Saturday’s showdown between No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game will mark the 30th edition of the league title contest pioneered by former conference commissioner Roy Kramer in the early 1990s, and it will be yet another showcase of the league’s dominance. With a Crimson Tide victory, the SEC will likely get two teams into the College Football Playoff. But if the Bulldogs win, they will enter the CFP as an overwhelming favorite to give the conference its third different undefeated national champion in the last three seasons.
Georgia’s 12-0 record and dominance of nearly everyone on its schedule this season puts sixth-year coach Kirby Smart in prime position to knock off Alabama for the first time in his tenure; he’s 0-3 against his former boss Nick Saban to this point. These teams last met in the 2020 regular season, when Alabama rallied from a halftime deficit to win 41-24 en route to a 13-0 season and national title. But the Crimson Tide’s offense is not the unstoppable juggernaut it was last season, and the Georgia defense has emerged as the best unit on either side of the ball in the country.
Alabama will be the toughest team Georgia has played this season, however, and if the Bulldogs are looking ahead to the CFP, the Crimson Tide have enough talent to hand Georgia its first loss.
Alabama vs. Georgia: Need to know
Tables turned: A common refrain emerging from Alabama’s win over Georgia last season was that the Bulldogs could not become a championship-caliber team with Stetson Bennett at quarterback. He completed just 18 of 40 passes in the game and threw three interceptions. But here the Bulldogs are a year later as the nation’s clear No. 1 with Bennett back under center. Pressed into duty amid an injury to JT…
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