georgia fans

LOS ANGELES — Flights arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday filled with fans clad in red and black, an early indication the Georgia Bulldogs’ fans will be in takeover mode once again.

Coach Kirby Smart could be on the verge of becoming the first coach since Alabama’s Nick Saban (2011-2012) to lead his program to back-to-back national championships.

Smart was a part of those Crimson Tide teams, serving as that program’s defensive coordinator from 2008-2015.

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (14-0) play No. 3 TCU (13-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood in the CFP Championship Game.

The Horned Frogs have not won a national championship in football in 85 years -- the seventh-longest active drought in the NCAA behind Cal (86 years), Duke (87 years), Purdue (92 years), Navy (97 years), Vanderbilt (101 years), and Rutgers (154 years).

TCU, however, is the first team from Texas to make it to the CFP Playoffs.

The good news for the fans of both teams is that ticket prices are down significantly from Dec. 31, when the “get in” price was $1,173 per ticket.

With the Horned Frogs upsetting Michigan — which has one of the largest alumni bases in the country — the average “get-in price” has dropped some 60 percent to $476, per TickPick.

Georgia fans were in takeover mode at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for their dramatic 42-41 win over Ohio State in the CFP Peach Bowl, with roughly two-thirds of the crowd in UGA gear.

TickPick data, however, reflects 22 percent of the tickets being sold in Texas, 19 percent in California and 11 percent in Georgia.

TCU has an enrollment of 13,000, compared to UGA’s approximately 30,000.

The Horned Frogs are getting a majority of the betting action.

According to oddschecker,com, 81.8-percent of the bets placed in the last week have been on TCU, which opened as a 14-point underdog.

The line has since fallen to 12.5, despite the overwhelming majority of bettors picking the Horned Frogs to keep it relatively close against the Bulldogs.