From pretty much the day it was first formed in December of 1932, the Southeastern Conference has been known for its prowess in college football above all else. Among the original 10 members who remain from the 13 that were there in the beginning -- the University of the South (Sewanee, Georgia Tech and Tulane were all gone by 1966 -- some 31 national championships in football have been recognized by the NCAA, a whopping 16 of those by Alabama.
Current SEC member Texas A&M -- which was not a member until 2012 -- is credited with two titles long before that. Future members Texas (four titles) and Oklahoma (seven crowns) will further swell the trophy haul, though those also weren't won as SEC members.
But as it stands today, one thing only top-ranked Alabama can lay claim to among the current members is winning back-to-back national championships. And the Crimson Tide has done it a remarkable four times, the last such repeat performance coming in 2011 and 2012. Before that were back-to-backers in 1978 and 1979, 1964 and 1965, and 1925 and 1926, before there was an SEC.
It should be noted that both Texas and OU have gone back-to-back, the Longhorns in 1969 and 1970; the Sooners twice: 1974 and 1975, 1955 and 1956.
But no current SEC member but the Tide has been able to repeat. That is, until, perhaps, this season.
Anyone watching Georgia dismantle No. 11 Oregon 49-3 inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday afternoon would be foolish not to believe the No. 3 Bulldogs can't repeat as College Football Playoff champs.
In fact, by the time the Associated Press poll is released this week -- voters are being given a few extra hours in order to watch Monday night's Clemson-Georgia Tech game before casting their ballots -- the Bulldogs should leapfrog Ohio State for second, if not also eclipse Bama for No. 1.
Because however good the top-ranked Tide looked in its 55-0 crushing of Utah State, Utah State isn't Oregon. Given the quality of the opponent, no one taking the field in college football's opening weekend looked as impressive as Georgia. No one. Period.
So can they repeat? Absolutely.
A better question might be this: How can they not?
There's a one-word answer for that, of course. It's four letters long: BAMA. Ohio State might also have a say, as might Southern Cal.
Though the final score from the CFP title game last January was 33-18, an injury-riddled Crimson Tide owned the lead into the fourth quarter. A late pick six by the Dawgs clouded the final margin.
But this much is also true about that game: After losing to Alabama in both December's SEC title game and the 2017 national championship game, Georgia had a mental obstacle to overcome as much as a physical one. That's been solved now, much as Clemson had to solve facing the Tide in CFP contests. For those with short memories, the first time Clemson beat Bama in the CFP title game, it won almost at the horn, topping the Tide 35-31. Two years later, the Tigers tore apart Bama 44-16, the worst loss of Saban's career at the Capstone.
This is not to say that these Bulldogs can do that to this Bama bunch should they meet again in either the SEC title game, the CFP title game or both, as happened a year ago.
It is to say that Georgia -- and more specifically quarterback Stetson Fleming Bennett IV, who's up to fifth in Heisman Trophy odds this week -- have exorcized their mental demons regarding the Tide, once as Clemson in 2016.
Of course, the whole SEC looked pretty dang good this past weekend. Florida proved that new coach Billy Napier has the Gators back a lot closer to their normal excellence than anyone thought possible this quickly after defeating nationally ranked Utah on Saturday. Arkansas held off a good Cincinnati team. Tennessee's first real test comes this weekend at Pittsburgh, but the Vols looked the way a good team does in its second season under an impressive coach in routing Ball State to begin Josh Heupel's second season on Rocky Top. Even Vanderbilt, while perhaps still suffering from a bit of jet lag after returning from its dismantling of Hawaii, took down Elon to improve to 2-0.
But however much the league flexed its muscle overall, and however much more we'll learn this week from Kentucky visiting Florida, the UT-Pitt game and Bama's big trip to Texas, what we may already have learned is that the road to the SEC title, and possibly the national championship, is now at least as likely to run through Athens, Ga., as Tuscaloosa, Ala.
And just to make sure his recruiting prowess all but guarantees it remain that way, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of his team's impressive offensive showing against the Ducks: "I think when you watch what (UGA) did today (throwing 37 times for 439 yards), if you're watching from home, you're saying, 'Man, I'd love to come play in that offense.'"
They already have enough more players on both sides of the ball than Oregon that Smart also said of the talent differential: "(Oregon coach Dan Lanning, the former UGA defensive coordinator) knows we have better players. He'll never say that, but he knows we've got better players."
If 49-3 is indicative of the rest of the season, Smart's Dawgs just might have enough better players than everyone else to not only become the first SEC team other than Bama to repeat as national champs, but also the first to find a way to three-peat.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.