It feels like just yesterday that Illinois was beating Nebraska in the first Power Five game of Week 0. Now, four-and-a-half short months later, only two college football teams are still playing.
Alabama and Georgia have proven to be two of the best teams in the country all season, and the rivalry only heated up when the Crimson Tide toppled the top-ranked Bulldogs in the SEC Championship on Dec. 4.
Now with only one game remaining in the season – an SEC title game rematch nonetheless – we’re obligated to place our final bets, right? Our staff came prepared, hand-picking their eight favorite bets for Monday’s National Championship game.
From spread bets and totals to moneyline plays and player props, we have it all. So, check out all eight of our top plays for Alabama vs. Georgia below – and thanks for riding along with us this season.
Let’s make this last night a memorable one.
Our 8 Best National Championship Bets
The table below represents each pick that our college football staff is targeting for Monday’s National Championship. Click a pick below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Bettor | Pick |
| BJ Cunningham | Georgia ML -135 |
| Kody Malstrom | Georgia ML -140 |
| Mike McNamara | Georgia -3 |
| Shawn Burns | Alabama +3 |
| Patrick Strollo | Over 52 |
| Darin Gardner | James Cook Over 20.5 Receiving Yards |
| Alex Kolodziej | Jermaine Burton Under 36.5 Receiving Yards |
| Kyle Remillard | Brian Robinson Jr. Over 64.5 Rushing Yards |
| Specific bet recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | |
Alabama vs. Georgia
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Monday, Jan. 10 8 p.m. ET ESPN |
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Georgia ML -135 |
By BJ Cunningham
Alabama ran the ball all over Cincinnati’s defense in the Cotton Bowl for a staggering 301 yards and 6.7 yards per carry.
The Tide won’t have that type of success against Georgia, as they ran the ball only 26 times at 4.4 yards per carry, and a lot of that was because of quarterback Bryce Young.
Brian Robinson Jr. may have had over 200 yards against the Bearcats, but against Georgia’s front seven, he had only 55 yards on 16 carries with a 44% Rushing Success Rate, which is around the national average.
So, Georgia should once again be able to shut down Alabama’s rushing attack. But the question is, can it slow down Young? The Heisman Trophy winner averaged 9.6 yards per attempt and tossed seven passes that went for 20-plus yards, which is not something we were used to seeing from a Georgia team that had the best coverage grade in the nation, per PFF.
The biggest thing for Georgia is it has to put pressure on Young and make him uncomfortable.
Young is so good both when he has a clean pocket and when he’s blitzed, averaging over 8.5 yards per attempt while owning an adjusted completion percentage over 74% and a PFF passing grade over 90.
However, when he’s under pressure, his adjusted completion percentage drops to 66.7%, and his passing grade drops to 61.9.
What is most surprising about the SEC Championship game is that Georgia pressured Young 18 times, which is close to the number of times Auburn and Texas A&M got to him. But Georgia didn’t record a single sack in the game, which was the first time all season the Bama quarterback wasn’t sacked.
Obviously, the Alabama game plan in the Cotton Bowl was to run the ball, but Young didn’t have the best game. He averaged only 6.5 yards per attempt and had a 61.3 PFF passing grade, both of which were his lowest marks of the season.
It could have had something to do with how good Cincinnati’s secondary was this season, along with the fact he was without one of his top targets in John Metchie III.