Georgia football will take on a familiar foe in Alabama in the SEC Championship game this Saturday. The Bulldogs were able to clinch their spot thanks to the Texas Longhorns handing Texas A&M their first loss of the season. Alabama on the other hand found their way to Atlanta after a narrow victory over Auburn Saturday night.
Georgia enters this championship game comfortably in the College Football Playoff. Since they are 11-1 and will likely be the No. 3 team in the country when the new rankings are released on Tuesday, they can afford to lose and still make the 12-team field. Alabama however does not have that same luxury, so UGA not only has a chance to repeat as SEC Champions, but they can end Alabama's season at the same time.
Georgia has a unique opportunity against Alabama on Saturday
In last week's CFP rankings the Crimson Tide were the last at-large team in the field. When the committee releases their new rankings later this week there is a good chance that will remain the case. So even though the committee has said they don't like to punish teams who lose their conference championship games, Alabama will likely still fall out of the playoff field if Georgia wins.
A Georgia win would give Alabama a 10-3 record. And with a few two-loss teams behind Alabama in the rankings who already have good arguments to be in the playoff already, it would be nearly impossible to not kick the Crimson Tide out of the playoff if they lose their third game.
Georgia's main motivation to win on Saturday should be to repeat as SEC Champions for the first time under Kirby Smart. A win would also guarantee Georgia a top four seed and first round bye in the playoff as well. But keeping Alabama out of the playoff for the second year in a row would be a nice thing add to their resume this season as well.