Nick Saban on how Alabama is preparing as a rare underdog in SEC Championship

The stakes are extremely high in the SEC Championship game. Georgia is a lock for the College Football Playoff, but Alabama needs a win in the SEC Championship or a lot of help to make it in this season. The Crimson Tide are rare underdogs on Saturday against Georgia, but Alabama head coach Nick Saban said that nothing has changed in his team’s preparation.

As Alabama enters Saturday’s SEC Championship against Georgia, Saban wants his team to focus on Georgia and ignore the outside noise.

“I think what our players need to do is just focus on playing one play at a time, trying to win as many plays in a game as they can,” Saban said on how Alabama is preparing as a rare underdog. “Don’t worry about the scoreboard, don’t worry about what the outcome means because we just need to focus on what we need to do to play well in this game, as you’ve said, against the No. 1 team in the country and a very, very good team.”

Saban knows that Alabama is in for its toughest test yet this season against Georgia for the SEC Championship. The Bulldogs have dominated all season, setting up an intriguing battle for the SEC crown.

“It’s going to take a very good effort by a lot of people to be able to win those plays,” Saban added. “So that’s what we’re focused on here now. We’re focused on what do we have to do to try to get the outcome rather than worrying about what the outcome is, which as you say, creates a lot of anxiety. So that’s basically how we’re trying to approach it.

Being underdogs in the SEC Championship doesn’t change anything for Alabama

Star Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. talked earlier in the week about Alabama’s season so far. Anderson knows that Alabama has faced adversity before, and he hopes the team can use that to its advantage in the SEC Championship.

“We just turn it into positivity,” Anderson said about facing adversity. “We don’t want anybody around here moping around thinking about what happened in the past. We just like to move on and pick the energy up. I think the energy has been much better in the locker room, on the field, in the facility and meeting rooms. We’re having fun doing it.

“I think that’s one of the biggest things. At first there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of worry, instead of going out there and having fun and playing football. So I think that’s what we need to do.”

The battle for the SEC title will kick off at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.