Georgia going to SEC championship game with Texas A&M’s loss. Who could Bulldogs play?

Georgia will get a chance to defend its SEC championship, and it could come against the Bulldogs’ nemesis, Alabama. Alternatively, it could come against Ole Miss, perhaps delaying coach Lane Kiffin’s decision on whether to leave Oxford.

That’s the consequence of Texas’s win over Texas A&M on Friday night, which also eliminated the previously unbeaten Aggies from the SEC race.

Georgia, which got a non-conference win over Georgia Tech on Friday, was already in the clubhouse with a 7-1 conference record. Ole Miss also got to 7-1 with a win at Mississippi State, while Texas A&M fell to 7-1 with the loss.

That creates the possibility of a four-way tie for first place if Alabama (6-1) wins at Auburn on Saturday night.

In that case, the SEC’s first three tiebreakers would not apply (head-to-head among the tied teams if they have all played each other, then records against common opponents and then records against teams all have faced). The fourth tiebreaker is the combined conference record of each team’s opponents, and Georgia and Alabama would win that, no matter Saturday’s results.

Those two teams played in late September, with Alabama pulling out a 24-21 win in Athens. If the rematch happens next week, it would be the third time in the past five years, and the fifth time since 2012, that the two teams have met in the SEC championship. Alabama has won each time.

If Alabama loses at Auburn, however, leaving the SEC with a three-way tie, the decision would again go to combined opponents’ SEC record, and Ole Miss would have the edge over Texas A&M. Georgia and Ole Miss would also be a rematch, with the Bulldogs winning that game 43-35 in Athens in October. Still, the bigger intrigue would be Kiffin.

Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said an announcement is coming Saturday on Kiffin’s status, as he mulls reported offers from LSU and Florida. That said, the Gators appear to have moved on to other choices. Kiffin’s Ole Miss team is basically ensured a spot in the College Football Playoff, but reaching the SEC championship is still on the table, further complicating the timing of any announcement.

Georgia, meanwhile, will play in the SEC championship for the fifth straight year, and eighth time in the last nine years. This also ensures that, for the 12th consecutive year, either Georgia or Alabama will play in Atlanta — potentially both, for what would be the fifth time since 2014 and the sixth since 2012.

The SEC championship game will be played Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.