ATLANTA -- In a bar on the Beltline as Texas A&M's hopes of reaching the SEC Championship Game imploded, two Georgia fans debated overlapping December dilemmas: Do we really want to play for the conference title? Would we rather take the first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, or just play through?

The argument was fueled partly by libations celebrating an eighth straight win in Clean Old Fashioned Hate -- a grind-it-out 16-9 victory against Georgia Tech . But it speaks to a real tension in late November as teams try to decide where rest ends and rust begins heading into the postseason.

Georgia sits at No. 4 for now -- and will certainly move up on Tuesday -- but the looming questions remain. What would have happened to that ranking if Texas A&M had made the SEC title ga

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