Exploring the Ripple Effects of College Football’s Game of the Year: A Dynasty Lives On, Impact on CFP Paths, and More Insights into the Future of the Sport .Giang

When Alabama went ahead of Georgia by four touchdowns, the story was written. Then, college football did college football things, chaos ruled the day, and we’re now left wondering how exactly the best game of the season—and one of the best games in recent memory—played out the way it did.

Alabama beat Georgia 41-34. That was the final score.

But the game was so much deeper than that. The Bulldogs, after falling behind early on, nearly pulled off a historic comeback. In fact, for a moment in time, they led on the road. Ultimately, however, the Crimson Tide made just enough plays to win.

Now, one can’t help but ask the question.

What’s next?

The impact of a game that will live on well beyond this week is robust. As we process what we saw, we should also process what it all means.

Here’s a look at what this thrilling outcome means moving forward.

For many months we pondered what the death of the Alabama dynasty would look like without Nick Saban.

Would it be fast or slow? Would it be evident early on or over time? Just how far would they fall?

It wasn’t a matter of when or if but how this decorated program would regress under new leadership. Given Saban’s impact and dominance during his tenure, this wasn’t necessarily a knock on Kalen DeBoer. It was simply an assumed reality given the historic things Alabama has done.

Then the first quarter of Saturday night’s game happened.

Alabama had 21 points. Georgia had 27 yards.

From there, the game unraveled some. Alabama’s play calling and clock management were subpar in the second half. Georgia deserves plenty of credit for doing its part as well.

What is clear, however, is that this program will not go away anytime soon under DeBoer’s guidance.

Alabama has the quarterback and playmakers to win a national title this season right now. And moving forward, with the recruiting machine fully operational, things won’t suddenly slow down.

With the playoff expanding to 12 teams, Georgia fans will look at this loss differently than they once did.

Losing to Alabama will never feel quite right. This one will hurt for a while. Although losing to a rival in the 12-team playoff era will certainly ease the pain some.

Indeed, Georgia is very much alive when it comes to a national championship. Of course it is. With a larger postseason, the Bulldogs will be in consideration until further notice.

With that acknowledged, the path to the playoff isn’t exactly clear. Georgia still plays games at Texas, at Ole Miss and against Tennessee. While the Alabama loss will look good on the resume come selection day, a few too many losses could makes things dicey.

At this point, one would expect Georgia to be a slight underdog at Texas. A game at Ole Miss looked much tougher a few days ago, although the Week 5 loss to Kentucky changed that. And Tennessee, at least in the early part of the season, looks like one of the most complete teams in football.

All hope is not lost with a loss on Saturday, although things could get bumpy from here.

The Heisman isn’t won or lost in Week 5. It will be won and lost a few more times—if not more—between now and the end of the season. This is how this award works, after all, and saying otherwise would be reckless and foolish.

With this acknowledged, Milroe will enter Week 6 as the betting favorite to win the award. His first-half performance against Georgia was nothing short of perfection. It included 300 total yards along with a slew of electric individual moments.

In total, the QB ended up with nearly 500 total yards of offense—along with four touchdowns—against the No. 2 ranked team in the nation.

That performance should age nicely, although it will age. Others will have their say when it comes to the award, and Milroe will also have a chance to validate his placement.

As it stands here today, however, there isn’t much debating where things are. Milroe is a deserving favorite moving forward with huge games against Tennessee, LSU and others still to come.

Remember this argument? It was prominent throughout the offseason when the 12-team College Football Playoff was fully forming.

Many assumed that an expanded postseason would take the soul out of some of the season’s most critical matchups. To be more direct, many assumed that a larger playoff would make games like Alabama-Georgia matter less.

In short, no.

Emphatically no.

Sure, both teams still can make the College Football Playoff. That was true with four teams and it’s plenty true at 12. The expanded playoff will give a team like Georgia more flexibility to lose. That much is true.

But it will never make a game like this feel less important or impactful. We saw with our own eyes how big this game was or felt in the moment. We saw the environment. We saw the comeback. We saw the game-sealing interception.

No matter how big the playoff is, college football’s pageantry and emotion will carry through. What a beautiful game it was.