Is Alabama Football vs UGA the de facto national championship?

Alabama Football has been stuck at no. 8 in the polls for several weeks now, but there is a growing consensus that this weekend’s SEC Championship Game could feature the best two teams in the nation.

Bama’s steep upward trajectory over the course of the season cannot be denied, and the Georgia Bulldogs are firmly entrenched as a powerhouse, having won two straight national championships.

With so many undefeated teams still out there, including Michigan, Washington, and Florida State, as well as formidable 1-loss competitors such as Ohio State, Texas and Oregon, what makes the SEC Championship a national-title caliber matchup?

The simple answer is the overwhelming dominance of the SEC over the last decade and a half.

Since 2006, the conference has won 13 of the 17 possible national championships. In the College Football Playoff era (since 2014), the SEC has taken home six of the nine CFP national championships.

When focusing on the last four seasons, these ridiculous numbers reach another level. Since 2019, the SEC has won all four College Football Playoff national championships. Additionally, SEC teams have gone 8-0 in playoff games against teams from other conferences, only losing playoff games to fellow SEC teams.

In these eight playoff wins against the other conferences, the SEC has prevailed by a total score of 356-156, a ridiculous margin of 25 points per game. Georgia and Ohio State’s shootout in the 2022 Peach Bowl was the only close game among these playoff matchups.

The data is clear; the SEC not only wins the national championship in most years, it does so in totally dominant fashion. On three occasions since 2011, an SEC team has defeated another SEC team for the title.

The gap between the SEC and the rest of college football cannot be overstated. Even in a year like 2023, which has brought forth more parity than any other season in the playoff era, I think Alabama Football and Georgia are in a class of their own.

This means that whichever school brings home the 2023 SEC Championship will likely be crowned the national champ as well, and will encounter little resistance in the process.

Alabama and Georgia are each others’ greatest hurdle and obstacle in their relentless pursuit of the 2023 national championship. I’m not sure what will happen when these two titans go to war in Atlanta this weekend, but I’m confident that the SEC will continue its run of dominance one way or another.