College Football Championship 2018: Alabama vs. Georgia Odds, Projected Winner
The gaudy scoffs directed at the SEC are still coming in after the national championship participants were determined on New Year's Day.
Although some may hate the presence of two SEC teams in college football's final game of the season, the national championship is expected to be a fantastic display of strength, especially on the interior.
If you haven't heard by now, the game pits Alabama head coach Nick Saban up against his former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who is now in charge at Georgia.
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Saban is going for his sixth career title and fifth with Alabama, while Smart is looking to bring back a championship to Georgia for the first time since 1980.
Date: Monday, January 8
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Expect a Low-Scoring Affair
While it's easy to point at Georgia's offensive outburst in the Rose Bowl and claim the national championship will be a shootout, it is likely to be far from the case.
Despite boasting one of the best running back tandems in the sport in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, the Bulldogs are still going up against the Alabama defense.
The Crimson Tide put Clemson under pressure from the first drive in the Sugar Bowl to assert their dominance and run away with the victory.
Alabama may not be able to run away with this contest since Georgia boasts an equally tenacious unit on the defensive side of the ball, which makes the 4.5-point line a bit risky.
When it comes to the over/under, a bet on the under may be the logical choice if you're expecting a defensive showdown.
Alabama scored 24 points in three of its four victories over AP Top 25 teams, with its 31-24 win over Mississippi State on November 11 being the lone exception.
The Bulldogs have a similar offensive record against ranked teams with the 54-point output over Oklahoma being the lone outlier. Georgia scored 28 in the SEC Championship win over Auburn and put up 20 points in the Week 2 victory against Notre Dame. The Bulldogs also scored 31 points in their win over Mississippi State on September 23.
Based on what we've seen from both teams in big games this season, you could make an argument to take the over or the under. The over argument will be predicated on Georgia's scoring rampage in the Rose Bowl, while the defense-first narrative will drive those determined to make money off the under.
Young Quarterbacks Will be Forced to Step Up
Everything about the battle at the line of scrimmage seems fascinating given the talent on both lines and in the backfield, but the most important players on the field could be quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Jalen Hurts.
Neither signal-caller is a mastermind at his craft, but they have been able to get the job done when called upon at different points of the season.
Fromm's numbers benefited from the shootout in the Rose Bowl, as he threw for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but that was just his second 200-yard performance since October 28.
Against Top 25 opposition in his freshman season, Fromm completed 61.7 percent of his passes and was sacked on 10 occasions.
Hurts' numbers are worse across the board in his showdowns versus ranked teams, as he had a 55.7 completion percentage and suffered 15 of his 23 sacks in those contests. The good news in all of this is Hurts hasn't thrown an interception against a ranked foe, a trend that needs to stay that way if the Crimson Tide want to keep the momentum throughout the national championship.
Fromm and Hurts will have no problem handing off to their respective running backs in order to get their offenses in a rhythm to start the game, but at some point, one or both of the quarterbacks will have to make a play to give their team an advantage.
A pick for the under could receive more support after looking at the numbers of Fromm and Hurts. That, combined with the expectation that both defenses will cause problems to the opposing running games, could lead more people to take a risk with the under.
Prediction
Everything is pointing to the national championship being decided on the final possession.
Georgia may have the most recent experience of closing out big games, but it's hard to pick against a program that is playing in the title game for the sixth time in nine years.
Alabama 21, Georgia 17
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
Odds obtained from Oddsshark.com.
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