Georgia is the best team in the country, but don't count out Alabama quite yet

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Kirby Smart isn't going to like this column.

As music blared from a celebratory locker room following Georgia's 20-17 road win over Alabama, the first for the program in Tuscaloosa since 2007, Smart seemed to sense what was coming.

"Another week in the SEC," Smart said. "Humility is a week away as we saw today."

Smart is completely right, of course.

A week after a cathartic win over former head coach Lane Kiffin in Oxford, Ole Miss lost 52-28 on the road to Florida.

The Gators, the new team in the spotlight as they rocketed into the top 10, then went and lost their next two games in blowout fashion to Missouri and South Carolina.

No. 1 Texas had the best resume in the country, but rarely looked like the actual best team. That finally came to bite the Longhorns Saturday in the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma.

LSU, a team with CFP expectations coming out of the preseason with a roster that sources believe cost upwards of $50 million, lost on the road to unranked Kentucky when Will Stein successfully went for a two-point attempt in overtime. The Tigers are now 4-2 with games against Mississippi State, Alabama and Texas still to come.

The nine-game SEC schedule has already turned into a gauntlet where anything is possible week to week. Some may argue that there are no truly great SEC teams. Others may argue that there are so many good teams that parity is inevitable. Perhaps it could be a combination of the two.

There's an exception, though. This is where Smart would want you to stop reading.

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Chip Patterson

Georgia is the best team in the country.

Full stop.

Does it still have flaws? Absolutely.

And if you wanted to argue instead for Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State or even the Alabama team it just beat as a better national championship contender, you could make a legitimate argument in doing so.

But on Saturday night inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Bulldogs were the best team in all the land. Georgia has a competent veteran quarterback, a terrific defense and a head coach who knows how to get his team prepared for a big game. For Alabama, that meant an especially intense week of practice with the team in pads on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and again Thursday ahead of what Smart knew would be a physically taxing game.

It helped Georgia walk into a loud road environment and leave with a victory. That it did so without its top two running backs, Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens, just made it all the more impressive.

"It's been many years since we won here," said quarterback Gunner Stockton. "We did what it took and kept responding and attacking the moments."

Stockton was a huge part of that. The senior quarterback wasn't perfect, but he was poised when it was hard to hear yourself think inside Alabama's stadium. Stockton proved time and again that he could make the big play when Georgia needed it.

That was especially true coming out to start the second half after Alabama put together a terrific two-minute drill to take a 14-10 halftime lead. Stockton confidently drove Georgia down the field on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with him calling his own number and scoring from 14 yards out. He finished the night 18-of-22 for 249 passing yards, two total TDs and one interception.

When it was all over, Smart seemed to enjoy the win with a little extra enthusiasm. He celebrated with the traveling Georgia fans, who made their voices heard near the end zone all night. After the game, he spoke like a man acutely aware of the narrative surrounding his struggles against Alabama, yet claimed it didn't affect him.

Before Saturday night's victory, he had never beaten Alabama in a regular-season game, which included losses the previous two seasons against Kalen DeBoer. It was the one flaw in an otherwise nearly perfect resume, the man who had won two national championships and dominated the sport, and yet still only had a 2-7 all-time record against the Crimson Tide before Saturday night. The former Alabama defensive coordinator had accomplished so much, and yet it was hard to vanquish his former employer.

"It's a hard place to play," Smart said. "I don't judge my happiness or success on how we play 'Bama. I have a lot of respect for this place. Nick taught me a lot. Watching that (Saban) show the other night, I have so much respect for him. We run our program a lot like that. I tell those kids you need to tune in and watch the show. Stuff going on on that show is going on in Athens right now. It's discipline, toughness, accountability. That's what he taught me, and that's what we're trying to do."

You saw that toughness come through in the resiliency Smart's Georgia program showed in a heavyweight bout against Alabama. The Bulldogs emerged victorious, but don't count out Alabama quite yet. Just like the two teams did a season ago, don't be surprised to see a December rematch in the SEC Championship. Or perhaps it'll be in the College Football Playoff.

If Georgia is the best team in the country, Alabama isn't far behind it. With Keelon Russell controlling the offense, the Crimson Tide will be a tough out for every team it faces this season.

With the way the SEC is already shaping up in mid-October, Smart is right that humility is a week away.

What he left out is that his Georgia program will be the one delivering that humility to the rest of the SEC.