ATHENS – Kirby Smart makes a point not to rely on external factors for motivation, but the College Football Playoff committee has at least provided some.

The Bulldogs fell nine spots to No. 12 in the CFP rankings released Tuesday night following their 28-10 road loss to previously No. 16-ranked Ole Miss last Saturday.

RELATED: More on Georgia’s drop to No. 12 in the recent CFP rankings

Boise State is ranked No. 13 in the latest CFP rankings, but due to the stipulation that the top-ranked Group of Five conference champion gets a spot in the 12-team playoffs, the Bulldogs would be left out of consideration if the season were to start today end.

The four highest-ranked conference champions will host the top four seeds and receive a bye in the first round.

As shown in today’s current CFP rankings (bottom story), if the season ended today the seedings and matchups would be:

Goodbye to the first round

1. Oregon (Big Ten) CFP Rankings 1

2 Texas (SEC) CFP Rank 2

3. BYU (Big 12) CFP Rankings 6

4. Miami (ACC) CFP Ranking 9

First round games

5. Ohio State vs. 12-seed Boise State

6. Penn State vs. 11-seed Ole Miss

7. Indiana vs. 10-seed Alabama

8. Tennessee vs. 9 seed Notre Dame

Smart noted before the rankings were announced on Tuesday night that his team didn’t necessarily need an added sense of urgency ahead of the loss to the Rebels.

Certainly, all Georgia players will see the need to beat No. 7 ranked Tennessee when the teams meet in a showdown Saturday at 7:30 p.m. if the team wants a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff Field .

The CFP committee saw things in a way that previously undefeated Miami fell only five spots after a 28-23 road loss to unranked Georgia Tech, compared to the nine spots the Bulldogs plummeted after the road loss to an SEC ranked -opponent.

CFP president and Big Ten athletic director Warde Manuel, in discussing Ole Miss’ impressive win, called Georgia a “very good team that, while struggling offensively, is still a great team.”

When comparing Miami’s drop in the rankings to Georgia’s, Manuel again mentioned the Bulldogs’ offense.

“Their offense was inconsistent, the committee discussed that. They suffered some turnover losses,” Manuel said. “The defense was solid, although in the loss to Ole Miss we felt like (inconsistent offense) was a factor because the offense was tough and their defense was on the field quite a bit.

“But they lacked any consistency on the attacking side. So when you look at where they’re ranked and how they’ve fallen, in terms of the teams that are up front, both Alabama and Ole Miss beat them head-to-head, and that’s clear when we went through the rankings and looked at everyone, they obviously dropped to 12, but it’s based on who won before them and then the infighting and everything we look at in terms of the body of work.

Manuel, who oversees the committee that currently has four Big Ten teams ranked in the top six, added that “Georgia might have one of the best wins of the year by going to Texas and winning at the way they did it.”

Manuel said the CFP committee looks at the strength of the scheme in every comparison it makes.

“For each team, we see where the different data points and strength of schedule are,” he said. “We obviously also watch the matches to see how a team plays, to see the results of the matches and how teams play.”

College Football Playoff Rankings for Week 12

1. Oregon

2. Ohio State

3.Texas

4. Penn State

5.Indiana

6. BYU

7. Tennessee

8. Notre Dame

9. Miami

10. Alabama

11. Ole ma’am

12. Georgia

13. Boise State

14. SMU

15. Texas A&M

16. State of Kansas

17.Colorado

18. Washington State

19.Louisville

20.Clemson

21. South Carolina

22. LSU

23.Missouri

24. Army

25. Tulane