Paul Finebaum picks Georgia over Alabama in crucial game for Kalen DeBoer

Alabama and Georgia will play the next game in their rivalry this weekend, with the two teams meeting in Athens for the first time in almost a decade. Now, Paul Finebaum has picked his winner for this one, regardless of how much the Crimson Tide may need it.

On ‘Get Up’ on Friday, Finebaum had the Bulldogs winning over the Tide on Saturday night. He just sees them as the more complete, proven team to this point of the season, with the game between the hedges only being that much more in their favor.

“I like Georgia, and there’s a lot of reasons for that but I think they just look a little bit more complete right now. Alabama has been fantastic in the last two games, but they were so bad in that opening game. And, Georgia has been very consistent,” Finebaum said. “They haven’t been spectacular. They nearly let the Tennessee game get away, but the fact that they didn’t tells me a win at home seems to be in the cards.”

Again, that’s despite all that ‘Bama will have on the line tomorrow night in Sanford Stadium. The Crimson Tide already have one loss at 2-1, with a lot of difficult games left on the schedule throughout the rest of conference play in the SEC. So, a start at 2-2 over the first month, and what they’d still have to play in October and November, might make for a second long season already for Kalen DeBoer.

“Everything,” Finebaum said of what’s on the line for DeBoer on Saturday. “Remember, last year, he did not make the playoffs, and it seemed like this season was playoff-or-bust. And, here we are, we’re not even through September and those odds are not good for him.

“The problem with losing this game is the schedule ahead. He still has an enormous slate, including Tennessee and LSU and Oklahoma and at Missouri and at South Carolina and at Auburn. It would just seem to be insurmountable that he could find his way back, and he has to get to the playoffs to have a reasonably calm offseason.”

Alabama has won nine of the last ten in this matchup, with the lone loss being in the national championship in 2021. That includes last season’s game in which DeBoer continued the Crimson Tide’s success against UGA with a 41-34 win in a top five meeting in Tuscaloosa.

However, while they may need this one more as far as this season, Finebaum thinks Georgia, led by Kirby Smart, breaks its skid against Alabama at home on Saturday. That would set the Bulldogs at 4-0, with two conference wins already in the Top 20, while dropping the Crimson Tide down to .500.