TAMPA, Fla. — The SEC is all about tradition and, in that vein, celebrates its traditional rivalry games, of which Alabama versus Georgia does not exist.
But in the case of the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide, the programs’ SEC dominance has led to an intense series that’s put fans on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the next meeting this season.
The Alabama players at SEC Media Days feel it, too, as Tide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams noted.
“We’ve made it a rivalry,” Coleman-Williams said when asked by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the series’ significance. “It doesn’t have the same feeling as the Third Saturday in October (Alabama-Tennessee rivalry), or the Iron Bowl (Alabama-Auburn), but it’s definitely a rivalry.”
To Coleman-Williams’ point, Georgia has its traditional rivals, too: Florida, Auburn, Georgia Tech and Tennessee chief among them.
But beating Alabama holds a special place for the Bulldogs, as they have taken over the mantle as the league’s premier team as reigning back-to-back SEC champions and appearances in eight of the last nine league title games.
Georgia’s biggest win of all over the Crimson Tide came in the CFP Championship Game, 33-18, following the 2021 season.
“It’s not really a rivalry, but I can tell you the view from the die-hard Alabama fans,” said the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum, who hosts a daily call-in show. “They think Alabama owns Georgia. I hear it from every single one of them. Alabama fans think Georgia is an automatic win.”
Perhaps, but the Bulldogs own current bragging rights by virtue of their decisive 28-7 win over the Tide in last season’s SEC Championship game.
Come Oct. 10, the game will once again ignite, as UGA travels to Tuscaloosa to play the Tide.
It’s a place Georgia hasn’t won since 2007, when NFL MVP Matthew Stafford led a Mark Richt-coached team to a 26-23 overtime victory.
“Games with Georgia, they come down to a handful of plays, two to five plays, that really change the whole game,” Alabama cornerback Zabien Brown said on Wednesday.
“Whether it’s a first down or completed pass, those games are chess matches, (so) I think it’s definitely a rivalry in terms of how often we play and how much we do know each other. We know what they’re going to do, and they know what we’re going to do, and it comes down to execution.”
This season’s game is projected to feature two top-ranked teams that are favored to be undefeated when they meet for what will be the 10th time in the past 10 seasons.
This, even though it will only be the fourth scheduled meeting in that span, as the other six meetings will have taken place in the postseason with a championship of some sort on the line.
“I just think when you look at the games over the past years, they’ve all been really, really big games, two talented teams, heavy matchups,” Tide safety Bray Hubbard said. “You face them in the regular season, you face them in the postseason.
“The best teams are going to end up playing each other, that’s just part of it.”
Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium is just one of three SEC football venues where coach Kirby Smart has yet to win a game he has led the Bulldogs into, LSU’s Tiger Stadium (0-1) and Ole Miss Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (0-2) the others.
Georgia has not played at Oklahoma, which joined the SEC in 2024.
Georgia vs. Alabama
(Kirby Smart era, 2016-current)
2025: UGA 28, Alabama 7 (Atlanta)
2025: Alabama 24, Georgia 21 (Athens)
2024: Alabama 41, Georgia 34 (Tuscaloosa)
2023: Alabama 27, Georgia 24 (Atlanta)
2022: Georgia 33, Alabama 18 (Indianapolis)
2021: Alabama 41, Georgia 24 (Atlanta)
2020: Alabama 41, Georgia 24 (Tuscaloosa)
2018: Alabama 35, Georgia 28 (Atlanta)
2018: Alabama 26, Georgia 23, OT (Atlanta)
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