The 2023 SEC Championship Game was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

game that was played on December 2, 2023, at

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it is the home of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) and Atlanta ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. It was the 32nd edition of the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

. The contest featured the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

, the West Division champions and the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

the East Division Champions. The game began at 4:00 p.m. EST and was televised on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

for the twenty-third consecutive year, and also the final SEC Championship game to be televised on the network. Alabama won the game by a score of 27–24 and, therefore, became champions of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) for the 2023 season, while ending Georgia’s 29-game winning streak that began in the 2021 Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal. This was the final SEC Championship Game with a divisional format. On June 1, 2023, after

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

were confirmed to be joining the conference in 2024, the SEC announced that it would eliminate its football divisions at that time. Future championship games will feature the top two teams in the conference standings.

Teams

The 2023 SEC Championship Game featured the

, champions of the East Division, and the

, champions of the West Division. It was the teams' 73rd meeting, with Alabama leading the series 42–26–4. Georgia won the latest meeting between the teams in the

2022 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The eighth College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined t ...

, which was Georgia's first win against Alabama since

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. This was the fourth time Georgia and Alabama played for an SEC Championship, with the Crimson Tide winning each of the previous three meetings in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. This was the 11th SEC title game appearance for Georgia and their third consecutive appearance; they first appeared in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and are 4–6 overall in previous appearances, though the Bulldogs have won 14 SEC championships in total, dating back to

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

. Alabama made their 15th SEC championship game appearance, dating back to the inaugural game in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

; the Crimson Tide entered the game 10–4 in SEC title games. Including titles earned before the championship game format, Alabama leads the conference with 29 in total, dating back to

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

. Georgia and Alabama have appeared frequently in recent SEC Championship Games; entering the game, 12 of the last 13 title games featured at least one of the two teams, with Georgia's last appearance being in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, and Alabama's in 2021.

Alabama Crimson Tide

The Crimson Tide clinched a spot in the game on November 11, following a 49–21 rout of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Alabama's last appearance, and victory, in the game was in 2021. This would be Nick Saban’s last SEC Championship game appearance, as he retired following the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Georgia Bulldogs

The Bulldogs clinched a spot in the game following Missouri's 36–7 defeat of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

on November 11. Georgia's last appearance, and victory, in the game was in 2022.

Scoring summary

Statistics

Broadcasting

broadcast their 23rd consecutive and final SEC Championship Game. Under a new ten-year agreement that begins the following season,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

will broadcast the championship game, with CBS beginning a full-slate of

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

football games, including the

Big Ten Football Championship Game The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference's season champion. The game, held after the regular season has been completed, currently matches the top two te ...

next season and in 2028.

References

{{Georgia Bulldogs football navbox

Championship Game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

SEC Championship Game Alabama Crimson Tide football games Georgia Bulldogs football games