It's very hard to beat a great team. It's even harder to beat a great team twice, particularly when you'll be without one of your top receivers in the rematch, and your offensive line was banged up a bit the week before. Make no mistake about it, both of these teams are very capable of winning this game, but one terrible quarter in Atlanta changed the perception of the Georgia defense. I think it's still very good, and it will make some of the necessary adjustments to curtail the big plays and keep this one close. Keeping it close will in turn allow Georgia to stick to what it does best: lean on you.

Alabama and Georgia meet Monday for the second time in just over a month. Alabama’s consistent presence in the title game and its 41-24 victory over Georgia in December haven't affected the point spread. Like the Clemson Tigers in 2019, look for Georgia to override its history against the Crimson Tide. Take the Bulldogs to win the title.

The SEC Championship Game was the exception, and the Georgia defense we have seen for its other 13 games is the rule. Georgia was too passive against quarterback Bryce Young last time out, and that will change on Monday when it brings heat from all directions. We saw Cincinnati turn Young into a "one read and bail" quarterback at times in the semifinal. Georgia will follow that blueprint, but will actually get him on the ground -- something it didn't do on Dec. 4. This will be a lower-scoring game, and we'll see Georgia running back James Cook become a star.

Let me be clear here: I am SO rooting for Georgia in this game as I still have a beef with Nick Saban over how he left Michigan State. However, I really don't understand why oddsmakers are giving the Tide any points after they dominated the Dawgs in the SEC title game about a month ago. What really has changed? While Georgia may have the slightly better defense, the offenses aren't close: Bryce Young > Stetson Bennett, who in two career games vs. Alabama has five interceptions. Ideally, UGA wins by 1 or 2 points, but the only school to beat Saban in a national title game was Clemson, and Bennett definitely is not Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson.

This is somewhat reminiscent of the 2018 CFP title game in which Georgia appeared to have the slightly better overall personnel, but Alabama found a way to win after coach Nick Saban turned to then-freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa to engineer a memorable second-half comeback. In this year's SEC title game, Alabama turned around an early 10-0 deficit behind a 31-7 blitz spanning the second and third quarters. Heisman winner Bryce Young accounted for four touchdowns during the spurt, which included a pick-six by the defense from Georgia QB Stetson Bennett. Alabama has the better player at the most important position and a coach who never loses to former assistants. The points could come into play, and taking a Saban-coached team as an underdog is too much of a value to pass up.