Georgia vs Alabama 2022 national championship game kickoff time, odds, streaming, TV
The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship will be a rematch of this season’s SEC title game, as the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs seek to avenge their conference championship loss against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday in Indianapolis.
UGA head coach Kirby Smart has never defeated Alabama head coach Nick Saban, tallying an 0-4 record against his former boss.
Under Smart, the Bulldogs fell to Saban’s Crimson Tide in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game, the 2018 and 2021 SEC Championship games and a 2020 regular-season matchup in Tuscaloosa.
Here are key questions answered about this year’s College Football Playoff National Championship game.
How to watch 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship game
Who: No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (13-1) vs. No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (13-1)
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium (67,000) in Indianapolis
When: 8 p.m. Monday
TV: ESPN
On-air announce crew: Chris Fowler, play-by-play; Kirk Herbstreit, analyst; Holly Rowe, sideline; Molly McGrath, sideline
Radio: ESPN Radio: Sean McDonough, play-by-play; Todd Blackledge, analyst; Ian Fitzsimmons, sideline; Kris Budden, sideline ... Local Radio, Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (IMG): Scott Howard, play-by-play; Eric Zeier, analyst; D.J. Shockley, sideline
Satellite radio: Sirius 81/XM 81 (Georgia broadcast); Sirius 80/XM 80 (national broadcast)
Series history: Alabama leads the all-time series with Georgia 42-25-4. The Crimson Tide has won the past seven meetings, including this year’s SEC Championship game and the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game, both played in Atlanta.
CFP National Championship betting line
The VegasInsider consensus settled with Georgia as a 2.5-point favorite over Alabama in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship. VegasInsider opened with Alabama a 1-point favorite, though every other sports book listed on VegasInsider’s website listed the Bulldogs as a slight favorite.
UGA vs Alabama 2022 prediction
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Georgia a 58.4% of defeating Alabama and winning the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Stetson Bennett or JT Daniels at QB for Georgia?
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Georgia will roll with walk-on-turned-starter Stetson Bennett under center, as it has throughout the majority of the 2021 football season.
Smart and offensive coordinator Todd Monken have each defended the decision to start Bennett over former 247Sports Composite five-star and Southern Cal transfer J.T. Daniels, a matter that had garnered extra traction when Bennett struggled in this year’s SEC Championship in the Bulldogs’ lone loss of the season against Alabama.
The 5-foot-11 dual-threat quarterback from Blackshear, Georgia, completed 60.8% of his passes for 340 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on Dec. 4 against the Crimson Tide. He added 11 yards on seven rushing attempts and was sacked three times.
Bennett also started at Alabama in the 2020 regular season, during which he completed 18-of-40 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions.
But Bennett silenced some doubters in his offensive MVP-winning performance against Michigan in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 31, during which he went 20-of-30 passing for 313 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He added another 32 yards on three runs, including a 20-yard scramble.
Daniels hasn’t seen meaningful playing time since the Bulldogs’ 40-13 win over South Carolina in September as he battled through nagging injuries. Once Daniels was healthy, however, Georgia continued to start Bennett.
Heisman winner Bryce Young headlines Alabama
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the 2021 Heisman Trophy as he found success as the Crimson Tide’s signal-caller in his sophomore season.
Heading into the College Football Playoff National Championship, Young has completed 67.6% of his passes for 4,503 yards and 46 touchdowns against five interceptions.
In the Crimson Tide’s SEC Championship win over Georgia in December, Young completed 26-of-44 passes for 421 yards and three touchdowns, adding another touchdown on three rushing attempts for 40 yards. Young was not sacked in his first meeting with the Bulldogs this season.
Has Kirby Smart won a national championship?
Smart has not won a national championship as a head coach at Georgia, though he won three BCS National Championships and one College Football Playoff national title during his nine-year tenure at Alabama. Smart was the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator for seven years before his time at UGA began in 2016.
Georgia has claimed two national titles. Its most recent win was in 1980.
How many national titles for Nick Saban, Alabama?
Nick Saban has won six national championships with Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020). He won his first national title in 2003 at LSU. His seven national titles are the most in college football history.
Alabama claims 18 national titles throughout its history, winning the first in 1925.
Is UGA star tight end Brock Bowers healthy for national championship?
When Smart met with the media one week ahead of the CFP National Championship game, he revealed that freshman phenom tight end Brock Bowers had re-aggravated a nagging shoulder injury in the Bulldogs’ Orange Bowl win over Michigan on Dec. 31.
Bowers had been limited in practice throughout the week before the Orange Bowl and left in the second half of UGA’s last game.
