It's still Alabama and Georgia, with all the made-for-TV trappings. Star quarterbacks. Stout defenses. Top 5 rankings and NFL prospects galore.
All Saturday night's clash between the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide and second-ranked Bulldogs lacks is the make-or-break, elimination game-style magnitude. It's also minus the familiar story line of Kirby Smart vs. Nick Saban, protege vs. mentor.
Whatever happens, the national and Southeastern Conference championship hopes of the loser will be damaged but hardly dashed. National showcase games are nothing new for either team.
“We’ve been on the national stage a lot, especially the last three to four years,” Smart said. "So it’s the reason kids want to come to Georgia. They say, ‘I want to play in games like that.’”
It's September, not December or January when Georgia and Alabama customarily meet. And with the newly expanded College Football Playoff field, there's still little reason to doubt that both will be among the top 12 teams at the end of the season.
Lo and behold, Alabama is a home underdog for the first time since Nick Saban's debut season, 17 years ago.
“Yeah, that’s interesting,” said Kalen DeBoer, Saban's first-year successor and a coach with a 12-2 record against ranked teams in his own right. “I actually didn’t know that. Yeah, welcome to the SEC, right?”
Welcome to the SEC, indeed.
Georgia still has to play No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Tennessee and No. 6 Mississippi. Alabama has the Volunteers, 11th-ranked Missouri and No. 14 LSU still on the docket.
Nothing will necessarily be decided in this one, but it's still Alabama-Georgia.
Georgia is favored by 1-1/2 points, according to Betmgm Sportsbook. It's the first time Alabama has been the underdog at Bryant-Denny Stadium since LSU was a touchdown favorite in the 2007 game as Saban was just beginning to build what turned into a dynasty.
“Winning is hard,” Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe said. “You know, that’s something that we embrace as a football team, is that winning is hard. One motto that we try to preach much as possible is prepare like you never won before. You know, that’s so key. You've got to hate losing more than you love winning.”
Titles have been on the line the last three times these two SEC powerhouses met. Alabama won the SEC Championship Game 27-24 last season to make the playoffs and bounce previously unbeaten Georgia from contention for a third straight national title, ending a 29-game win streak in the process. The Bulldogs won in the 2022 national championship game (33-18), which was a rematch from the 2021 SEC title game also won by Georgia 41-24.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and Georgia's Carson Beck are no strangers to big games. This is Beck's eighth start against a Top 20 team, and his only loss as a starter came against the Tide. Milroe led Alabama to the win in last year's SEC Championship game and has accounted for 14 touchdowns already this season (eight passing, six rushing).
Neither he nor Beck has thrown an interception.
Smart has led Georgia to a school-record streak of 42 consecutive regular-season wins, including 28 against SEC teams. The Bulldogs have won 16 straight in an opponent's home stadium, the longest active streak in the FBS. The last such loss: At then-No. 2 Alabama in 2020.
DeBoer hasn't been in a game like this with Alabama but is 4-1 against Top-10 foes at other stops. His streak of 12 consecutive wins over ranked teams was snapped in Washington's 34-13 loss to Michigan in last season's national championship game.
Big games tend to draw celebrities. This one is no exception, with former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump among those scheduled to attend. Trump also attended the Alabama-Georgia national championship game to end the 2017 season. Alabama won 26-23.
Trump was at the Alabama-LSU game in 2019 in Tuscaloosa, won 46-41 by Joe Burrow and the Tigers.
DeBoer doesn’t want his players getting sidetracked by celebrities at games.
“But yeah, it is kinda cool to have a lot of people who want to come be part of the atmosphere and add to the excitement and energy that the game will bring,” he said.
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