The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (11-2, 6-2) will play the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl. The winner advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals. The game between Georgia and Notre Dame will be played on Wednesday, January 1st at 8:45 p.m. ET in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl will be televised on ESPN.

Georgia is a 1.5-point favorite over Notre Dame, even though the Bulldogs will be without starting quarterback Carson Beck. UGA will start Gunner Stockton, making his first career start against Notre Dame’s talented defense.

Members of the media are picking Notre Dame to beat Georgia, but the media has been wrong many times this season.

National media predictions for Georgia vs. Notre Dame

“Everything points to a Notre Dame win, although Kirby Smart has a knack for getting his teams ready for the playoffs,” said Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports. Five of CBS’ seven college football experts picked Notre Dame to beat Georgia.

Prediction: Notre Dame will win (and cover)

“I will pick Georgia to win and cover this game,” said Josh Pate of 247Sports. “And I think Georgia is in a great position to shock a lot of people…Either they’re going to wither away and Gunner Stockton doesn’t make it, or they’re going to push the cattle prod to the side of the neck of college football.”

Prediction: Georgia wins, covers

“I’m on the side of a physical, defense-oriented Notre Dame team over UGA and a backup QB,” said David Kenyon of Bleacher Report. “(Gunner) Stockton managed just 4.4 yards per attempt on 16 passes in relief of Beck against Texas and otherwise has no significant reps in college. He’s very talented and very untested.”

Kenyon notes that Notre Dame is winning in part because Georgia is without Carson Beck.

Prediction: Notre Dame 20, Georgia 17

“Georgia owns the all-time series between the two teams at 3-0, but this is a different Notre Dame team they have faced. Their self-confidence is huge and they believe they can beat anyone. It’s going to be a…” “It’s a tough game, but the Irish barely came out on top,” said Fighting Irish Wire’s Michael Chen.

Prediction: Notre Dame 24, Georgia 20

Our prediction

If Georgia had Carson Beck, I would confidently choose the Bulldogs. However, I don’t have much confidence in Stockton, so I’m going back and forth on this choice. I’m rooting for Georgia because they’re more battle tested and I think they’ll win at the line of scrimmage.

Prediction: Georgia 27, Notre Dame 20

Overall forecast

Three of the five writers won and covered Notre Dame. Georgia wins the Sugar Bowl in two cases.

Georgia wins: 2

Notre Dame wins: 3

This article originally appeared on Bulldogs Wire: National media predicts Sugar Bowl winners