Joel Klatt details how Alabama vs. Georgia will shape 2025 season

Alabama and Georgia have been the class of the Southeastern Conference for more than a decade, with the two blueblood programs combining to win 10 of the last 11 SEC championship titles.

Outside of LSU‘s memorable 2019 run, the Crimson Tide have won seven of those league crowns, while the Bulldogs have claimed three, including two of the last three — with Alabama upsetting top-ranked Georgia in 2023 in what’d end up being Nick Saban‘s final win as a head coach.

Suffice it, whenever the two SEC powers meet on the field, it’s an instant classic, which is why FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt named the Week 5 regular-season meeting between Alabama and Georgia in Athens among his Top 10 games that will shape the 2025 college football season.

“This is an obvious one, I don’t have to go into this deeply at all. This game is a classic. It is always great,” Klatt said on Monday’s episode of The Joel Klatt Show on YouTube. “There are a couple of games on this list that fall into this category that are just like, ‘Yeah, they can play in a parking lot, it’s not only a great game but it’s a highly meaningful game.’ Winner of this game likely goes to the SEC Championship. I don’t see the winner of this game not being a Top 2 seed in the SEC. So that’s why it’s vital, really, and so important.”

While it’s an obvious part of his list, Klatt made it clear the early-season showdown has wider reaching implications for both programs.

“Then you get the implications of is Alabama back at their (championship) level with Nick Saban? This is a huge early test for Kalen DeBoer in Year 2. If they’re able to beat Georgia, is Georgia slipping back then?” Klatt continued. “They beat them last year. If (the Tide) beat (the ‘Dawgs) again this year, it’s like, ‘Wait, what’s going on with Kirby (Smart) and Georgia?’ They lost to Alabama in DeBoer’s first year. They lost to Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. Is Georgia still Georgia? I think they need to win this game to be considered that. If Bama wins, by the way, a bunch of winnable games after this. So Kirby and the Dawgs will be ready between the hedges.”

Alabama and Georgia meet in the regular season for the second straight year for the first time since the two programs split road victories during the 2007-08 seasons. Including that 2008 win in Athens, the Crimson Tide have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two programs, with Georgia’s lone win during that stretch a 33-18 victory to claim the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship.