Just as the professional game reaches the climactic point in its campaign, so does the college football season, with the playoff semifinals taking place on New Year’s Eve.
Four teams are looking to get 2022 underway with a bang by securing themselves a place in the National Championship game on the 10th January.
Alabama Clear Favourites for the Cotton Bowl
The first of the college football semifinals sees the number one seeds Alabama take on number four seeds Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl.
Alabama are behemoths of college football, reaching five of the last six National Championship games and winning three of those. They took the title last year with a 52-24 success over Ohio State.
Nick Saban’s side are heavy favourites to come out on top when they face Cincinnati here, priced up at 4/21 to advance.
Quarterback Bryce Young recently won the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the top college football player of the season. Young has thrown 43 touchdowns and 4,322 yards in 13 games this year.
Crimson Tide Offence Too Good
Alabama have been beaten just once this season, 41-38 by Texas A&M. However, Cincinnati are unbeaten this campaign but their 13-0 record is helped by playing in the less competitive American Athletic Conference, meaning they haven’t faced a major challenge yet this campaign.
The Crimson Tide are an offensive juggernaut and are fancied to cover the spread here, -13.5 at 20/23.
Young broke the single game Alabama school record in November with 559 yards and can lead his team back to the national championship.
Michigan May Cause an Upset
Georgia are looking to make their first national championship game since 2018 as they take on Michigan. Georgia were number one seed for much of the season before a recent 41-24 defeat to Alabama.
Kirby Smart’s side have had to utilise backup quarterback Stetson Bennett throughout most of the season after starter JT Daniels picked up an injury.
Michigan have come from off the pace to reach this point, as they were not in the top 25 of the rankings at the start of the season but won 12 of their 13 games, including wins over number two Ohio State and number 13 Iowa.
Their only loss was to rivals, number eight Michigan State 37-33 as Jim Harbaugh’s squad took their first conference championship since 2004, winning the Big Ten.
Hutchinson Leads the Way
Aidan Hutchinson has won plaudits and awards for his performances at defensive end and was second in the Heisman Trophy voting. David Ojabo also forms part of an impressive pass rush that can cause Georgia issues.
Michigan’s wins in the big games at the end of the season were impressive and they seem to be peaking at the right time.
They are the outsiders but may be able to make it a closer contest than the bookmakers presume. They are taken to cover the 7.5 spread at 5/6 here.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
