Nick Saban is no stranger to national championship games. Monday’s contest against Georgia will be his ninth since becoming the head coach at Alabama in 2007.

This is the second time his team will face Georgia in a national championship game, with the previous contest coming back in 2018.

With the way Saban views the Georgia program, it won’t be the last time these two teams play each other in the final game of the college football season.

“It’s a tremendous challenge for us, and really kind of an honor to have the opportunity to play against what we feel is one of the most elite programs in the country,” Saban said in joint press conference on Sunday. “And probably, just looking at the future, probably will be for some time in the future as well.”

The Bulldogs are playing for their second national championship under Kirby Smart, with the hope that this year’s contest has a better ending than the 26-23 overtime defeat in the 2018 National Championship Game.

Georgia might have already won a national championship were it not for the constant thron Alabama presents for the Bulldogs, as well as the rest of the sport. Alabama did beat Georgia in the SEC championship game this year, which is the only loss to date for the Bulldogs.

Given Smart’s time with Saban at Alabama, there’s a natural inclination to compare the two. Smart did serve as Saban’s defensive coordinator from 2008 through 2015, leaving only to take the Georgia job.

The two side-stepped comparisons between the two programs, offering up complimentary remarks of each other instead.

“To be in this position is certainly an honor,” Smart said. “To be across from Coach, it’s a tremendous honor for our team and our organization. But, like we’ve always said, it’s not about he and I; it’s about the players and their opportunities to go out and be successful and make a lasting memory.”

Georgia and Alabama have been built through sheer dominance on the recruiting trail. Georgia and Alabama are the only two schools in the country to have a top-5 recruiting class in each of the last five recruiting cycles.

The accumulation of top talent though might is where these two programs diverge. Alabama has become a much more prolific offensive team since Smart left the program, while Georgia has become synonymous with having one of the best defenses in the nation on an annual basis.

It will be strength on strength when the two teams meet on Monday night, with Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young looking to attack a stacked Georgia defense.

“When you look across the board at the efficiency with which Bryce Young has played with, and he’s got good weapons around him, he’s got a really good team around him, but make no mistake about it, he is elite at what he does,” Smart said. “To have the number of touchdown passes, the interception ratio, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen really anything like it.

“We talk about him as Houdini, because he can (make) people miss.”

Related: Georgia continues chase of Alabama ‘Gingerbread Man’ Bryce Young in CFP Championship Game

Alabama also has a good amount more of success on the biggest stage than the Bulldogs. While Saban has racked up national championships at an unprecedented rate, Georgia is still looking for its first since 1980.

Smart doesn’t concern himself with that fact, as he instead wants to focus on how he can best position his team to winning on Monday night against Saban and the Crimson Tide.

“What I control is who we recruit, how we develop players, how we keep people in our program, and then how we do scheme-wise and things,” Smart said. “Because if you do that right, the other will take care of itself. But my focus and energy and entire mind is on what can we do to help our players play better.”

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