Georgia Football Gets News About Matchup with Alabama Crimson Tide

ATHENS - Georgia Football now has a confirmed primetime affair with the Alabama Crimson Tide in October will be on ABC.

The news broke Monday that the Georgia-Alabama showdown would be shown on ABC in primetime. That decision about the game was expected, but Disney executives held off and did not announce the game as an ABC primetime game before the season start - instead deciding to wait until the week before the game for the announcement.

The Bulldogs are considered very narrow favorites to win the contest, which will be played in Tuscaloosa once more.

The game is expected to be one of the most-watched games of the college football season. That’s due to the success of the two programs since Nick Saban’s arrival at Alabama in 2007. Since then the Tide and Bulldogs have combined to win 13 SEC titles and eight national titles. Georgia and Alabama are the only programs that have won an SEC title this decade.

Georgia-Alabama is the most-watched game on average in college football since the 2012 season. The two teams have met more often with championships at stake than in regular season matches since then.

This will be the eighth meeting this decade between Bama and UGA. This is the third time the game is in Tuscaloosa; it has been in Atlanta three times and in Athens and Indianapolis once each.

Both teams have SEC opponents this weekend. No. 2 Georgia hosts Vanderbilt on Homecoming weekend while the No. 7 Tide will bus to Starkville to take on No. 16 Mississippi State in a matchup of undefeated SEC teams. Both teams are favorites to win, but Alabama is only a slight favorite over State.

Still, showdowns between Alabama and Georgia have nearly always been epic dating back decades. Vince Dooley’s stunning 18-17 win over Bear Bryant’s defending national champion Alabama in 1965 might be the biggest upset in Sanford Stadium history. Dooley’s No. 6 Dawgs shutout Bryant and the No. 10 Tide in 1976 on the way to the SEC title.

Alabama’s 20-16 win over the Bulldogs on Labor Day night in 1985 in front of a national TV audience is one of the great games between the two schools. In 1990, the Dawgs escaped the Tide 17-16 in Athens. Four years later No. 11 Alabama beat Georgia 29-28 in Tuscaloosa.

Jan 10, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs defensive back Kelee Ringo (5) returns a interception for a touchdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 4th quarter during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Mandatory Credit: Jenna Watson-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

In the 2000s, No. 7 Georgia was “Man Enough” to take out No. 22 Alabama 27-25 thanks to Billy Bennett’s game-winning kick in Tuscaloosa. Matthew Stafford and the Bulldogs were one and done with an overtime win over Nick Saban’s Tide in Tuscaloosa.

Saban got his revenge a year later by knocking out Stafford and the No. 3 Dawgs 41-30 in a Blackout game in Athens. Saban and No. 2 Alabama escaped Aaron Murray and No. 3 at the goal line of the SEC Championship game in 2012 to virtually win the national title in 2012.

Then Kirby Smart took over the program at Georgia, and the intensity of the series ramped up significantly. Smart met Saban’s Alabama for the national title at the conclusion of the 2017 season. Tua Tagovailoa’s 2nd-and-26 touchdown throw to DeVonta Smith might be the most famous ending to a college football national championship game in history. The overtime win was Alabama’s fifth national title under Saban.

A year later the Tide beat Georiga on the final play of the game to win the 2018 SEC Championship Game. Alabama’s 41-24 win in Tuscaloosa in 2020 helped Saban and the Tide to the national title that season - his final one as a coach.

In 2021, struggling Alabama had to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game to advantage to the College Football Playoff. The No. 3 Tide did just that - beating Georgia 41-24 in Atlanta. But blasted No. 2 Michigan in Miami to setup a rematch with No. 1 Alabama in Indianapolis. Kelee Ringo took it from there as his points were the final in a fourth-quarter onslaught that saw Georgia outscore Alabama 20-9 in the fourth quarter to win the program’s first national title since 1980.

The Bulldogs repeated as national champs a season later. No. 1 Georgia was undefeated in 2023, but lost to No. 8 Alabama in Atlanta - knocking the Dawgs out of the national title race. The win for the Tide was Nick Saban’s final one as head coach.

Kalen DeBoer’s Tide took two games in a row against Georgia - a 41-34 thriller over Carson Beck and No. 2 Georgia in Tuscaloosa, and then a narrow 24-21 win over No. 5 Georiga for the No. 17 Tide in Athens.

But Kirby Smart’s No. 3 Georgia punished No. 9 Alabama in Atlanta for the SEC Championship in December of 2025 for a 28-7 lopsided win.

Add us as a preferred source on Google