We’re days away from the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the best teams in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs. After winning the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl, respectively, they’ll match up in Indianapolis on Monday night in a rematch of December’s SEC Championship, which the Crimson Tide won handedly.
One of the more interesting prop bets out of the tons of options on the BetUS Sportsbook for this game is who will be named the game MVP when all is said and done. Let’s go through a bunch of the top options based on the college football odds plus a few sleeper picks who could be good value.
Chalk Pick: Bryce Young (+200)
It’s no surprise that the reigning Heisman Trophy winner is the odds-on MVP favorite and it’s well-deserved. He threw for over 4,500 yards this season and had 46 passing touchdowns compared to just five interceptions. Young also destroyed the Georgia defense in the SEC Championship, tossing 421 yards and three scores against the best scoring defense in the country.
He was clearly the best player in college football this season, so it makes sense that he has the shortest odds to be the MVP of the title game. At +200, Young is actually a really good value considering how it’s very likely he’ll have a big game if Alabama wins. The Crimson Tide are slight (2½ point underdogs) but Young is the best player on either team, so siding with him is a really good pick.
The obvious concern is that if Georgia wins, Young won’t be the MVP. That’s a valid issue but at +200, getting him at 2-to-1 odds kind of alleviates that risk.
Second Tier: Stetson Bennett (+300)
Meanwhile, if Georgia wins, it’s almost a certainty that Stetson Bennett played a nearly perfect game and thus seems like a shoo-in for MVP. However, that happening against an Alabama defense that picked him off twice a month ago is far from a guaranteed outcome. If you’re betting online and want to take a Georgia player for your MVP pick, Bennett is your guy.
However, trusting him to lead Georgia to a win is risky. He did play very well (313 yards and three touchdowns) against Michigan in the Orange Bowl, but the Crimson Tide are a different animal.
Second Tier: Brian Robinson Jr. (+600)
Robinson Jr. has kind of gone under the radar because of Young but has rushed for 1,268 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also has 32 catches out of the backfield and ran over a good Cincinnati defense, rushing for 204 yards on 26 carries.
The Bulldogs have a really strong run defense so it could be tough for Robinson to have a big day — he only rushed for 55 yards in the SEC Championship — yet he’s still talented enough to shoulder a heavy burden for the Crimson Tide offense if need be.
Second Tier: Jameson Williams (+700)
With John Metchie II injured, Williams is Alabama’s top target by far, which could make things tough for him if Georgia throws double teams his way. But, he’s so talented and Young is so good that it might not even matter.
Williams had over 1,500 receiving yards this season to go with 15 scores and he had a monster game against Georgia in December, catching seven passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. If you’re making college football picks, Williams might not be your top MVP choice but he is a good value candidate at +700.
Best of the Rest: Will Anderson Jr. (+650), Zamir White (+1200), George Pickens (+1600)
Anderson Jr. is one of the best edge rushers in the country so he’s not a conventional MVP choice. However, there is a world in which he totally flips the game with a strip sack or other form of turnover/big third down play en route to a monster game-changing performance. It might still be really tough for him to win but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
White and James Cook have similar statistical profiles out of the Georgia backfield with White getting some more carries and Cook getting more pass targets. Neither guy did much against the Crimson Tide last month but White might be a better longshot MVP pick because he has a bit more experience as a lead back for the Bulldogs. Georgia will need a good showing from either White or Cook in order to win so side with White if you want to pick one of the Bulldogs’ backs.
Finally, Pickens only has four catches since he has been really limited by injury. But, he has arguably been Georgia’s best wide receiver (when healthy) the past few years and is extremely athletic and physical. The Bulldogs could try to get him involved early and often to stretch the field against a strong Crimson Tide secondary. At +1600, Pickens is all upside.
