One more game. That’s all that is left for the 2022-2023 college football season. The two Playoff Semifinals were the best two games since the start of the format. TCU thoroughly dominated the Michigan Wolverines in the first playoff game, despite what the score suggests. 

Georgia was down 14 with ten minutes left in the game, and then Stetson Bennet went superman mode. Ohio State had a chance as time expired, but kicker Noah Ruggles missed a 50-yard field goal, allowing the Bulldogs to escape with the win. So that brings us to the last game, the final one. 

CFP National Championship

TCU (-13.5) Vs. Georgia

Sofi Stadium, Inglewood California 

Who would’ve guessed this matchup preseason? Georgia lost 15 players to the NFL draft, including half of their defensive starters. Despite that, they steamrolled every team they played with the exception of Missouri, at least until Ohio State. TCU came into the season unranked, and remained unranked until October. They have a first-year head coach, Sonny Dykes, and had 200-1 odds to make the championship game before the season started. Yet here they are, after a barrage of close games and last minute wins. 

For Georgia, they are far and away superior in terms of star talent. They are bigger and stronger than most of the TCU team. But they are not as fast, and I’ll get to that in a minute. Georgia is a run-first team that wears its opponents down throughout the game. They didn’t show much weakness until LSU in the SEC Championship, when two LSU quarterbacks threw for over 500 yards on their secondary. Ohio State quarterback and Heisman finalist C.J. Stroud absolutely torched the Georgia secondary all game, throwing for four touchdowns and almost 400 yards. This new-found weakness plays right into TCU strengths.

TCU has the #4 scoring offense in the country, and is led by sixth-year super senior, and Heisman runner-up, Max Duggan. TCU scored 51 on the top five Michigan defense in their win in the Fiesta Bowl, and that was with Duggan playing statistically his worst game of the year by a good margin. TCU also has arguably the top receiver in the upcoming draft, 6’4” Quentin Johnson, who happens to have many physical similarities to Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Against the Georgia defense, Harrison had five catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns, and did so not even playing the full game due to a hard hit to the head in the endzone late in the third quarter. TCU also has a stud running back in Kendre Miller, who injured his right knee in the first half of the Fiesta Bowl. He is currently listed as questionable for the title game. Defensively, TCU runs a straight 3-3-5 defense, which is something that Georgia hasn’t seen. Same goes for Michigan, and it took them a while to adjust.

Prediction: This game seems like one of those games that gives real shootout vibes, considering Georgia’s high power offense and struggling secondary, and TCU’s very high scoring offense and mediocre defense. Here’s a fun fact, the losing team in the all the previous CFP National averaged 25 points. I don’t think this one will be any different, in fact I’ll take the over. Georgia makes a mistake or two early allowing TCU to jump out to a ten point lead. TCU leads going into the fourth, and then Stetson Bennett III performs his regular fourth quarter magic, and a late turnover by the Frogs seals the deal for Georgia to win their second consecutive National Championship.