First, let's make one thing clear this week. Florida-Georgia is primarily a playoff elimination game. Yeah, we know about the cocktails. We know about the parties. We know about the rivalry.

These teams haven't met in back-to-back years while both ranked inside the top 10 since 1983-84. It is also just the second time in history the Gators and Bulldogs are meeting as top-eight opponents (2008).

The winner of Saturday's neutral-site showdown in Jacksonville, Florida, (3:30 p.m. on CBS) has the upper hand in the SEC East. You knew that, too.

That would be gravy for No. 6 Florida. That's a must for No. 8 Georgia.

Be advised the College Football Playoff Selection Committee isn't going to keep out a 12-1 Georgia as the SEC champion even with that damaging South Carolina loss. Same for Florida with an LSU loss that looks better by the minute.

Whether either program can get to 12-1 is another discussion.

Both might be flickering on the playoff attention meter, but while the winner moves on, the loser is likely out of the SEC East race -- and for sure out of the playoff race -- with its second loss of the season.

Saturday is a reckoning for the two teams who look like they're ready to dominate the SEC East for years to come. Right now, the hunger factor leans to Florida -- by far, at least from this viewpoint. The Gators are playing better than the Dawgs. That doesn't necessarily mean they're better than Georgia on Saturday, this season or in the next five years. Kirby Smart does seem to have a national championship or two in his future.

It just means Florida is the ascending program at the moment. It looks more sure of itself. The Gators have cobbled together a 7-1 record despite injuries to numerous starters, including the loss their quarterback.

Going into his second Georgia game, Dan Mullen is actually ahead of Urban Meyer's pace at this point in their Florida careers. Meyer was 15-4 at Florida going into Georgia in 2006. Mullen is 17-4 in Year 2.

That's just a snapshot. Meyer is a hall of famer. If he ever comes back to coach, he'll have a chance to win a championship at three different schools. Since Meyer left, Mullen has come the closest to restoring Florida to how Meyer left it.

Under Meyer, the Gators were 12-4 against top-10 opponents. Mullen is 3-2. In between, Will Muschamp/D.J. Durkin/Jim McElwain/Randy Shannon -- two of them one-game interim coaches -- combined to go 5-10 against such teams.

More than that, there is a breeziness to the program. There is something pleasant about a team that isn't gripping the steering wheel all the time. Florida is an ascending program because, in a way, it can't lose on Saturday. Sure, Gators everywhere would give their left ... gut to beat the Dawgs.

But Florida doesn't have to win. This is a program that looks like it is in the process of building something special. Mullen is winning with a backup quarterback (Kyle Trask) who had not started a game since high school. Veteran defensive coordinator Todd Grantham makes a nice sidekick, and he supposedly turned down NFL offers last offseason to remain in Gainesville.

Meanwhile, Georgia must win Saturday. It has already won the SEC and played for a national championship under Smart, who has beaten Florida in consecutive games. It started the last two seasons ranked third. Anything less than a playoff berth this season has to be a disappointment.

Florida can play pretty much carefree on Saturday. It can't say that, of course, but it stood toe-to-toe against LSU at night in Death Valley until late when its injuries and the Tigers' offense became too much to overcome. Since 2016, only one visiting team (Alabama, 2018) has scored more than Florida's 28 three weeks ago in Tiger Stadium.

Unlike Georgia, Florida handled South Carolina, even if it took a while.

Mullen gets back star defensive linemen Jabari Zuniga and Jon Greenard from injury. The best matchup of the game might be the SEC's leader in sacks (Florida, 29) against the nation's No. 5 offensive line in sack rate (2.3 percent of pass attempts).

Georgia is still a rushing powerhouse. It is 22-1 when Jake Fromm throws for fewer than 205 years. When he goes crazy and throws for more than 205, Georgia is a mere 8-5.

We should know early which way this one is headed. It was in this game a year ago that D'Andre Swift had his first 100-yard effort. Georgia rebounded from a loss at LSU, beat Florida by 19 and grabbed hold of the SEC East.

Still, something seems missing.

That upset to South Carolina? It isn't like the Gamecocks are having a magic season. They're 3-5. This month, Fromm has thrown as many touchdowns (three) as interceptions. Last year, he had 30 TD passes.

In the Year of the Quarterback in the SEC, Fromm is eighth in touchdown passes, seventh in yards. Ryan Hilinski beat the Dawgs. Trask has seven TDs in his last two games. Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa may be Heisman Trophy finalists.

Georgia doesn't want to hear it. It just needs to play better.

Florida? Which way to the cocktail party?