College football picks: Championship Week

WHERE: Lucas Oil Stadium

WHEN: Jan 10, 8:05pm ET

SPREAD: Georgia -3 | O/U 52.5

The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship game will be a rematch of the SEC Championship game this year, with Georgia looking to avenge their only loss from this season. Nick Saban’s Alabama team comes into this match following a 27-6 success over the Cincinnati Bearcats in the College Football Playoff semifinals, while the Georgia Bulldogs coasted past the Michigan Wolverines with a 34-11 win.

Alabama actually played quite a weird match against the Cincinnati Bearcats, even though the 27-6 score might not suggest as much. Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young had a below average game for his standards, throwing for only 181 yards and three touchdowns. On the other hand, it can be argued that he wasn’t really needed to play any better, as the running game took over for Alabama. Brian Robinson Jr. rushed 26 times for 204 yards, and Trey Sanders rushed 14 times for 67 yards, as for the first time this season Alabama put more yards on the ground than through the air. Their defense was once again the star of the show, as they held Cincinnati below 100 rushing yards and zero touchdowns. They also registered six sacks on quarterback Desmond Ridder.

After their loss against Alabama in the regular season, Georgia look like a team on a mission. It’s fair to say that they didn’t do anything wrong against Michigan in the semifinals, as everything clicked for Kirby Smart’s team on their way to a 34-11 win. Stetson Bennett seemed to be back to his best form of play, as he completed 20 throws for 313 yards and three touchdowns. He was helped by a great performance from his offensive line, who didn’t allow Michigan to get to Bennett at all. Georgia’s defense looked sharp once again, as they forced three turnovers in the game, and sacked Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy four times.

The general rule is that you don’t get rich betting against Nick Saban in the playoffs, but I personally don’t see Alabama beating this Georgia team twice this year. That loss seemed to have been a wake-up call for the Bulldogs, and I expect their defensive backs to cover Alabama’s receivers better in this one. I also expect Georgia to have a better plan for Bryce Young here, as Cincinnati laid out a good blueprint to follow on how to put him under pressure. If the offensive line for Georgia can protect Stetson Bennett from pressure in this match (as they did against Michigan), I expect the Bulldogs to win and cover. We’ll stay away from moneyline, just to be safe, however.

College football pick: Georgia -3 points -105