Outkick’s Gambling Pick For Bama-Georgia & OddsShark Preview

The fourth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide proved they belonged in the College Football Playoff by backing up their status as favorites in a 24-6 rout of the top-seeded Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl.

Now the Crimson Tide are listed as 4-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com as they try to show they are the best team in the SEC and the country when they face the third-seeded Georgia Bulldogs in Monday’s CFP National Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The site of the title game should not be underestimated since the Bulldogs will have a majority of the fans watching the game in person, much like they did when they knocked off the Auburn Tigers 28-7 for the SEC championship there a little more than a month ago.

Many college football fans were looking forward to an Alabama-Georgia matchup in that game for the conference title, but the Crimson Tide fell at Auburn in the Iron Bowl to prevent that from happening. There will be much bigger stakes here.

Alabama is going for its fifth national championship in nine years under head coach Nick Saban, who can tie the legendary Bear Bryant with six overall as well. The Crimson Tide are playing in their third straight CFP title game but did suffer some key injuries on defense in their semifinal win over the Tigers. The Bulldogs will try to take advantage of that potential weakness with the best one-two punch at running back in the country.

Georgia seniors Nick Chubb and Sony Michel have combined for 2,449 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns so far after totaling 326 and five on the ground, respectively, in a 54-48 double-overtime victory against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Rose Bowl. Michel also had four catches for 41 yards and a touchdown versus Oklahoma, overcoming a key fumble that gave Georgia’s opponent some momentum after trailing 38-31.

The Bulldogs have lost the past three meetings with Alabama, according to the OddsShark College Football Database, but only one of those has been played since 2012. Georgia true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm has led his team to four straight covers and a 10-4 mark against the spread overall. Fromm’s play as a pure pocket passer against the Tide’s defense figures to be one of the deciding factors for the national title.