Kalen DeBoer In Familiar Situation Preparing for Rematch in Conference Title Game

The Alabama Crimson Tide will face the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2025 SEC Championship, a rematch of Alabama's 24-21 victory over the Bulldogs in Athens, Georgia, in September. The loss at home to the Crimson Tide is Georgia's only loss on the season, and the Bulldogs' defense shut out the Crimson Tide's offense in the second half. Alabama will now face Georgia again, with the winner officially clinching a playoff spot as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.

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It's a spot DeBoer should be familiar with, as it is the same scenario he faced during his final season with the Washington Huskies. DeBoer and Washington faced the Oregon Ducks during the 2023 regular season, escaping with a 36-33 victory. Washington ran the table en route to an undefeated regular season, clinching a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, a rematch against Oregon after their regular-season bout. Washington won the rematch, 34-31, clinching the Pac-12 Championship and punching the Huskies' ticket to the College Football Playoff.

Can DeBoer's experience (along with Ryan Grubb, Nick Sheridan, Jamarcus Shephard, and Chuck Morrell, who were all on staff for that Washington team) help Alabama against Georgia, as the Crimson Tide potentially take the field in a do-or-die game for the Tide's playoff chances?

"I think anytime personally your experiences that you have that give you reasoning for whatever it might be," DeBoer said. "You just stated the case that I have, as far as people can say one thing, it's hard to beat a team twice. Well, the game's going to be played. How do you prepare to be your best? What is it that you got to continue to do?

"A lot of it comes down to what I said earlier: you know what you are as a team, you have your identity, you hang your hat on that. You just go play the game. You go play with confidence. You go play because you love the challenge. You love the environment that you're going to get to be a part of.

"This is a 'get-to' moment for us. The energy should be at the highest level possible. We should be extremely excited for this.

"Even last night, we were excited about just being in that moment, the challenge. Even with everything that was at stake, that's the way we always want to approach every game we get a chance to play. SEC football is special. These guys playing in front of our fan base and the entire country each and every Saturday is awesome."

The rematch in the SEC Championship game may not be the only rematch this season between Alabama and Georgia. If both teams make the playoffs, there is a chance that the two could face off in an elimination game in the College Football Playoffs.

Alabama has rematched Kirby Smart and Georgia only once in the same season since Smart took over in Athens. Alabama defeated the Bulldogs 41-24 in the SEC Championship game in December 2021, before falling to Georgia just two games later in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship, 33-18 in Indianapolis.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.