Georgia Bulldogs Heavily Favored In Most CFB Playoff Matchups
UGA is a touchdown favorite against most schools
How good are the Georgia Bulldogs in college football?
Good enough to be favored by at least a touchdown against all but two teams in the entire country.
Legendary Las Vegas oddsmaker Kenny White sent me his latest power ratings and let's just say the wise guys don't give many programs a chance to knock off Georgia in next month's College Football Playoff. Only Ohio State and Alabama would be less than seven-point underdogs against the defending national champs.
Kenny White's highest-rated teams:
Georgia 134
Ohio State 133
Alabama 130.5
Michigan 126.5
Tennessee 125.5
Clemson 121.5
LSU 120
Oregon 119
Penn State 118.5
Texas 118.5
The College Football Playoff selection committee released its newest rankings two days ago: No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU. Where does TCU fit into White's rankings, you ask? They're his 16th-best team with a 117 lower than Utah, Florida State, Notre Dame, USC and Ole Miss.
So if the Bulldogs and Horned Frogs meet in the national semifinals, Georgia will be around a 17-point favorite.
"It wouldn't even be close," White told NESN. "TCU doesn't play any defense and Georgia could name its score."
Projected CFB Playoff spreads via Kenny White:
UGA -1 vs. Ohio State
UGA -3.5 vs. Alabama
UGA -7.5 vs. Michigan
UGA -8.5 vs. Tennessee
UGA -14 vs. LSU
UGA -15 vs. Oregon
UGA -16 vs. USC
UGA -17 vs. TCU
It's wild that two-loss Alabama gets that much more respect than Tennessee, Oregon and TCU, but then again, I would probably lay the points in all three potential meetings.
"Respected bettors would grab anything higher than plus-4 on Alabama," White said. "There's an aura around Nick Saban in these playoff games and it's no secret that his teams tend to perform pretty well with extra time to prepare and scheme. It doesn't hurt that the Tide have pro players all over the field, either. But they're probably dead in the water with two losses on their resume and four teams to leap.
"Ohio State and Michigan could beat Georgia in the playoff, but that's about it."
