With expansion, Alabama Football vs. Georgia doesn't mean what it once did

Money talked, the College Football Playoff expanded, and Alabama Football's upcoming marquee matchup with Georgia doesn't mean what it used to. Instead of a game with massive playoff implications, it's more of a measuring stick game in September for both teams.

Obviously, the winner will get a significant resume booster, but the loser will be largely unaffected. And it's the devastation of a single loss that made college football what it was. That every single Saturday mattered, and a single loss by even a single point could end your chances of winning the whole thing. You lived and died with every snap, every whistle, every first down.

If the 12-team playoff had taken affect last season, Georgia would have still made the playoff even after Alabama beat them in the SEC Championship Game. Everything felt like it was on the line in Atlanta last December; in the new era, both teams would have already clinched a spot in the 12-team playoff.

The same thing would have happened in 2018's classic SEC Title Game. And in 2012. Would those games have been as hotly contested if both sides knew they had already clinched a spot in the playoff? Would they have laid everything on the line knowing they might have to play each other again when it really mattered?

It's not just that one loss won't end your season anymore. We've seen plenty of playoff teams with a single loss, and Alabama won four National Championships in the Saban era with a single loss. But for SEC teams, two losses aren't likely to matter, either. A 10-2 regular season is probably the magic number for an SEC team.

The expansion of the playoff, as well as conference realignment, has had nothing to do with the fans and everything to do with the almighty dollar. We've seen rivalries lost, forced rivalries formed, and we have to pretend that a USC vs. Rutgers game counting in conference standings is serious, when conferences were always meant to be a regional thing.

The benefit that gets talked about in more teams making the playoff is that there will be more consequential football games in November than ever before. Maybe that's true, we'll find out in two months. But what I do know is that September football games feel like they mean less than ever before.

The good news is that regardess of the playoff implications, next Saturday's game against Georgia in Tuscaloosa matters a great deal to both coaches. Kalen DeBoer wants to win his first marquee matchup, and show that Alabama's dominance over Georgia didn't end with Nick Saban's retirement. Kirby Smart wants to avoid going to 1-6 against Alabama, and show that the Bulldogs are officially the top dog in the SEC now with no crimson kryptonite hanging over their head.