In a September filled with big games, maybe the one to garner the most attention will be Alabama Football playing Georgia in Athens. The early evening start will have the eyes of the nation. The Bulldogs are expected to be a slight favorite. The oddsmakers may well be correct, but Alabama could pull off what might not be a shocking win.
What is assured is that something significant will change. The Bulldogs will, by sunset on Sept. 6, have won 36 consecutive home games. That tidy streak is the current longest in FBS college football. The Alabama Crimson Tide has an impressive streak of its own. Going back to Nick Saban's second season at The Capstone in 2008, Alabama has won eight straight SEC games over the Bulldogs. The number includes SEC Championship Games.
Some Georgia fans agonize more over the losing streak against Alabama than they celebrate the Bulldogs' home winning streak. They don't fail to point out that the Dawgs have beaten Alabama once since 2007. The once was momentous. It gave Georgia a National Championship. That 2022 game mostly erased their shock of losing to the Crimson Tide in another National Championship Game, played in Atlanta in 2018.
ESPN recently identified "swing games for every Top 25 team," picking the Tennessee game for Georgia and the Georgia game for Alabama. Chris Low has long known more about Alabama Football than most of us will ever know. Given his fondness for Tennessee, his objectivity could be a model for responsible reporting. Low wrote about Bama's Georgia game, "A loss at Georgia wouldn't necessarily be a crippling blow ... but winning in Athens would afford Alabama a mulligan (or two) if the Tide were to trip up the rest of the way against somebody they shouldn't lose to."
Not an Alabama Football Swing Game?
Low is correct. Alabama's championship hopes will not be dashed by losing in Athens. Neither would Georgia's, but Alabama running its SEC streak to nine would certainly sting Bulldogs' fans.
Whatever the outcome, the game should be a great one. One team will celebrate a continued streak. The other will go back to work on bigger goals.
Note: Team records provided by Sports Reference and mcubed.net