It was announced earlier Wednesday that Georgia will travel to play Nick Saban and Alabama in Tuscaloosa during the 2024 season.

During the two-hour “2024 SEC Football Schedule Reveal,” which is being live streamed on DirecTV Stream (free trial) and fuboTV (free trial and $20 off the first two months), Greg McElroy, Paul Finebaum and others chimed in on the early announcements.

The Sept. 28 game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET) and will be televised on ABC.

“Right now, those are the top two programs in the sport, whatever order you have them in is perfectly fine,” SEC Network analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said on the broadcast. “I personally might not always agree with the order that some have it in. I still think Alabama and Georgia are neck and neck. I might lean toward Bama ever so slightly.

“The two top teams in the sport going to Tuscaloosa for that game. Bragging rights on the line. National championship implications on the line. The possibility for a first-round bye in the 12-team playoff. A possibility to get the conference title game, knowing that Georgia still has to go to Texas later in the season, so I think that game is pivotal. Every time they tee it up, it’s a big one.”

Joey Galloway, on the other hand, made the point that the idea of a team “missing” another one en route to a potential SEC Championship Game berth is a thing of the past.

“A lot of times it depends on who you have to play during your regular season,” Galloway explained. “We haven’t seen Alabama play Georgia in the last few years. There’s been a lot of talk which is Georgia has avoided playing Alabama in the last few seasons so have they had an easier path to get to the SEC Championship Game? Now, we get to see that game in the regular season, and we might get to see it again in the SEC Championship Game.”

ESPN’s “College GameDay” analyst Kirk Herbstreit echoed those thoughts.

“Anytime you get these two together, it’s typically in the past, obviously, it’s the conference championship game in Atlanta,” he said. “Remember last year everybody’s talking about there’s a new sheriff in town because Georgia’s won back-to-back national championships. Really that was the reason you knew Alabama, regardless of who their quarterback was going to be, had a chance to be a great team because they were so furious that Georgia had taken over. …

“Now, you start to fast forward with OU and Texas coming in and talk about this new world and SEC. It’s fun to talk about a couple of old-school behemoths with Georgia and Alabama already talking about and looking forward to. A lot will be on the line, not only for bragging rights in the SEC, but the whole nation will be dialed in to Georgia and Alabama.”

As stressful as that game could prove to be for each team, there is a bigger issue for the Crimson Tide, Paul Finebaum contends.

“I spent a lot of time covering the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn, and the idea that Alabama has to go to Oklahoma the week before as opposed to playing Mercer or some other cupcake is extraordinary,” he said. “I’m sure it will give Nick Saban heartburn tonight.”

The Crimson Tide will visit Norman on Nov. 23 to become one of the Sooners’ first SEC opponents after moving from the Big 12 alongside Texas.

Here is Alabama’s 2024 schedule:

• Aug. 31 WESTERN KENTUCKY
• Sept. 7 SOUTH FLORIDA
• Sept. 14 at Wisconsin
• Sept. 21 Open Date
• Sept. 28 GEORGIA
• Oct. 5 at Vanderbilt
• Oct. 12 SOUTH CAROLINA
• Oct. 19 at Tennessee
• Oct. 26 MISSOURI
• Nov. 2 Open Date
• Nov. 9 at LSU
• Nov. 16 MERCER
• Nov. 23 at Oklahoma
• Nov. 30 AUBURN

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.