Georgia opens as heavy betting favorites over LSU in SEC Championship

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The 2022 SEC Championship game is set as Georgia and LSU clinched berths to Atlanta following wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas, respectively. The Tigers and Bulldogs will meet in one of the most unexpected outcomes of the college football season so far.

No. 7 LSU snuck out of Fayetteville with a 13-10 win over Arkansas behind one of the most dominant performances I’ve ever seen from Harold Perkins Jr., a true freshman. The Tigers have reeled off wins over Alabama and Ole Miss in recent weeks in Brian Kelly‘s first season at the helm in Baton Rouge as LSU heads back to Atlanta for the first time since 2019, when they hammered the Dawgs en route to a perfect undefeated championship season.

In his first season as coach of the Tigers, Kelly took this program from an embarrassing season-opening loss to Florida State and a blowout home loss to Tennessee to an upset win over Nick Saban in Tiger Stadium and a convincing win over Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss. Jayden Daniels has emerged as a serious Heisman candidate and one of the country’s top dual-threat quarterbacks.

However, the Tigers have a menacing Dawgs team standing in their way. No. 1 Georgia beat Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs thanks to another impressive defensive performance. It’ll be the fifth time in the last six years that Kirby Smart‘s team has won the SEC East and made the SEC Championship. The Dawgs are a more developed and talented team than the Tigers, and oddsmakers feel this one won’t even be close as Georgia opens as considerable favorites.

Georgia should win this one stress-free, but the Tigers shouldn’t be taken likely. The defense has enough talent to slow down Stetson Bennett, and Jayden Daniels has shown an ability to get the job done with his arm and legs. The biggest difference in this game will be LSU’s true freshman tackles holding up against an intimidating Georgia front seven. Still, Brian Kelly and the Tigers weren’t supposed to be here. They’re playing with house money with nothing to lose; all the pressure is on Kirby Smart and the Dawgs.

Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire

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