Oddsmakers say Georgia would beat Michigan, even after missing the College Football Playoff

The Georgia Bulldogs under Kirby Smart have won two of the past three national championships and 30 of their last 31 games — unfortunately the one they lost was a 27-24 defeat in the SEC championship game to the Alabama Crimson Tide, which sent Georgia from No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Rankings to No. 6.

Georgia (-23.5) ended up routing No. 7 Florida State 63-3 in the largest margin of victory ever in a bowl game, thanks to FSU missing more than two dozen players due to opt-outs, transfers and the NFL draft. Alabama went on to lose to Michigan 27-20 in overtime in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Monday.

Despite the ending to Georgia’s season, oddsmakers still believe that the Bulldogs are the nation’s best team — and would favor them in a matchup with Michigan (or obviously Washington).

Michigan is currently a 4.5-point favorite over Washington in the College Football Playoff national championship game at sportsbooks, with a total of 55.5.

For The Win asked five oddsmakers to set a line for a hypothetical Michigan-Georgia matchup and four of the five favored Georgia (with the other setting the line at pick-em). The lines ranged from pick-em to Georgia -2.5.

“My power ratings would have Georgia -1 over Michigan,” Chris Andrews, sportsbook director at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, told For The Win.

“I would have Georgia -2,” Zachary Lucas, head of retail sportsbook operations at TwinSpires told For The Win in a text. “Power rating-wise they’re higher and Georgia’s offense is better than Michigan’s by a wide margin.”

Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at the Borgata in Atlantic City, noted that if Georgia was an underdog, respected money would likely come in on the Bulldogs.

“I would open it as a pick-em,” Gable said. “I would suspect if you make Georgia a ‘dog in that hypothetical scenario, you’d find some respected money come in on the Bulldogs.”

We won’t find out this season, with the CFB playoff capped at four teams and Michigan and Washington both deserving teams in the final, but it will be interesting to see what matchups an expanded CFB playoff brings next season.