The Washington Generals have been playing professional basketball for 53 years straight, night after night after night, giving it their very best shot without ever tasting victory. On any given evening, anywhere in the world, the Generals could give any team a great run – despite not popping the champagne since Jan. 5, 1971.

Still, the Generals are forever losers because of who they play … the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Washington Generals were in my thoughts in the wee hours of Sunday morning when thinking about the Georgia Bulldogs – one of the very tippy-top best teams in college football, but also one that seemingly is forever looking up at the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Because for as transcendent as Georgia has been for most of coach Kirby Smart’s run – winning 2 national titles and all but 3 games over the past 4 years – they still can’t seem to escape the shadow of Alabama.

That’s the bad news.

For all of Dawg Nation that endured the comeback-turned-heartbreak that was Saturday night’s 41-34 loss to the Crimson Tide, there is certainly a lot of positives moving forward. The one we’d particularly like to lean into here is this: Saturday night likely won’t be the only time Georgia sees Alabama this year.

In fact, the verified instant classic Tide-Bulldogs game could well be just the first in what could be a best-of-3 series to decide the 2024 national champion. And based on how Georgia comported itself in the final 30 minutes Saturday, there are plenty of haymakers still to be thrown by both sides before the dust settles and a champ is crowned.

Anyone in Alabama who has now finally seen their pulse rate return to resting levels will tell you what Georgia’s record is against the Tide under Kirby Smart – simply because all of the 6 victories, and the 1 loss, have been in epic conditions like the ones generated Saturday night.

But what those same Tide fans won’t that you is that they want absolutely no part of Georgia for the rest of the season. Nope, not even a little bit.

Minus the first 20 or so minutes of football at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Georgia cycled between good to upper-case G great. Digging out of a 28-0 hole early in the second quarter was going to be a Herculean task, and the 30-7 halftime deficit would have required nothing less than the largest comeback in Bulldogs history … but Georgia actually did it.

How? With the lethal combination of Carson Beck, an entire raft of receivers and a sprinkle of Trevor Etienne on top.

Let’s start with Beck, who in the first half was pedestrian – 9-of-18 for 128 yards, 2 interceptions and enough nightmare fuel to get him all the way to Halloween. But after halftime, Beck showed the mettle and talent that makes NFL scouts salivate. He engineered a long scoring drive that allowed Georgia to right the ship in the third quarter, and then was a smooth 11-of-18 for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns in the final 15 minutes to not only pull the Dawgs into contention, but actually into the briefest of leads.

Georgia didn’t do it on offense alone, of course. Smart’s defense, which has exasperated opposing teams week after week, went from letting Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe run the “Sweet Georgia Brown” figure-8 weave in the first half to flummoxing the entire Tide offense after the break.

Georgia is plenty capable of not only hanging with the Tide should the 2 teams meet again, but might just well have unlocked the code – if not for the game-winning 75-yard TD pass from Milroe to Ryan Williams – on Alabama moving forward.

After being so electric in the opening half, Alabama’s first 5 possessions in the second half resulted in a punt, field goal, punt, punt and punt. The Tide totaled all of 116 yards on those drives. Georgia, meanwhile, ripped off 4 long TD drives — each at least 67 yards — to take a 34-33 lead before Milroe and Williams made more magic.

Should the rest of the season play out in favor of the Tide and Bulldogs, Round 2 in this mouth-watering troika could well come in the SEC Championship Game with Georgia then being the theoretical home team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta – a site that Alabama under Nick Saban considered a second home.

And a series-deciding Round 3? Now that the College Football Playoff has expanded to 12 teams (and Georgia only falling to No. 5 in the polls after Saturday’s loss), it is quite possible the Tide and Dawgs could meet again either in the semifinals or final.

Imagine Saturday’s game played not in September, but in January with the entire plate of enchiladas on the line?

The only thing possible better than Saturday’s instant classic would be 3 Alabama-Georgia instant classics this season? Be still our beating hearts – and be prepared, Georgia fans, to root for a team that would arrive to the remaining games full of the knowledge that they can get it done.

Those kind of rematches, played without the ol’ nod-wink that the Globetrotters always give the refs, would be truly special … just ask any long-suffering Washington Generals/Georgia Bulldogs fan.