Thursday, November 16, 2017

SEC Championship: Does Georgia Want Auburn Again or Alabama...?

Georgia is already in the 2017 SEC Championship Game. Their opposition for the title is yet to be determined. It will be, of course, either Alabama or Auburn. The Tide or the Tigers. If you are a UGA fan, who do you want to face on December 2nd? The Dawgs are just coming off of that devastating domination by Auburn last Saturday, and they have Kentucky and Georgia Tech remaining on the 2017 schedule. The two Alabama schools don't meet until November 25th, both having out-of-conference and easy opposition this Saturday.  The pros and cons regarding the two possible match-ups are endless. Would Georgia want to face the same team that decimated them only two weeks earlier, or take on a 'Bama squad battling some key injuries and not playing up to Alabama standards at the present time? Some fans believe that Auburn could not play that good twice against the Dawgs, and conversely that Georgia couldn't play that bad again. Not to mention the fact that Auburn would be without that tremendous home field advantage at Jordan-Hare Stadium. There is also the opinion that Alabama's Nick Saban knows Georgia's Kirby Smart far too well after working with him all of those years, which would make it tough on the Dawgs to overcome the Tide. Thus, would Saban always be one step ahead of Smart? However, there is also the feeling that Alabama is the King of the SEC and a team needs to defeat them, not Auburn, to be truly considered the champion (Like Rick Flair said: "To be the man, you gotta beat the man"). After all, Alabama is still Alabama. The prevailing opinion of many Dawg fans is that there is an extreme hatred of Auburn, where there is only a strong dislike of Alabama. Therefore, it would be much more satisfying, not to mention redemptive, to defeat the Tigers when all the marbles are on the table. I, for what it's worth, want to see Georgia play Auburn on a neutral site field. I think the artificial turf at Mercedes Benz Stadium plays into Georgia's strength of team speed. It's really going to be fun seeing Mecole Hardman loose on that surface! If the offensive and defensive lines of the Dawgs can play at least a little better against Auburn a second time around, the result could be different. Also, Auburn coming off a victory in the Iron Bowl, and having already handled us easily, could enter the SEC Championship a little too sure of themselves. Not to mention UGA would have to go into that game as the underdog, and I like the way that would play into the psych of the game. Regardless of which team the Dawgs end up facing, it sure is good to see Georgia back in Atlanta in the Championship game again. It has been far too long since we were there, and here's hoping we become a fixture in this game for years to come.