How Alabama-Georgia evolved into college football's main event with changing playoff landscape
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How Alabama-Georgia evolved into college football's main event with changing playoff landscape originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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ESPN analyst Aaron Murray, a Georgia quarterback from 2010-13 who still holds the SEC record for most passing yards, resisted calling it a rivalry for long enough.
The Bulldogs have rivalries with Auburn, Florida and Georgia Tech, after all. Yet the thinking evolved with college football's main event.
"Who is Georgia's equal? Who is Alabama's equal?'" Murray asked in an interview with The Sporting News on Thursday. "That is kind of what builds rivalries, too. I do believe these two have been on an even playing field when it comes to coaches and players, being in the SEC championship game, national championships, playoff games – it's been unbelievable."
No. 6 Alabama meets No. 2 Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday with the same-as-usual-stakes at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. As of now, not even Hurricane Isaias will not halt this matchup from happening.
MORE: Latest weather updates on Hurricane Isaias
Murray was quarterback when No. 2 Alabama beat No. 3 Georgia 32-28 in a SEC championship game in 2012 – which was the second top-10 showdown between Alabama coach Nick Saban and Georgia coach Mark Richt. The irony here is that Kirby Smart – then the Alabama defensive coordinator who sprinted on to the field to celebrate with Crimson Tide linebackers CJ Mosley and Nico Johnson in that moment – helped elevate this game to its current state as the head coach with Georgia.
The 2018 College Football championship game – a thriller the Crimson Tide won on a walk-off touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith – catapulted this matchup to new heights. It's been an anthology of heavyweight matchups ever since, and Smith and Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer will add another chapter Saturday.
"To me, this has been the premier rivalry, the premier game in college football since that national championship," Murray said. "I guess you can date it back to when we played in 2012, but I feel like it went to another level with Kirby there in that national championship game."
The rivalry has evolved – but so have top-10 matchups in the 12-team College Football Playoff era. Will it stick?
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Why Georgia-Alabama is college football's main event
Saturday's matchup between Alabama-Georgia marks the 11th time the programs have met in a top-10 matchup since the BCS era – and that's backloaded by more than a decade knowing the first one was in 2008.
It's replaced LSU-Alabama – which boasts a total of 10 matchups when both were in the top 10 – and Ohio State-Michigan – which has eight matchups in the same time frame. There is no doubt Alabama-Georgia is the best matchup in college football today.
Alabama vs. Georgia top-10 showdowns
| DATE | SCORE |
| Sept. 27, 2008 | No. 8 Alabama 41, No. 3 Georgia 30 |
| Dec. 1, 2012* | No. 2 Alabama 31, No. 3 Georgia 28 |
| Jan. 8, 2018** | No. 4 Alabama 26, No. 3 Georgia 23, OT |
| Dec. 1, 2018* | No. 1 Alabama 35, No. 4 Georgia 28 |
| Oct. 17, 2020 | No. 2 Alabama 41, No. 3 Georgia 24 |
| Dec. 4, 2021* | No. 3 Alabama 41, No. 1 Georgia 24 |
| Jan. 10, 2022** | No. 3 Georgia 33, No. 1 Alabama 18 |
| Dec. 2, 2023* | No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 1 Georgia 24 |
| Sept. 28, 2024 | No. 4 Alabama 41, No. 2 Georgia 34 |
| Dec. 6, 2025* | No. 3 Georgia 28, No. 9 Alabama 7 |
*Denotes SEC championship game
**Denotes CFP championship game
Of course, this isn't just a regular-season affair. Georgia and Alabama have met in the SEC championship five times in that stretch. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs split a pair of CFP championship games in the four-team era.
Smart and Saban went head to head in six of those games, and there are no indications that it will slow down with Smart and DeBoer. This is their third top-10 matchup in as many years – which includes two regular-season games and a SEC championship game.
Ratings should be huge. The game will be dramatic – and the weather has already provided a storyline. But will this game matter like it used to?
"As of right now, there are a lot of games to be played and both of these teams have to prove they are elite against elite competition," Murray said. "From what we've gathered so far, these are the two best teams in college football right now. I think they are No. 1 and No. 2. Miami is right there, the Buckeyes are not far behind and I'm still not 100% sold on Texas."
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Have stakes of top-10 matchup changed?
