To the surprise of no one, last night Alabama beat Auburn, 27-20, and will play the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game on December 6 (4:00 pm). Fuck it, I guess we're doing this.
The AP poll today moved Georgia up from No. 4 to No. 3. The poll has no real meaning, other than as an indication of what the Selection Committee is probably thinking. But look, I get it - many people are still skeptical of Georgia as a No. 3 team. We were not exactly overwhelming last Friday against Georgia Tech, it took a missed FG to get us OT against Tennessee, we needed an offside foul to seal the win against Florida, and Auburn still hasn't gotten over the officiating in our win over them. But most of all, there's the matter of Week 5's 24-21 loss to Alabama, and Georgia's 1-7 record vs. the Tide under head coach Kirby Smart. Until we can prove that we can beat Alabama, our kryptonite team, people aren't going to take us seriously as potential national champions.
So let's fucking do it. Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the SEC Championship, Georgia versus Alabama, prime time on national television. All the marbles. Smart and the Dawgs are 3-1 in rematch games, including 1-0 against Alabama - we can do this.
If we win the game, we'd be making a statement regarding our credibility, and since No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana will play each other next week for the Big10 championship, we should move up to No. 2 in the rankings with a win over 'Bama. And then, with a first-round bye in the playoffs, we'd be off until New Year's Eve or New Year's Day to rest and recuperate before our playoff run.
Of course, there's always the possibility that Alabama will do it again and we'd lose. That would probably drop us out of the top four, which means we'd lose our first-round bye. That would suck, but at least we'd almost assuredly be playing the game on our home field and likely against a lower-rank team, and if we fall to "only" No. 5, we'd probably play a team like No. 24 Tulane or unranked North Texas, a team that only qualified for the playoffs as the fifth and final conference champion. What matters is where things stand at the end of the playoffs, not at the start.
There's also the possibility that, whatever happens in the SEC title game, we would have to face Alabama in the playoffs, an unprecedented third time in a season. But que sera, sera, whatever will be will fucking be, and we'll have to cross that bridge if and when we get to it. We might even have a rematch with Ole Miss, now without head coach Lane Kiffin.
One other note: as expected, No. 9 Notre Dame beat unranked Stanford last night. 49-20, and won the lineal championship belt and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 championship rings from them. The Irish will be bringing the belt and the rings to the playoffs where they'll be up for grabs. The winner of this year's Natty, whomever it might be, will be the new owners of the belt and the rings.
So it's time to put on our Big Dawg pants and get out there and beat 'Bama and win us a National Championship!
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