Orange Bowl – Georgia vs. Michigan Spread, Line, Odds, Predictions, Picks, and Betting Preview

The winner of the Orange Bowl is headed to the National Championship. With a chance at the big prize on the line, will it be the Georgia Bulldogs (12-1) or Michigan Wolverines (12-1) to come away victorious in the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 31?

It's been a year to remember for Jim Harbaugh, who found himself on the hot seat last season only to rebound with a surprising playoff berth in 2021. This season, defense has been the calling card, as Michigan ranks fifth in the country in points allowed at only 16.1 per game. The offense has been an underrated unit all season, finishing 12th nationally with 37.7 points per game thanks to a deadly rushing attack led by Hassan Haskins (1,288 yards, 20 TDs).

Georgia's vaunted defense was exposed in the SEC Championship game where the Tide lit them up for 41 points while accumulating 449 total yards. The key issues for Georgia were that they got pushed around at the line of scrimmage and struggled to deal with tempo. Seeing as the Bulldogs' defensive front looked dominant in every other game of the season, we're going to remain dubious that Michigan will push them around the way Alabama did. It's not in Michigan's DNA to operate with tempo offensively, and the Bulldogs had a month to fix the leaks that popped up against the Tide. 

Georgia has a talent advantage, and we can expect the defense to return to form in a more favorable matchup. We'll give Michigan enough credit to admit that they could keep things close, but Georgia is the rightful favorite and has all the tools necessary to advance with a convincing win. 

All CFB game predictions and picks are courtesy of SportsGrid

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