Fansided

College football conference championship game expert picks, predictions for 2022

By Cody Williams

SALT LAKE CITY UT- OCTOBER 15: R.J. Herbert #11 of the Utah Utes tackles Caleb Williams #13 of the USC Trojans during the first half of their game October 15, 2022 Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/ Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY UT- OCTOBER 15: R.J. Herbert #11 of the Utah Utes tackles Caleb Williams #13 of the USC Trojans during the first half of their game October 15, 2022 Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/ Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
College football expert picks conference championship games
Georgia Bulldogs. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /

Sun Belt Championship Game picks: Coastal Carolina vs. Troy

There are going to be some people who look at Coastal Carolina getting boat-raced by James Madison last week and think that this could be a blowout in favor of Troy. It might be, but that game for the Chants was much more about looking ahead to this game than anything else.

What will be a major factor in the Sun Belt Championship Game, however, is that Troy is arguably the best defense that Coastal has seen all season. And then you have to add in that the Chanticleers are no longer playing with star quarterback Grayson McCall, that’s another problem for Jamey Chadwell’s team.

If there was one mitigating factor, it would be that the Trojans offense has not been anything special this season overall. But Coastal’s defense has given up 26 or more points in seven of their 11 games this season and only held one team under 21 points. I think Troy is just superior and finds a way to control this game from start to finish.

Prediction: Coastal Carolina 20, Troy 34 (Troy covers -8.5, Over 48.5)

SEC Championship Game picks: LSU vs. Georgia

Speaking of one team just being far superior, that certainly looks to be the case for Georgia coming into this showdown against LSU. Granted, the Tigers were undeniably in another look-ahead spot last week when they looked hapless against ailing Texas A&M. But even before that, we started to see some shine wearing off on the heels of the win over Alabama.

There are going to be people talking about Georgia starting slow against Georgia Tech or messing around with a team like Kentucky. But since they dominated Tennessee, the Dawgs have quite obviously been in cruise control mode and not putting anything more on tape with a sugar-free-vanilla offense and dominating on defense.

We saw that they have a switch to flip when they played Tennessee and we should see more of it on Saturday afternoon. Jayden Daniels is going to be in hell against the Georgia front seven and Stetson Bennett IV should bring out his big-game chops once again for an emphatic UGA victory to move into the College Football Playoff at 13-0.

Prediction: LSU 17, Georgia 40 (Georgia covers -18.5, Over 50.5)

Home/College Football