In a rematch of a hotly-contested regular season game, the Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns will meet on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to determine the 2024 SEC champion. In its first season in the league Texas nearly ran the table going 6-1 in conference games and 11-1 overall. That one loss, though, was to Georgia in Week 8 when the Bulldogs travelled to Austin as a 4-point underdog and won the game outright, 30-15, in convincing fashion. While the Horns won five straight after that setback they weren’t as dominant as before failing to cover a double-digit spread three times. And just like the earlier meeting the Longhorns are the betting favorite at your Bitcoin Sportsbook laying 2.5-points.
College Football Betting Lines
Georgia vs. Texas Betting Lines
Georgia Bulldogs +2.5 / ML +123
Texas Longhorns -2.5 / ML -139
Over / Under 49
Both teams are likely in the 12-team playoff field regardless of the outcome, but the higher seeds and first round byes go to conference champions so there is plenty on the line. And things could get more complicated for Georgia with a loss. The Bulldogs have dropped two games already this season losing to Alabama and Ole Miss and they were not decisive in the regular season finale needing eight overtime sessions to edge Georgia Tech as a 17-point favorite.
I can see where the Dawgs may have been complacent after wrapping up their SEC slate of games two weeks earlier with a healthy 31-17 win over Tennessee and then waiting to see how things worked out. In the meantime the Dawgs walloped UMass and squeaked by GT to end the regular season at 10-2.
We saw uncharacteristic lapses on defense from UGA this season like surrendering 41 points to Bama and 31 points to a bad Mississippi State squad. Heck, even the Minutemen rushed for 226 yards and scored three touchdowns staying close as a 33-point underdog midway through the third quarter. But like championship caliber clubs do, the Dawgs play their best against top competition. And while there may have been some cracks defensively they finished the regular season allowing just over 20 points per game.
The Longhorns have done it on both sides of the ball this year proving they have the toughness to compete in the rugged SEC. There were some concerns about the transition from the wide-open Big 12 and how the team would assimilate. Well, with one of the top defenses in the country and an offense that averages nearly 35 points, the Horns did just fine. We can say that the first matchup with the Dawgs was the exception and not the norm and I expect Texas to be ready for this matchup.
The Horns surrendered a season-high in their 30-15 loss to UGA. It was the first time they’d given up more than 13 points and they ended the season allowing more than 20 points just twice. Granted they didn’t face the top offensive teams in the SEC bypassing Ole Miss, Tennessee and Alabama, the three clubs in the conference that averaged more points per game than the Horns.
But Texas did what it had to in order to win. The Horns have the second-best scoring defense in the FBS allowing just 11.7 points and they are the best in the country against the pass. And that’s actually a bigger deal when you consider teams had to throw the football while playing catch up all season.
What makes me think the Longhorns can win this game is the way they played defense in the first meeting. Sure they lost at home 30-15, but they allowed just 283 total yards and intercepted three Carson Beck passes. The problem was that Quinn Ewers was sacked seven times and turned the ball over four times, and the Horns rushed for just 29 yards on 27 attempts. I expect Ewers to be better and the Longhorns to cover the spread.
Georgia vs. Texas Same Game Parlay Picks
Texas -2.5
Georgia / Texas UNDER 49
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