INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The location, a half-hour drive from Hollywood, is fitting. 

TCU’s story feels like a movie script. An underdog nobody was paying attention to in September, comes out of nowhere to reach the final game of the season as one of the great underdog stories in college football history. 

Standing in its way is mighty Georgia, the new preeminent powerhouse in the sport out to become the first repeat national champion in a decade. And despite all it has accomplished, all the wild come-from-behind wins and the stunning upset of Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, TCU remains a long shot to complete this rags-to-riches story. It is a massive 12.5-point underdog Monday night at SoFi Stadium, the biggest spread in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff. It started the year with 200/1 odds to win it all. The champion with the longest odds to raise the trophy? Auburn, at 50/1, in 2010. 

“If you go back to August, how many people were in Las Vegas saying, ‘Yeah, let me put $10 down on TCU to win the national title?’ ” said Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN’s lead college football analyst. “I don’t know if anybody was, including their own fan base. 

“This is a team that’s kind of been against all odds all year, and don’t tell them they don’t have a chance Monday night. Actually, tell them that. I think they like to hear it, because it seems to fire them up.” 

TCU (13-1) went 5-7 last year, and changed coaches, going from Gary Patterson to Sonny Dykes. It was picked seventh in the Big 12. It didn’t receive a single vote in the preseason Associated Press poll. Quarterback Max Duggan began the year as the backup, then after an injury to starter Chandler Morris, authored his own fairytale season within TCU’s, producing by far the best season of his career and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. The Horned Frogs trailed in the second half five times and prevailed, then pulled off the biggest upset in the playoff’s history by beating Michigan as an eight-point underdog to become the first Big 12 team to reach the title game since this new format was adopted. 

“With every fiber of our being, we for sure do [believe we can win],” TCU star wideout Quentin Johnston said. “We’ve been counted out for so long. … A lot of people don’t think the Big 12 has what it takes to have certain things. We’ve proved that. We have to come out, keep proving it.” 

Said TCU cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, the Jim Thorpe Award winner as the top defensive back in the country: “Man, we are here to win the game. … It’s time to start taking us very seriously. We’re not a joke and we’re here [and] just as good as any other team that’s had great seasons.” 

The last hurdle will be the toughest. Georgia (14-0) isn’t Michigan. It is unlike any team TCU has seen in the Big 12. It has won 16 straight games and 32 of its last 33. It has played two single-possession games all year. It is explosive and dynamic on both sides of the ball, able to win a slugest or a shootout, ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense and eighth in points scored. It has a roster littered with future NFL players that is motivated to perform better than it did in a comeback win over Ohio State in the Peach Bowl and become the first school since SEC-rival Alabama in 2011-12 to win consecutive titles. 

“This team has it all,” running back Kenny McIntosh said. “For us to have the opportunity to go back and get another one, that’s just history — legendary.” 

On paper, it is a mismatch. Georgia has stockpiled top recruiting classes under coach Kirby Smart, and has 15 players who were five-star recruits, and 53 four-stars, based on the website 247 Sports’ rankings. TCU has just one five-star, LSU transfer Marcel Brooks, a linebacker who doesn’t even start, and 16 four-stars. Based on those same rankings, Georgia had the second-most talent in the country, behind only Alabama. TCU was No. 33. 

“You would think, ‘Why are we even playing the game on Monday night?’ But as we all know, it’s more about how a team comes together and what it ends up becoming,” Herbstreit said. “And TCU’s a great example of that.” 

It really is David versus Goliath. The SEC against the Big 12. Georgia’s five-star recruits against TCU’s three-stars and transfers. College football’s new dynasty against the ultimate underdog. 

It’s a story made for Hollywood. All that’s missing is the ending.