a rotating basis (twice in an eight-year cycle) or in the newly created SEC Championship Game. Later scheduling modifications, as well as the SEC's expansion to 14 teams, have resulted in just one permanent cross-division rival for each team, with Alabama playing Tennessee and Georgia facing off against Auburn. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs now see each other in the regular season only twice per 12-year cycle. Since 1992, Alabama holds a 7–4 record over Georgia, which includes five post-season contests, including three SEC Championship Games won by Alabama and two College Football Playoff National Championship appearances split between the two teams. Many of the recent Alabama-Georgia matchups have been between highly ranked teams, with the regular-season matchups in 2007 and 2008 hosting College Gameday. In 2007, #16 Georgia beat #23 Alabama in Overtime, 26-23. #8 Alabama won the 2008 matchup in Athens, a 41-30 upset over #3 Georgia. The teams first post-season matchup came in the 2012 SEC Championship Game on December 1, 2012 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, with the winner likely to play for the national championship. #2 Alabama defeated #3 Georgia, 32–28, after Georgia's final play fell five yards short of a winning score. Saban–Smart rivalry, nationally prominent matchups (2016–present) Following the 2015 season, Georgia hired longtime Alabama assistant and former Georgia player Kirby Smart as head coach. Smart has since led Georgia to four post-season games against the Tide and his former boss, head coach Nick Saban. The first Saban–Smart match-up came following the 2017 season. In the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Alabama overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat Georgia by a score of 26–23 in overtime, to clinch its 17th national championship, Alabama’s win marked the 1st time in college football history that a program had won the national championship game despite not having the lead the entire game. The following season, the teams played in the 2018 SEC Championship Game, also played in Atlanta. #4 Georgia led 28–14 with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, only to see #1 Alabama once again rally to win, 35–28. The teams next met during the 2020 regular season in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This was a highly anticipated game, with both teams ranked in the top three and hosting College GameDay. It was the first meeting in Tuscaloosa since 2007. The game was back and