SEC Championship Preview For People Who Watch Bravo
But mostly go dawgs.
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The SEC Championship is to college football fans as the Khaite sample sale is to fashion girlies.
It’s *very* popular and talked about, but not quite as much as the national championship game or The Row sample sale if you know what I mean.
On Saturday, The University of Georgia (my alma mater) faces off against the University of Alabama to determine who wins the Southeastern Conference.
Of all the college football conferences, the SEC is the most important. It’s like the OG cast of The Real Housewives of New York City.
While college football fans may fight me on this, people care more about SEC football than really any other college football. I! Said! What! I! Said!
Not only that, but the rivalry between Georgia and Alabama always draws a big crowd.
15 million viewers watched the 2021 match-up between Georgia and Alabama. For context, the 2022 SEC Championship between Georgia and LSU drew 10 million viewers.
Beyond Georgia and Alabama simply being two powerhouse southern football schools, they have a lot of baggage.
During the 2012 SEC Championship, Georgia ran out the clock when they had a chance to go for a touchdown and *possibly* win the game. Would they have won it if they hadn’t done that?
Honestly, idk. Ask ESPN or someone at CBS about that.
On top of that, Georgia’s head coach, Kirby Smart, used to coach under Alabama’s legendary head coach, Nick Saban.
You know, that guy in that Aflac commercial?
The rivalry is kind of (emphasis on kind of) like the battle between Swifties and the BeyHive. Both fandoms believe their respective leader (Taylor Swift or Beyoncé) is the greatest performer of all time, but the reality is that they are both the best!
I asked my brother, Graham, to explain the rivalry in a way that you can impress someone at a viewing party who actually watches college football every week, and here’s what he said:
Why is the rivalry between Georgia and Alabama such a big deal?
It's huge because for years, Alabama was kind of Georgia's big brother and would always win. But in the last few seasons, the roles have been totally reversed, with Georgia winning back-to- back national championships. Kirby Smart also used to be Nick Saban's assistant and has beaten him just once in five tries as a head coach, so the rivalry extends beyond the programs and into the coaching staff.
Are there any players for both teams that we should be aware of? Any standouts? [More on this in a moment]
Always keep an eye on the quarterbacks, of course. Georgia's Carson Beck has been very efficient this year, leading the team to an undefeated record, while Alabama's dynamic Jalen Milroe—after getting benched earlier in the season—has come up clutch time and time again, leading Alabama back to the SEC title game.
Who do you think is going to win?
I think Georgia's defense gives them the edge, but with these two teams, anything can happen.
Okay now let’s play out an Impersonal Foul-style prediction of who might win, shall we?
Alabama’s quarterback, Jalen Milroe, has 140k followers on Instagram compared to Georgia’s quarterback, Carson Beck, who only has 68.6k.
I feel like for both of these star quarterbacks, these numbers are pretty low. These follower counts are what I expect from a cast member on Love Is Blind who doesn’t end up marrying anyone but is in a lot of scenes with someone who does during the pods.
Both Milroe and Beck have #spon con deals, and are not Nike let’s just say that.
Beck shared #spon con for an energy drink that isn’t Celsius called Zero FG Energy. They only have 2.4k followers! I don’t feel like the ROI was there on this partnership imo…
Milroe shared #spon con for Rhoback, a clothing company whose About page reads like an AI bot wrote it: “We crave activity. It inspires us. We believe there is an activity for everyone, and there is no better way to bring people together. Our favorite days are packed with activities. We often have to fight the sunset to fit them all in.”
So….yeah. Based on my *very analytical* dissection of Instagram follower counts and #spon con vibes, I’d say this game is pretty evenly matched?
But also…Go! Dawgs!
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When Nick Saban coached at MSU he used to get his hair cut at the same salon I did and bought, what felt like at the time in the late 90s, VERY expensive hairspray
if i met this guy i would ask him if the aflac duck is down to earth.