Alabama vs. Georgia prediction: UGA home dominance, Bama road struggles give Bulldogs advantage

Athens hosts the SEC’s top game of the week, as the Georgia Bulldogs welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to town. Location is key for Josh Pate when it comes to predicting the game. Sanford Stadium is a place UGA typically wins, while Kalen DeBoer does not have the best road record with the Crimson Tide. Above all else, Pate is rocking with Georgia at home.

“If I’m going to be proven wrong on this, I’m going to be proven wrong by Georgia losing in a place they haven’t lost in since — it’s been a long, long time,” Pate said via Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “If I’m going to be proven wrong, I’m going to be proven wrong by Bama thriving on the road instead of struggling, like they have recently. Until I see both of those things change simultaneously, to me, this is Georgia’s game. So, I’ll take Georgia to win, Georgia to cover.”

The home winning streak for Georgia goes back to 2019. South Carolina famously upset the then-No. 3 team in the country in walk-off fashion. Will Muschamp was on the opposing sideline, a coach Dawg fans are quite familiar with. Since then, it’s been 33 consecutive wins in Athens across six different seasons.

On the flip side, struggles away from Bryant-Denny Stadium were a main storyline for DeBoer in his first season in charge. Wins at Wisconsin and LSU were nice, especially since they are considered top venues in the sport. However, all four losses were outside Tuscaloosa — including the bowl loss to Michigan on New Year’s Eve.

Trends are trends for a reason. And until something changes, Pate is going to pick in favor of the dominant home team and against the struggling road team. He will see the action play out with his own eyes as well.

Kickoff between the hedges is scheduled for around 7:30 p.m. ABC gets the broadcast, putting its top crew — Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe — on the call. Arguably no game in college football will generate more buzz than this one. After all, it’s a matchup between two of the best programs in the sport.

“That is about the most intense matchup that I’ve seen in this league over the last several years,” Pate said. “We had that crazy stat… that matchup, Georgia or Alabama, that’s been every SEC champ since like 2014, except one year when LSU won it in 2019.”