ESPN computer predicts Alabama vs. Georgia football game winner

Alabama hits the road against Georgia in what could end up being college football’s most consequential game of the week this Saturday. Let’s take a look at the latest prediction for the matchup from an analytical model that simulates games and picks winners.

Georgia was idle last weekend, but is coming off a signature victory at Tennessee in which quarterback Gunner Stockton hit over 300 yards passing in the comeback win to improve to 3-0 and win a critical SEC opener.

Alabama moved to 2-1 with consecutive wins over UL Monroe and Wisconsin to recover from the season-opening loss at Florida State, and boasts the 9th ranked passing attack in college football as Ty Simpson is completing nearly 72 percent of his pass attempts.

Looking ahead to this week’s matchup, let’s check out the latest college football predictions from the Football Power Index computer prediction model.

The model simulates every NCAA college football game 20,000 times and uses key analytics from both teams and picks winners based on a projected scoring margin per game.

Alabama vs. Georgia prediction

So far, the models are siding with the home team in this SEC clash by a narrow margin.

Georgia is the projected favorite over Alabama, coming out in 54.8 percent of the computer’s updated simulations of the game.

That leaves the Crimson Tide as the presumptive winner in the remaining 45.2 percent of sims.

In total, the Bulldogs came out on top in 10,960 of the simulations of the matchup, while Alabama edged out Georgia in the other 9,040 predictions.

How does that translate into an expected margin of victory in the game? The models project this SEC blockbuster will come down to the wire.

Georgia is projected to be just 1.1 points better than Alabama on the same field in both teams’ current composition, according to the model’s 20,000 simulations.

Georgia: 54.8% chance to win
Alabama: 45.2% chance to win
Prediction: Georgia by 1

If so, that wouldn’t be enough for the Bulldogs to cover the point spread.

That’s because Georgia is a 3.5 point favorite against Alabama, according to the updated game lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel lists the total at 52.5 points for the matchup.

And it set the moneyline odds for Georgia at -150 and for Alabama at +130 to win outright.

Alabama vs. Georgia future projections

Georgia currently paces all SEC teams when it comes to winning the conference and qualifying for the College Football Playoff, according to the model’s latest forecast.

It ranks tops in the league with a 23.8 percent chance to win the SEC championship for a second-straight year, and with a 74.6 percent shot at making the postseason field.

The model forecasts Georgia will win 9.9 games this season.

Alabama isn’t far behind, ranking third among SEC teams with a 17.8 percent shot at winning the conference championship and at 49 percent to make the playoff.

The computer projects the Crimson Tide will win 8.6 games in 2025.

More: ESPN updates Top 25 college football rankings for Week 5

College Football Power Index

Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.

Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season and games, using a combination of key analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, team talent, recruiting, and a team’s schedule.

Teams are ranked not in order of talent like in other rankings, but by a projected point margin per game against an average team on a neutral field.

How good is the prediction model?

How accurate was the College Football Power Index computer prediction model last Saturday?

Projecting the games a week ago, the Power Index models correctly predicted 72.3 percent of all games and hit 52.3 percent against the spread.

Predicting a total of 799 college football games a year ago, the Power Index computers were correct for 70.964 percent of their final picks, ranking eighth nationally out of 55 other football models.

Over the last decade, the Football Power Index has proven correct on 75 percent of FBS college football game predictions, including in 73 percent of matchups when it favored a team with at least 70 percent likelihood to win.

More... Alabama vs. Georgia prediction, odds: Where experts see an edge

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