The SEC’s dominance over college football is on display once again as the 2022 National Championship Game pits Georgia and Alabama at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Monday night (8 p.m., ESPN).
Alabama has salvaged its season where now, Nick Saban’s men are on the cusp of a seventh national championship in 13 years.
A Week 6 loss to Texas A&M almost derailed the Crimson Tide’s season, dropping them from No. 1 in the nation to No. 5.
After finishing the regular season 11-1, Alabama sat at No. 4 in the nation heading into the SEC Championship Game where a loss to No. 1 Georgia would have likely ended its season. It also would have been just the second time in the eight years of the College Football Playoff that it would not have been a part of college football’s final four teams remaining.
But Alabama found its usual gear at the expense of Georgia in a 41-24 conference title beatdown on Dec. 4 — solidifying the Crimson Tide’s place amongst the game’s elite, again, while quarterback Bryce Young clinched his Heisman Trophy.
For Georgia, it extended an excruciating slump against an Alabama team it had not defeated since 2007. This is the same Alabama team that broke the hearts of the Bulldogs in the 2018 National Championship Game in overtime — extending their wait for a title that dates back to 1980. They had been college football’s No. 1 ranked team for nearly two months before their SEC title game loss to Alabama.
They rolled through Michigan in the semifinal to set up another date with the Crimson Tide — who took care of Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl — in what is a matchup of the two very best teams in college football.
Players to watch
- Bryce Young, QB, Alabama: 67.6% completion rating, 4,503 yards, 46 TD, 5 INT
- Brian Robinson Jr., RB, Alabama: 248 carries, 1,268 yards, 14 TD
- Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama: 75 receptions, 1,507 yards, 15 TD
- James Cook, RB, Georgia: 107 carries, 651 yards, 6.1 yards per carry, 7 TD
- Brock Bowers, WR, Georgia: 52 receptions, 846 yards, 12 TD
- Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia: 68 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, 2 INT
DraftKings Odds: 2022 National Championship Game
- Spread: Georgia -2.5
- Over/Under: 51.5
- Georgia Moneyline: -140
- Alabama Moneyline: +120
FanDuel Odds: 2022 National Championship Game
- Spread: Georgia -2.5
- Over/Under: 52.5
- Georgia Moneyline: -135
- Alabama Moneyline: +115
Caesars Odds: 2022 National Championship Game
- Spread: Georgia -3
- Over/Under: 52.5
- Georgia Moneyline: -140
- Alabama Moneyline: +120
This first appeared on AMNY.com
