Georgia opens up as 13.5-point favorite over TCU in national championship game
After a wild semifinal Saturday, the College Football Playoff title game matchup is set. And there’s already a point spread from the oddsmakers in Las Vegas.
No. 1 Georgia will face No. 3 TCU in Los Angeles next Monday, Jan. 9.
The Bulldogs, the defending national champions, are favored by a whopping 13.5 points over the Horned Frogs at BetMGM. Additionally, the total opened up at 63.5 before quickly ticking down two points to 61.5.
Georgia advanced to the national championship thanks to a heart-stopping, come-from-behind win over No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday night in Atlanta. Georgia trailed 38-24 entering the fourth quarter but was able to storm back to win 42-41.
Georgia took the lead with 54 seconds remaining on a Stetson Bennett touchdown pass to AD Mitchell. Ohio State had a 50-yard field goal to win the game in the final seconds, but the kick hooked left to clinch the victory for Georgia.
Georgia was favored by 5.5 points over Ohio State, and the point spread is more than double that for the title game vs. the underdog Horned Frogs. TCU was an eight-point underdog vs. No. 2 Michigan but managed to pull off the upset — the biggest ever for a CFP semifinal.
Like Ohio State, TCU jumped out to a double-digit lead. It was as big as 21-3 in the second quarter and then 41-22 late in the third. But unlike Ohio State, TCU would not blow the lead. Michigan battled back and cut the deficit to 41-38 early in the fourth and then 51-45 in the final minutes.
But in the end, Michigan could not get over the hump and TCU held on for a six-point victory.
TCU, now 13-1, has been an underdog three times this season. The Horned Frogs are 3-0 against the spread and 3-0 straight-up in those spots. TCU beat Oklahoma 55-24 as a five-point underdog, beat Texas 17-10 as a 7.5-point underdog and then beat Michigan as an eight-point dog.
For the season, TCU is 10-3-1 ATS. Georgia is just 7-7 ATS. The undefeated Bulldogs have been favored in all 14 games they’ve played.
