The underdog TCU Horned Frogs drew great attention from bettors as they prepared to play the Georgia Bulldogs in the latest national championship lines and odds. TCU was generating almost all of the spread action, causing the College Football Playoff national championship lines to move in its favor prior to the title game on Monday.
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National Championship Lines: TCU-Georgia
The Horned Frogs opened as 13.5-point underdogs but got to as low as 12-point underdogs at some sportsbooks. According to Vegas Insider, TCU was taking 76% of the spread bets and 68% of that money as of Sunday night. Bettors generally expect TCU to cover but not win the game, though hoping to cash in on an upset. Georgia is taking 66% of the moneyline action but only 26% of that money.
Since the four-team playoff began in the 2014 season, TCU at 10 points or more would be the largest championship game underdog.
“It’s one of the main things I feel like has driven us to the success we’ve come to this year,” TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston told ESPN. “So honestly, there’s going to be a lot of outside noise, people projecting us to lose by however many points, but we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and prove them wrong from week to week.”
Be sure to check out our OddsShopper tool for the best national championship lines.
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TCU, as the No. 3 seed, upset the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines 51-45 as a 7.5-point underdog on Saturday in a College Football Playoff semifinal. No. 1 Georgia did not cover in defeating the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes 42-41 as a 5-point favorite. The defending champion Bulldogs would have lost outright had the Buckeyes not missed a 50-yard field goal with three seconds remaining.
“I think the whole team can attest that we didn’t play our best game,” Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard told ESPN. “But at the end of the day, it’s only one result that matters the most, and that’s the W. … Throughout this week we’re just going to work on some other things and try to detail our work to the best of our ability.”
TCU (13-1) is 10-3-1 against the spread this season, and Georgia (14-0) is 10-4 ATS.
“Their kids believe,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of TCU to ESPN. “They have, I feel like just reading and listening about them, a lot of similarities to our kids in of the culture created there, the way they play, the way they believe. … Their conference (Big 12) has been in a lot of tight ballgames, and they’ve won those tight ballgames, and done an incredible job with what they do.”
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Ohio State was the largest championship game underdog to date, at 9.5 points against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2020 season. Ohio State lost that game 52-24.
The betting favorite has won and covered in the past three College Football Playoff national championship games. The Clemson Tigers won the championship game as an underdog twice against Alabama (5 points, 2018; 6.5 points, 2016), and Ohio State defeated the Oregon Ducks as the other underdog to win (5.5 points, 2014).
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