For all the spread offense fireworks, high-flying aerial antics, and electric Heisman personalities, this year’s 2018 SEC Championship race has arrived at an unsurprising pinnacle. The SEC Championship Game may have well been booked in the closing moments of last year’s National Championship Game, when Alabama sparked a second half comeback for the ages while a new hero was minted in then-freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Everyone saw this coming, as Alabama looked unbeatable for much of the season while Georgia returned to form despite a loss to LSU.
While both teams have produced shockingly high scoring totals throughout the season, the game again features two teams built on fundamentals and old-school, gritty, sod-in-the-helmet football in which physicality is more cherished than flash, and power is more important than pop in the course of grinding opponents into pulp.