Georgia is either a 13- or 13.5-point favorite over Georgia Tech this weekend, depending on which handicappers you talk to, and the majority of college football's punditocracy seems to agree that the Dawgs will cap off the regular season with their eighth win in their last nine tries.
First up, the columnists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who sit on what is more or less ground zero of the UGA-GT rivalry. Jeff Schultz, who has no vested interest in the game other than to annoy both fan bases as much as possible, is picking the Dawgs to not only win but do so by double digits. Tony Barnhart, in somewhat reserved fashion, picks the same: Georgia by 10. (Mark Bradley is AWOL on a score prediction, choosing instead to bemoan how crappy both teams ended up this year.)
The expert panel at CBSSports.com is unanimous in picking a Georgia win, as are the pickers at Rivals.com; Rivals' Mike Huguenin thinks it'll be by the precise score of 31-27. College Football News widens the gap to 34-21 in favor of the Dawgs, guessing that Aaron Murray "will lead the way against a quality Georgia Tech secondary, firing a pair of touchdown passes to [A.J.] Green, who’s probably playing his final game between the hedges." ESPN.com's SEC blogger, Chris Low, picks a 17-point Georgia victory and echoes CFN's call for a pair of touchdown hookups between Murray and Green; SI.com's Stewart Mandel has the most optimistic prediction yet, saying the Dawgs will win by three TDs and hold the Jackets to their third-lowest point total of the season.
And what of the king of handicappers, Phil Steele? Both Phil and his computers predict a big Georgia win, by anywhere from 13 to 20 points.
The final insult to Georgia Tech: Even ESPN.com's ACC blogger predicts a Georgia win by two touchdowns.
We'll see if the Dawgs can live up to the hype tomorrow.