Predicting who will win the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs.
The big day is finally here with the culmination of the 2017 college football season at Atlanta where the champion will be crowned to one of two SEC teams. For the first time since the 2011 BCS Championship Game between Alabama and LSU, this year marks the first time that two opponents from the same conference will meet for the sports top prize.
Will it be Nick Saban and Alabama adding another national title to the 16 they already have in their trophy case or will it be Kirby Smart winning his first as a head coach and the first for Georgia since the 1980 season?
Georgia got here after winning the SEC Championship Game over Auburn, who beat Alabama, to get to the game, and beat Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma last week in the Rose Bowl. Alabama got here after the playoff committee put them in over Ohio State who had won the Big Ten and later beat No. 1 Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
Alabama is a four-point favorite heading into the game and I think they are rightfully the betting favorite in this game. Alabama is no stranger to championship games and this is the expectation every year from here on our as long as Saban is on the sideline, and even when he’s gone. Alabama is mostly healthy, after battling injuries for much of the year, and they are playing with a Mount Everest-sized chip on their shoulder due to many pundits thinking they have no business belonging in this playoff.
Next: Ranking the best CFB Playoff teams in history
Georgia is a really good team with a number of players that are going to be playing on Sundays for a long time. Smart has Georgia on a path to be a consistent contender in the SEC and challenge for SEC supremacy for years to come.
I just don’t think Georgia is quite there yet and I am picking Alabama to win the National Championship Game on Monday night.
I think this will be a low scoring game with the winner in the mid-high 20s and I don’t think we’re headed for a blowout that will be over by halftime. Ultimately, the combination of defense, a strong run game, a quarterback making his third start in this game and a coach who treats these games like mid-October contests is all I need to be convinced Alabama is the pick.
Prediction: Alabama 27, Georgia 20