Alabama in danger of snapping 17-year college football streak this week

Alabama and Georgia renew their rivalry Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs have played seven times in the last seven seasons, mostly meeting in the SEC Championship and National Championship. In each of those seven games both teams were ranked in the Top 10 and that will be the case again Saturday when No. 2 Georgia clashes with No. 4 Alabama.

The Tide were two-point underdogs to the Bulldogs Monday morning but the line has been shifting in Alabama's favor. It currently is at 1.5 points, according to ESPN Bet. If the Tide remain underdogs it would snap a 17-year, 113-game streak in which Alabama was favored at home.

The last time they were underdogs in Tuscaloosa was when they played LSU in Nick Saban's first season with Alabama. The Tide lost 41-34.

It would also break a streak of being favored in any regular season game. That dates back to 2015 against these Bulldogs. Alabama won 38-10.

The game has huge SEC implications outside of this streak. The conference got rid of divisions this season so the top two teams in the conference will make the championship game. This means one loss could derail a season if two teams go undefeated.

The pressure to win is higher for Georgia. They have to go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and win, something they haven't done since 2007, and they arguably have a tougher schedule. The Bulldogs have a four-game stretch beginning October 19, during which they play three teams currently ranked in the top six of the AP Poll.

They play at Texas, currently the top team in the country, before heading to Jacksonville for their rivalry with Florida. Then they head to number-six Ole Miss before returning home to play number-five Tennessee. Add that to their game Saturday against Alabama and the Bulldogs are looking at one of the toughest four games any college football team is playing this season.

Fortunately, with the 12-team playoff, Georgia can afford a loss or two, but if they want a top-four seed they must win the SEC Championship, meaning they can't afford to lose more than one game.

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It's no walk in the park for Alabama either. After Saturday they have four more games against teams currently ranked in the Top 25: At number-five Tennessee, vs. number-11 Missouri, at number-14 LSU and at number-21 Oklahoma. The same goes for the Tide in terms of College Football Playoff implications.

Based solely on the AP Poll -- we won't have CFP rankings until November 5 -- the SEC would have six of the 12 teams in the playoff. The conference has a total of nine teams in the AP Poll Top 25. Once those teams start playing each other, that number should drop.

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