In the final moments of Georgia’s blowout win against Mississippi State on Saturday night, Kirby Smart celebrated with his coaching staff.

The Bulldogs coach had plenty to be happy about. His defense held a legitimate Top-25 team without a touchdown, his true freshman quarterback played the best game of his young career and his dynamic 1-2 punch of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel was productive (and healthy).

Smart’s team showed that it was every bit deserving of being a top-10 team and a College Football Playoff contender.

On Thursday, Nick Saban made headlines by shooting down the notion that the SEC was Alabama and everyone else.

“I think it’s ridiculous that people think that,” Saban said. “Last year, playing in our league, we ended up beating more ranked teams than anyone in the country. So there had to be some other good teams that we were playing every week.”

You know what doesn’t sound ridiculous after Saturday night? Saban’s claim.

He and the SEC has Smart’s squad to thank for that.

Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The “Alabama and everyone else” narrative wasn’t just started out of thin air. While the SEC had more teams in the Associated Press Top 25 than any other conference every week of the season, it also hadn’t had a non-Alabama team crack the top 10.

Auburn and LSU both blew prime opportunities to earn top-10 rankings. Saturday was Georgia’s turn to do just that.

Needless to say, the Bulldogs answered any questions that might’ve lingered in their 3-0 start.

They dismantled Mississippi State in every way. Any AP voter that leaves Georgia out of their top 10 has some explaining to do. In all likelihood, the Bulldogs rise to at least No. 9 on Sunday. Really, they should move past the likes of B1G teams like Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

So why does that matter? After all, isn’t the College Football Playoff poll the only ranking of any actual significance?

Yes, but there were obvious SEC-wide benefits to Georgia looking like it did on Saturday night.

It adds much-needed legitimacy to the East

Let’s be honest. Florida hasn’t been the strongest division winner the past two years. The national reputation of the SEC East is, um, lackluster. Georgia winning one game doesn’t entirely turn that around, but it’s a start. Conferences are judged based on strength at the top, and because of Florida’s struggles against elite foes, it hurt the East.

It’s early, but Georgia looks a whole lot more like Alabama than Florida.

If the Bulldogs had a one-dimensional offense and the MSU game followed the Notre Dame script, opinions probably wouldn’t have changed. Georgia changed opinions on Saturday night.

Now, as long as Georgia keeps winning, the SEC will have one more team that can be used as a measuring stick. That’s big for teams that face Georgia but not Alabama like Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina. Everything they do against Georgia will be that much more important.

The SEC’s Playoff eggs might not be all in Alabama’s basket

If Florida knocked off Alabama in the SEC Championship either of the past two years, we could’ve been looking at an odd scenario. I think even with an SEC Championship loss, Alabama still would’ve cracked the final four having started 12-0.

But the point is that if Florida won the SEC Championship in either of the past two years, it wasn’t going to the Playoff.

Georgia, at least on Saturday night, didn’t look like a team that would face that problem. They could still lose two games in SEC play and be all but eliminated for a Playoff spot (remember Penn State?), but the odds don’t seem too favorable of that.

We still haven’t seen an SEC team that could legitimately challenge Alabama for a Playoff spot in the CFP era. That obviously played a part in the current SEC narrative.

Beyond just competing with Alabama in the SEC Championship, Georgia looked like a team that could give any offense fits. The Bulldogs are crazy talented on that side of the ball and they’re led by one of the best defensive minds in America.

And unlike Florida, they aren’t a complete liability on offense.

Oh, and one other thing …

If you think it’s hyperbole to call Georgia winning a home game against Mississippi State a “conference-wide statement,” consider this.

Georgia recorded the most lopsided victory of any game that featured two ranked teams in 2017.

If that’s not a sign that the unbeaten Bulldogs are for real — and that the SEC isn’t just Alabama — then I don’t know what is.