The SEC used to be all Alabama with Nick Saban, and then everyone else. Then Kirby Smart won two National Championships in a row, and the entire SEC began to improve. Now it's the most competitive conference in all of college football.
Georgia beating Alabama for Smart's first title got the attention of Oklahoma and Texas, who were extended an invitation soon after. That move set off massive realignment across all other conferences and teams shifting alliances at the drop of a hat. But the SEC stayed solid with the two new additions. And then the rest of the SEC tried to catch up to the Bulldogs.
Georgia has made the rest of the SEC much better
Soon enough, universities across the league started spending their money in NIL and stadium improvements, not to mention accessing the Transfer Portal to build heavyweight teams. Texas blew into town and started winning from the start. Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin became consistently good, and Texas A&M looks like they could win the SEC this year.
And no one can forget about the ascendancy of Vanderbilt as well as the improvement of Missouri and Mississippi State? Week after week, there are multiple SEC teams in the Top 25 rankings and Georgia led the way under Smart.
This means that each week it's no longer the Crimson Tide or the Bulldogs in the conversation, it's nearly every team in the conference. It's not quite parity, but Georgia and Smart can't continue to play like they will always dominate any team besides Bama.
Second half comebacks and a porous defense will only take the Bulldogs so far in today's college football. While the entire SEC owes Smart and Georgia a "thank you," Georgia fans would like their team to get back to winning National Championships and not making "halftime adjustments." Time will tell if Smart can continue to elevate an already elite program, but they need to start playing better than they did against Florida on Saturday.