Matt Barrie said on the Always College Football podcast this week that any benefit Georgia gains from Nick Saban’s retirement at Alabama will be negligible. At the most, Kirby Smart will sleep better the night before an SEC title game knowing he won’t have to deal with Saban on the other sideline.

Asked by show host Greg McElroy how Georgia benefits, Barrie said Georgia has already moved past the Tide.

“I think it’s a moot point because I think Georgia has proven they had slayed that giant,” Barrie said. “I mean, they’d won back-to-back national championships and they were an SEC Championship away (from another), you could argue. I still think Georgia was one of the four best teams in the country last year.

“… I think Georgia got over that hurdle a few years ago.”

Georgia lost to Alabama 27-24 in the SEC Championship Game last December. That defeat prevented another College Football Playoff appearance for the Bulldogs, who were seeking a three-peat.

From an on-field results standpoint, Smart went 1-5 against Saban. He lost the first four meetings before finally getting over the hump in the 2021 CFP National Championship.

Smart also went 0-3 against Saban in the SEC title game.

But that 2021 national title marked a change in the trajectory. Until the most recent conference title loss, Georgia was unquestioned as the preeminent force in the sport. Even after the three-point loss to Alabama, many argued Georgia still belonged in the CFP. Would the Bulldogs have lost a second time to Saban?

Hard to say, but a 63-3 dismantling of Florida State in the Orange Bowl made a pretty loud statement that Georgia was still at the top of its game.

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So, if not the Bulldogs, who benefits most from a Saban-less SEC?

Barrie pointed to two coaches in the (now former) SEC West — LSU’s Brian Kelly and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko.

“I think Brian Kelly is licking his chops,” Barrie said, referencing consistent head-to-head recruiting battles LSU has with Alabama. “I think Mike Elko, who we think is a great coach who got into the job at the right time. They hired Jimbo to take out Nick Saban. Couldn’t be done. Saban’s gone of his own accord. Mike Elko walks into that thing… Imagine Texas A&M with their talent and using their talent properly, what that could do in a Nick Saban-less era.”

Kelly beat Alabama in his first year at the helm. The Tigers lost by 14 in 2023, however. A&M has beaten Alabama only once since Johnny Manziel left town.