ATHENS — Georgia plays at Alabama in what could easily prove a play-in match for the SEC Championship Game on Saturday night.

Both programs are taking a one-game-at-a-time approach, but with the SEC now 16 teams deep, and Texas emerging as a top threat in September, much is riding on the T-Town Showdown.

It’s the earliest the SEC has had two Top 5-ranked teams meet in September since 1999, when a No. 2-ranked Tennessee team lost on the road to a No. 4 Florida by a 23-21 count.

Who’s Number One?

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has his Longhorns No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll and the AJC Power Poll (Georgia is No. 1 in Coaches Poll), but he had little to say when asked how it felt to be atop the SEC this early.

“Please don’t be offended by my answer: What you think of us is irrelevant, what we do on the field is what matters,” Sarkisian said. “That is what it is, and that’s the belief that our team has.

“In this day and age of the polls, polls are kind of irrelevant, there’s a 12-team college football playoff, to finish No. 1 at the end, you’re going to have to go earn it.”

Texas looks to earn it this week in its SEC opener at home against a Mississippi State team that lost its senior starting quarterback to a season-ending injury last week.

Holding back?

Former Georgia standout and current Detroit Lions quarterback Jake Fromm suggested the Bulldogs have more offense than they have shown to this point.

“I’ve always thought of the Georgia style, and maybe Kirby (Smart) of kind of holding stuff unit it’s needed,” said Fromm, a three-year starter under Smart from 2017-2019.

“From my experience, I think they’re probably

holding on to personnel, formations, a few wrinkles — you could see some unique stuff on the first drive at Alabama, coaches love to do that.”

Freeze Frame

Second-year Auburn coach Hugh Freeze might find himself on the hot seat if the Tigers can’t turn back Oklahoma on The Plains this weekend.

Freeze’s postgame criticism of his players after a home loss to Arkansas did not go over well, nor has his 3-6 record against SEC teams.

Auburn desperately needs a home win with a trip to Georgia up next (Oct. 5) before a bye week and trips to Missouri (Oct. 19) and Kentucky (Oct. 26) on deck.

The Streaks

Georgia has won 42 consecutive regular-season games dating back to the 2020 season, 21 in a row when they’ve had more than a week to prepare dating back to 2018 and 16 straight in opponents’ stadiums dating back to a 41-24 loss in Tuscaloosa in 2020.

Alabama has beaten Kirby Smart five of six meetings and has won eight of the last nine in the series.