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The Crimson Tide return to the familiar settings of Atlanta on Saturday for the SEC Championship. Since Nick Saban became head coach at Alabama in 2007, the Tide has played 17 times in the Georgia capital city. The games have been played into different stadiums*, but the results have been pretty consistent. Their record in ATL is an astonishing 17-1 with 16 straight wins which has led some Bama fans to label the arena “Bryant-Denny East”.
| Kickoff Classic | Aug 30, 2008 | Alabama 34 Clemson 10 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 6, 2008 | Florida 31 Alabama 20 |
| Kickoff Classic | Sep 5, 2009 | Alabama 34 Virginia Tech 24 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 5, 2009 | Alabama 32 Florida 13 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 1, 2012 | Alabama 32 Georgia 28 |
| Kickoff Classic | Aug 31, 2013 | Alabama 35 Virginia Tech 10 |
| Kickoff Classic | Aug 30, 2014 | Alabama 33 West Virginia 23 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 6, 2014 | Alabama 42 Missouri 13 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 5, 2015 | Alabama 29 Florida 15 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 3, 2016 | Alabama 54 Florida 16 |
| Peach Bowl, CFP Semifinal | Dec 31, 2016 | Alabama 24 Washington 7 |
| Kickoff Classic | Sep 2, 2017 | Alabama 24 Florida State 7 |
| CFP National Championship | Jan 8, 2018 | Alabama 26 Georgia 23 (OT) |
| SEC Championship | Dec 1, 2018 | Alabama 35 Georgia 28 |
| Kickoff Classic | Aug 31, 2019 | Alabama 42 Duke 3 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 19, 2020 | Alabama 52 Florida 46 |
| Kickoff Classic | Sep 4, 2021 | Alabama 44 Miami-FL 13 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 1, 2021 | Alabama 41 Georgia 24 |
Kirby Smart took over the Bulldogs in 2016. Since then, Georgia has played in Atlanta 10 times. They have had some good moments and some bad. UGA’s record in Atlanta under Smart is 6-4.
| Kickoff Classic | Sep 3, 2016 | Georgia 33 North Carolina 24 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 2, 2017 | Georgia 28 Auburn 7 |
| CFP National Championship | Jan 8, 2018 | Alabama 26 Georgia 23 (OT) |
| SEC Championship | Dec 1, 2018 | Alabama 35 Georgia 28 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 7, 2019 | LSU 37 Georgia 10 |
| Peach Bowl | Jan 1, 2021 | Georgia 24 Cincinnati 21 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 1, 2021 | Alabama 41 Georgia 24 |
| Kickoff Classic | Sep 3, 2022 | Georgia 49 Oregon 3 |
| SEC Championship | Dec 3, 2022 | Georgia 50 LSU 30 |
| Peach Bowl, CFP Semifinal | Dec 31, 2022 | Georgia 42 Ohio State 41 |
In head-to-head match-ups, Saban holds a 3-0 lead over Smart in the Big Peach. With Athens being about an hour and a half away from downtown Atlanta and so many UGA players being from the metropolitan area, it would seem like the Bulldogs would enjoy a little more of a home field advantage. Depending on how many fans of each program show up, it’s probably a toss up as to who has that edge.
* Georgia Dome (1992–2016); Mercedes-Benz Stadium (2017–present)
Poll
Who has home field advantage in the 2023 SEC Championship Game?
-
29%
Alabama because of past success and familiarity.
(136 votes) -
29%
Georgia because of the proximity to the UGA campus.
(134 votes) -
41%
It’s a toss up.
(190 votes)
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