SEC Championship Game Prediction
No. 1 Alabama will take on No. 7 Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. ET from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Following their loss last week to LSU, will the Gators rebound with at least a cover for bettors as a double-digit underdog?
Game Snapshot
239 Alabama Crimson Tide (-17) at 240 Florida Gators (+17); o/u 74
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
8:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, December 19, 2020
TV: CBS
Alabama Crimson Tide Game Notes
Pro Football Focus have graded Alabama senior WR Devonta Smith’s 2020 season as the best single-season in the Power Five since 2014. Plenty of other incredible WRs have passed through the Power Five since 2014. Even the rest of PFF’s top-four includes Amari Cooper and Tyler Lockett’s 2014 seasons, both of which players went on to have good NFL careers (so far). Smith (6’1/175) has been a menace in 2020 to this point, posting a 94.2 PFF grade in addition to 83 receptions for 1,327 yards and 15 touchdowns, all of which are better marks than he had a year ago. Do not be shocked if Smith is the first WR off the board come draft time.
Florida Gators Game Notes
Florida redshirt senior QB Kyle Trask completed 29-of-47 passes for 474 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions and ran for two scores in a 37-34 loss to LSU on Saturday. Pretty easily the worst game Trask played this year. That’s at least in part due to the fact that he’s been spectacular this season, but this is the first time we really saw the 6-foot-5, 239-pound quarterback struggle. He threw two first-half interceptions, and one of those was returned for six as Florida 27-17 in the third quarter of this contest. He was still able to make some NFL-caliber throws, and he was able to plunge in for a couple of scores. The loss eliminates the Gators from a possible berth in the CFB playoff — or so it would seem, anyway — but Trask will still get a chance to play for the SEC Championship next Saturday against Alabama.
Alabama vs. Florida Betting Prediction
The over is a perfect 4-0 in the last four meetings between these two teams and is 12-5-1 in Alabama’s last 18 games coming off a win of more than 20 points. The over is also 12-3-1 in the Crimson Tide’s last 16 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game, is 21-8-2 in their last 31 neutral site games when favored and is 5-2 in their last seven games when facing an opponent with a winning record. On the other side, the over is 8-1-1 in the Gators’ last 10 neutral site games as an underdog, is 5-2-1 in their last eight neutral site games and has cashed in six of their last seven games played in December.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREDICTION: FLORIDA/ALABAMA OVER 74