College Football Playoff 2020: Simulating a 16-team bracket

16-team College Football Playoff quarterfinal: 1 Alabama vs. 9 Georgia

Now that we’ve reached the quarterfinals of our 16-team College Football Playoff bracket, we kick things off with a rematch from the SEC regular-season as the top-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide face the familiar Georgia Bulldogs once again. And on the surface, that may not seem all that exciting given how Nick Saban’s club dominated the first meeting.

As is essentially tradition for Alabama-Georgia matchups with Saban and Kirby Smart, respectively, helming the programs, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-17 lead in the first half but were then blanked in the second half, losing 41-24. Bama’s offense rolled but, more importantly, the defense had every answer needed in the final two quarters.

However, everyone watching that first matchup between the two rivals was wondering how different things would’ve been had JT Daniels been at quarterback instead of Stetson Bennett IV. The Dawgs have been a far more complete and dangerous team since the switch under center, which makes a rematch that much more interesting of a notion.

And that’s because I expect a rematch would be much closer. Georgia would have the balanced offensive attack to match Alabama in an offensive shootout for the most part. But when it gets to the end of the game, the experience and slight talent advantage would push the Crimson Tide through.

Alabama wins, 44-41