The No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 27-24 on Saturday to win their 11th SEC championship. It was the ninth time that Nick Saban beat an AP No. 1 opponent. No other coach has more than four such wins, according to ESPN Stats & Information data.
Alabama simultaneously snapped Georgia’s 29-game winning streak and its bid for a third straight national championship. The Crimson Tide became the third team in major college football history to snap multiple win streaks of 29-plus games, with the other being the Miami Hurricanes’ streak from October 1990 to January 1993, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Alabama’s Jalen Milroe threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns, while Roydell Williams ran for 64 yards and a score to pull off the victory.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck registered 243 passing yards and one rushing touchdown, while running back Kendall Milton added 42 yards and two scores on the ground.
Over the last 3 seasons, the only team to defeat Georgia is Alabama 😳 pic.twitter.com/c1miZYwFVp
— ESPN (@espn) December 3, 2023
Here’s a look at what has happened in sports and pop culture since the Bulldogs’ previous loss, which also took place in the SEC championship game, on Dec. 4, 2021, against the Crimson Tide.
Pac-12 goes dark
While the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners announced their moves to the SEC during the summer of 2021, realignment reached new heights six months after Georgia’s last loss.
The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins shocked the Pac-12 when their decision to join the Big Ten became public in June 2022.
Some 14 months later, the Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks followed suit, sharing their decision in August. And roughly a month later, the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes and Utah Utes announced they would move to the Big 12 in 2024, effectively putting an end to the Pac-12.
The Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars remain in the conference, and they will face six Mountain West opponents next season.
Washington won the final Pac-12 Championship game on Friday night, defeating Oregon 34-31.
LeBron James becomes NBA’s all-time leading scorer
King James broke a nearly 40-year-old record late in the 2022-23 NBA season with a fadeaway jump shot to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league all-time leading scorer.
Since then, the Los Angeles Lakers star has surpassed 39,000 career points and become the all-time minutes leader.
Taylor Swift shatters box-office record
Swift took 2023 by storm with her worldwide tour and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift’s tour joined Beyoncé’s in outperforming the attendance of some NFL teams.
Swift also made her mark on the box office. The opening weekend of her concert film «Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour» brought in $96 million in the United States and Canada, making it the highest-grossing domestic opening weekend for a concert film.
‘Barbenheimer’ takes over movie theaters
July 21 marked a popular date for film fans with the simultaneous release of «Barbie» and «Oppenheimer,» two movies with contrasting themes.
«Barbie» became the highest-grossing film of the year at over $600 million domestically and $1.4 billion globally. It also was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards.
«Oppenheimer» eclipsed $325 million domestically and almost $1 billion globally.