Championship preparation is the theme of the week for Georgia and Alabama.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, once the boss of Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, has Alabama positioned to play for the SEC title after an emotional comeback win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saturday.
The reward for Alabama is a rematch with Georgia in Atlanta with a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line.
“I don’t think people realize how hard it is to win 29 games in a row, or even go 12-0 in a season,” Saban said Monday. “They’ve got good players. Well coached. This is a team that doesn’t have a whole lot of weaknesses. That’s why they are who they are, what they are.”
Georgia defeated Georgia Tech 31-23 on Saturday to set the record for consecutive wins by an SEC program.
Neither team lost a conference game heading into the SEC title matchup in a league each has dominated in recent years.
Saban and Alabama won 26 consecutive games (2015-16). The Crimson Tide won the SEC Championship in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 202 and 2021. Georgia won last year and lost to national champion LSU in 2019.
“It’s phenomenal what he’s accomplished,” said Saban, who promoted Smart to defensive coordinator at Alabama in 2008. He remained in that role until he accepted the Georgia job in 2016.
But if the Bulldogs lose for the first time in 30 games this weekend, there’s no guarantee a CFP spot will be available. Florida State and Texas could make cases to join Michigan and Alabama in that hypothetical scenario.
Alabama is the last team to beat Georgia, 41-24 in the 2021 SEC Championship. Georgia then defeated Michigan in the CFP semifinals and won the first of back-to-back championships by avenging that defeat to the Crimson Tide.
This version of Alabama had Smart doing double-takes in film preparation. As usual, it starts with Alabama’s versatile and dynamic defense.
“Size, speed, toughness, aggressiveness, players that play multiple positions,” Smart said Monday of the Crimson Tide defense.
Saban downplayed the similarity between approaching this game and the Alabama victory on Dec. 4, 2021, but plans to call on his upperclassmen to show his team how to prepare for Georgia.
“I have a great appreciation for this game. I grew up in the SEC, an SEC footprint kid, grew up coaching in the SEC. I have an appreciation for this game, how hard it is to win,” Smart said. “In some ways, Alabama and us, have been spoiled. I don’t think some kids appreciate, they think it’s a rite of passage. It’s not, it’s earned.”
–Field Level Media