The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide take on the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs on Monday in a rematch of the SEC Championship. This time it's for the national title.
The Crimson Tide came away with a 41-24 win over the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship in early December. Alabama is looking for back-to-back titles, while Georgia is looking for revenge and its first national championship since the 1980 season.
Joe Fortenbaugh, Doug Kezirian, Bill Connelly, David M. Hale and Tyler Fulghum provide their best bets for the highly anticipated College Football Playoff final.
Note: Lines courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook
CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T
No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (-3, 52.5)
8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App (Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis)
Fortenbaugh: The closing total for the SEC Championship game was 48 points, so we're seeing a four-point adjustment north after Alabama and Georgia combined to score 65 points back on December 4. I believe that's an overadjustment that creates value in betting the under. The Tide put together a masterful game plan last month in deploying a pass-heavy, up-tempo approach to neutralize the stout Georgia defense. The good news for Bulldogs backers is that Alabama won't have the element of surprise on its side this time around, meaning Georgia will have a much better chance of limiting a Tide offense that will be without star wide receiver John Metchie, who caught six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in the conference title game. Alabama enters the final showdown of the year with a defense that ranks sixth nationally in opponent yards per play and 13th in scoring. This is going to be a much different game than the first one.