‘A Bunch of Dawgs Coming Down the Track’ — Pat McAfee Defies Nick Saban, GameDay Panel With Lone Georgia Pick Over Alabama
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Pat McAfee stood alone on College GameDay on Saturday, the only picker to take No. 2 Georgia over No. 6 Alabama before the two unbeaten SEC teams collide tonight in Tuscaloosa.
Former Alabama coach Nick Saban, ESPN’s Desmond Howard, Stanford Steve, and guest picker Bryce Young, the Carolina Panthers quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy at Alabama, all took the Crimson Tide.
Pro Football Network’s College Football Playoff Meter sides with McAfee, giving Georgia a 53.6% chance to win at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Both teams are 5-0 and 3-0 in the SEC.
Pat McAfee Picks Georgia as Panel Favors Alabama
“There’s a bunch of Dawgs coming down the track that have been dominated every single team this season,” McAfee wrote on X, adding an apology to Saban and Young.
Saban had used the same word earlier in the show, saying Georgia has dominated every team it has played. “They haven’t played anybody, but they will play somebody tonight, and the Tide will dominate.”
The panel’s final count was four votes for Alabama and one for Georgia. “Kirk Herbstreit is on the ABC call tonight, so he didn’t make a pick,” Charlie Potter, who covers Alabama football for On3’s BamaOnLine, wrote in a post listing the picks.
Saban had talked up the Bulldogs a day earlier on The Pat McAfee Show, saying, “I think Georgia is one of the most complete teams in the country.”
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He also said on the broadcast that, as a head coach, he hated it when the GameDay panel picked his teams to win, because he knew his players were watching and wondered how it would affect them.
“Starting to hate Pat McAfee he does the same bait and switches every week with his picks and thinks College GameDay is the WWE,” one fan watching the pregame wrote.
Georgia Leads in Team Grades, Alabama at Quarterback, and in the Series
PFN’s Impact grades lean Georgia’s way, too. Georgia’s offense carries a PFN Impact grade of 93.6 this season, 3rd of 138 graded FBS team offenses, while Alabama’s 90.2 ranks 6th of 138.
The gap holds on defense, where Georgia’s PFN Impact grade of 92.6 this season is tied for 8th of 138 graded FBS team defenses, and Alabama’s 89.4 ranks 18th of 138.
“Pat got it right. Go Dawgs!” another fan wrote, after pointing out that everyone else on the panel took Alabama.
History has not been kind to the Bulldogs in this series. Georgia is 2-5 against Alabama since 2020, though it won the last meeting 28-7 in last season’s SEC Championship Game, and it has not won at Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2007.
A 247Sports tally of national media picks also leans toward Alabama, 17-15.
“Pat McAfee… I know you didn’t pick them Dawgs,” one Alabama fan wrote, responding to the pick.
Unlike the team grades, the quarterback grades tilt toward the Crimson Tide. Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell’s PFN Impact grade of 92.2 this season ranks 3rd of 165 graded and qualified FBS quarterbacks. The sophomore went 16 of 22 for 285 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 56-23 win at Mississippi State.
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Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton’s PFN Impact grade of 89.8 this season ranks 6th of 165 graded and qualified FBS quarterbacks. He completed 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns in Georgia’s 38-14 win over Vanderbilt.
PFN’s College Football Playoff Meter gives Georgia an 85.6% chance to make the playoff, rising to 95.4% with a win and falling to 74.3% with a loss.
Conversely, PFN’s College Football Playoff Meter gives Alabama a 90.7% chance to make the playoff, with a win pushing it to 98.2% and a loss dropping it to 84.2%.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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