Georgia vs. Alabama: College Football Week 14 Odds & Picks (Saturday)
Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Here are our top picks and predictions for Saturday’s college football games. Below we dive into Georgia vs. Alabama.
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Top College Football Odds & Picks: Georgia vs. Alabama
Georgia vs. Alabama
For the 3rd time in the past 6 seasons, Alabama and Georgia will square off in the SEC Championship game, with obvious College Football Playoff implications on the line. Georgia has once again run the table in the regular season, notching their 29th consecutive victory over Georgia Tech last weekend and hoping to become the first program in NCAA history to win 3 consecutive national titles. The Crimson Tide's only loss this season came at the hands of another CFP hopeful in Texas, though it did come on their home turf. The Bulldogs have not had a victory come by fewer than 7 points this season, which is an expected result from the SEC's top defense and 2nd-ranked offense behind only LSU. Alabama needed a miracle to escape Auburn with a victory last weekend and has struggled to win by margin as frequently as Georgia, but they rank directly behind the Bulldogs in scoring per game, both on the offensive and defensive side of the football. While these defenses are two of the best in the entire country, there are plenty of dynamic playmakers on both offensive sides of the ball and this game has historically featured a ton of points. 8 of the previous 11 SEC Championship games have blown past this total, including a perfect 3/3 to the over in games that were played between Alabama and Georgia. I think history repeats itself, and I see this game being a fairly high-scoring affair.
Pick: Over 54.5 (-110)
-Austin MacMillanv
Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners
Game Total
Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that's it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it's called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.
ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42
tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.
Moneyline
The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That's it. The moneyline doesn't use favorites or underdogs, it's totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they're weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.
For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don't matter, they just need to win the game. But because it's safer to take them straight-up without points, you'll have to risk more when you make the bet - remember, they're seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it's a riskier bet - they're seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog - +220 on the moneyline. You'd win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.
ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)
tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.
Player Props
Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they're also easy to understand. For major conferences, you'll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It's simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don't vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.
ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California? Over 250 or Under 250
tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they're going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.
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