Although not an officially scheduled rivalry, Alabama vs. Georgia is widely viewed as one of the classic matchups around the country.
Given this level of excitement, it’s worth wondering if Georgia should ever be made an annual rivalry game for Alabama.
The case for
Alabama fans have gotten to see some of the Crimson Tide’s biggest moments come against the Bulldogs for the past several years.
From 2018 to 2023, half of SEC Championship Games were played between Alabama and Georgia, and Alabama won all of them. That came during a period in which Georgia was 72-5 against all other opponents.
Alabama’s unique resistance against Georgia during the Bulldogs’ dynastic run in the early 2020s has become a beacon of pride for fans, a sign that Alabama’s place as a top program in college football can’t be shaken by even the best of opponents.
“Georgia [is] Georgia,” offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor said ahead of the matchup in Athens. “It’s always a tough competition and a tough challenge.”
Tua Tagavailoa’s touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith in overtime of the 2018 national championship against Georgia is arguably one of the most significant plays in Alabama’s history.
In former head coach Nick Saban’s last duel with the Bulldogs, he famously ended its 29-game winning streak in the SEC Championship that sent Alabama to the playoff one last time under his coaching. In head coach Kalen DeBoer’s very first go at the duel, Ryan Williams became a household name after catching an iconic 75-yard touchdown to win in Tuscaloosa.
“This is the game you want to be a part of,” wide receiver Isaiah Horton said. “We’re gonna be ready for it, for sure.”
The case against
The SEC will be moving to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, and Alabama has already prepared for the impact of playing what could be another top 25 opponent every year.
The program recently announced that its two-year series scheduled against West Virginia had been replaced with one against East Carolina, a move that was widely received as an attempt to counteract the new difficulty of playing nine SEC teams.
Assuming games against Auburn and Tennessee are here to stay, adding a regular contest against Georgia would almost guarantee Alabama having the most difficult rivalry schedule not just in the SEC, but in the country.
The Bulldogs are carrying a 32-game home winning streak into their matchup against Alabama. That means the Crimson Tide would be adding what currently is an all-but-guaranteed loss every other year to its permanent schedule.
The program’s concern about the schedule difficulty that will come with a nine game slate can be seen as a reason for replacing the LSU game with Mississippi State, a team that hasn’t had as much recent success as Georgia.
Even for fans who embrace scheduling a difficult slate, the removal of the LSU game from the permanent schedule doesn’t just symbolize an evolution in Alabama’s biggest matchups — it marks the end of a major component of the Saban era.
Integral to the most successful period in Alabama football history was the intense passion of LSU and Alabama fans in their annual matchup, with Tigers fans constantly craving revenge on the coach who they felt abandoned their program.
With the matchup that many felt embodied the identity of Saban being replaced under the new staff, traditionalist fans who savor the Saban era could view it as a further step of departure from their favorite era of Alabama football.
Should Alabama’s rivalry schedule ever see tweaking again, such fans may prefer a return to the annual LSU game rather than further changing the program’s history by adding an unprecedented rivalry game against Georgia.
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