No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama have met six times since 2018 but just once in the regular season, an Alabama win in 2020. The Crimson Tide would take home the national championship that season and Georgia the ensuing pair, with the Bulldogs’ only loss during that two-year span coming to, yes, Alabama.
Separated by divisions throughout this span, the two heavyweights have still managed to cross paths in some of the biggest, high-stakes games of the era:
The College Football Playoff national championship game for the 2017 season, an Alabama win in overtime.
The 2018 SEC championship game, another Alabama win.
The 2021 SEC championship game, again taken by the Crimson Tide.
The 2022 national championship game, the lone Georgia win against Alabama under Kirby Smart.
And last year’s SEC championship game, an Alabama win that sent the Tide into the playoff while eliminating the Bulldogs.
For a number of reasons, this one feels different. For one, the series has a new head coach in Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, hired this offseason to replace Nick Saban.
“You don’t have to pull anything as far as energy and enthusiasm out of them to get ready for our first SEC game against Georgia, you know,” DeBoer said.
In terms of a national impact, the biggest change from this rivalry’s recent past is in the immediate fallout from Saturday night’s matchup in Tuscaloosa. To misquote the SEC, this one just means … less?
Alabama linebacker Trezmen Marshall (17) tackles Georgia wide receiver Dominic Lovett (6) in the 2023 SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The impact on the College Football Playoff
The shift to the 12-team playoff format removes the winner-take-all mentality that has gripped this series since Smart ushered in a new era of Georgia dominance. While the winner will be in the driver’s seat for the playoff, the…
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