Let’s be honest.

The SEC Championship is set. That means we can look ahead a little bit.

Maybe “look ahead” is the wrong way to phrase it. Because the SEC Championship was set so early, we can take a big-picture view at Alabama and Georgia every Saturday and ask an important question.

Which team had the better day?

I realize that nobody really had a “bad” day considering that both teams won convincingly against ranked foes. You’ll take that all day. No major season-ending injuries for either side — at least not that we know of — will make Kirby Smart and Nick Saban sleep a little easier.

But this is all about staying Playoff-eligible and getting things right ahead of the all-important SEC Championship. So when I ask the question “who had the better day,” it’s with that in mind.

The case for Alabama

It’s pretty easy. Look at the scoreboard. What did you see? The second consecutive shutout for the first time since 2012.

OK, so you didn’t exactly see that on the scoreboard, but you get my point.

The so-called “weakness” of Alabama has been anything but that the past two weeks. Shutting down LSU and Mississippi State was a major statement for Quinnen Williams and Co. And sure, you could certainly argue that the Tide should have allowed at least a touchdown because the block in the back call that canceled out Kylin Hill’s score, but that didn’t change what was still a dominant effort from that group.

It’s incredible to think that Alabama has improved its defensive output ever since that 31-point effort against Arkansas. With Tua Tagovailoa clearly not at 100 percent, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Let’s also not forget that quality of victory for Alabama matters. While the 24-point output was a season-low — MSU was the No. 2 scoring defense in the country — this was still another convincing win over a ranked team. There’s a good chance that Mississippi State will still be ranked at the end of the regular season (LSU only dropped 4 spots for losing 29-0 at home). Alabama now has 2 wins against current top-25 teams.

If we’re talking about a potential 1-loss Tide’s Playoff credentials, a shutout win like Saturday will be important.

The case for Georgia

What did Saturday do for Georgia? It gave the Dawgs their third consecutive win against a ranked opponent by 3 scores. That’s impressive.

While I don’t think we’re talking about the Dawgs making the Playoff with 2 losses, this was more about showing that they could raise their game to that level. That was a serious question after the LSU meltdown. All Georgia has done since then is show that it’s ready to at least give Alabama a fight for the SEC Championship.

A big part of that has been the emergence of the running game, and specifically D’Andre Swift. That devastating cut is back, and so is his home-run ability. That’s 3 consecutive games of 100 yards, including runs of at least 33 yards in each (his previous high was 24). This is some pretty special company.

Swift and Elijah Holyfield are looking every bit like the group we expected them to be coming into this year. Georgia is a different team with those 2 rolling like that. Plain and simple. The defense looks fresher, the play-action opens things up for Jake Fromm and the Dawgs look more and more like the 2017 squad that earned national runner-up honors.

Out-gaining Auburn 303-102 on the ground is as good of a sign as ever that Georgia is getting back to imposing its will.

So, who helped themselves the most Saturday?

Ah, that’s right. The key question here is more about injuries than anything else because the final result didn’t have some massive disparity.

Like I said, none were of the season-ending variety. That’s good. Not good was the fact that the Dawgs lost offensive linemen Lamont Gaillard late and Kendall Baker limped off the field, as well. That’s with top offensive lineman Andrew Thomas being banged up — but still effective — virtually all year. It’s never good to hear that the offensive line is dealing with so many injuries across the board.

But despite all of those health issues up front, the Dawgs are still running the ball as well as they have all year. With UMass coming to town next week, that group should have a chance to get healthier.

The same could be said for Alabama, but I’d argue that their key nagging injury is a bit more significant. Tagovailoa was hobbled for the fourth consecutive game. He took more punishment Saturday than he has all year (his career-high 4 sacks taken matched his entire 2018 total). The fact that he has been slow to get up on several occasions the last month has me uneasy.

If you’re an Alabama fan, you know that priority No. 1 is getting Tagovailoa healthier than he is right now. That’s not an easy thing to do with that Auburn game still ahead in a couple weeks. Maybe we’re just going to have to get used to him coming up slow after a sack or him limping a little bit after a scramble.

It’s because of that reason that I’d give the slight edge to Georgia for the “who had the better day” argument. Again, neither coach will complain about convincing victories at home like that.

But yeah, give me the team that didn’t just watch its once-in-a-generation player limp off the field.