Alabama-Georgia is a Growing Rivalry with the Magnitude of Success from Each Program

The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs meet again on Saturday on the SEC's biggest stage.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Everyone knows about the Iron Bowl. Everyone knows "The Third Saturday in October." Everyone knows about the rivalry between Alabama and LSU. The Crimson Tide went 3-0 in those games this season.

Now, Alabama preps for No. 1 Georgia in the 2023 SEC Championship. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs now have a rivalry of their own. In the current landscape of college football, there are no programs on the top of the mountain alongside the two.

And because of that, they often see each other in December.

"I think that all these sort of you call them rivalry games, some of them are instilled in the culture, like the Auburn game, the Iron Bowl," head coach Nick Saban said. "That's a part of the culture. People have been watching that game for how many years, and it's always going to be that."

"Some of these other sort of rivalry games as you call them aren't traditional rivalries. But because there's two really good teams playing and it's been historically that way for a while, they become those kind of games. That's kind of what this has become. You don't get an opportunity to play against a team who's won 29 straight games very often, which speaks to their quality but it also speaks to the challenge and the opportunity that our team has in preparing for a team like this."

Georgia has now won an SEC-record 29 games in a row. The Bulldogs are looking for their third consecutive national championship, something Alabama came up just short of from 2011-2013. Two years ago, the Crimson Tide defeated Georgia in the SEC championship before the Bulldogs returned the favor in the title game in Indianapolis.

This year, the consequences are bigger. The loser almost definitely will be out of the College Football Playoff picture. Even if Alabama wins, it may still need help.

Defensive back Malachi Moore believes this week is no different. Every week, the Crimson Tide faces a team looking to beat it, creating a rivalry-like atmosphere.

"To me, actually, every SEC game [is] like a rivalry for Alabama," Moore said. "Each fanbase, each team, each coach, each player wants to beat Alabama or put that on their resume that they beat Alabama this year or anything like that. Feel like it's not something that is going to be new for us."

"But it's definitely a becoming a rivalry, and yeah, it's gonna be fun, you know. We're gonna compete and have two heavyweights going out on Saturday."

See Also:

What Nick Saban Said on Monday of SEC Championship Week