The Rematch: While Georgia Football Seeks to Maintain History, Alabama Aims to Break It

Throughout the over 150 years of college football history, a total of five rematches with national title implications have been played. In all five, the loser of the first game has emerged victorious. While the Bulldogs look to maintain the status quo, the Crimson Tide seeks to upend that trend.

INDIANAPOLIS — It's only happened five times over the 150-plus years of college football history. In total, just five games with national championship implications have ever been played between two teams that had faced each other earlier in the season.

On Monday night, it's going to happen again.

At Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The event will mark the first rematch between two programs in a national title game in the CFP era, and the first time period since 2012.

Back on Dec. 4, 2021, the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs squared off in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. While Georgia came in as 6.5-point favorites, it was ultimately Alabama that prevailed in dominating fashion. Despite the Bulldogs' stout defense and solid multidimensional offense, the Crimson Tide prevailed 41-24 and left no doubt who was the better team on that cold December day.

Now, both teams have the opportunity to prove themselves once more. For the Crimson Tide, it's a chance to solidify itself as the top program in the country, confirming that its performance against the Bulldogs in the SEC title game wasn't simply a fluke, but rather the latest in over a decade of displays of the program's college football might.

For Georgia, just as much is on the line. Heading into the SEC Championship, the Bulldogs had been the No. 1 team in the CFP Committee Rankings all five weeks leading up to the final playoff rankings. The lopsided loss sent Georgia down to No. 3 in both the CFP rankings and the AP Top 25 — the lowest ranking it had been assigned in the poll since the opening week of the 2021 season.

The loss to Alabama was certainly something that Georgia fans didn't want to see. In addition to tarnishing a perfect 12-0 record, the Bulldogs were sent home with their tails tucked between their legs in their home state. On Monday night, though, the chance at redemption will be at hand.

And for Georgia, history is on its side.

In all five rematches with national title implications, the loser of the first meeting has won. Additionally, the winners of the rematches have usually won in dominant fashion. That certainly bodes well for the Bulldogs.

Here's a breakdown of how all five previous rematches played out:

1960 Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Ole Miss 21, No. 3 LSU 0

Previous Game Score: LSU 7, Ole Miss 3

How it Happened: Billy Cannon’s 'Halloween Run' was the difference maker between the Tigers and the Rebels in their first meeting on Oct. 31, 1959, but it would have no impact on the teams' second encounter.

After a scoreless first quarter, Ole Miss scored with a 43-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Gibbs to halfback 'Cowboy' Woodruff to jump to a 7-0 lead. A touchdown pass from Rebels quarterback Bobby Franklin in both the third and fourth quarters sealed the game for Ole Miss, who held off LSU to win the rematch. On defense, the Rebels held the Tigers to just 74 total yards on offense, including -15 rushing yards. In fact, the furthest that LSU was ever able to get down the field was to the Ole Miss 38-yard line.

Ultimate National Champion: Syracuse

1966 Rose Bowl: No. 5 UCLA 14, No. 1 Michigan State 12

Joe Kennedy / Los Angeles Times

Previous Game Score: Michigan State 13, UCLA 3

How it Happened: The Bruins opened the season against the Spartans in East Lansing, with Michigan State coming out on top. However, a trip to UCLA's home city in the Rose Bowl played out differently.

Trailing 14-6 in the fourth quarter, the Spartans scored a touchdown with a quarterback sneak by Steve Juday. When Michigan State lined up for the two-point conversion on the left hash to tie the game with seconds left, UCLA successfully stopped an option pitch on the right side. The Spartans attempted an onside kick, but the football was recovered by the Bruins, sealing the 14-12 victory.

"We fell victim to the distractions," Juday later said in 2015.

Despite the close loss, the Spartans had already been awarded a national title by Coaches Poll, the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation due to the rankings being finalized before the bowl games. However, it was undefeated Alabama that earned the title of AP national champion.

Ultimate National Champion: Alabama

1976 Rose Bowl: No. 11 UCLA 23, No. 1 Ohio State 10

Previous Game Score: Ohio State 41, UCLA 20

How it Happened: With two-time Heisman Trophy-winner Archie Griffin at running back for the Buckeyes, it was an easy first game for Ohio State against UCLA in L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Oct. 4, 1975. The Buckeyes were already No. 1 at the time of their victory over the Bruins, but things once again turned out differently in the rematch.

At halftime of the Rose Bowl, Ohio State led 3-0. However, 16 unanswered points by UCLA propelled them to the lead — a lead that it ultimately would not surrender. History remembers the game as one of the most shocking upsets in college football history, with the Bruins being a 15.5-point underdog heading into the contest.

Ultimate National Champion: Oklahoma

1997 Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Florida 52, No. 1 Florida State 20

Previous Game Score: Florida State 24, Florida 21

How it Happened: Gators head coach Steve Spurrier only won one national title in his career, and that was the year that his Florida team was able to take down the Florida State Seminoles in the 1997 Sugar Bowl.

