The final college football game of the 2022 calendar year is set to take place on Saturday night in Atlanta. A spot in the CFP National Championship will be at stake when the 4-seed Ohio State Buckeyes clash with the 1-seed Georgia Bulldogs in the second College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Peach Bowl. There will certainly be no shortage of talent on the field in this game as both teams boast a slew of pro prospects. While the Ohio State vs Georgia odds and college football betting picks have declared the reigning champs as favorites, the spread is closer than some might think.
The following game preview provides the college football betting odds, trends and FEI Index ratings before sharing our official Ohio State vs Georgia prediction for the Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal matchup.
Ohio State vs Georgia Prediction | College Football Betting Picks
Peach Bowl
Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (13-0, 8-0 SEC)
Date: Saturday, January 31, 2022
Time: 8 p.m. EST
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Atlanta, GA
Coverage: ESPN
For most of the regular season, Ohio State looked unbeatable. All 11 of the Buckeyes’ wins on the year have come by double-digits. However, a 22-point home loss to rival Michigan prevented Ohio State from playing in the Big Ten Championship Game. Despite the setback, Ryan Day’s team was able to sneak into the College Football Playoff as the 4-seed. Having been granted a new lease on their season, one has to believe that the Buckeyes will be highly motivated to prove their doubters wrong.
Georgia is back to defend its championship from a year ago as the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Bulldogs capped off a perfect regular season by avenging last year’s loss in SEC Championship with a dominant victory over LSU. The Dawgs have largely steamrolled their competition to date with 12 of their 13 wins coming by double-digits. That kind of dominance is almost unheard of for a team playing in a conference as tough as the SEC and proves just how tough Kirby Smart’s team is.
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Ohio State vs Georgia College Football Betting Picks and Odds
All college football betting odds for Ohio State vs Georgia can be found at BetOnline Sportsbook.
Moneyline: OSU: (+200) | UGA: (-240)
Point Spread: OSU: +6 (-112) | UGA: -6 (-108)
Total: 62.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
College Football FEI Ratings
The following table shares the Fremeau Efficiency Index rankings for both teams involved in this Peach Bowl matchup. The purpose of the FEI ratings is to represent the per-possession scoring advantage that a team would be expected to have on a neutral field against an average opponent. The rankings for offense and defense are out of 131 total FBS-level teams.
Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) ratings are from Football Outsiders
Team | Overall FEI (Rk) | OFEI (Rk) | DFEI (Rk) |
Ohio State | 1.23 (3) | 1.78 (3) | .90 (8) |
Georgia | 1.51 (1) | 1.72 (4) | 1.46 (1) |
Ohio State vs Georgia College Football Betting Trends
- Buckeyes are 0-3-1 ATS in their last four games against teams with a winning record.
- The OVER is 9-1 in the Buckeyes’ last ten games overall.
- All of the Buckeyes’ last six games against teams with a winning record have gone OVER the total.
- Bulldogs are 12-3 ATS in their last 15 non-conference games against Power 5 opponents.
- Each of the Bulldogs’ last five bowl games has stayed UNDER the total.
- The UNDER is 20-5 in the Bulldogs’ last 25 games against efficient defensive opponents allowing more than 15.70 yards per point.
- Bulldogs are 9-2 straight up and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 bowl games against Big Ten Conference opponents.
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Ohio State vs Georgia Prediction | College Football Betting Picks
The last time we saw Ohio State on the football field, a defense that had statistically been among the best in the country got absolutely bull-dozed by the Michigan ground game. If that game was any indication of how the Buckeyes will hold up in future matchups against physical offenses, coordinator Jim Knowles will have his hands full once again in the Peach Bowl.
On the season, Georgia ranks 12th nationally in rushing yards per game. The Bulldogs are synonymous with having deep stables of running backs over the years, and 2022 is no exception. Kenny McIntosh (709 yards), Daijun Edwards (681) and Kendall Milton (583) have all found success running behind one of the top offensive lines in the country.
Even with a healthy Miyan Williams, Ohio State could struggle on the ground against a Georgia defense that comes in allowing only 81.8 rushing yards per game. Luckily, the Buckeyes boast one of the most explosive passing attacks in college football and one of the best play-callers in the sport in head coach Ryan Day.
Quarterback CJ Stroud certainly has no shortage of weapons at his disposal. The absence of Jaxson Smith-Njigba is largely irrelevant given that he also missed the majority of the regular season. The trio of Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming is capable of challenging the UGA defense athletically in a way that it hasn’t been all year.
The real difference between this year’s Georgia team and those of the recent past is found in the passing attack. The Bulldogs are more than happy to put the ball in Stetson Bennett’s hands when needed. The return of wideout AD Mitchell from injury will provide Bennett with another reliable target alongside the tight end duo of Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington.
Combine the Dawgs’ multi-faceted attack with the star-studded Ohio State receiving corps and one has to believe that a decent amount of points will be scored in this matchup.
OVER THE TOTAL will be our official college football betting Ohio State vs Georgia prediction for the Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives Georgia a 57.5% chance to win this game outright.
Bet: OVER 62.5 (-110 at BetOnline Sportsbook)