ESPN’s College GameDay split on Sugar Bowl predictions

Who does GameDay think will sin the Sugar Bowl?

2024 SEC Championship - Georgia v Texas
2024 SEC Championship - Georgia v Texas | Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/GettyImages

Georgia football’s biggest game of the season has finally arrived. The Bulldogs are set to take on Notre Dame in the final quarterfinal matchup of the College Football Playoff at the Sugar Bowl, with the winner taking on Penn State in the semifinals.

UGA’s matchup with Notre Dame by all accounts is going to be a very close game. Vegas has Georgia as the slight favorite while ESPN’s Football Power Index slightly favors the Irish. So it goes without saying that this game is almost impossible to predict as it is a pretty even split between college football fans predicting Georgia and Notre Dame to win.

And that sentiment is true among ESPN’s College GameDay crew, who made their predictions during their pregame show at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.

College GameDay Predictions

Desmond Howard: Notre Dame

Nick Saban: Georgia

Pat McAfee: Georgia

Lee Corso: Notre Dame

Kirk Herbstreit: Georgia

No extra motivation from GameDay this time

GameDay has been at many of Georgia’s games so far this season, and up to this point they have given the Bulldogs a lot of extra motivation. The crew was at both matchups against Texas and they were all picking the Longhorns to win both games, but we all know how that worked out.

This time around however, there is no extra motivation for Kirby Smart and Georgia to draw on. The GameDay crew actually leans in favor of Georgia winning the Sugar Bowl by a 3-2 vote, which is a little surprising considering how little this crew has believed in Georgia up to this point.

In just a few short hours we will see how this game plays out, but Georgia fans should prepare for another close battle, because there’s a great chance this game will be close and could even go into overtime just like the Bulldogs’ previous two games.