ATHENS — Georgia has wrapped up SEC play with a 7-1 record. The Bulldogs beat Texas 35-10 on Saturday.

Georgia has regular-season games left against Charlotte and Georgia Tech. As for a 13th game, that is still left to be decided.

“Proud of them, man. They’ve gotten better,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Saturday. “A lot of teams in the country, it’s hard to keep getting better this time of year. You start questioning what I’m doing. I mean, let’s be honest, we’re two months from the portal opening. I mean, there’s kids that are like, I don’t know if I really want to go out here and get better.

“They continue to get better. They continue to grow, work hard, believe in each other. It’s a good football team, guys, but you’re a week away from humility.”

The 7-1 conference record is an improvement from last year’s 6-2 record. Georgia went on to win the SEC championship game, beating Texas in overtime.

But the improved conference record does not yet mean Georgia has clinched a spot in Atlanta.

The Bulldogs will need help to make it to Atlanta.

With two weeks left in the regular season, only four teams still have a chance to play in the SEC championship game. That would be Texas A&M, Alabama and Ole Miss.

Texas A&M is the only unbeaten team in the league, as the Aggies sit with a 7-0 record in SEC games. Texas A&M visits Texas on Nov. 28. If the Aggies win that game, Texas A&M would clinch a spot in the SEC championship game, something it has not done since joining the league.

If Texas A&M does lose to the Longhorns, Georgia would clinch a spot in the SEC championship game.

Another scenario where Georgia locks up a spot is if Alabama were to lose its final SEC game to Auburn. Alabama and Texas A&M both have nonconference games this week. The Crimson Tide face Eastern Illinois while the Aggies take on Samford.

The only way Ole Miss gets into the SEC championship game would be if the Rebels beat Mississippi State and Texas A&M and Alabama both lose. Ole Miss would face Georgia in that scenario.

If Alabama and Texas A&M win and Ole Miss loses, Alabama and Texas A&M would play for the SEC championship because of Alabama having the head-to-head win over Georgia.

The important metric to know for three or four team tiebreakers will be conference opponent winning percentage. Given Georgia played Ole Miss and Texas A&M, the Bulldogs get a big boost over those teams in that metric.

As it stands right now, Georgia has the highest combined conference opponent winning percentage at .481. Alabama is at .471, with Ole Miss at .345 and Texas A&M a distance fourth at .229. But those will all change over the next two weeks. Record-wise, Georgia’s conference foes are 26-28 in SEC games, while Alabama’s are 25-28.

Results to watch that could help Georgia in the tiebreaker this week would be a Florida win over Tennessee and a Kentucky win over Vanderbilt.

Smart knows there’s nothing his team can do to help their chances to play in the SEC championship game, something it has done four years in a row.

If there is a fifth straight time — something that has only happened one other time in SEC history — Smart and his team will do everything in their power to a win the SEC championship game again.

“I want to win every game that we possibly play,” Smart said. “So what does that mean? Again, my objective is to win every game that we play, so where does that put us? That puts us in that game. So there would be no way I would ever look at not playing in that game. Can’t do that. You’ve gotta look at the opportunity to go play and win a conference championship that has eluded more programs and has been as rare to win, in some cases, as a national championship.”

Georgia’s game this weekend comes against Charlotte, which is set for a 12:45 p.m. ET start on SEC Network.

Kirby Smart sounds off on Georgia playing in SEC championship game

SEC championship game tiebreakersHead-to-head competition among the tied teamsRecord vs. all common conference opponents among the tied teamsRecord against highest (best) placed common conference opponent in the conference standings, and proceeding through the conference standings among the tied teamsCumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents among the tied teamsCapped relative total scoring margin versus all conference opponents among the tied teamsRandom draw of the tied teamsSEC standingsTexas A&M 7-0Alabama 6-1Georgia 6-1Ole Miss 6-1Texas 4-2Vanderbilt 4-2Oklahoma 4-2Tennessee 3-3Missouri 3-3LSU 3-4Florida 2-5Kentucky 2-5Mississippi State 1-6Auburn 1-6South Carolina 1-7Arkansas 0-6