NEW ORLEANS — As 2020 kicks off, Baylor will play on center stage for the second time this season.
The 7th-ranked Bears face No. 5 Georgia in the 86th Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.
College football experts across the country expect the game to be fantastic, but do the computers agree?
SP+, Bill Connelly's famous predictive college football analytics employed at ESPN, mirror Georgia's No. 5 ranking from the College Football Playoff selection committee. In large part, that's due to the Bulldogs boasting the nation's No. 2 defense, per SP+, through UGA's SEC Championship Game loss to LSU. However, the UGA offense struggles to move the ball behind its star-filled offensive, which features All-American OT Andrew Thomas, as the Bulldog offense ranks 34th in SP+.
For comparison, the top four teams in SP+ (Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Clemson) all boast Top-6 offenses and No. 6 Oklahoma has the No. 2 offense.
UGA has leaned heavily on its defense, which has allowed an average of 12.5 points per game and boasts three shutouts, two of which came against SEC East opponents.
However, according to ESPN, the Bulldogs may not have the experience they need with five or more starters expected to miss the Sugar Bowl.
So, how do the Bears stack up?
Baylor, which Connelly has praised all season long, is No. 15 overall in SP+ following its Big 12 Championship Game loss to Oklahoma.
The Bears' defense is ranked No. 16 in SP+ which leads the Big 12. However, the offense is ranked 25th, following late-season struggles to score at TCU and in the second half at home against Oklahoma.
Although the Baylor defense has been electric and carried the team all season, behind Big 12 defensive player of the year James Lynch at defensive end, the Bears have not pitched a shutout this season. In fact, the two closest games in doing so were at Kansas (61-6 win on Nov. 30th) and against Texas (24-10 win on Nov. 23rd).
The real difference in this game, according to SP+, may come on special teams.
According to the metric, the Bulldogs boast the nation's best special teams unit, with Baylor's coming in at 75th.
6 News' coverage from New Orleans, with sports director Nick Canizales and weekend sports anchor Kurtis Quillin, begins Sunday at 5 p.m. You can follow them on Twitter to keep up with all the action.
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