The first 14 weeks of the college football season have certainly delivered plenty of excitement, upsets and games that came down to the wire. Now, following a Week 14 slate that featured upsets, bad beats and compelling finishes, Championship Week is finally here. There is plenty of action across the college football world this weekend, including a number of important matchups at both the Power 4 and Group of 5 levels that should impact the College Football Playoff picture. We have over 12 glorious hours of football in store for us on Saturday, and there are a couple of good value bets on the board to be had.
With the Championship Week upon us, it’s time to get into this loaded Saturday slate with my weekly best bets column. We have gotten back on track in the column in recent weeks, so let’s keep that momentum going this week! Let’s take a look at my trio of CFB best bets for Saturday, and you can also find out all of our expert CFB picks for this weekend’s action.
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook. Playable to Georgia -135.
This is an instance where the first meeting between these teams can be instructive for how we can handicap this matchup. Yes, Alabama did pick up the victory in Athens back in September. However, one quick look at the box score would tell you that the Crimson Tide were pretty fortunate to win that game. Alabama raced out to an extremely fast start and built a double-digit lead, before its offense completely stalled in the second half and they needed a couple of Georgia turnovers to hang on to a 3-point victory. Therefore, even though Georgia isn’t going to be at home for this game, the Bulldogs are playing in Atlanta — where they should still hold a fairly decent crowd advantage at a venue they are very familiar with.
Outside of the first quarter, the Crimson Tide have been pretty ordinary in SEC play this season. Kalen DeBoer typically has a terrific script and puts his quarterback in position to succeed early on, but that could even be tested this week given Ty Simpson’s shaky play over the last few weeks — which is at least partially due to injury in all likelihood. Georgia’s offense has struggled in the first quarter all season long, but Gunnar Stockton and company have been able to well outpace their opponents after the opening 15 minutes. Don’t be surprised if the Dawgs start a bit slow before rallying and taking control of things in the second half. Revenge should be on the mind of Kirby Smart, and I expect his team to claim the SEC title for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in the last 5 years.
Get our expert’s full Georgia vs Alabama prediction
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Indiana +4.
While this is a matchup between the top 2 teams in the country, there isn’t a lot of motivation for either team to put forth its best effort in this game on paper. After all, both teams have byes in the College Football Playoff locked up at this point, and each side should be focused on staying healthy and preparing to make a run at a championship. However, Indiana does not seem like the kind of operation to take things easy — especially not with Curt Cignetti’s aggressive style of coaching. There’s no doubt that Ohio State is the best team in the country, but it’s not as if the Hoosiers are far behind in that department. In fact, Indiana has the best win between the 2 teams — as the Hoosiers’ convincing performance against Oregon has aged very well in recent weeks.
Not only has Indiana proven to be an excellent team, but there’s also a real chance that this is a difficult spot for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes are coming off a win against Michigan for the first time since 2019. The monkey is finally off Ryan Day’s back, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if his team was a bit flat on Saturday. At the end of the day, both of these teams are excellent on both sides of the ball and each team has terrific metrics across the board. However, the motivation angle should lie with the underdog Hoosiers in a spot in which Ohio State has no real incentive to be at its best. With that in mind, I’ll grab the points with Indiana in the Big Ten title game.
Lock in our expert’s Indiana vs Ohio State predictions
