Alabama vs. Georgia Odds
| Alabama Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1 -110 | 49 -110o / -110u | -105 |
| Georgia Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1 -110 | 49 -110o / -110u | -115 |
By Dan Keegan
The game of the week takes us to Tuscaloosa, as two of the most dominant programs of this century meet in a rare regular-season game.
Kalen DeBoer, in his first mammoth test as Nick Saban’s replacement, leads the Alabama Crimson Tide against the Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart.
These two programs have fashioned a fierce rivalry over the past decade because every time they play, the stakes are sky-high. This is their eighth matchup in the last 10 years but the first one on either school's campus in front of a full-throated partisan crowd since 2015.
Georgia and Alabama have gotten used to seeing each other in December or later in front of neutral crowds in NFL stadiums, with the winner hoisting some sort of trophy afterward.
There won’t be a trophy ceremony after the game, but the stakes feel high enough for one.
Both teams are undefeated, naturally, and aiming for SEC and national titles. Quarterbacks Jalen Milroe and Carson Beck each have eyes on ending their season in New York City for the Heisman; this feels like an early tipping point.
What if DeBoer can defeat the dynastic Dawgs a month into his first season? What a statement victory that would be. He has the defense to do it. While DeBoer is known for his offensive acumen, the Tide rank second nationally in Success Rate Allowed.
But Georgia is favored on the road for a reason. The roster is stuffed with talent as usual, and the defense is first in the nation in yards per play allowed.
With so much at stake, this promises to be a thrilling contest from Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In an effort to find the best ways to bet it, we polled 13 members of our college football staff to find a consensus. Let’s get into our picks for the spread and the total, plus some other ways to bet the game.
Alabama vs. Georgia Spread
Georgia -1
The crew here was pretty split on who will cover this week between Georgia and Alabama. By a vote of 7-5-1, our staff of college football experts believes the Bulldogs will cover the short spread. Why does the staff look at it this way?
Georgia, like Alabama, returns its star quarterback in Carson Beck, who has proven to be a maestro on offense facilitating all of the movement and managing the game well. However, he's more than a game manager.
While Georgia’s offense has been shaky a bit to start this season, the staff is betting on Beck to settle in this week and going forward with some of his new pieces after the departures of Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey from a year ago.
The Bulldog defense looks to be the same Kirby Smart defense as always. They wore Clemson down in Week 1, and they've looked like one of the nation’s best every game since. They play physically and move swiftly to the ball.
Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide have looked pretty solid up to this point as well, but this will be by far the toughest matchup they've seen defensively.
The concerning part for Alabama is its reliance on deep balls and big plays. Those may be hard to come by against the Bulldog defense.
We haven't seen enough from this healthy Alabama offensive line to see if it can consistently compete with Georgia's physicality on the line of scrimmage.
Those question marks are a big reason why the staff believes Georgia will cover this one in what figures to be a tight contest.
Alabama vs. Georgia Over/Under
Over 49 | 3Â Picks |
Pass | 4Â Picks |
Under 49 | 6Â Picks |
Under 49
By Greg Liodice
The SEC powerhouse matchup between Georgia and Alabama is always a spectacle. Our staff seems to be split on whether we’re going to have a high-scoring game or a good old-fashioned chess match.
Well, history seems to show us that since 2015, every time these two programs have squared off, the total has gone above 48.5.
So, why does the majority of our staff think this game will go under?
Well, for one, we’re not going to have ourselves a Nick Saban vs. Kirby Smart duel anymore. This is the Kalen DeBoer era in Tuscaloosa. And while DeBoer has a knack for running up the score, this will be his first SEC vs. SEC bout in his coaching career.
Secondly, Georgia has found itself in low-scoring games this season. It has exceeded the current total only one time, and that was against FCS Tennessee Tech.
While Georgia quarterback Carson Beck hasn’t had the overwhelming success he had last season, he’s still someone Smart can rely on.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is well known for his explosive play ability, either using his legs or throwing a deep shot to true freshman Ryan Williams. The pair has shown some major chemistry already.
There could also a number of live-betting opportunities on Saturday.
Should we see the Tide and Dawgs going shot-for-shot and we have a big score to start, that total will likely jump to around the 60-point mark. If that happens, we’d recommend a live under bet.
Should we have a standoff where neither team can get going, then we'd recommend a live over.
More Ways to Bet Alabama vs. Georgia
Ryan Williams Anytime TD
+155 · Play to +140
By Alex Hinton
When you have a matchup of this magnitude, there are usually a lot of strength-on-strength matchups across the board.
Through its first three games, Alabama’s offense has generated 34 explosive plays. Meanwhile, with the nation’s No. 3 scoring defense, Georgia has allowed just 10 explosive plays.
Something will have to give here, and that has usually favored Alabama, which has won eight of the last nine meetings.
In last year’s SEC Championship game, Alabama running back Jam Miller scored on a 28-yard touchdown reception to give the Crimson Tide a lead they would not relinquish.
DeVonta Smith, John Metchie and Jameson Williams are a few receivers who have had big days against Georgia, with Williams going for 184 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 2021 SEC Championship game.
This time around, a different Willams may have a big day for the Crimson Tide.
In the first three games of his career, true freshman Ryan Williams has 10 catches for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Averaging nearly 30 yards per catch, Williams already has four scores of 30 yards or more in addition to another reception for 47 yards.
Since Jalen Milroe took over under center, the Alabama offense has been boom-or-bust at times. However, Milroe throws a great deep ball and averages 11.3 yards per attempt.
If Williams scores on Saturday night, it will likely be on an explosive play. Given the strength of the Georgia front seven, attacking the Bulldogs on the perimeter may give Alabama its best shot.
Georgia Team Total Over 25.5
Play to 26
I think the Dawgs are ripe to hit a few home-run plays down the field against a mediocre Alabama secondary.
Many are pointing toward the Kentucky game in which Georgia struggled offensively, but that was about as vanilla as the UGA offense could get and was essentially UK’s Super Bowl.
Additionally, the Georgia defense is always capable of creating Havoc in prime-time games like this, which could give Carson Beck and company plenty of short fields to operate.
Jalen Milroe and the Bama offense will also use tempo, which should help create plenty of possessions in this one.
Ultimately, I like the Dawgs to secure this victory, and their offense putting plenty of points on the scoreboard will be the main reason why. Give me the UGA team total over.