This is a 50-50 argument right now. There were a total of 14 top-10 regular-season showdowns since the 12-team College Football Playoff began in 2024. In six of those games, the winner made the CFP and the loser missed out.
That includes matchups between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State – a 14-7 Buckeyes' victory – and No. 10 Miami and No. 6 Notre Dame – a 27-24 Hurricanes' victory – that turned out to have major CFP implications.
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Top-10 matchups in 2024-25
| YEAR | WEEK | MATCHUP | WHO WENT TO CFP? |
| 2024 | 2 | No. 3 Texas 31, No. 9 Michigan 12 | Winner |
| 2024 | 5 | No. 4 Alabama 41, No. 2 Georgia 34 | Loser |
| 2024 | 7 | No. 3 Oregon 32, No. 2 Ohio State 31 | Both |
| 2024 | 8 | No. 5 Georgia 30, No. 1 Texas 15 | Both |
| 2024 | 10 | No. 4 Ohio State 20, No. 3 Penn State 13 | Both |
| 2024 | 13 | No. 2 Ohio State 38, No. 5 Indiana 15 | Both |
| 2025 | 1 | No. 3 Ohio State 14, No. 1 Texas 7 | Winner |
| 2025 | 1 | No. 9 LSU 17, No. 10 4 Clemson 10 | None |
| 2025 | 1 | No. 10 Miami 27, No. 6 Notre Dame 24 | Winner |
| 2025 | 3 | No. 6 Oregon 30, No. 3 Penn State 24 | Winner |
| 2025 | 7 | No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20 | Both |
| 2025 | 8 | No. 9 Georgia 43, No. 5 Ole Miss 35 | Both |
| 2025 | 11 | No. 9 Texas Tech 28, No. 8 BYU 7 | Winner |
| 2025 | 12 | No. 5 Georgia 35, No. 10 Texas 10 | Winner |
Yet in six of those matchups, both teams ended up in the CFP.
The Week 1 opener between No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Clemson last season is the only one where both teams missed the playoff. Ironically, the 2024 matchup between No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia — a thrilling 41-34 victory for the Crimson Tide – is the only one where the loser went to the CFP and the winner did not.
How does that translate in 2026? Alabama-Georgia is the third top-10 matchup of the season. No. 4 Texas beat No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 in Week 2, and No. 8 Ole Miss beat No. 7 LSU 32-24 in Week 3. As of now, Week 7 features two top-10 showdowns with No. 5 Ohio State at No. 7 Indiana and No. 3 Notre Dame at No. 7 BYU. The Irish's matchup against No. 4 Miami on Nov. 7 is considered the early front-runner for game of the year.
How many of those teams will lose and still make the playoff? How many rematches?
Murray believes Alabama and Georgia could test a theory that has not happened yet in the 12-team era.
"To me, this could be the first of three games that these two teams face each other. I anticipate these guys will face each other in Atlanta," Murray said. "I think these are the two best teams in the SEC and obviously they will both be in the playoffs from there and have an opportunity to face each other in the playoffs or the national championship depending on what side of the bracket they are on."
Impact of Georgia-Alabama in 2026
That does not diminish from the game itself. Quarterbacks Gunner Stockton (202.1) and Keelon Russell (185.6) rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the SEC in passer rating. The coaching matchup between Smart and DeBoer doesn't quite have the same dynamic as Smart and Saban, but the rivalry has not changed.
Will the impact of Hurricane Isaias have a profound effect? That is something to watch at game time, including a crowd that will have to brave the rain and wind.
"If it was a beautiful day in Tuscaloosa or a beautiful night, I think these teams are so evenly matched that I would favor Alabama to win with the home-field advantage, atmosphere and Keelon and that offense, which is playing at another level," Murray said. "I'm not saying Georgia isn't, but they are so explosive. But I do think the fact that the weather comes into this – that favors Georgia's style of play more."
And so the stage is set – again – and Murray has no choice but to call this for what it is — a great rivalry between two respected heavyweights.
"It's like enough already," Murray said with a laugh. "Fine, because it feels like they are guaranteed to play them once a year. I was always like, 'We don't play them enough.' Now, especially in this expanded playoff – the chances of playing them at least once – whether it's in the regular season, in Atlanta or in the playoff – have significantly gone up with the SEC going to nine (conference) games."
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