Alabama and Georgia face off in 2024 in a new chapter of their long rivalry.
Nick Saban has departed the Crimson Tide after 17 years and has been replaced by former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer. That makes Georgia's Kirby Smart the senior coach in one of college football's best rivalries.
Because they occupied different divisions in the SEC for many years, Alabama and Georgia don't play every season. But when they do, it usually means something. What follows is a look at some crazy facts about this storied rivalry.
When did the Alabama-Georgia series begin?
Alabama and Georgia first played on November 2, 1895, with the Bulldogs winning the first matchup 30-6. The two programs have been facing off against each other for nearly 129 years.
After that first showdown, it took six years for the squads to play again as they faced off on November 9, 1901.
Who leads the all-time Alabama-Georgia series?
Alabama has the edge over its SEC rival all-time. The Crimson Tide have won 43 times, while the Bulldogs have taken home 26 victories and the teams have tied four times. The last tie came in 1954, when the game ended with the two teams knotted at 0-0. The programs actually tied in three of their first seven matchups. In 1901 and 1907, the teams played to 0-0 ties, and in 1908 they ended their game tied 6-6.
The series has featured a lot of No. 1 teams
Alabama and Georgia have played nine times since 2008. All but one of those matchups has featured a team in the top three. The lone exception is their October 3, 2015 matchup, in which Georgia was No. 8 and Alabama was No. 13.
The last three times the teams have faced each other, one of them has been ranked No.1 in the nation. Each time, the No. 1 team has lost the game. At the 2021 SEC Championship, No. 3 Alabama beat No. 1 Georgia. In the 2022 national title game, No. 3 Georgia beat No. 1 Alabama. At the 2023 SEC Championship, No. 8 Alabama beat No. 1 Georgia.
What is each team's longest winning streak against the other?
The series has tilted back and forth over the years, with long winning streaks becoming quite common.
Georgia's longest streak of wins came from 1910 through 1916 when the Bulldogs took five straight from Alabama, and seven of eight.
Alabama's longest streak came from 2008 through 2021, when the Crimson Tide won seven in a row over Georgia. Alabama has actually won five in a row four separate times, while Georgia has only won more than two in a row twice.
Alabama dominated the rivalry in the Nick Saban era
The Crimson Tide has had a stranglehold on the rivalry over the last 15 years. Nick Saban took over as the head coach at Alabama in January 2007. From 2008 through the '23 season, Alabama went 8-1 against Georgia. The one loss came in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship when Georgia came away with a 33–18 win.
Saban won his final matchup against Georgia, which came in the 2023 SEC Championship. In that game, No. 8 Alabama upset No. 1 Georgia 27-24.
During that time, the two programs faced off twice in the national championship game. The first came in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, which Alabama won 26-23 in overtime.
They have also played four times in the SEC Championship game, with Alabama winning all four times.
More of the Latest Around College Football
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Interesting Facts About the Alabama-Georgia Rivalry.
