It’s only talk...

The moment has finally arrived. Your #1 Georgia Bulldogs are taking on the #8 Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game. Though the season has had its share of twists and turns, for many, today is what they’ve been expecting all along. The past 13 weeks have resulted in the matchup that most predicted... and with good reason. Over the last half decade plus, we’ve had the occasional Florida or LSU anomaly, sure. But the smart money has pretty much been on it coming down to Georgia and Alabama in the SECCG (if not the National Championship).

There has been a lot of talk over the last few weeks. Talk from the national media. Talk from both fanbases (some of it more justified IMO). Talk from the darkest corners of the internet and social media. But sometime after 7:00 pm tonight, that talk will cease to matter.

That said... we don’t have much else to do until then, so it’s only fitting that we should get things started with a little more talking:

And now your Gameday Morning Dawg Bites:

• Although I seriously doubt anyone needs it, here is a recap of the history of Alabama and Georgia in the SEC Championship game. I have the result of each game permanently etched in my memory, but for those who have managed to successfully block them out, I apologize. One thing this does bring into to stark relief is that Georgia isn’t just playing to win the SEC Championship and secure a playoff spot. They are playing to finally get out from under numerous defeats at the hands of the Crimson Tide in The Benz. While that may not mean as much as it used to after back-to-back national championships, it doesn’t mean nothing.
• I don’t even like thinking about it, but Dawgs Daily has an analysis of the paths Georgia might have to still making the playoff should they lose to Bama today.
• Not that I think we’re going to learn anything we don’t already know, but here is the most recent injury report leading up to game time.
• In sad news, former Dawg JT Daniels has announced he is medically retiring from football. While things didn’t pan out for JT at Georgia, he aways took it in stride and was a team-first guy throughout. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.
• And finally, we’ll finish things up with the game trailer for this afternoon’s game:

As always, this space will also serve as your Open Comment Thread leading up to game time. Let us know how you plan to spend the hours before kickoff and what you think we might see in any of the day’s other big games. Macondawg will be along shortly with your game threads.

Until then...

GOOOO DAWGS!!!