Even limited, the AP SEC Newcomer of the Year added five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown against the Wolverines. He comes into the national championship game with 846 yards on 52 receptions and 12 touchdowns this season, averaging 16.3 yards per catch.
Smart said Bowers wanted to return but was kept on the sideline as a precaution. Smart told the media Bowers was “good” leading up to Monday’s championship.
“Brock Bowers is good,” Smart said. “He was good in the game. That same shoulder has bothered him all year, to be honest. It’s not something new that came up. It bothers him time-to-time at practice. It’s something you have to deal with.”
Who are Alabama football’s key players?
Quarterback Bryce Young isn’t the only star lining the Crimson Tide’s roster.
Young’s favorite target, wide receiver Jameson Williams, has totaled over 1,500 yards on 75 receptions in 2021 and had one of his best performances the last time Alabama played Georgia. Williams scored twice on seven catches for 184 yards, averaging 26.3 yards per catch in the 2021 SEC Championship game.
Running back Brian Robinson Jr., who has accumulated 1,275 yards on 249 attempts in 2021, was held to just 55 yards against Georgia, but he had his best game of the season in Alabama’s Cotton Bowl win over Cincinnati in the CFP semifinal. Robinson tallied 204 yards on 26 runs, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt, against the Bearcats on Dec. 31.
On the defensive end, Alabama boasts nationally touted linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who has come up with 17.5 sacks and 97 total tackles in 2021. Fellow linebackers Henry To’oTo’o and Christian Harris are also high-impact defensive players for the Crimson Tide, as well as defensive backs Jordan Battle, DeMarcco Hellams and Jalyn Armour-Davis, who have tallied three interceptions each throughout 2021.
Top NFL prospects in the CFP National Championship
Eight players from Georgia and five from Alabama are ranked in Pro Football Focus’s 2022 NFL Draft big board, listing the top-100 prospects in this year’s draft.
The list is highlighted by Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal, a 6-foot-7, 350-pound lineman ranked fifth, as well as Georgia’s Nakobe Dean, a quick 6-foot, 225-pound linebacker, who are both expected to play in the national championship game.
Crimson Tide wide receiver John Metchie III, a top-50 prospect in this year’s draft, will not play in the game due to an injury suffered during the SEC Championship game.
Ranking according to Pro Football Focus.
- No. 5: OT Evan Neal, Alabama*
- No. 11: LB Nakobe Dean, Georgia*
- No. 14: WR Jameson Williams, Alabama*
- No. 25: S Jordan Battle, Alabama*
- No. 28: DL Jordan Davis, Georgia
- No. 42: S Lewis Cine, Georgia*
- No. 45: Edge Travon Walker, Georgia*
- No. 49: WR John Metchie III, Alabama*
- No. 50: DL Devonte Wyatt, Georgia
- No. 59: LB Christian Harris, Alabama*
- No. 69: LB Channing Tindall, Georgia
- No. 70: WR George Pickens, Georgia*
- No. 72: CB Derion Kendrick, Georgia
* Player is a draft-eligible underclassman.
UGA football schedule, scores
Home games in bold.
Sept. 4: Georgia 10, Clemson 3
Sept. 11: Georgia 56, UAB 7
Sept. 18: Georgia 40, South Carolina 13
Sept. 25: Georgia 62, Vanderbilt 0
Oct. 2: Georgia 37, Arkansas 0
Oct. 9: Georgia 34, Auburn 10
Oct. 16: Georgia 30, Kentucky 13
Oct. 30: Georgia 34, Florida 7
Nov. 6: Georgia 43, Missouri 6
Nov. 13: Georgia 41, Tennessee 17
Nov. 20: Georgia 56, Charleston Southern 7
Nov. 27: Georgia 45, Georgia Tech 0
Dec. 4: Alabama 41, Georgia 24 — SEC Championship Game
Dec. 31: Georgia 34, Michigan 11 — Capital One Orange Bowl, College Football Playoff Semifinal
Alabama football schedule, scores
Home games in bold.
Sept. 4: Alabama 44, Miami 13
Sept. 11: Alabama 48, Mercer 14
Sept. 18: Alabama 31, Florida 29
Sept. 25: Alabama 63, Southern Miss 14
Oct. 2: Alabama 42, Ole Miss 21
Oct. 9: Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38
Oct. 16: Alabama 49, Mississippi State 9
Oct. 23: Alabama 52, Tennessee 24
Nov. 6: Alabama 20, LSU 14
Nov. 13: Alabama 59, New Mexico State 3
Nov. 20: Alabama 42, Arkansas 35
Nov. 27: Alabama 24, Auburn 22
Dec. 4: Alabama 41, Georgia 24 — SEC Championship Game
Dec. 31: Alabama 27, Cincinnati 6 — Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, College Football Playoff Semifinal