The team had lost its original meeting with them back on Nov. 30, 1996, with a comeback attempt by the Gators falling short. In the first game, Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel was sacked six times and was battered and bruised all game long.

In the Sugar Bowl, though, Wuerffel shined. For the first time in his career, the Heisman Trophy-winner played most of the day out of the shotgun, throwing three touchdown passes — all to wide receiver Ike Hilliard — and 306 passing yards. It was an ultimate blowout conducted by the Gators over their arch-rivals.

“You see why I didn’t want to play them again, don’t you?” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said after the game. “Too good.”

Ultimate National Champion: Florida

2012 BCS National Championship Game: No. 2 Alabama 21, No. 1 LSU 0

AP Photo/Dave Martin

Previous Game Score: LSU 9, Alabama 6

How it Happened: Defense was the name of the game in both of the games between the Crimson Tide and the Tigers in both the 2011 regular season and 2012 BCS title game.

In the first matchup, both Alabama and LSU threw for under 300 yards and combined for four turnovers, no touchdowns and five field goals in the 9-6 LSU victory. To put things into perspective, Tigers quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee combined for 9-of-17 passing for just 91 yards and two interceptions — and LSU was the winning team.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban had his Crimson Tide team ready to go against his former employer, maintaining his team's stifling defense in the 2012 BCS title game rematch. In total, Alabama held LSU to just 92 total yards, five first downs and two turnovers over the course of the game. On offense, the Crimson Tide registered five field goals and a touchdown.

The game represented the only rematch created by the Bowl Championship Series in its 16 years as the determining system for the national title game. It was replaced by the CFP in 2014.

Ultimate National Champion: Alabama

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As stated earlier, history favors the loser of the initial game when it comes to rematches with national championship implications. In Monday's case, that loser is Georgia.

In the teams' initial meeting in the SEC Championship Game, Alabama had everything going in its favor for the majority of the game. After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, the Crimson Tide scored 24 of the next 31 points to take the game into halftime with a 24-17 lead. In the second half, Alabama outscored Georgia 17-7, giving the Crimson Tide the win.

The defense for Alabama was just as impressive. In the second half, the Bulldogs were forced to punt once, turned the ball over on downs twice and threw two interceptions — including a pick-six. In fact, Georgia only had one successful drive in the entire second half, a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an 18-yard touchdown reception by tight end Brock Bowers.

But none of that matters in a rematch.

Since that day in early December, both Nick Saban and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart — who served as Saban's defensive coordinator during the Crimson Tide's 2012 title game rematch with the LSU Tigers — have both reiterated how the team's previous game doesn't have any impact on Monday's game.

During his final pregame press conference on Sunday morning, Saban reiterated one final time that once the game starts, all previous games and results are thrown out the window.

"I think a lot of external people talk about things like that (rematches)," Saban said. "I think internally we talk a lot about what do you have to do technically in the game to be able to have success in terms of your ability to execute probably against the best player you played against all year.

"So that's how you have to prepare and that's how you have to focus, and that's what you need to be concerned about, because I think once the game starts, five minutes into the game I don't know that anybody's thinking about all this stuff that [the media] talk about. So they're trying to win their box. They're trying to do what they can to do to help their team, both sides of the ball. So we expect that, and that's what our players need to be focused on."

Smart also addressed the upcoming rematch, albeit much more directly than Saban. When asked about the rematch, Smart said that the best approach is to remain focused on what he and his team can improve on and do better from the SEC title loss rather than try to predict what their opponents are doing to adjust.

"When you're playing a rematch game, I think a lot can go into it in terms of you've got to be careful because you've got things and games in your breakdown that might change this game in terms of we didn't have the SEC Championship game, obviously, in our breakdown, then the playoff game," Smart said. "And what tendencies changed, what matchups we're looking for, who is in, who is out.

"There's a lot of things that go into it. But at the end of the day, you're really not as worried about what they're doing; you're worried about what you're doing and how well you can do that is the most important part."

There are two possible outcomes to this year's College Football Playoff National Championship Game. On one hand, there's the possibility that Georgia upholds history and maintains the trend that the initial loser is likely to win a rematch with championship implications on the line.

For Alabama, there's history on the line. For the Crimson Tide, the opportunity to be the first team in college football history to win a national championship by beating the same team twice in a season is the main goal. Even with the title not on the line, the last time that Alabama was able to beat a team twice in one season was all the way back in 1999 when the Crimson Tide defeated Florida in the regular season and then once again in the SEC Championship Game.

History certainly favors the Bulldogs, but with so much on the line for both teams it is easy to see why both want to win so badly. For Georgia, it's a chance at redemption. For Alabama, it's an opportunity to once again prove to the world that they're not only still the top team in college football, but that it also isn't going anywhere any time soon.

History would certainly like to prove otherwise. But for the Crimson Tide, making its own history is something that it thrives at.