This past college football season ended on a sweet note for fans of the Alabama University Crimson Tide, which beat bitter rival Georgia by three points, 26-23, in OT to win the College Football Playoff national championships. It was an exhilarating victory that saw the fourth-seeded team turn the tide (pun intended) and upend the third-ranked.
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Tua Tagovailoa’s stunning 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith gave the Crimson Tide its fifth national championship since 2009 under coach Nick Saban. It proved to be the end to Georgia’s charmed run, which included a crazy win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.
For sure, the rivalry between these two teams is fueled by the fact that they don’t meet as often as they deserve due to the SEC’s 6-1-1 scheduling. This scheduling is largely the result of SEC’s insistence in maintaining permanent cross-divisional rivals to preserve the history between Georgia-Auburn and Alabama-Tennessee.
Nonetheless, all the three scheduled games and the conference title match in the Nick Saban era were regarded by fans with much passion and mammoth support. This is especially made more enticing because the Bulldogs haven’t defeated the Crimson Tide in over 1o years; the last time the Bulldogs got the W was in an auspiciously similar 26-23 overtime win in 2007.
What really drives the existing rabid competition between these two teams was their 2012 meeting, in which the Bulldogs’ final drive fell short as time expired (to much dismay of Georgia fans) and with Alabama going on to defeat Notre Dame in the championship.
Finally, we should note that Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart is a disciple of Saban, and he would do anything to beat his mentor. Sadly for Georgia, that would have to wait for another season.
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| Image source: gettyimages.com |
Hello, the name’s Kevin Rolle. I went to school at the University of Alabama so I’m a big fan of our Crimson Tide football team. For more musings on Alabama college football, visit this blog.
