Peach Bowl Betting Odds: Defending Champions Favored to Return to Title Game

Departures Could Hurt Ohio State’s Upset Bid

Georgia’s season began with a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and now the Bulldogs want to make sure their season doesn’t end there.

The Bulldogs should be tested more by Ohio State than they were against Oregon in the season-opening Chick-fil-A Kickoff event when they rolled to a 49-3 win. That is just one of the reasons why the Peach Bowl betting odds favors Georgia.

Ohio State will be without injured running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the top receiver for the Buckeyes a season ago, before being limited to just three college football games in 2022 due to a hamstring issue, is sitting out this game as he is headed to the NFL. Also, keep an eye on guard Matt Jones as he was injured in the regular-season finale against Michigan.

This could be the time of the year when Georgia misses edge rusher Nolan Smith as he was lost for the season in a late October win over Florida. Keep an eye on receiver Ladd McConkey and offensive lineman Warren McClendon, who were both injured in the SEC title game.

Georgia is not only first in the College Football Playoff rankings, the Bulldogs also received all but three first-place votes in the two national polls. Ohio State is third in the American Football Coaches Association poll and fourth in the Associated Press poll.

The Buckeyes needed a win by Utah over Southern California in the Pac-12 title game just to earn the final slot in the College Football Playoff.

Can Ohio State Derail Georgia’s Bid for a Repeat?

When Ohio State wilted in the second half at home to Michigan, it was thought that would end the Buckeyes’ hopes of earning a spot in the College Football Playoffs. The Buckeyes are the only one of the four teams that didn’t play in a conference title game and they needed some help to earn this chance. Still, the Buckeyes are listed as the underdogs according to the Peach Bowl betting odds.

Ohio State is 2-2 in the semifinals, while Georgia is 2-0, including the 34-11 win over Michigan in 2021.

This is just the second meeting between this NCAAF teams with Georgia winning  21-14 in 1992.

The teams are sixth and seventh in total offense nationally while Georgia comes in eighth in total defense and Ohio State ranks 11th.

Buckeyes Thrilled for a Second Chance

Walking off their home field on Nov. 26 after rival Michigan put the finishing touches on a 45-23 victory, the Ohio State players were left wondering what might have been.

A season ago, a loss to Michigan kept the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten title game and College Football Playoffs. Was history going to repeat?

It wasn’t until USC stumbled in the Pac-12 championship game that Ohio State saw the door cracked open. Now it is about capitalizing on this opportunity.

The No. 4 seed is just 2-6 against the top seed since the College Football Playoff system was put in place beginning in the 2014 college football bowl season. One of those wins was by Ohio State in 2014. Still, the Georgia vs Ohio State odds are not in the favor of the Buckeyes.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud is the national leader in passing efficiency and he will look to exploit a Georgia defense that had five players selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Marvin Harrison and Emeka Egbuka are both over 1,000 receiving yards while the defense is a much-improved unit from a year ago, with the lone exception being the second half of the Michigan game.

Georgia Ready for Encore

Defending national champions are 5-0 in the national semifinals scores and Georgia is hoping that trend continues with the Bulldogs in good shape to do just that per the Peach Bowl betting odds.

His touchdown passes are down from a season ago, however Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is the first Bulldog with more than 3,000 passing yards since Aaron Murray in 2013. Brock Bowers is among the top tight ends in college football. Although he had touchdowns in both games, he was somewhat quiet in the two games in the 2021 College Football Playoff.

It seems unlikely that Ohio State will be held to 11 points like Michigan was in the 2021 semifinal so Bowers figures to be targeted early and often in this game.

The defense isn’t quite as dominating as the 2021 group, but still held eight opponents under 300 yards. The Bulldogs gave up a college football season-high 549 yards (502 through the air) to LSU in the SEC title game so there are some things that need to be cleaned up.

Defending Champs Look to Return to Title Game

Since the College Football Playoff system started in 2014, no team has won back-to-back titles. Georgia is in a position to do just that but will need to dispatch of a talented Ohio State team to reach the national title game again.

There has been very little movement in the line that opened with Georgia favored by 6.5 points according to the college football betting lines.

Ohio State is 4-0 away from home this season. Still, trying to take down defending national champion Georgia in Atlanta will be no easy task.

The total has gone over in nine of the last 10 Ohio State games and a higher-scoring game would seem to favor the underdog Bulldogs.

Georgia has won eight of its last 10 games against Big Ten teams.

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