Week 14 College Football Predictions: Georgia vs. LSU Will Not Be One-Sided

In the minds of many, the act of crowning this year's SEC champion is a mere formality.

It's going to be LSU. Right?

It will be if the Tigers win Saturday's SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs, and most people expect them to do just that. In case you're wondering, the Tigers are even heavy favorites in the gambling realm. Bodog has the spread at 14 points in their favor.

In many ways, you get the sense that this year's SEC title game is going to be largely similar to last year's edition between Auburn and South Carolina. The Gamecocks were just plain lucky to be there, and they got a 56-17 stomping for bothering to show up.

We're probably not going to see such a lopsided game this time around. In fact, I don't think LSU is going to be able to dominate this game even a little bit. Many expect them to, but I'm thinking Georgia deserves a little more credit than that.

Somewhat quietly, the Bulldogs have been playing very good football since the third week of the season. They dropped their first two games, but won 10 in a row to finish out the season. This win streak was no fluke.

We talk a lot about LSU's defense, but Georgia's is also pretty darn good. They're 10th in the nation in scoring defense with an average of 17.8 points per game being scored against them this season. In their last 10 games, however, the Bulldogs allowed just 13.3 points per game.

Sure, Georgia didn't have to match up against any elite offenses in this stretch, but that's not really an issue seeing as how LSU's offense is not elite. 

It may be less than elite, but Georgia's own offense is very good. Aaron Murray has been playing outstanding football in recent weeks, and Isaiah Crowell is a superstar in the making at running back. The Bulldogs won't explode against LSU's defense, but they are going to challenge the Tigers.

Is all of this to suggest that Georgia is actually going to win, thereby crushing our (or your, whatever) hopes and throwing the BCS picture into disarray?

No. Sorry, but LSU has done far too much to prove that it deserves to be the No. 1 team in the land. The Bulldogs are a worthy opponent, but I don't think the Tigers are about to meet their match.

I'm merely suggesting that LSU is going to have to fight for its SEC title. You only need two fingers to count how many times LSU has actually been tested this season, so I think you'd have to tip your cap to the Bulldogs if they're actually able to hang in there.

Why do I have this funny feeling people are going to call for Mark Richt's head anyway?

LSU 27, Georgia 23