The Alabama Crimson Tide may have gotten past the Oklahoma Sooners in a 34-24 comeback victory at Gaylord Memorial in the first round of the College Football Playoff, but they are being given a slim chance by some to sneak by the undefeated No. 1 overall-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
By that same token, the Georgia Bulldogs landed a top-three seed by virtue of blasting Alabama 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game, but they're not being given much of a chance to upset the Ohio State Buckeyes, either -- of course, after they'd hypothetically get by the Ole Miss Rebels in the Sugar Bowl and OSU defeated the Miami Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl Classic -- in the CFP semifinals.
College Sports Wire's Matt Zemek believes the Auburn Tigers' two greatest rivals are unlikely to make the misery of the 2025 season any worse by advancing to and winning the CFP national championship game.
"Given that Alabama is unlikely to beat Indiana, the only real hope for a national championship from the SEC is Georgia, and yet, the Dawgs will probably have to go through Ohio State in the semifinals before even reaching the title game. Seeing how poorly SEC teams have played in the playoff -- remember, Alabama didn't really play a great game against OU; the Sooners were merely worse -- it's hard to be confident in UGA versus Ohio State," Zemek wrote.
Alabama and Georgia match up well with Indiana and Ohio State
This may not be as cut and dry as scanning past results and crafting a narrative. Truthfully, Alabama matches up well with Indiana personnel-wise, and Georgia has the chance to exploit one of Ohio State's only weaknesses.
The Crimson Tide-Hoosiers matchup is simple. Alabama has better-rated athletes, while Indiana has done a better job developing unsung prospects. If big-game nerves undoes preparation, the Crimson Tide have the raw talent advantage.
As for the Dawgs and Buckeyes, Ohio State has a red zone problem, not to mention issues at RG with the struggling Tegra Tshabola. Georgia has the trench talent to stop the run and force Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin to beat them over the top. The Dawgs have a good, if not elite, secondary, but Sayin's nerves arguably got the best of him in the B1G title game. Playing Georgia with a chance to reach the national championship will be a different level of pressure cooker for the redshirt freshman gunslinger.
Alabama and Georgia will be underdogs to beat their Big Ten counterparts on the road to a title, but they have more than a puncher's chance.