3 questions for Alabama in SEC championship matchup vs. Georgia
Alabama football is set for an SEC championship game matchup with Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta. The game pits the No. 8 Crimson Tide against the top-ranked Bulldogs, who enter the game undefeated.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. CT. It will be aired on CBS.
Before the game begins, here are three questions for Alabama.
Are the Bulldogs beatable?
When these teams last met, it was the 2021 national title game. The loss was Alabama’s most recent appearance in a national championship, but it wasn’t Georgia’s.
UGA is entering the game as a two-time defending champion. Kirby Smart’s bunch hasn’t lost a game this season either.
There’s a reason the Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff top 25. However, beyond a win over No. 9 Missouri, Georgia hasn’t been tested by another championship-caliber team.
Georgia enters on a 29-game win streak. The last team to beat the Bulldogs was the Crimson Tide, in the 2021 SEC championship.
Alabama will be the best squad UGA will face until the playoff. Georgia will be favored, but will the Tide be able to win as an underdog?
Will Alabama make the playoff with a win?
Alabama currently ranks No. 8 in the CFP top 25. The Crimson Tide would, of course, be poised to move up with a victory.
But will it be enough to make it into the final field of four? No team ranked this low this late has ever been able to crack the playoff.
The Tide will need help. As unheard of as it seems, there is a legitimate fear that a one-loss SEC champion could be left out of the field.
Alabama will need upsets from the likes of Oklahoma State, Iowa and Louisville. Will enough move for UA to get in?
Can the offensive line keep it up?
Alabama’s offensive line has been finally playing up to snuff over the past several weeks. The group struggled mightily in the early weeks of the season.
Against LSU, Auburn and Kentucky, it’s been solid. But Georgia is another kind of test.
“Our technique has gotten better,” Saban said Monday. “Our communication has gotten better. The continuity of playing together has gotten better. And I think the results that we’re getting is showing that. But I also think this is probably the best front they’re going to go against all year to this point. So it’ll be interesting to see how that matchup sort of transpires.”
Will Alabama be able to keep Jalen Milroe and the running backs clean enough for the offense to have a chance?