Pat McAfee did everything to suggest he’d pick Georgia as the SEC champion on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” and then he pivoted.
When the show started picking the Alabama-Georgia SEC title game, McAfee referenced the Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak and consecutive national titles.
Then, he pumped up the crowd attending the show in Atlanta, singing, “What’s that coming down the track?
“It’s the mean machine in the red and black,” he continued, as fans echoed back the same words. “Ain’t nothing finer in the land, than a drunk, obnoxious Georgia fan. Go Dawgs. Go Dawgs. Go Dawgs. Sic ‘em.”
McAfee paused.
He nodded, as the cheers continued behind him.
He held up a finger.
“Give me Alabama,” McAfee said, firing up Kirk Herbstreit and the other “College GameDay analysts” before leading the crowd — or at least the Alabama fans in attendance — in a “Roll Tide” chant.
It wasn’t the first time this season that McAfee used the call-and-response chant on the show with Georgia fans, as he also shouted the words Nov. 11 before Georgia faced Ole Miss in Athens.
This time, though, he used it as a prank.
For the 13th consecutive season, the SEC title game includes either Georgia or Alabama — or both of the programs.
It also marks the second time in three seasons that the pair of teams have met in Atlanta, with Alabama winning their last matchup in the championship game in 2021, but this time, their meeting has College Football Playoff implications.
Georgia, with a win, would likely clinch its status as the No. 1 seed entering the national semifinals.
But if Alabama wins, that could complicate the final seeding, even though the Crimson Tide have one loss — to Texas.
And Florida State, if it defeats Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, could finish undefeated but without star quarterback Jordan Travis, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in November.
Four of Georgia’s victories were single-digit wins, but the Bulldogs managed to keep their streak intact behind quarterback Carson Beck (22 touchdowns, six interceptions) and a strong defense.
Alabama, though, recovered from a rocky start to the season — where they even had a quarterback controversy — to win their final 10 games, including one in the Iron Bowl against Auburn last weekend when quarterback Jalen Milroe turned a fourth-and-31 play into a game-winning touchdown.
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