The Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide meet Monday, January 10 in CFP Championship college football action from Lucas Oil Stadium. Georgia is coming off a 23-point win over Michigan in the Orange Bowl. As for Alabama, they were able to take out Cincinnati by 21 points in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Georgia plowed through their first dozen games this year, taking out Clemson, UAB, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech along the way. The Bulldogs dropped their first game 41-24 to Alabama on December 4.
In the Orange Bowl versus Michigan, Georgia held a 27-3 lead at the break. The Bulldogs would go on to finish 34-11 for a dominant victory. QB Stetson Bennett put up 310 yards with three TDs on 21-of-31 passing. James Cook caught three balls for 99 yards and a score.
Over on the Alabama side, they managed victories over Miami-FL, Mercer, Florida, Southern Miss and Ole Miss before a tough 41-38 loss to Texas A&M on October 9. Since then it’s been wins over Mississippi State, Tennessee, LSU, New Mexico State, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia and Cincinnati.
In the Cotton Bowl versus the Bearcats, Alabama jumped out to a 17-3 lead at halftime. The Tide were able to hang on for the 27-6 victory with 10 points in the fourth quarter. Bryce Young had 181 yards passing with three scores and a pick, while Brian Robinson rumbled for 198 yards on 28 carries.
The Bulldogs are 4-1 ATS in their last five on turf and 7-2 ATS in their last nine bowl games. Georgia is 5-2 ATS in their last seven versus a team with a winning record and 12-5 ATS in their last 17 neutral-site games.
Meanwhile, the Tide are 4-0 ATS in their last four neutral-site games and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 on turf. Alabama is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games in January and 1-4 ATS in their last five bowl championship games.
PICK: I’m probably going to stick with Alabama in this one. We should have a nice rematch on our hands here though, and a fitting way to end the season. The Tide have had a few close games and scares over the past eight outings, but overall they’ve taken care of business and have kept other teams in check with solid defensive efforts. In the Cotton Bowl, Alabama held Cincinnati to just 218 yards, 13 first downs and a 2-of-15 conversion rate on third and fourth downs.
As for Georgia, they posted 518 total yards versus Michigan and didn’t have a lot of trouble moving the ball with a nice 10-of-16 mark on third-down tries. The last time these teams met, the offenses went wild for nearly a thousand total yards, but Alabama was able to contain the Bulldogs with 3-of-12 on third downs and some opportunistic plays along the way. Georgia should come back stronger here in an epic finish, but I think the Tide will cover just the same. It’ll be a good one regardless.