receiver recruit in the country coming out of high school. He started his college football career at USC in 2023 and played two seasons for the Trojans before transferring to Georgia last year.

As a freshman Branch was a first-team All-American punt returner and last year he led the SEC with 81 catches. His 4.35-second 40-yard dash at the Combine bolstered his draft stock. Now Branch will have to hope his arrest doesn’t tank his draft stock.

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