College Football Playoff: Ohio State vs. Georgia Betting Preview, Picks and Analysis for Saturday, December 31
The Ohio State Buckeyes were gifted a spot in the College Football Playoff when the USC Trojans lost to the Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Championship game, but now Ryan Day's team must show that it belongs on the same field as the Georgia Bulldogs. The winner of this Peach Bowl showdown at 8:00PM ET on Saturday, December 31 in Atlanta will take on the winner of an exciting meeting between the TCU Horned Frogs and Michigan Wolverines, and this national championship should be an awesome one when we get there. While TCU might not be much of a name brand right now, we have three huge programs competing for a title. And the Horned Frogs are a great story, so the ending will be a good one no matter what. Find out how we think this one will play out in our Ohio State vs. Georgia betting preview, where we'll also give you our best bet for this game.
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Ohio State vs. Georgia College Football Playoff Betting Preview
Spread Analysis (Georgia -6.5)
If there's a team in the nation that's as good as the Bulldogs, we certainly don't have much evidence of it. Georgia was remarkable on both sides of the football this year, with the team being 11th in scoring offense and second in scoring defense. The Bulldogs are also a team with a championship DNA, as Stetson Bennett and Co. won it all last season.
It should, however, be noted that this game probably has a better chance of being close than the other one. Ohio State turned in a dud in a loss to Michigan, but it was big plays from the Wolverines offense that did the Buckeyes in. With a month to prepare, the team should be able to clean that up a bit. Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is one of the best defensive minds in the business. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes have all the talent in the world on offense, where quarterback CJ Stroud is a potential No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and has a ton of weapons around him.
This Ohio State team was viewed as one of the best in the country before the year. Now is the time for the Buckeyes to show they deserved to be in that conversation.
Total Analysis (Over/Under 59.5)
While we do think Knowles will find a way to have his defense looking a bit sharper by the time this game rolls around, stopping Georgia completely is just out of the question. The Bulldogs just have too much strength along the offensive line, which means Georgia will be able to run the ball and will also give Bennett some clean pockets to work with. With that said, the Bulldogs will put up their fair share of points here.
Once the Bulldogs do go up, the Buckeyes will be throwing with regularity. That's the dream scenario for Over bettors. Ohio State should be able to effectively push the ball down the field at some point in this game, whether it's when it matters or in garbage time. That makes it hard not to like the Over.
Ohio State vs. Georgia Prediction
Best Bet: Over 59.5
Georgia's physicality should allow the team to advance to the national championship, but it's hard to imagine Ohio State not putting up a lot of points in a loss. That makes the Over look like the safer play here.
UPDATE: We got this number down at 59.5 and it has since gone up quite a bit. We still tend to think it'll be somewhat higher scoring, so we'd play the Over rather than anything else.
